Blog: green local government

July 14, 2010

New local government resources launched
Local Government — green local government — Joanna Gubman
San Francisco City Hall

The California Sustainability Alliance continually develops resources to aid local governments in planning and implementing sustainability initiatives.  Just last week, we released our new Local Government Resources Toolkit, posted the workbook and best practices developed as part of the California Local Energy Efficiency Program (CALeep), and added a new section to our Emerald California toolkit featuring the city of Riverside’s innovative sustainability programs.

The Local Government Resources Toolkit helps cities and counties identify and locate tools to help their communities meet sustainability goals. These tools consist of informational reports and guides, calculators, and funding opportunities available from the state and federal government, utilities, and other organizations. The tools cover topics such as community development, housing, transportation, greenhouse gases, renewable energy, energy efficiency, and water efficiency and sustainability.

The Toolkit is designed for use by local government staff who are looking for a simple portal that identifies select useful sustainability resources. The toolkit is meant to serve as a first stop for such resources when local governments are looking for assistance in achieving their sustainability goals.  Please check it out and let us know what you think!

The Alliance also released new information about the Emerald California Pilot Program. Through the Emerald California program, the California Sustainability Alliance has worked collaboratively with the city of Riverside and the California Department of Conservation to identify opportunities to “stretch” the City’s existing sustainability goals in eight high priority policy areas. Our latest addition to the Emerald California toolkit documents the City of Riverside’s efforts to reach these stretch goals and serves as an example of best practices for other communities in California.

Take a look at Riverside’s cutting edge sustainability initiatives, which include:

  • A sustainable action plan, which provides a framework for implementing Riverside’s policy vision.
  • Innovative sustainability programs that target energy and water efficiency, waste reduction, and green economic development.
  • Innovative technologies such as a “grease to gas” program to generate electricity and a planned recycled water facility to reduce dependency on groundwater and imported water.
  • Unique and sophisticated marketing and communications strategy including websites dedicated to energy and water sustainability as well as a weekly “Green Power” radio show.

Our final release from these past few weeks documents the California Local Energy Efficiency Program (CALeep), which was designed to help local governments plan and implement highly effective energy efficiency initiatives within their communities.  Six pilot projects were conducted throughout the Pacific Gas and Electric and Southern California Edison service areas, assisting local governments in selecting and implementing energy efficiency programs and policies.  These pilot projects are incorporated into the CALeep Workbook, a tool that can be used by local officials and community activists to initiate, plan, organize, implement, and assess energy efficiency activities at the local and regional level, to support greenhouse gas reduction, job creation, water conservation, and green building.

We hope these tools will help those of you in local government to advance sustainability within your jurisdictions as you work to lead by example, positively influence your communities, and leverage local authority.  Use this space to tell us how your community is doing, and what types of resources and programs are working best for you.

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April 1, 2010

Seventh Annual Water Conservation Showcase-PG&E Pacific Energy Center, San Francisco
— green local government — California Sustainability Alliance

Water issues have always been an integral part of California history. Rapid growth led to rapid increase in water demand, and many rivers and lakes were modified or created to quench the thirst of the millions settling out West. Advances in technology and increasing environmental awareness in the government and corporate sectors led PG&E and the US Green Building Council to establish an annual Water Conservation Showcase, now in its seventh year.  The Alliance attended the March 23rd event, which consisted of keynotes, panels, and a detailed technology exhibition.

One of the more impressive case studies profiled at the exhibition is San Jose’s water recycling facility, built in 1997. The city of San Jose has the largest water recycling facility in the US, reusing 10,000 acre-feet (AF) per year (an acre-foot is the volume of an acre of water one foot deep, or approximately 326,000 US gallons). Sim Ong, the presenter and representative from San Jose, noted that out of the city’s 80 large water-chilled cooling towers for building air conditioning, 40 chillers (making up about 1,700 AF/year of potable water consumption) are located close enough to the recycled water pipeline to replace potable with recycled water. By using recycled water in the chiller towers, San Jose’s customers experience multiple benefits including lower cost, consistent quality, reliability of supply, and up to four LEED points. Improved reliability stems from the fact that recycled water supply is directly related to urban water consumption, which is fairly regular, whereas traditional water supplies fluctuate widely with weather and seasonal water conditions. Society also benefits by decreasing the amount of potable (potentially drinkable) water used and reducing wastewater runoff into San Francisco Bay.

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