Waiving fees and approving permits increases green building designs and construction
The County of San Diego’s policies and operations affect virtually every individual and visitor to San Diego County, as well as, businesses, other governmental organizations and Mexico. Through it's 57 departments, the County's policies and operations impact diverse areas such as air and water quality, the food people eat, the roads they drive on, community safety, recreational and educational activities, health services, elections, construction, and many others.
The County has adopted a Strategic Energy Plan to provide a comprehensive roadmap for achieving the County’s goals by setting specific objectives and identifying specific execution strategies in the areas of energy conservation, energy efficiency, renewable energy, sustainability programs, water conservation and reduced emissions. Through the Strategic Energy Plan, Board of Supervisor Policies, County Administrative Manual and General Plan, San Diego has adopted numerous environmental goals and policies, including:
Green Energy- Improve energy efficiency in existing facilities for energy use reduction including retrofits, purchasing policy, operations and maintenance activities and water efficiency.
- Set aggressive goals for energy efficiency and green building design and operation for new construction and major renovation.
- Provide for energy supply management for purchase of electricity and natural gas including distributed energy systems and third party power purchase agreements for renewable energy.
- Increase the deployment of on-site renewable energy systems at county facilities.
- Participate in electricity demand reduction programs.
- Monitor and reporting on building system performance through advanced metering in near real-time.
- Communicate and train the public and employees to encourage energy efficiency and conservation.
- Reduce energy consumption in the unincorporated areas through programs and Code updates and enforcement.
- Facilitate the deployment of renewable energy systems in the region.
- Support development of distributed energy systems and the support the value pricing of the energy that they produce, such as feed-in tariffs.
- Water Efficiency
- Adopt best practices for mobile car washing to prevent stormwater runoff.
- Reduce water usage and sewer discharge.
- Promote water-efficient landscape design.
- Waste Reduction
- Use duplex print to reduce paper consumption in County departments
- Procure recycled paper products for County departments.
- Divert solid waste from landfills by zoning, educational, agricultural and accommodation of recycling facilities.
- Green Building
- Sustain local wildlife and balance conservation against development.
- Waive fees for green building design and construction and green elements in wildlife rebuilding.
- Provide requirements and goals for green building design and lowest overall life cycle cost to reduce utility usage and impact on the environment.
- Clean Vehicles
- Adopt policy for mileage, fuel efficiency and alternative fuel vehicle (AFV) deployment.
- Reduce of petroleum demand through intelligent transportation system, update of bike master plan, planning for walkable communities, revision of zoning ordinances, transportation demand management programs and participation in regional planning forums.
- Reduce petroleum usage by reducing fleet mileage and improving miles per gallon.
