For those of you who know who Pat Stoner is you likely are on his email distribution list and receive this update each week. We are grateful that Pat has agreed to allow our little blog to re-post his weekly update. If you have an interest in the happenings of energy efficiency and local government throughout California this is the update for you! If you love the information here, but want more in depth features be sure to check out Pat's quarterly newsletter, CURRENTS.

UPDATE for JULY 10, 2013

LEAD CEC COMMISSIONER WORKSHOP ON THE DEFINITION OF ZERO NET ENERGY IN NEWLY CONSTRUCTED BUILDINGS IN CALIFORNIA
The California Energy Commission Lead Commissioner on the Integrated Energy Policy Report (IEPR) will conduct a workshop to discuss the definition of "Zero Net Energy" as it relates to newly constructed buildings in California.

Commissioner Andrew McAllister is the Lead Commissioner for the 2013 IEPR. Other commissioners may attend and participate in this workshop. Commissioners and staff from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) may also attend and participate.

In Person Attendance

Thursday, July 18, 2013, 9:00 a.m.
CALIFORNIA ENERGY COMMISSION
1516 Ninth Street, First Floor, Hearing Room A
Sacramento, California
(Wheelchair Accessible)

Remote Attendance
You may participate in this meeting through WebEx, the Energy Commission's online meeting service. Presentations will appear on your computer screen, and you may listen to the audio via your computer or telephone. Please be aware that the meeting may be recorded.
To join a meeting:

VIA COMPUTER: Go to https://energy.webex.com and enter the unique meeting number: 923 288 296. When prompted, enter your information and the following meeting password: cec@0718

The "Join Conference" menu will offer you a choice of audio connections:

1. To call into the meeting: Select "I will call in" and follow the on-screen directions.
2. International Attendees: Click on the "Global call-in number" link.
3. To have WebEx call you: Enter your phone number and click "Call Me."
4. To listen over the computer: If you have a broadband connection, and a headset or a computer microphone and speakers, you may use VolP (Internet audio) by going to the Audio menu, clicking on "Use Computer Headset," then "Call Using Computer."

VIA TELEPHONE ONLY (no visual presentation): Call 1-866-469-3239 (toll-free in the U.S. and Canada). When prompted, enter the unique meeting number: 923 288 296. International callers may select their number from https://energy.webex.com/energy/globalcallin.php.

VIA MOBILE ACCESS: Access to WebEx meetings is now available from your mobile device. To download an app, go to www.webex.com/overview/mobile-meetings.html.

If you have difficulty joining the meeting, please call the WebEx Technical Support number at 1-866-229-3239.

For more information:
http://www.energy.ca.gov/2013_energypolicy/documents/index.html#07182013
(If link above doesn't work, please copy entire link into your web browser's URL)

EXISTING BUILDINGS DRAFT ACTION PLAN PRESENTATIONS AVAILABLE

Presentations from June 24, 25 and 28, 2013 Staff Workshops on The Comprehensive Energy Efficiency Program for Existing Buildings Draft Action Plan

For more information:
http://www.energy.ca.gov/ab758/documents/

WORKSHOP IN WE&T SCOPE OF WORK, JULY 29

Per Decision 12-011-015, the “Decision Approving 2013-14 Energy Efficiency Programs and Budgets,” the Investor Owned Utilities (IOUs) were directed to hire an expert entity to help design a comprehensive approach to the Workforce Education and Training issues (WE&T) inherent in their energy efficiency (EE) portfolios. The IOUs are pleased to announce that the UC Berkeley Donald Vial Center was selected after a formal solicitation review process.

The statewide IOU team invites all interested stakeholders to a public workshop during which the UC Berkeley team will present their work plan, in response to the IOU’s requested scope of work. Questions will also be welcomed.

Public Workshop: WE&T Consultant Contract – July 29, 2013, 10:00 am – Noon

California Public Utilities Commission (Room TBD)

505 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco 94102

Call-in/Webinar Details Will Be Provided

FREE WEBINAR: ADDRESSING CLIMATE CHANGE THROUGH COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND BEHAVIOR CHANGE

There will be a free one-hour webinar on Tuesday, July 16. It will feature best-selling author David Gershon who will share recent research and case studies on Addressing Climate Change through Community Engagement and Behavior Change.

Please note the start time in your time zone: 9 a.m. Pacific.

Register here: https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/256538070

David Gershon, co-founder and CEO of Empowerment Institute, is one of the world's foremost authorities on behavior-change, community engagement and large-system transformation. He is the author of 11 books, including "Social Change 2.0: A Blueprint for Reinventing Our World," and the best-selling "Low Carbon Diet: A 30 Day Program to Lose 5,000 Pounds." He co-directs Empowerment Institute's School for Transformative Social Change, which teaches change agents to design and implement stakeholder engagement and behavior change initiatives.

WATER-ENERGY TOOLKIT

The California Sustainability Alliance has released a Water-Energy Toolkit for Sustainable Development, a practical guide to implementing water-energy conservation policies and projects for local government, developers, water agencies and supporting parties.

The Alliance’s Toolkit is designed to provide four important stakeholder groups (water agency staff, policy makers, developers and water-energy conservation advocates) with the basic knowledge and resources needed to enable consideration of water-energy savings solutions in the community development process. Structured as an action-oriented and practical guidebook, the Toolkit offers simple steps, example roadmaps, and exemplary California case study examples of working projects to guide stakeholders through the key components of the water-energy sustainability decision-making process.

