Our Sustainability Action Plan for Hill East

Healthy green homes. 100% renewable energy. Eco-friendly shops & food. Built for bikes & walking. Parks & habitat. Green jobs. Electric cars & transit. zero waste.

We believe that the Sustainability Action Plan that we have created for Hill East is more ambitious than any plan ever undertaken in Washington DC, or indeed, in any US city.

Support our vision to create the greenest neighborhood in America! HDG Waterfront Partners will make an 80% ecological footprint reduction practical (and even convenient) for Hill East residents to achieve – while creating a healthy, high-quality urban lifestyle and some 3,000 new green-collar jobs.

• Reduce transport emissions by 70% for travel to and from the community. Make transit, neighborhood electric vehicles & hybrids, car sharing lots, bike paths, and shuttles far more convenient. Offset unavoidable emissions with a certified carbon sequestration scheme.
• Reduce waste by 98%. Decrease construction waste by 90% with smart design and future recyclability. Provide ergonomic facilities, education, and incentives to occupants, limiting waste sent to landfill to 2%, with at least 70% being reclaimed/re-used, recycled or composted.
• Reduce building emissions by 100% (carbon-neutral). Build some of the most energy efficient homes and buildings in the United States, beating Washington DC’s LEED Silver requirements. Heat, cool, and power them with 100% renewable energy generated onsite.
• 50% of all food from local farms and onsite gardens (<300 miles). Provide an all-season farmer’s market, community agriculture/orchard, sustainable food grocery store/restaurants, and healthy prepared meals for pickup at convenient neighborhood locations.

How will we do it?

A REAL COMMITMENT. We have enlisted experienced partners with the technical and financial capacity to put this ambitious vision into action. We have laid out sustainability targets in a detailed 114-page Sustainability Action Plan that has been endorsed after rigorous review by a panel of scientists at independent environmental organization BioRegional – making this Hill East submission the 1st officially endorsed One Planet Community in a major US city and only the 7th in the world. Performance against these targets will be monitored yearly through 2020.

100% SUSTAINABLE LIFESTYLE. One Planet Hill East sets out to make sustainable lifestyles more practical, convenient, and affordable for families. Clustered around a new town square, community center and daily farmer’s market, the community is planned to ensure every resident is no more than a five-minute walk to groceries, restaurants, offices, day care and shops offering local, sustainable, and fair trade products and services.

ZERO CARBON. We will lower energy bills, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and eliminate greenhouse gases from our buildings. Homes at Hill East will be at least 50% more energy efficient than code. We will create DC’s first renewable energy power plant by 2011, a 35 megawatt plant backed by our partners SunMark Energy and DE Shaw & Co. The plant will turn waste into clean electricity, heating, and cooling for Hill East residents as well as the DC Jail and other institutional customers, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 420,375 tons of CO2 per year - equivalent to removing 169,507 cars from DC streets.

ZERO WASTE. We will create jobs by converting waste into energy & goods. We will divert 98% of waste from landfill for residents and the DC Jail.

ZERO WATER. We will lower water bills, reducing municipal water use by 60%, and clean the Anacostia River by eliminating stormwater runoff.

One Planet Communities is a framework for sustainable urban development that lends rigorous, third-party credibility to setting sustainability targets. This network of some of the world’s most advanced, high-profile green developments includes Sonoma Mountain Village, a California neighborhood project which Dwell Magazine recently called the “best in the US” for urban design. We invite you to download a PDF summary of our Sustainability Action Plan to learn more about our exciting plans for creating America’s greenest neighborhood right here in Washington DC.