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| Planning Department, 1 Junkins Avenue, Portsmouth, NH 03801, Phone: (603) 610 - 7215 | ||
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Sustainable Initiatives
City of Portsmouth, NH
 When Portsmouth completed its citywide Master Plan in 2005, residents made clear their desire for a more sustainable City. Over the last four years, the City Council and the City Manager and his staff have actively committed to making that happen—policy choices, the infrastructure decisions and approaches to providing City services all reflect our commitment to meeting sustainability goals.
City Sustainability Efforts Save Resources and MoneyLibrary
In just two years, the new “green” Portsmouth Public Library has achieved substantial energy savings despite being more than twice the size of its former home, thanks to its design.
 The Library, New Hampshire’s first municipal building to receive the prestigious LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification, has been recognized for its design and construction in the areas of energy conservation, recycling, materials selection, and daylight and views. Even though the new building is 116 percent larger than the old facility and open more often, the amount of natural gas used to heat it decreased by 66.7 percent, or $20,000, in the first full year of operation. Despite being twice the size, electricity consumption was only up 50 percent from the former site.
New water treatment plant
The City has begun design for construction of a new drinking water treatment plant in Madbury that will follow LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) principles. Its energy use and cost are expected to be 30% lower than a conventional design. Solar hot water collectors, heat pumps and “daylight harvesting” are some of the features that will reduce both the carbon footprint of this new facility, as well as its annual operating costs.
New Fire Station
The City is nearing completion of the design for a new fire substation, Fire Station 2 at a new location on Lafayette Road, that also will follow LEED principles of design and seek LEED certification. Proposed upgrades include a super-insulated building envelope and high-efficiency natural gas boilers for heat. These features will result in significant annual operating cost savings.
 Middle School
City Buildings
With the help of grant funding, the City is updating its greenhouse gas emissions inventory to use as a baseline tool to quantify energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The data will be used to guide, and prioritize, facility upgrades to further reduce annual operating costs.
The City also recently replaced the flat roofing on the Municipal Complex, and the Connie Bean and Spinnaker Point Recreation Centers with products designed to double the lifespan and insulation value, which will reduce taxpayer costs.
 Water Conservation Kits
The City of Portsmouth also has a track record for instituting conservation measures in conjunction with its drinking water delivery system. It offered customers a free water conservation kit with various items designed to reduce water usage, including low-flow shower heads and dye tablets to determine if toilets leaked.
Leak detection
Keeping the over 180 miles of drinking water pipes intact is a difficult job, but the City recently began a program to identify leaks in the system. The City is in the process of acquiring a device to assist in determining where water is leaving water pipes when it shouldn’t be.
Automated Meter Reading
In addition, the City has begun installing a system to use radio and Ethernet connections to check the nearly 8,000 water meters in its water system serving Portsmouth, Newington, New Castle, and Rye, as well as locations in Greenland, Madbury, Dover and Durham. Not only will they allow for monthly billing rather than every four months, these meters can read water usage in real time. By determining when a household’s low flow should occur, the meter can take a reading during that time and alert the homeowner to possible leaks.
Zero-Gasoline Truck
The City of Portsmouth has purchased its first zero-gasoline truck, an electric no-emissions vehicle that replaced the outdated Parking Enforcement van. The cost to drive and maintain it will be approximately one-tenth of a gasoline-powered vehicle. The Miles ZX40ST Work Truck requires no gasoline, has an estimated range of 50 miles and operates at a maximum speed of 25 mph. Charging the vehicle from 50% battery capacity takes approximately four hours from a 110-volt receptacle. The vehicle also is equipped with a regenerative braking system to recharge batteries while the vehicle is in use.
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Residents Can Buy Sustainable Rain Barrels at Reduced Price The City of Portsmouth is offering its water customers the opportunity to purchase 60-gallon rain barrels at a reduced price, which will allow them to collect and store rainwater for such uses as irrigating lawns and flower gardens while saving on water bills and reducing stormwater runoff. 
Garage lighting |