Statewide LG EE Best Practices: Weekly Update

Here are your wEEkly updates:

1. Coordinator transition (and job announcement!): I will be leaving my position as your Statewide Local Government Energy Efficiency Best Practices Coordinator in early September. It’s been a real pleasure working to connect you all with best practices, resources – and to each other! LGC is actively recruiting to fill the Coordinator position, posted here – please share widely with friends and colleagues.

2. New from ACEEE: the Updates will be kept short this week, as I am offsite at the ACEEE Summer Buildings Study. Great new research and experience is being shared on everything from opportunities for rural small business programs, to energy code structures to increase compliance paths, to low-income energy efficiency program penetration, to updates on the City Energy Project, to successes in data quality management in Prop 39 rollout (and what this can mean for other programs). If you are interested in any of these topics please contact me – I will also be sharing out more next week and through the upcoming Fall edition of CURRENTS. (Miss the Summer edition? Click here)

3. New Window Film Calculator: The California Energy Commission (CEC) recently approved a new Window Film Savings Calculator designed by the International Window Film Association for use by local educational agencies to determine whether a window film installation project qualifies for funding under Proposition 39 for energy efficiency upgrades to educational facilities.

4. Federal Funding Opportunities: Get access to new funding opportunities in climate change mitigation and adaptation modeling, environmental health and water quality technical assistance have been released by the USEPA and the NIH.

5. Codes & Standards Team Call for Local Governments: A call between the IOU Codes and Standards team and local governments interested in resources for going beyond the energy code in their jurisdictions will take place next Tuesday, August 30th. If you are a local government and would like to join this call please contact me (jdecker@lgc.org).

6. ZNE/Geothermal Building Performance: We heard from several local governments at the SEEC Forum about the importance of not just design, but performance, in zero net energy buildings. (Learn from Berkeley, Santa Monica, SMUD, and San Diego County here). A geothermal zero net energy commercial office building in Florida has turned 4 years old, and operators and tenants have shared their experience – and the building’s performance – with the Sierra Club.

7. Support the International Energy Code: The Energy Efficiency Codes Coalition has mounted a national campaign to help support the latest update to the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC), and is looking for help from local governments that vote in their International Code Council (ICC) chapters! Learn why this is so important and access fact sheets here.

8. Cap and Trade Review: As California legislators approve Senate Bill 32, which would extend the emissions-reductions targets under the state’s existing Global Warming Solutions Act, LGC Executive Director Kate Meis reviews the benefits that have been realized by the landmark legislation and its revenue-generating companion cap-and-trade program. (View investments by region released from ARB, or more on cap and trade.)

9. Job announcement: The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is hiring for a City Engagement Manager with the City Energy Project (CEP) in the Urban Solutions program.

As always, you can keep track of relevant events by connecting to the EE Events Calendar, and find more resources being added daily on the EECoordinator website – including past WEEkly Updates.

That’s all for this week!

Statewide LG EE Best Practices: Weekly Update

Here are your wEEkly updates:

1. California Adaptation Forum: Last call for discounted rates for September’s 2^nd California Adaptation Forum! Register for the Forum by Wednesday, August 12 and receive $50 OFF One-Day and Full Forum rates! The Forum is an incredible opportunity to connect with hundreds of climate leaders from across the state. See more opportunities, a full Forum program, Forum events, plenary speakers and partners, and more.

2. Statewide Codes & Standards Team Conference Call: The Statewide Codes & Standards team works to develop resources to help local governments consider, adopt, and measure energy-saving successes from reach codes. If you are a local government interested in learning more, and/or hearing troubleshooting and success stories from other local governments across the state, please contact the Coordinator at jdecker@lgc.org to RSVP to this call.

3. New CEC Funding for EE Tech Demonstrations: On August 1^st, the California Energy Commission (CEC) announced a grant funding opportunity for Emerging Energy Efficient Technology Demonstrations (GFO-16-304), and will be holding a pre-bid conference workshop August 11^th.

4. CEC LinkedIn Networking Group for Open GFOs: Looking to find partners for the above grant funding opportunity? The California Energy Commission Networking Hub on LinkedIn has set up networking groups for the Technology Demonstration GFO, and three others.

