BGreen 2020 was developed to be a blueprint for the future of the City of Bridgeport and its businesses, institutions, and neighborhoods. The plan laid out strategies to improve the environmental quality and livability of Bridgeport’s parks, waterways, and streets and to promote Bridgeport asa location for the development of green industries and green employment. The over 100 contributors to the BGreen 2020 plan charted a course that responded to the community’s needs for greater economic opportunities while recognizing the outstanding assets that Bridgeport has in its parks, infrastructure, institutions and people. Five areas of opportunity were identified for focus:
green energy and buildings;
land use and transportation;
green spaces, water resources and recycling;
green businesses, jobs and purchasing; and
education and outreach.
Within these areas, 65 strategies were developed for implementation by BGreen partners, including the city administration, state and federal government agencies, philanthropic partners, the business community, institutions, neighborhood groups and individuals.
This progress report evaluates the success of the BGreen 2020 program three years in to its implementation. BGreen continues to function as a public/private partnership with strong leadership by City of Bridgeport elected officials and staff and the Bridgeport Regional Business Council. Major ongoing support by the Fairfield County Community Foundation has been supplemented by city, state, and federal funds, private investment, and funding or technical assistance by other foundations and non-profit organizations. There are now over 150 projects completed or underway in Bridgeport which support BGreen 2020’s goals of improving environmental quality, livability, opportunity, and sustainability being carried out by over 80 organizations and businesses. Initial estimates of the environmental impact of some of these projects indicate that Bridgeport has been able to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55,000 metric tons per year through projects that are implemented and operational, and is on track to save at least 162,000 metric tons each year through additional projects under development. This level of achievement would enable Bridgeport to meet the target of a 10% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels by 2020, recently established in the Bridgeport Energy Efficiency and Conservation Plan developed as a supplement to the BGreen 2020 plan.