Since 2008, Balboa Park Sustainability Program has hosted more than 4,000 attendees at sustainability programs and workshops.
BPCP has worked to integrate sustainability efforts into Balboa Park’s strategy and operations. These efforts save money and natural resources, enhance the long-term preservation of Balboa Park, and enable member institutions to direct more funds to serving their individual missions. The Partnership set sustainability goals for 2015 to mark the centennial anniversary of Balboa Park and developed metrics to track progress with input from its member institutions.
Shared Vision---BPCP Sustainability 2015 Goals
BPCP developed sustainability goals to help its member organizations identify and implement sustainability opportunities. While BPCP member organizations have many of their own sustainability goals and policies, BPCP leveraged its understanding of its member institutions to create collective sustainability goals for 2015. These goals build off of member institutions’ public service missions, serving as a model of how sustainability initiatives can reflect an organization’s overall values and core competencies.
Identified strategies include:
- Action 1: Establishing benchmarks for, coordinating, and monitoring the progress of all green projects pertinent to member institutions and Balboa Park as a whole
- Action 2: Serving as the recognized hub for information exchange and sharing (internally and externally) related to green projects in the Park
- Action 3: Providing education and training for cultural institutions and the public (in coordination with BPCP members) to advance green projects benefiting the Park and region
- Action 4: Helping to prioritize green projects affecting BPCP member institutions and the Park, and attract financial and in-kind support to complete them
Using this shared vision for sustainability as a guide, BPCP member institutions agree to share information and track their progress using metrics developed through a collaborative process.
Education
- Encourage green workforce development by offering a variety of educational opportunities with a goal of 10,000 attendees
- Increase Park visitation by 25% by promoting eco-tourism opportunities
- Incorporate sustainability education in 25% of museum exhibits and performance arts
- Become a biomimicry education campus in partnership with the San Diego Zoo, attracting 2,500 attendees yearly
- Establish an environmental sustainability education center accessible to all visitors
Practices
- Create a resource management model to increase waste reduction/diversion by 50%
- Increase procurement of green items by 50% over current practices
- Increase shared services by 25% over current levels
- Reduce water consumption by 40%
Measurement
- Achieve 100% member participation in EPA ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager to measure and benchmark building energy and water use
- Achieve LEED® certification for ten or more facilities
Retrofits
- Save $1.5 million annually by reducing energy and gas usage by 10M kWh and 200,000 therms
- Increase solar power capacity by 3.0 Megawatts
- Install a cogeneration plant
Metrics
BPCP’s Environmental Sustainability Program developed social, environmental, and financial metrics to track the progress of goal achievement across the Park’s member institutions. The table below describes the Social, Environmental and Financial metrics of the Environmental Sustainability Program.
| Category | Metric | Activities Conducted and Tools Used |
| Social | The number and type of engagements with key stakeholders | Follow up after events with surveys to determine comprehension, interest, and planning for the future. |
| Environmental | kWh, GHG, or therms saved during a specific time period | Use benchmarking programs such as Energy Star Portfolio Manager, Climate Registry, EDCO waste audits, and SDG&E kWickview, to track environmental performance. |
| Financial | Cost savings | Measure cost savings and jobs retained from sustainable projects, as well as savings from shared resources within the Park. |
BPCP uses these metrics