5. Federal Gov. Energy Webinars this August: A list of August 2016 webinars is now available from federal agencies providing support on the EPA benchmarking tool Portfolio Manager, data center energy efficiency, EE financing, community resiliency through EE, resilient solar retrofits, waste management, and more.

6. What’s New with AB 802? In case you missed the July 22nd workshop held by the California Energy Commission on AB 802 implementation (Project Title, “Building Energy Use Disclosure and Public Benchmarking Program Mandated under Assembly Bill 802”), a transcript is now available from the CEC.

7. More on AB 802: Also in case you missed it: additional guidance linked to energy savings measurement was released in the CPUC’s recent decision providing guidance on Program Administrator EE business plans. (Need a refresher on AB 802?)

8. SB 350 Low-Income Barriers Workshop 8/12: The California Energy Commission conducting a workshop August 12th to gather input on barriers faced by low-income and disadvantaged communities to investing in energy efficiency and weatherization, installing solar photovoltaic and other renewable generating resources, and contracting opportunities for small businesses. This input will be included in the “Senate Bill 350 Barriers Study,” required by the Clean Energy and Pollution Reduction Act of 2015.

9. AB 32 EJAC Meeting 8/11-12: The AB 32 Environmental Justice Advisory Committee (Committee) will be meeting on August 11, 2016 from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm (PDT) and August 12, 2016 from 9:00 am to 3:30 pm (PDT) in Huron, CA.

10. Financing Tools for Local Gov Webinar 8/25: This webinar will discuss the various tools and products that the State of California is making available to local governments to promote clean energy projects for residents and business owners, and will showcase a new financing marketplace for finding energy project-related financing solutions. (Go Green Financing is a program under Energy Upgrade California, administered by the Center for Sustainable Energy.)

11. PACE’s Value to the Real Estate Market: Event/Webinar 8/18: This CEFAC event and webinar will explore the recent amendments to the residential PACE program, along with updates on consumer protection, regulatory changes, and market growth in California. Join the Center for Sustainable Energy for a panel discussion that will cover these topics and validate why PACE is vital to the residential energy efficiency financing market.

12. EV’s Role in ZNE: Webinar 8/17: The Center for Sustainable Energy (CSE) invites city and county staff, contractors, architects, and developers to a free webinar August 17^th on how electric vehicles (EVs) can help support zero net energy (ZNE) goals.

13. Energy Code Ace Webinar 8/23: We heard great feedback from local governments on energy code expert Gina Rodda’s presentation on energy code compliance tools at this year’s SEEC Forum. Now, Rodda will be teaching a “not-your-average webinar” on what’s new in the 2016 code in two sessions August 23rd.  Get the word out to your buildings departments!

14. CivicSpark Project Lessons Learned Webinars 8/23-8/24: CivicSpark is a Governor’s Initiative AmeriCorps program that provides capacity-building support to local governments to accelerate California’s response and resiliency to climate change. These webinars aim to provide a snapshot of some of the accomplishments of the 2015-16 service year, with an emphasis on sharing lessons learned and best practices.

15. New Integrative Business Model for ZNE: In the Rocky Mountain Institute’s new Insight Brief, An Integrative Business Model for Net Zero Energy Districts, RMI presents an innovative business model for developing net zero energy or ultra-low energy districts and details how pursuing net zero energy is not a cost, but rather a significant value driver.

16. EE Shows Its $ Value in SF Real Estate: As covered by BizJournal’s July 28th article, funding green upgrades is made easier as the market shows the value of and desire for energy efficient real estate.

17. California Releases Sustainable Freight Action Plan: In response to an Executive Order issued by the Governor last year, the state has released the California Sustainable Freight Action Plan, a comprehensive document that serves as a blueprint for transforming the state’s multi-billion dollar freight transport system into one that is environmentally cleaner, more efficient, and more economically competitive than it is today.

18. Energy Transition Podcast on EE: In a recent episode of the Energy Transition Show, Chris Nelder speaks to energy efficiency expert Matt Golden about raising the profile of energy efficiency, sharing that energy efficiency (looking nationally) has been disproportionately neglected considering its extreme value, and also stating that efforts to raise the profile to date have failed. Matt Golden shares some interesting food for thought.

