With such a big history of buildings contaminating the environment, Columbus has made major changes to promote green buildings and neighborhoods. The Green Columbus Fund program continues to encourage sustainable development by awarding ten reimbursement grants to projects doing brownfield environmental site assessments and asbestos or storage tank removal. The Clean Ohio Brownfield Fund grant was received by the city in partnership with the Annex for one million dollars towards environment cleanup at the Trautman and the HUB Buildings downtown Columbus. The project consists of 106 high quality apartments, street level retail space, and a partially subterranean parking garage. Because of the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP), the Columbus Housing Division is able to have thirty-six sold units, one unit lease purchase and thirteen rental units all meeting the green home AWARE standards. In addition to that, the HOME program led to ten units being completed that met AWARE standards and included solar panels for electricity. For bettering the business buildings, the ME3 (Materials + Economy + Energy + Environment) program has become increasingly effective. ME3 helps manufacturing companies not only save money but also reduce their environmental footprint through discounted technical services. ME3 serves as a comprehensive sustainability program through energy assessments, lean and green facility reviews, and participation in the Ohio- By-Product Synergy (BPS) Network. In 2013, there were nine manufacturing facilities participating in ME3, four of which were in central Ohio, one of which being the Calgon Carbon Columbus plant, which is in the southeast Columbus region. Through ME3, Calgon Carbon has advanced towards their sustainability goals by reducing energy, water, and waste, all while saving $140,000.[1]

[1] “Environmental Stewardship in Columbus: Overview,” Columbus Office of Environmental Sustainability 2013 Annual Report, 4, https://www.columbus.gov/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=66688