January 29, 2011

Upcoming Event – Electrical Baseload

by Anna LaRue current events, energy • Tags: contractors, electric bill, electrical baseload, homeowners, monitoring tools, monthly usage, residential

Reducing Residential Electrical Baseload

February 16, 2011 (Wednesday)

5:30 PM-7:30 PM

San Francisco Department of the Environment – 11 Grove Street, San Francisco, CA

Presentation will examine how homeowners, contractors or other service providers can determine how much electrical baseload a homeowner is consuming and use that analysis to lower the homeowner’s monthly usage and electric bill. The session will cover both technique and monitoring tools used, problems encountered and their resolutions.

More information and links to register here.

– – –

January 27, 2011

Location Location Location

by Anna LaRue energy, transportation • Tags: carbon accounting, carbon footprint, census transportation planning products, commute, density, epa, green building, greenhouse gas emissions, la times, location, public transportation, train lines, transportation, transportation emissions, urban areas, urban planning

(Image credit: Wikimedia Commons)

– – –

A recent article in the LA Times discusses efforts by green builders to quantify the energy used in reaching the building, not just used in and by the building itself.

From the article:

If you plop a green building in the middle of nowhere, is it still green? … … …

Experts say the ability to quantify the energy spent getting to and from a building could force businesses to reconsider what it means to be green. Transportation emissions account for 29% of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, and the newly quantifiable data could spur development in urban areas served by public transportation.

Commutes to work matter, said Emma Stewart, senior manager for sustainability at Autodesk Inc., a San Rafael, Calif., maker of 3-D design software applications. Overall, one out of five trips and one out of four miles are traveled in commutes, according to Census Transportation Planning Products. For work, people fly to conferences, hail cabs on lunch breaks and drive to far-flung suburbs.

“This is a new frontier in carbon accounting,” said Stewart, who is part of a separate effort to digitally map buildings and infrastructure like train lines for urban planning purposes. “The practice thus far has really been focused around direct emissions.”

You can read the entire article on the LA Times website, here.

– – –

January 25, 2011

Caltrain is in Serious Trouble

by Anna LaRue current events, transportation • Tags: bay area, budget battles, Caltrain, commute hours, diridon station, gilroy, operating budget, operating deficit, peninsula, public transportation, SamTrans, san francisco municipal transportation agency, san jose, transit, valley transportation authority, weekday trains, weekend service

(Image credit: Wikimedia Commons)

– – –

A few days ago, I began to see news that Caltrain will face a huge operating deficit starting this summer. However, the magnitude of that deficit didn’t sink in until an article pointed out that the $30 million operating deficit will be nearly one-third of its operating budget.

According to the article, cuts on the table include:

Weekday trains would be reduced from 86 to 48, with service limited to commute hours.

No weekend service, eliminating up to 68 trains.

Service eliminated from Gilroy to the Diridon Station in San Jose.

Up to seven of 23 stations along the Peninsula closed.

The article also made the following point:

Caltrain is unique in the Bay Area, as it is the only transit line that lacks a dedicated source of funding. Instead, agencies from the three counties in which it runs contribute funds to help cover operating costs.

But the Valley Transportation Authority, SamTrans and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency all face their own budget battles and will reduce their aid by $25 million next fiscal year.

You can read the entire article here.

– – –

January 24, 2011

Upcoming Webinar – CALGreen

by Anna LaRue current events, energy • Tags: build it green, building green, building standards commission, calgreen, california green code, greenpoint rated, local governments, new buildings, reach code, voluntary tiers, water measures, webinar

GreenPoint Rated, CALGreen and You

Organized by Build It Green

January 27, 2011 (Thursday)

11:00 AM-12:30 PM

Earlier this year, the Building Standards Commission approved a landmark California Green Code, or CALGreen, for all new buildings in the state. The code has a list of mandatory green building measures that must be applied to every new building by January 1, 2011, while water measures go into effect July 2011. The California Green Code also provides two voluntary tiers that may be adopted by local governments as a reach code.

In this presentation, you will learn about:

The Green Code’s mandatory measures

Similarities and differences to GreenPoint Rated

Reasons to go beyond code

Ways local government can keep their GreenPoint Rated policy

How the Green Code will affect builders and local government officials

More information and links to register here.