19. Job announcement: The San Joaquin Valley Clean Energy Organization (SJVCEO) is hiring for a Project Analyst! Learn more here.

20. RFP announcement: The City of San Jose’s RFP for Environmental Sustainability Plan Consultant Services closes August 12^th.

As always, you can keep track of relevant events by connecting to the EE Events Calendar, and find more resources being added daily on the EECoordinator website – including past WEEkly Updates.

That’s is all for this week!

Statewide LG EE Best Practices: Weekly Update

Here are your wEEkly updates:

1. Updates from the EE Coordinating Committee: for meeting updates, reminders on comment deadlines, and a change in schedule for business plan development, see this week’s updates from the CA EE Coordinating Committee (CAEECC).  For more background on the Committee and how they facilitate local government and other stakeholder feedback on how EE funds are administered, check out the CAEECC website or take a look at this FAQ.

2. Communicating on EE: Need help communicating the value of EE in your community? This GreenBiz excerpt from the book Energy is Human describes some best practices for rethinking how we talk about efficiency.

3. Need EE Code Trainings? Did you know you can request a Title 24 Part 6 Essentials training be brought to a location of your choice? You can – and it’s free of charge – click here for details.

4. Over $457M in Funding Available: more than $457 million is available at the federal level for local and tribal government climate and energy activities: including pre-disaster mitigation, community resiliency, and air pollution reduction.

5. Keeping EE Affordable: As we’re seeing more and more about how efficient buildings are more valuable buildings (due to their lower cost of ownership and more), GreenBiz reviews how to keep upfront costs off low-income residents.

6. Multi-family EE resources: Affordable housing is often multi-family housing. For a list of resources in California specifically dedicated to multi-family EE, click here. Or take a look at multi-family EE program best practices in this 2015 report.

7. New Multi-family EE Strategies in NY: Looking outside California, a new multi-family energy program was announced this week from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA).

8. Making EE Buildings Visible: while on the subject of EE in buildings with multiple stakeholders: the US Dept. of Energy announced a new partnership under the Better Buildings Initiative with a firm that provides data intelligence to commercial real estate to improve the visibility of EE benefits.

9. Energy storage and microgrids: get new coverage from Navigant on the role of energy storage as the microgrid market matures.

10. The CPUC on microgrids and more: the CPUC issued a new proposed decision last week proposing a number of updates to California’s Self Generation Incentive Program (SGIP).

11. Best practices in reducing plug load: Environmental Leader came out with five recommendations on checking appliances and reducing plug load in response to recent EPA audit results. A recent article from the NY Times also provides transparency on what appliances are consuming even in off or standby modes. For more on plug load, click here.

12. EE Computer Standards: while on plug load: the CEC has shared the transcript of its recent workshop on computer efficiency standards.

13. Seeking input on statewide EE programs: this week, the CPUC also released a new ruling seeking to work through approaches to statewide and third party programs and approaches in how EE funding and offerings are administered. A number of program categories are proposed for statewide implementation. Comments on this new approach are due June 10^th. More on the restructuring of EE program timelines and review available here.)

14. Opportunities in electric water heaters: A new study by the Brattle Group finds significant residential savings opportunities through electric water heaters.

15. More reasons to take air pollution seriously: Need help communicating the importance of clean air? A new study confirms that air pollution contributes to the #1 cause of death.

16. New podcast from DOE: Get connected to a new “Direct Current: podcast released this month from the Department of Energy!

17. Waste Heat is Power: For an old but innovative approach to efficiency, learn from Berkeley Engineer how a firm is using thermoelectrics to convert waste heat to energy.

18. Job Announcement: Cleantech San Diego is hiring for a Project Manager!

19. Job Announcement: San Diego State University is hiring for an Energy Analyst!

20. Energy Data Survey: as a reminder, the Energy Data Access Committee wants to hear from local governments re: their experience accessing data for climate action planning, through this survey available for a limited time here.

21. Weatherization Reminder: Interested in informing weatherization program development based on needs you see in your community? The Department of Community Services and Development (CSD)’s June 2^nd workshop is coming up: RSVP to attend in person or by webinar here.

