- The county began applying energy saving measures to buildings in 2004 that have since driven down electricity, natural gas and propane costs in administrative and court buildings by 20 percent.
- Within the past year, 30 percent of IT staff have begun teleworking, with a savings of 26,000 commuter miles, 1,400 gallons of gas, and 10-16 tons of carbon emissions, among others. The county plans to expand the program throughout the county in the next few years.
- The Parks and Recreation Department is expanding remote control of field lighting, irrigation and other equipment to reduce staff hours, travel expense and cost of electricity.
- The county has also improved citizen engagement. A recent social media policy, for example, allows the county to engage with citizens at the departmental level.
- All citizen-facing projects -- such as the website redesign, Citizen Wi-Fi and Citizen GIS mapping -- have members of the public on those project steering committees.
- Among the long list of accomplishments, Chesterfield County strives for openness and puts its Board Meetings, special sessions and budget meetings online and in recorded form for viewing.
Digital Counties Focus -- Chesterfield County, Va.
Improvements and innovations of a 2010 Digital Counties Survey first-place winner.
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Last year, Chesterfield County, Va. -- population 306,000 -- leveraged environmental initiatives to lower the county's energy requirements while reducing costs. Here are some highlights among the county's many improvements and innovations which garnered a first-place finish in the 2010 Digital Counties Survey:
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