The City's NatureScape program helps residents and businesses incorporate water-wise, nature-friendly plants into their landscaping.
Chula Vista’s comprehensive approach to sustainability allows its programs and policies to complement each other. Chula Vista further leverages its programs through partnerships with other local, statewide, and national organizations and agencies. This section describes some of the City of Chula Vista’s community-based sustainability programs.
Home Upgrade, Carbon Downgrade
The Home Upgrade, Carbon Downgrade program is designed to facilitate the installation of energy-saving upgrades by helping residents and small businesses overcome common barriers such as acquiring upfront capital and simplifying the application processes to minimize time constraints for residents and small business owners.
The program offers point-of-sale discounts and rebates at local stores for community members who purchase energy and water-saving appliances to replace existing, inefficient models. To date, over 1,200 rebates (funded through federal Energy Efficiency & Conservation Block Grants) have been distributed in the community. These rebates have been leveraged with over $200,000 of California and utility-sponsored rebates, which further help residents and businesses afford new equipment, and helped to generate over $1.5 million in local appliance sales.
The program recently developed an energy retrofit incentive which provides a 1-to-1 match to the new statewide “Energy Upgrade California” program which promotes energy-saving whole home retrofits. To cover any remaining retrofit project costs, the program also offers a low interest loan fund for property owners interested in energy efficiency and renewable energy improvements. The revolving loan fund is structured so that participants’ loan terms will be based on the monthly cost savings generated by their energy-saving improvements.
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Free Resource and Energy Business Evaluation (FREBE)
Through the Free Resource and Energy Business Evaluation (FREBE) program, Chula Vista integrated energy and water efficiency evaluations into its business licensing process. Businesses receive a free energy and water evaluation of their facilities when their license is issued or renewed. City staff members perform approximately 1,200 evaluations annually.
FREBE evaluations include a review of building systems, the building envelope, office equipment, operational procedures, and energy bills. Recommendations from the FREBE evaluations enable businesses to voluntarily reduce energy use through energy and water efficiency upgrades and operational changes. Although the FREBE recommendations are not mandated for implementation, a recent survey of participating businesses showed that 64% of respondents implemented at least one recommendation from their FREBE evaluation and over 95% would recommend the evaluation to other businesses.
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Streetlight Assessment Project
The city’s Streetlight Assessment Project tested different lighting technologies to compare the relative energy and cost benefits among solid-state LED, high-pressure sodium, and induction technologies. Based on the outcomes of these tests, the city intends to convert existing high-pressure sodium lamps to LED fixtures which will reduce energy consumption and extend maintenance periods without reducing existing light levels. The City plans to begin converting 4,600 streetlights in residential areas to LED lighting technologies in 2011.
Landscape Water Conservation and Turf Lawn Conversion Program
The City Council approved a Landscape Water Conservation ordinance, which was drafted in collaboration with Otay Water District and Sweetwater Authority. The ordinance outlines new water-conserving landscape design criteria and promotes recycled and greywater for irrigation for some properties. To aid in compliance, the Outdoor WaterSmart Checklist promotes a wide range of water-saving design and operational features that can be incorporated into all landscaping. The checklist is complemented by free, on-line WaterSmart landscaping plans.
The City of Chula Vista’s NatureScape program provides residents and businesses free on-site assessments to evaluate opportunities to implement wildlife-friendly and water-conserving features, such as replacing turf lawn areas with xeriscape or WaterSmart landscaping. Properties that successfully meet the program’s requirements are eligible for certification through the National Wildlife Federation’s Backyard Wildlife Habitat program.
Finally, in order to lead by example, the City’s Public Works Department recently installed low water use landscaping on a main city thoroughfare, replacing over 9,000 square feet of existing turf. Funded by a $6,500 grant through Otay Water District’s Cash for WaterSmart Plants Program, the new landscaping reduces municipal utility costs while also creating a more beautiful urban environment.
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