Some of the most efficient energy efficiency efforts leverage and integrate with existing capital or operational plans. Chula Vista’s City Operations Sustainability Plan is a great document showing how Chula Vista is achieving this. The Energy Use portion of the Plan calls out sources of energy project funding, energy goals to be pursued depending on success securing funding, including:
- a multi-site lighting upgrade project;
- retro-commissioning (RCx) of all municipal buildings larger than 20,000 sf and more than 10 years old;
- development of a Municipal Utility Reinvestment Fund funded by the savings on energy bills as a continual source of funding for energy projects;
- use of Direct Access contracts to purchase 100% renewable energy for municipal facilities;
- use of Zero Net Energy design for all new municipal facilities.
Chula Vista’s Plan was adopted in August 2014, and since then, implementation of this plan is getting results: from implementation, the City is seeing a 24% reduction in building energy use from their 2010 baseline.
Chula Vista’s Plan getting national attention: see how the U.S. Department of Energy (U.S. DOE) is showcasing Chula Vista’s efforts, and results, on their Better Buildings Solutions Center site.