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Zimmerman Talks Metro — County board member Chris Zimmerman, who recently announced that he was stepping down from the WMATA Board of Directors, has given what may be his first comprehensive interview since his surprise announcement last week. Zimmerman echoed his stance that Metro needs more funding to survive, and is at the mercy of “external” forces. “These are not things that are going to be fixed by a magical general manager,” Zimmerman said. “They’re not going to be fixed by any configuration of the board of directors.” More from We Love DC.

APS Students Give Back — A new “Snapshots” video from the county’s educational TV channel takes a look at how Arlington Public School students are giving back for the holidays.


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Passive house is an ultra energy efficient building style that’s becoming increasingly popular in Europe. There are only about 20 passive houses in the United States.

The eco-friendly house will be built on the site of yesterday’s spectacular made-for-TV controlled burn exercise. The small, condemned and now-charred home currently on the site will be torn down. Construction is expected to begin around December 1 and wrap up in the spring.


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The “Arlington Green Games” will begin next Tuesday (Oct. 19) with an opening ceremony in Rosslyn, complete with booths that will instruct competitors on ways to reduce energy consumption and cut down on emissions. The event will start at 11:00 a.m. on the 30th floor of 1000 Wilson Blvd.

The competition is being organized by Arlington’s Fresh AIRE program, which seeks to reduce carbon emissions in the county. Competitors will first benchmark their “current energy and sustainability practices,” then work to improve performance in those area.


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The ambitious and sometimes ambiguous recommendations range from tax incentives for energy efficiency to installing 160 megawatts worth of solar electricity generating capacity to migrating high density neighborhoods to district energy systems (centralized heating and cooling plants serving numerous buildings).

One recommendation that may receive particular resident scrutiny is a requirement that all new home renovations, starting in 2015, must prove a 30 percent gain in energy efficiency (over today’s average). Likewise, all new commercial building renovations must prove that the work will provide a 50 percent gain in efficiency.


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Officials hope to replace 1,800 streetlights, or 40 percent of all county-owned lights, by the spring of 2011. The funds for the project will come from a federal energy efficiency and conservation grant.

After the initial push, the county will install 500 new streetlights per year. The conversion will take about six years to complete, and will produce a significant cost savings for the county.