California's new green building standard

Earlier this month the governor put in place new state-wide green building standards.

The Christian Science Monitor reports:

Taking effect January 2011, the nation's first mandatory green building code – dubbed “CalGreen” – lays out specific constraints for newly constructed buildings. It requires builders to install plumbing that cuts indoor water use by as much as 20 percent, to divert 50 percent of construction waste from landfills to recycling, and to use low-pollutant paints, carpets, and floors. It also mandates inspection of energy systems to ensure that heaters, air conditioners, and other mechanical equipment are working efficiently. And for non-residential buildings, it requires the installation of water meters for different uses.

On the plus side, it raises the floor and will certainly move the market and bring benefits to state residents.

Unfortunately, it will almost certainly result in some confusion and has drawn some criticism for setting the bar too low as well:

Some environmental groups including the Sierra Club and the National Resources Defense Council were critical of the two-tier “Calgreen" voluntary rating system suggested by the new code. That would clash with the "LEED" rating system, a voluntary green building label widely used nationwide, and cause confusion among builders, they said.

Moreover, a two-tier labeling system would be open to conflicting interpretations and thus be unenforceable by local building inspectors, they argued. More than 200 architects, engineers, and builders have also e-mailed Schwarzenegger to protest the label.

Some 50 cities in the state, most of them in the Bay Area, have set green building standards using US Green Building Council's LEED.

Rafael @www.ClimateAtBay.net

Milpitas considering extensive municipal solar

Not only is Milpitas exploring an extensive municipal solar project which may cover city hall and 15 other major buildings, they are exemplifying the increasingly sophisticated collaboration characterizing the Bay Area on clean energy:

City staff has been working with local and regional cities and public agencies, including the Association of Bay Area Governments and Joint Venture Silicon Valley, to develop efficient and cost effective processes for evaluation of public facilities for feasibility of solar powering, review of options available for financing and installation of those solar panels on public facilities, he said.
...
The contract with CH2M Hill will be based on time and materials, for an amount not to exceed $75,000, for a term of one year. About $55,000 in funding will come from redevelopment tax increment funds; $10,000 from the water fund; and $10,000 from the sewer fund.

Rafael @www.ClimateAtBay.net

San Mateo schools move ahead with major solar

San Mateo high schools are going solar in a big way:

Plans to build a $31.5 million solar project at six campuses in the San Mateo Union High School District were approved Thursday, giving officials the go-ahead to seek state approval to begin construction.

In September, the board selected a four-school placement option — with panels installed at Aragon, Hillsdale, Mills and Burlingame high schools — presented by Mark Quattrocchi, principal for Quattrocchi Kwok Architects.

The aggressive construction timeline calls for construction to begin this summer, with some panels going live in January 2011. Construction at Capuchino would start the latest, in 2011, due to its current construction schedule.

Aside from curbing rising electric costs, the district also plans to bank on rebates available over the first five years the panels are working, totaling over $10 million in savings.

Rafael @www.ClimateAtBay.net

Butterflies hit by climate change

Climate change is putting pressure on butterflies (among other species).

More bad news for butterflies arrived this week from Arthur Shapiro, a professor of evolution and ecology at the University of California, Davis. Drawing on his unique 35-year database of twice-a-month observations at 10 sites at various elevations – from sea level to tree line – in north-central California, "we found many lowland species are being hit hard by the combination of warmer temperatures and habitat loss," said the butterfly expert.

The 10 survey sites lie along Interstate 80 and range from low-lying Suisun Marsh on San Francisco Bay to 9,103-foot-high Castle Peak near Donner Summit.

Rafael @www.ClimateAtBay.net

Re-use the Bay Bridge: Alternatives to Demolition

I love this story. Grad students at Berkeley's College of Environmental Design came up with some great ideas for the old span of the Bay Bridge -- which will be knocked down in about four years. It's a great example of infusing imagination into recycling and re-use. Why not leave it there and transform it into housing and parks? Farmers' markets. Bike trails. Oh what could've been. What's Caltrans' take?

"It's such a fascinating thing to contemplate," conceded Bart Ney, Caltrans' spokesman on all things Bay Bridge. "But honestly, I don't believe anyone gave it much thought" in the original decision-making process.

No kidding. And I bet these students are a lot cheaper than the consultants hired for the bridge project.

Saving money on water, utilities: Cupertino

Cupertino is looking to save money but taking steps to reduce resource waste. The dollars can be significant.

Lower utility bills are among Cupertino's goals in 2010. In upcoming weeks, city leaders are set to look at reducing the city's utility costs by 15 percent annually. The city currently spends about $1.2 million on gas, electricity and water each year, according to city staff.

The push to cut back comes following a recent energy audit revealing that the city spends about 76 percent of its utility funds on landscaping and to power buildings.

