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Environmental Improvements

Great downtowns have great pedestrian streets. Since 1997, the Downtown BID has worked to upgrade the public environment by developing high quality streetscape standards and promoting new, pedestrian-friendly lighting, trees, seating, trash cans, planters, banners and kiosks. Such improvements can have a dramatic impact on the appearance and use of a neighborhood business district.

In 1998 and 1999, the Downtown BID initiated a process to develop new streetscape standards for the Downtown BID area. The DC government adopted the standards that came out of this process as design guidelines for new city regulations that went into effect in early 2000. Most Downtown sidewalks have been upgraded to the new standards over time as the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) has integrated these new streetscape guidelines into its routine Downtown street reconstruction and resurfacing contracts.

All of the Downtown BID’s work on streetscape standards has been published in a book of guidelines to make it very easy for developers and architects, as well as city engineers, to implement the required streetscape standards. The guidelines include a comprehensive section on Street Furniture and Streetscape Components. To download the guidelines, click here. [BID_Streetscape_Guidelines.pdf 4.8 MG] The city’s Downtown streetscape regulations can be found on DDOT’s website by visiting www.ddot.dc.gov.

So far, the private sector has invested more than $13 million in new Downtown sidewalks, lighting and street furniture, while the DDOT and the Federal Highway Administration (FHA) have invested another $11 million.

Completed public projects include:

• G Street in front of the Martin Luther King Library
• 9th Street from the National Portrait Gallery to the FBI building
• H Street in Chinatown from 4th to 9th Streets
• 10th Street from Pennsylvania Avenue to H Street (nearly $3 million went into resurfacing and reconstructing the streets and sidewalks, with particular emphasis on the historic 500 block in front of the Ford's Theatre and the Pedersen House, where President Lincoln died. New streetlights, curbs, sidewalks, trees and stoplights help to create a pedestrian-friendly experience for 1.5 million annual visitors)
• Thomas Circle (nearly $1 million invested in utility upgrades and traffic/circulation improvements)

In 2007, the Downtown BID and DDOT planned and designed comprehensive streetscape improvements for 46 block-faces (one side of a city block between intersections) from K Street and Massachusetts Avenue on the north to Pennsylvania and Indiana Avenues on the south and from 5th Street on the east to 9th Street on the west. The two-block area between 14th Street from Thomas Circle to K Street also was included in the plan.

Federal stimulus money is helping to fund the streetscape improvements. Construction began in late 2009 and is scheduled to end in 2010. The $5.5 million project represents a public-private sector commitment to ensure pedestrian and vehicular safety for Downtown workers, visitors and residents. 

Today, Downtown has new and ever improving streetscapes that welcome you to stroll, sit, shop, eat and people-watch—exactly what a great street should encourage you to do!

Greening Downtown DC

To improve Downtown’s health and sustainability and maintain the area’s competitive posture, the Downtown BID works with property owners and other national and local public and private partners to increase energy efficiency and reduce dependency on carbon-based fuels. The result is a Greening Downtown DC initiative that makes financial and environment sense and supports the city’s effort to become one of the world’s most sustainable cities.

The initiative is a long-term, comprehensive set of programs and services where the Downtown BID serves as a facilitator and a catalyst by forming partnerships to undertake research, establish measures, communicate information and convene training sessions. The initiative targets four interrelated areas:

• Greening new and existing buildings
• Educating tenants on green best practices
• Improving public spaces
• Enhancing transportation options

Focused on “the triple bottom line,” a way of doing business that protects the planet, people and profit, the Greening Downtown DC initiative will assist stakeholders—including businesses, workers and residents—with the elements necessary for success.

Working with Downtown property managers, the program is making inroads towards improving energy efficiency, sustainability and value through operational practices and by improving the physical plant. Information gathered through relationships with organizations such as Eco-Coach and the Sustainable Business Network of Washington (SB NOW) is shared with office tenants to help them institute or enhance green practices. The initiative aims to institute green practices in the public environment by looking at strategies to reduce congestion, increase public transportation use and encourage recycling.

With President Obama and DC Mayor Adrian Fenty committed to greening the city and the Downtown BID poised to receive more than $395 million in stimulus funds for green building projects, the Downtown BID is set to guide Downtown’s future by continuing to work with local and federal agencies to become an international model and proving ground for sustainability.

As the first Certifiably Green business in DC, the Downtown BID already is leading by example, having received an award for leadership in implementing the SB NOW’s Green Business Certification Program pilot. The pilot program audits building tenants’ operations, identifies where improvements can be made and then offers certification at different levels. Although focused on internal operations, the certification also helps the public determine whether businesses are truly green and sustainable, and to what extent.

In addition to “greening” internal operations by using soy-based inks and recycled paper, in addition to power-saving servers and computer monitors, the BID also has demonstrated leadership in six areas: water conservation and quality; energy efficiency and climate action; environmentally friendly procurements; waste reduction and recycling; pollution prevention; training and education; and benefits.

In Downtown, where companies pledged to reduce CO2 production by 71 million annually in 2008

Public Recycling Program

In July 2008, the Downtown BID, the DC Department of Public Works (DPW) and the American Beverage Association (ABA) launched a comprehensive public space recycling pilot, placing 25-lidded recycling cans in high pedestrian areas next to existing trash receptacles throughout the Downtown BID area. The pilot program is part of the Downtown BID’s Greening Downtown DC initiative and seeks to divert glass and plastic bottles, aluminum cans and clean paper products from collected waste to help conserve natural resources by making it easy for workers, residents and visitors to do the right thing.

Phase I of the program has been highly successful—with nearly 50 tons of recyclables collected—and demonstrates that people, when offered the opportunity, will recycle if the process can be performed with minimum inconvenience.

To begin the process, the Downtown BID analyzed several national programs in New York City, Pittsburgh and Baltimore and trash can contents throughout Downtown, finding that recyclables ranged from as little as 15% in some locations to as much as 90% in others – newspaper or plastic bottles dominated the recyclable pool, depending on the location. That data helped the Downtown BID determine location (subway entrances, tourist attractions, public parks and food courts) where the pilot could achieve the highest recycling rates.

Under the partnership arrangement, DPW purchased and installed 25 recycling cans. It continues to dispose of the recycled materials that the Downtown BID’s SAM maintenance team collects and delivers to a central location. ABA coordinates marketing and public educational materials. 

The recycling program will expand to 38 new recycling receptacles in 2010, with funds from the $5.5 million in federal stimulus money to implement Downtown’s comprehensive streetscape project (link to map). The additional and highly visible trashcans will appear in strategic locations around Downtown. During Phase II, the BID also will distribute recycling educational materials to buildings and businesses in the area.

The Downtown BID is committed to developing partnerships and programs that support the city’s commitment to sustainability and help property owners, businesses, residents and visitors become more effective environmental stewards of the Downtown and, thus, the planet.