A U.S. Environmental Protection Agency report estimated that 13% of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions came from residential and commercial properties in 2020. As Michigan municipalities like Traverse City look to set net-zero emissions goals, it will be crucial to encourage residents to cut back on home activities that produce greenhouse gases. To that end, Catalyst Leadership Circle Fellow Luke Ranker created the Decarbonization and Electrification Engagement Toolkit–a publicly available resource that provides recommendations and example language for educating property owners about the benefits of transitioning from natural gas to electricity and about other strategies to reduce GHG emissions, such as home weatherization. While created specifically for Traverse City, the material can be modified as needed for other communities interested in spurring community electrification. It includes a Green Fair Proposal, which describes a day-long community event geared toward educating and engaging residents about environmentally-friendly living.

• Location: Traverse City, MI
• Project Team: Luke Ranker (Fellow), University of Michigan, Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning; Jacob Hardy (Mentor), Traverse City Light and Power; David Gard (Technical Advisor), 5 Lakes Energy

Project Presentation

Project Report