Energy Upgrade California Case Study: Mr. Afdal’s Concord, CA Home
Looking for stories to share with your residents on the power of home upgrades? StopWaste’s video on a home using EnergyUpgrade California in Concord may be a good resource:
Climate and Energy Trainings Available On-Line
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ICLEI has developed a new series of short, online trainings that California local governments can watch instantly. They provide training on the Climate Action Planning Assistant tool and the Forecasting Assistant tool; how to follow the Community Protocol; how to set targets, measure progress, and more. California local governments can select from 24 no-cost trainings…
Statewide Energy Efficiency Best Practices Forum
The Fourth Annual Statewide Energy Efficiency Best Practices Forum will be held June 19-20, 2013 at the Sheraton Grand Hotel, in Sacramento, CA. The day-long forum on June 20 will feature updates from key state agencies and several topics including energy savings programs, financing, climate action tools, and best practices for reducing energy use and…
Community Energy Champion Grants Handbook and Case Studies
In partnership with PG&E, the Silicon Valley Energy Watch has released the Community Energy Champion Grants Handbook and Case Studies, showcasing the best practices and effects of the Community Energy Champion Grants (CECG) program they run as a utility-local government partnership. The Handbook is available at the link above. To review the introduction, see below. Handbook…
National Association of Home Builders Survey: Buyers Want Energy Efficiency
Many in the housing industry are wondering not only what today’s home buyers really want, but also what they are ready to leave behind in light of current economic realities. A new study recently released by NAHB, What (more…)
Visalia Parking Lot Lighting Upgrades through VIEW Partnership
In partnership with Southern California Edison and through the Valley Innovative Energy Watch partnership, the City of Visalia has saved electricity and money in its West Acequia Parking Structure. Read this one-pager for more information and details and annual savings.
US Green Building Council Celebrates California Local Governments, Bills, and Codes
air quality, bay area, best practices, buildings, central valley, educational programs, energy efficiency, energy workforce, financing, green building, HERO, HVAC, incentives, inland empire, Local Governments in Action, PACE, reach codes, RECO/CECO, renewables/DERs, solar, southern california, southern coast, stakeholder engagement, training, transportation, water energy nexus
The US Green Building Council (USGBC)’s “Top10” for 2012 celebrates 10 California communities and 10 California policies at the forefront of green building and development of an efficient built environment. Excerpts on the highlighted communities are copied below. Details on both highlighted communities and highlighted policies are available here. Most Inspiring: The Sacramento Region for…
Simi Valley Retro-commissioning Policy
The City of Simi Valley, working with Southern California Edison through their city-utility Energy Leadership Partnership, has completed a retro-commissioning (RCx) policy to implement in their buildings. Retro-commissioning is a critical piece of facilities maintenance that ensures good facility operations, longer facility equipment life, improved comfort and productivity of occupants – and energy and cost…
California Zero Net Energy Buildings Cost Study
A cost-effectiveness study of zero net energy in residential and commercial buildings produced by the Davis Energy Group is available from PG&E. The Executive Summary is shared below; access the report in full here. (more…)
ACEEE Paper Breaks Down Funding and Financing Sources (and Pros and Cons) for Local Governments
ACEEE, benchmarking, best practices, buildings, codes and standards, EE community programs, EE municipal programs, EE programs, energy efficiency, energy workforce, financing, funding, incentives, publications, retro-commissioning, revolving loan fund, stakeholder engagement, strategic planning, transportation
Feeling overwhelmed by all of the different funding mechanisms there are for energy efficiency projects – and wondering why there are so many? This report (presented at ACEEE’s 2012 Summer Buildings Study) looks first at why local governments are such an important point where energy efficiency planning and programs take root, and then provides a…
The BEE Software Collaborative: An Open Source, Rule-Based Architecture for Building Energy Efficiency
This 2012 paper, presented at the ACEEE Summer Buildings Study, provides a useful overview of the CEC’s responsibility to establish building energy modeling standards under the Warren-Alquist Act, and its activities to develop, test, document, and support open source building energy modeling software and other building energy analysis tools used for Standards development, Standards compliance…
Retro-commissioning Toolkit for Local Governments
Developing a retro-commissioning (RCx) and re-commissioning plan, and implementing it, can be a great and cost-effective way to save energy and money in existing buildings. A retro-commissioning toolkit for local governments is available from the California Sustainability Alliance – click here to read more about the Toolkit. More resources are available on the Alliance’s website.
Simi Valley’s Voluntary Green Building Policy
In November 2012, Simi Valley adopted a Voluntary Green Building Policy, developed with support from its local government partnership (LGP) with Southern California Edison. The policy is available here, and the Executive Summary, with background on Simi (more…)
San Francisco Public Utilities Commission’s New Building: One of the Most Efficient in America
Learn how the new SFPUC smart building in San Francisco is one of the most efficient buildings in America. Of particular interest: description of the building’s 4 building-integrated vertical wind turbines and 600 solar photovoltaic (PV) panels at minute 8; an intelligent building management system (BMS) that inter-manages heating, cooling, air flow/duct operations, lighting and…
CEC Offers 1% Loans for Efficiency & Generation Projects
NEW LOW INTEREST LOAN RATE (1%) for Energy Efficiency and Energy Generation Projects available to California Cities, Counties, Public Schools and Universities, Special Districts, and Public Care Hospitals/ Institutions. Over $22 million in loan funds from the California Energy Commission are available for energy cost saving projects. The Energy Commission is accepting loan applications on…