Statewide LG EE Best Practices: Weekly Update

Here are you wEEkly updates:


News and Announcements

1. Updated Version of the Proposition 39 (K-12) Snapshot is Now Online

Updated version of the Prop 39 K-12 program snapshot is now online measuring expenditures, estimated annual energy savings, and GHG reductions. More information on Prop 39 (California Clean Energy Jobs Act) can found here.

2. Multi-family Solar Development Webinar

Informational webinar which will provide background about the goals of the Virtual Net Metering Market Development Project supported by the Center for Sustainable Energy. Learn more about Virtual Net Metering and solar for multifamily dwellings here.

3. RFP: Low-Income Weatherization Program (LIWP)

Notice of Intent to Award is Today! The Low-Income Weatherization Program is an energy efficiency program administered by California Department of Community Services and Development to install a variety of energy efficiency measures, solar photovoltaics and solar water heater systems on low-income households located in disadvantaged communities.

4. Getting to Zero Carbon in Menlo Park: A Northern California Suburb Revamps Its Approach to the Built Environment

“…small cities have an important leadership role to play on climate action, because they account for more emissions and represent a larger share of the population than big cities.”

5. San Diego’s Climate Action Plan Making Progress—And Creating Jobs

Highlighting the impact and progress of the city of San Diego’s Climate Action Plan, not only providing environmental benefits but also improving the economy.


Reports and Resources

6. Integrated Emissions Visualization Tool

ARB has developed an integrated emissions visualization tool (IEVT) that allows users to locate and view emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) and criteria pollutants from large facilities in California. ARB is looking for feedback from the public and others users on this initial version of the IEVT.

7. Updated Cap-and-Trade Funding Guidelines

The Air Resources Board has published the Funding Guidelines Supplement for Fiscal Year (FY) 2016-17 Funds. The Supplement includes updated disadvantaged community investment targets for all FY 2016-17 budget appropriations and also provides criteria todetermine whether projects funded by the new FY 2016-17 appropriations will provide benefits to disadvantaged communities.

8. Draft 2015 SCE Home Energy Efficiency Survey Evaluation Report

The report is posted for public comment and review on the CPUC Public Document Area here. (Search: “Draft 2015 SCE HEES” ). Or you can click the title above to view the report directly.


Career Opportunities

9. Energy Specialist, San Francisco

The City and County of San Francisco Department of the Environment (SF Environment) is seeking an Energy Specialist who will assist in monitoring, evaluating, and implementing projects, programs and policies focused on Distributed Energy Resources including energy efficiency, renewable energy, energy storage and zero emission vehicles.

10. Energy Manager, San Francisco (Job ID: 6317)

San Francisco State University is seeking an Energy Manager to establish the campus as a national leader in sustainability and energy management. This position will provide a forward thinking energy professional with an opportunity to use the campus as a living laboratory to save energy, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and promote renewable energy.

11. Chief Executive Officer, Yolo County

The County of Yolo is conducting a recruitment on behalf of The Valley Clean Energy Alliance for the Chief Executive Officer position.

That's all for today! Cheers and have a great weekend!

Environmental Impacts of Cut Flowers

Some of you may not appreciate this blog post. I apologize in advance; I myself am very sad that one of my favorite things is so detrimental to the environment. I am talking about cut flowers, and unless you, like me, live in Seattle where five-dollar bouquets of local blooms are readily accessible, you are probably getting flowers that have been grown under terrible conditions and flown halfway around the world.

Most of the flowers we buy here in the States come from South America. The constant warm weather provides great growing conditions for the flowers, but to keep production at a maximum, the flowers are frequently sprayed with an excessive amount of chemicals. Then, to keep the flowers as fresh as possible, the flowers are flown to North America, transported across the continent in temperature-controlled trucks and stored in refrigeration units.

There are many issues here and it doesn’t end when someone buys a bouquet, but we’ll briefly touch on that later. Let’s start with the chemicals. The pesticides used are highly limited in all countries where these flowers end up, but not at all where the flowers are grown; these chemicals create higher risks of miscarriage, neurological problems and respiratory illnesses in the laborers, most of whom are women and sometimes children as well.

Once the flowers leave these chemical-ridden farms, they are transported over thousands of miles to grocery stores, floral shops and corner stands. Transportation is one of the leading generators of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. When millions of flowers are driven and flown this far each day, you can imagine how much the transportation of flowers must contribute to the pollution of our air and water. On top of all this, the flowers are stored in chilled warehouses after harvest and in refrigerated trucks to and from the airport. These refrigeration units are energy vampires to say the least!

To give you an idea of how much flowers can create a spike in GHG emissions, I’ll tell you about the consequences of floral purchases during a single Valentine’s Day in the United States. Americans purchase about 100 Million roses each year in early February and the transportation of these flowers from South America to North America and then throughout the U.S. and Canada produces 9,000 metric tons of CO2. The EPA’s GHG equivalence calculator tells us that these emissions equal ANNUAL emissions of nearly 1,900 passenger vehicles or CO2 emissions from over one million gallons of gasoline consumed. That’s not a trivial amount! Sadly, this is not even the end of the adverse effects.

Once these flowers are in the States, they are transported to various shops again via refrigerated truck and stored in chilled units until someone buys them. Then, after a few days or a week, the flowers are tossed in the trash since most cities don’t have composting resources, bins or ordinances. The flowers end up in landfills where they decay and emit methane, a gas more potent than CO2 and is the second most prevalent GHG contributor to global warming.

To top it all off, most grocery stores and flower shops wrap the flowers in cellophane and plastic tubes, which also go directly to the landfill.

When I first looked into this, I was determined to never buy fresh flowers again. However, you can make responsible floral purchasing decisions and not give up having a pretty bouquet in your home once in a while. Most importantly, determine what flowers are in season. You’ll be more likely to find flowers that have been grown locally and without all the chemicals. Also, ask your florist or local expert for sustainably grown and/or certified organic arrangements. These flowers, and other plants, will have been grown in a sustainable environment with socially responsible practices.

What’s your favorite flower? Do you know when it’s in season? See? No need to give up cut flowers completely! Just make sure you know what you’re getting.