The audit, conducted by Siemens, looked at seven city-operated facilities including city hall, Quinlan Community Center, Cupertino Sports Center and Monta Vista Recreation Center.

According to the audit, 43 percent of city utility funds is spent on water for domestic landscaping, 33 percent is spent on electricity and 19 percent is spent on streetlights.

The city spends about $539,000 annually for water, with 95 percent of that amount used for irrigating city parks, landscaping and medians.

The savings opportunity in water alone are significant. With some drought-tolerant natives the city could have attractive - if a bit different - landscaping at a fraction of the cost.

Rafael @www.climateatbay.net

Small-scale solar plan clashes with big energy

In terms of solar -- for some, less is more. As the renewable-energy source has grown in recent years, so too has criticism over how much land it takes up and its potential impact on habitats. These concerns are why some think small-scale solar promises a brighter future. From the SF Chron:

"The solar plants in the desert are albatrosses," [energy consultant Bill] Powers said. "We've come to a point where (photovoltaic solar) is either going to be in the remote installations or it's going to be in the urban core. It'll be much more beneficial for those solar panels to be sitting in the urban core where they're going to be used."

It's an idea that could upend the traditional way of supplying electricity and weaken the control of utility companies. Supporters of the idea consider that a plus.

Photovoltaic solar "in the urban core is a fundamental threat to the utility business model," Powers said.

Most energy experts argue the small-scale approach won't work. The hunger for energy, they say, is too huge, and it will keep growing. Solar panels are still a relatively expensive way to generate electricity. They cost more than large solar thermal plants, which use a different technology ill-suited to rooftops.

"It's not feasible, it's not economical, it's not realistic," said Mehdi Hosseini, an analyst who covers solar companies for FBR Capital Markets.

"Because of the economic and operational issues, I think we're going to see large-scale, grid-connected power for a long, long time," said Jonathan Marshall, a spokesman for Pacific Gas and Electric Co.

Many environmentalists reluctantly agree.

Carl Zichella, regional director for the Sierra Club in California, has been deeply involved in a state process to plan for new power lines linked to wind farms and solar plants. He wants as much small-scale generation - often called distributed generation - as possible. But that alone won't meet the state's demand for renewable power, he said.

"We need to do it all," Zichella said. "It's quite possible we can get more distributed generation than we thought, and if we get enough, we can build fewer big plants. But I haven't seen any studies I think are credible that say we won't need any."

Distrust and dislike of California's big utility companies, he says, fuel many supporters of the small-is-beautiful idea.

"A lot of the distributed power advocates really hate utilities," Zichella said. "They don't want utilities to own these facilities."

AB 118 - Aiming to Suspend AB 32 Work

Yikes - On Monday the Natural Resources Committee of the Assembly will discuss AB 118, which would suspend the work being done to achieve the goals of AB 32... and *requires* that cities do the same. If you disagree - send letters now!

Members of the Committee

A quote from the bill:

This bill would suspend the act until the state unemployment rate is 5.5% or lower for four consecutive calendar quarters. The bill would require the resuspension of the act whenever the state unemployment rate rises above 5.5% for four consecutive calendar quarters. The bill would prohibit the state board, and specified other state agencies, from proposing, promulgating, or adopting any regulation pursuant to the act during a period of suspension and would require that any such regulation adopted prior to January 1, 2011, be inoperative until the suspension is lifted. The bill would request local agencies to refrain from adopting rules, regulations, and policies that derive authority or responsibility from the act and to revise or repeal those rules, regulations, or policies adopted prior to January 1, 2011, until the suspension is lifted.

Since the state hasn't had 5.5% for four quarters in 30 years, the bill effectively kills AB32.

Full Text of bill

San Leandro adopts Climate Action Plan

San Leandro adopted a climate action plan last month continuing the progress being made by cities in the region. A point of contention however was the proposed requirement to implement efficiency measures in homes like weatherstripping when they are sold. This time of measure is a potentially powerful way to address improving the energy performance of existing homes - important because existing buildings account for about 40% of the consumption of energy.

The Oakland Tribune has an article focused on the point-of-sale element.

The city is moving forward with a plan to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent from 2005 emissions levels by a target date of 2020.

The effort, called the Climate Action Plan, states that "global warming is unequivocal and primarily human induced." It lists several threats posed by that warming and presents a blueprint for action.
...
The council voted unanimously to approve the plan, but with revisions that replaced the point-of-sale requirements with recommended standards designed to facilitate reductions in energy use.

The challenge here is that on the one hand the new homeowner will benefit from such measures with increased comfort and reduced cost and the point of sale is the most straightforward point at which to implement such a requirement. On the other hand there are two possible issues: it may create additional fees and secondly it may add time to the sale (which no one wants, especially real estate agents). These latter issues are solvable if the cost of efficiency were assumable into the loan (in which cases the services would be quick to catch up to the opportunity and quick service would be valued).