– – –

January 21, 2011

2010 Livable Building Award Winners

by Anna LaRue current events • Tags: 654 minnesota street, air quality, building satisfaction, CBE, center for the built environment, design, kavli institute, lighting, livable building award, occupant IEQ quality survey, occupant satisfaction, operation, thermal comfort, UCSF

The Center for the Built Environment’s fourth annual Livable Building Award winners were announced in mid-December. The entries were judged on excellence of design, operation, and occupant satisfaction. According to a CBE press release:

Award entries are open only to the top scorers in CBE’s Occupant Indoor Environmental Quality Survey, which is used to study occupant satisfaction in terms of air quality, lighting, thermal comfort and overall building satisfaction and has been implemented in more than 860 buildings in North America and Europe.

The top award went to UC San Francisco’s 654 Minnesota Street project. Read about the UCSF project here.

The Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology was recognized with an honorable mention. Read about the Kavlie Institute and the other finalists here.

– – –

More information on the CBE Occupant Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) Survey is available here.

– – –

January 19, 2011

Upcoming Webinar – Commercial Lighting

by Anna LaRue current events, energy • Tags: commercial lighting, commercial lighting solutions, DOE, lighting, pacific northwest national laboratory, PNNL, webinar

DOE Commercial Lighting Solutions: Overview

Carol Jones, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Tuesday, January 25, 2011
11:00–12:00 pm Pacific (2:00–3:00 pm Eastern)

Commercial Lighting Solutions arms lighting practitioners, contractors and owners with time-saving and credible strategies to reduce energy use and qualify for incentives. Learn about the tool’s development and capabilities, and discover how the tool applies to a wide range of audiences and lighting projects.

More information and a link to register here.

– – –

January 17, 2011

Assorted Links

by Anna LaRue current events, links • Tags: california, california council on science and technology, CCST, controversy, federal limits, independent report, marin, marin county, pg&e, rohnert park, sherriffs, smartmeter ban, smartmeters, wireless, wireless devices, wireless utility meters

Here’s a quick round-up of some of some of the latest stories on the controversy surrounding the installation of SmartMeters in California, especially by PG&E.

– – –

According to an independent report by the California Council on Science and Technology, the intensity of the SmartMeters’ radiation falls well within federal limits for wireless devices.

– – –

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. does not plan to comply with Marin County’s moratorium on the installation of its controversial wireless utility meters (aka SmartMeters).

– – –

Marin County sherriffs announce that they will not enforce the SmartMeter ban.

– – –

Two women were arrested in Rohnert Park, California today for blocking a truck carrying smart meters. The arrests follow two earlier, similar ones in the area.

– – –

January 3, 2011

New Year, New Light Bulb Standards in CA

by Anna LaRue current events, energy • Tags: 100-watt bulb, 72-watt bulb, california, CEC, DOE, EISA, energy efficiency, energy independence and security act of 2007, incandescent, law, light, light bulb, light bulb standards, lighting efficiency, lumens, national standards

(Image credit: Wikimedia Commons)

– – –

A new federal law, the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA), creates new energy efficiency standards for light bulbs sold in California. According to a press release from the California Energy Commission:

While the country will adopt this standard on January 1, 2012, California was given authority to implement the national standards one year earlier to avoid the sale of 10.5 million inefficient 100-watt bulbs in 2011 which would cost consumers $35.6 million in higher electricity bills…

The standard in California states that a 100-watt bulb manufactured on or after January 1, 2011 must use 28 percent less energy (i.e. a 100-watt bulb may not use more than 72 watts). The new 72-watt replacement bulb will provide the same amount of light (i.e. lumens), use less power, and cost less to operate.

For more information, go to:

– – –

December 13, 2010

GreenTRIP Certification

by Anna LaRue energy, transportation • Tags: affordable housing, bayy area, certification program, density, drive less, greentrip, incentives, infill, less traffic, no car, parking, pilot projects, pollution, public transportation, residential infill, traffic, transform, transit, walkable communities

GreenTRIP is a certification program developed by TRANSFORM, an organization that “works to create world-class public transportation and walkable communities in the Bay Area.” According to the TRANSFORM website:

GreenTRIP is a powerful new certification program that rewards residential in-fill projects that apply comprehensive strategies to reduce traffic and greenhouse gas emissions. GreenTRIP certification standards supports projects providing appropriate amounts of parking and offer effective incentives for new residents to drive less and own fewer vehicles. Since these types of developments create less driving and use less land for parking, there’s more space for shops, services, and affordable homes – plus less traffic and pollution.

For more information on the certification and the pilot projects, visit the TRANSFORM website.

– – –