See UofM’s Graham Sustainability Institute for more information
The City of Rockford, Michigan endorsed a sustainability and climate action plan in 2025 that sets a main goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions for city operations by 2050. Similarly, the Village of Milford endorsed an Energy Master Plan that sets a goal of reducing the energy consumption of village operations 10% from 2025 levels by 2028. These plans are valuable for giving each community a goal to strive for, though they can be difficult to implement for a number of reasons. Local governments often lack staff capacity, funding, and information resources necessary to quickly achieve sustainability goals.
CLC Fellow Tyler Swanson supported the efforts of Rockford and Milford by designing a toolkit that will help both local governments develop actionable steps for achieving their respective sustainability goals. One tool automatically calculates and compares key numbers related to the financial viability and carbon emissions reduction potential of energy efficiency and electrification projects using only a small number of inputs about project cost and current asset energy consumption. This tool is accompanied by a technical manual that explains how the calculator functions and how end users can expand its capabilities. Other tools include a step-by-step process document that local government employees can follow when implementing an energy efficiency or electrification project at the local level, a template executive order with accompanying policy memo that local governments can use to institutionalize comprehensive energy management, and a memo on steps to take in implementing energy efficiency after completing energy benchmarking, and a presentation.
For access to these tools, the project presentation, and project deliverables, see the Graham Institute’s page.
See Tyler’s MSU page here.
