Tompkins County's reputation as an eco-friendly area was bolstered recently by a "green" amendment to the county comprehensive plan that contains aggressive emissions-reducing efforts.

The Tompkins County Legislature passed the amendment in December, and it calls for Tompkins to decrease its greenhouse gas output by 80 percent over the next 40 years through several methods of increased efficiency and encouragement of environmentally friendly development.

Some legislators hope the amendment will position the county well for President-elect Barack Obama's proposed stimulus package, which includes preference for green development.

When the amendment passed the Legislature, Dooley Kiefer, D-Villages of Lansing and Cayuga Heights, referred to James Henson's stance that the planet's tipping point for carbon dioxide emissions is 350 parts per million. She said the world is currently at 387 parts per million and that current global agreements regarding emissions would cap carbon dioxide emissions at about 480 parts per million.

The Tompkins County plan is more aggressive.

Much of what the county proposed and encourages through the green amendment has already been done by government, so the challenge will be spreading efficiencies to the greater community.

"The action items are really the next steps and where the real meat gets on the bones of this stuff," commissioner of county planning Ed Marx said.

In 2005, the county increased energy efficiency in nearly all of its 14 buildings in a $4.1 million project. The project addressed new roofs for three buildings, new boilers in some buildings, tightening up building heat-leaks, known as enveloping, and getting new lighting and heating sensors, county Facilities Director Arel Lemaro said.

"We were fortunate as a county to be kind of ahead in this area to do that because right when natural gas prices went up we benefited because we had already a lot of those improvements in place," he said.

2008 was the first year the Facilities Department got an audit report on how much it saved through the improvements. Lemaro said the county saved $230,000 a year after the improvements were made, which is $12,000 more than the contract guaranteed.

The "green" amendment would encourage the community to do the same to reduce energy usage. According to the amendment, buildings account for about 58 percent of energy usage and vehicles, 48 percent.

And while it's not in everyone's budget to purchase a hybrid car, the county is working on ways for families and businesses to maintain more energy-efficient homes.

"Tenants' money pays for utility costs (in rentals)," Robertson said. "There's no incentive for landlords to make that investment." Robertson added that with incentives, energy demand in Tompkins could decrease if those improvements are made.

Anthony Guarneri, president of ASI Renovations, estimated it could cost as much as $4,000 to make improvements on a single family home.

Marx pointed out those types of improvements can pay for themselves in the long run but also require the upfront capital that not everyone has on hand.

"A lot of those improvements ... that come out of a home energy audit would actually pay for themselves in five years, but people might not have the $4,000 on hand, so there are programs that some people may be able to access to assist with that, but it's not exactly across the board," Marx said.

The $4,000 estimate included insulation and weather stripping but omit a more drastic and costly measure like replacing a furnace, which Guarneri estimated could run between $7,000 and $12,000.

"The highest returns on investments are insulation and plugging holes on the house where drafts come through," he said. "Things like spray foam, regular foam installation, cellulose installation, caulking holes, putting weather stripping around doors and windows, caulking doors and windows. It's things like that and also there's channels between the basement and the attic that can be plugged up if that's the proper application. Those are big bangs for your buck right there."

The county is devising a "green fleet" plan to make its 293-vehicle fleet more efficient. Currently the county has zero fuel-efficient vehicles. Additionally the county is slated to begin construction on its first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified building, the new health department at 55 Brown Road, this month. That building has plans to add solar panels to it as well.

Solar panels at the Tompkins County Public Library provide 13 percent of the building's energy costs and cost about $1.05 million to install upfront. Lemaro said about half of those costs were covered through state grants.

Solar panels are a tax-free purchase in Tompkins as well, since the Legislature voted that into county law in 2008.

The county already engages in green purchasing through a "green consortium" that pools resources from Cornell, Ithaca College and Tompkins Cortland Community College among others to buy environmentally friendly products.

Legislators that dissented against the amendment, including Mike Sigler, R-Lansing, noted that as long as there's a coal-burning plant in Tompkins County, AES Cayuga, it will have trouble capping emissions. Sigler also said he's against centralized county planning because he thinks that task is better left the towns and city.