As always, you can keep track of relevant events by connecting to the EE Events Calendar, and find more resources being added daily on the EECoordinator website – including past WEEkly Updates. 

That’s all for this week!

Statewide LG EE Best Practices: Weekly Update

Here are your wEEkly updates:

1. EE Coordinating Committee Update: Interested in how agricultural energy efficiency programs will provide funding in coming years? The Agricultural Subcommittee meeting is going on today – click here to learn how to join in person or by phone/web.

2. For a weekly round up from the Coordinating Committee, click here.

3. More on EE Program Planning: as the business plans for future EE programming develop, the CPUC shares additional guidance on what those business plans should look like. To learn more, click here.

4. Save the Date: Weatherization Program Development: The Department of Community Services and Development (CSD) is hosting a public comment opportunity on the design of the Low Income Weatherization Program (LIWP) June 2^nd. More information is available here.

5. Save the Date: Upcoming Codes and Standards: BayREN will be holding a Forum on June 22^nd covering what’s new in the 2016 codes and standards (which become effective January 1^st). To learn more, click here.

6. Evaluating EE Programs: The U.S. EPA is holding a webinar on May 23^rd to share best practices in planning and budgeting for EE program evaluation. For more click here.

7. EE and Clean Energy Results and Best Practices: The U.S. Dept. of Energy’s Better Buildings Challenge partners are showing powerful results, and the Challenge released a Progress Update this week to show it. The Better Buildings Challenge is also kicking off three new Accelerator programs, focusing on low-income, CHP, and wastewater. See more on the Partners, and the results, here.

8. New Low-Income EE/Renewable Resources: PG&E is joining the Better Buildings Challenge’s new Low Income Communities Accelerator, bringing more resources to disadvantaged communities – learn more here.

9. ESA Program Boost to Mitigate Blackout Risks: SCE and SoCal Gas will be offering more through a $250 million add to the Energy Savings Assistance program – learn more here.

10. New List of All Climate Change Investments Released by ARB: for more, click here.

11. Water and Climate: A new report from the UN states that water is the climate challenge.  For information on big opportunities for water savings in California shared by an engineering firm in the recent public sector subcommittee meeting, new resources from San Diego County Water Authority, and more on what local governments are doing to reduce water consumption, click here.

12. Roadmap for Microgrid Commercialization: Interested in microgrids? The CEC, CPUC, and CAISO are holding a workshop May 24^th to kick off development of a roadmap for microgrid commercialization in California. Learn more here.

13. Deep Retrofits for Small Businesses: Congratulations to the Association of Bay Area Governments for being awarded funding under the U.S. DOE’s Commercial Buildings Integration Program! Learn more here.

14. EE and solar installed in Yuba City: Congrats to Yuba City for completing installations of solar and energy efficiency measures in 16 city facilities. For more on what they’re saving through their energy performance contract, click here. For more on performance contracting in California, click here.

15. California’s Solar Ordinances in the News: Environmental Leader covers how requirements for solar help grow the solar market and the ability for solar to provide a direct return on investment. For more click here.

16. EJAC meeting online: If you missed the Environmental Justice Advisory Committee meeting this week, you can watch it online here.

17. Best Practices in Multi-Family EE Programming: reaching EE savings in multi-family residential can be challenging, but holds great opportunities. Learn more on best practices in program approach from ACEEE here. For more multi-family resources, click here.

18. New numbers on DR: Greentech Media finds more than 9.3 million customers in the U.S. are enrolled in demand response.

19. EVs Spread in Sonoma: Learn more about how Sonoma Clean Power is growing its electric vehicle footprint in 500 new charging stations here. For more on electric vehicles, click here.

20. Job announcements: San Francisco State is hiring for a Senior Director of Facilities Operations and a Senior Energy Manager! Learn more here.

21. Job announcement: California State University is hiring for a Sustainability Program Assistant! Learn more here.

22. A 1-Question Survey: Build It Green is looking for answers, or specifically, one answer, on local government interest in energy ordinance tracking. To help them out, click here.

As always, you can keep track of relevant events by connecting to the EE Events Calendar, and find more resources being added daily on the EECoordinator website.

That’s all for this week!