Download the toolkit for more details.

OPR'S NEW CLIMATE CHANGERS VIDEO

Check out OPR’s newest Climate Changers video: Crossing 400: The Keeling Curve Reaches a Historic Milestone. Ralph Keeling, geochemistry professor at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, talks about the @keeling_curve and a historic climate milestone: the carbon dioxide concentration in our atmosphere recently exceeded 400 ppm for the first time in human history. Dr. Keeling explains the consequences of this, outlines solutions, and addresses why time is of the essence.

OPR has also recently uploaded several other new videos to our Climate Changers YouTube Site, an innovative video initiative to share hot lessons and cool solutions. We invite you to browse through our video library and to become a "climate changer" by joining us in working toward a more resilient California.

"BAD INCENTIVES FOR GREEN CHOICES"

A new post by Severin Borenstein

Sure, I'd like to see a tax on gasoline that reflects its greenhouse gases emissions. If we can't or won't do that, then maybe subsidies for electric vehicles can imperfectly address some of the same goals. If not that, how about free EV charging? Free parking? Higher speed limits for EVs? Discount air travel for EV owners? Complimentary massages? By the time you got to the last couple ideas, you probably said "well that's ridiculous." At least I hope so. But where do you draw the "ridiculous" line? Click here for the whole post.

Also please visit Pat’s website: www.EECoordinator.info

Apollo 11 touched down on the Sea of Tranquility with the world watching.

The date was July 20, 1969.

"Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed," the spacecraft announced. Some hours later Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong took man's first steps on the Moon followed closely by fellow spaceman Buzz Aldrin.

Their footprints at Tranquility Base likely remain, a small sign of a massive accomplishment.

NASA's back in the historic footprint game again but in an entirely different way. The space agency, now somewhat redirected and fiscally leaner with the closure of the Space Shuttle program, has been constructing a facility that takes inspiration for its name from Tranquility Base and seeks to be a landmark in another sense, leaving as little footprint as possible.

Here on Earth

Sustainability Base, at Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., has been dubbed NASA's latest mission on Earth. The facility has received LEED platinum certification, the highest level of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating by the U.S. Green Building Council. Its design incorporates natural lighting, shading and fresh air. The interior boasts non-toxic materials and is, according to NASA, "a living prototype for buildings of the future."

The net-zero movement -- designing and building structures to make as little impact on the environment as possible -- is gaining steam, albeit slowly.

Commercial and residential buildings consume about 40 percent of all energy in the United States and about 70 percent of all electricity, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. And electricity consumption in the commercial building sector is expected to increase another 50 percent by 2025.

The net-zero or zero-energy building concept means commercial or residential buildings meet all their energy requirements from low-cost, locally available, nonpolluting, renewable sources, according to "Zero Energy Buildings: A Critical Look at the Definition," a 2006 study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. "At the strictest level, a ZEB generates enough renewable energy on site to equal or exceed its annual energy use," the study says.

Lunar design influence

Sustainability Base, which is shaped like two side-by-side crescents, gets its power from solar panels, wind energy and fuel cells. It's also chock full of other technologies that make it "capable of anticipating and reacting to changes in sunlight, temperature, wind and occupancy," officials say.

“What makes our building different than the other NASA LEED buildings is that preliminary data are already showing a net-energy positive profile. The building site contributes more energy to the grid than it receives from the grid," says Steven Zornetzer, associate center director for research at Ames, in a description of the base on Ames' website.

Because it also incorporates repurposed NASA aerospace technologies to optimize building performance, Sustainability Base's features cooler statistics than other net-zero buildings. For instance, it uses computational fluid dynamics to simulate environmental flows in and outside the building. This can mean air flows such as wind outside and air flow inside. The building's electronic systems calculate this information and incorporate the data into the heating and cooling systems, saving money in conventional heating and cooling.

Movement expands

Many efforts are under way to reduce production of greenhouse gases from the building sector. Retrofits of existing buildings, such as the iconic Empire State Building, have gained recognition, mostly because the energy-saving upgrades pay for themselves relatively quickly.

Measures are under way in a number of areas. They include sustainability policies from some of the largest publicly traded U.S. companies, efforts by states to increase efficiency through building codes (California's new rules took effect in 2011), programs by the U.S. Department of Energy to fund energy efficiency retrofits in municipal government buildings across the country and the whole house and passive house movements to increase efficiency in residential and commercial buildings.

The U.S. Department of Energy is seeking to develop the technology and a knowledge base for cost-effective zero-energy commercial buildings by 2025. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory already has created a classification system for net-zero energy buildings to aid in the standardization process. NREL's Research Support Facility on its Golden, Colo. campus also was certified LEED platinum and uses 50 percent less energy than if built simply to code. It's massive, too: 360,000 square feet.

Passive house

There's also the passive house movement gaining followers in this country. The practice is reaching quite a fervor in Europe. A house at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History designed with no furnace has been completed and is already catching attention. The residence, which uses passive house design and technology, cuts its greenhouse gas footprint and utility costs to the quick. SmartHome Cleveland received a national attention. One story said: "Because the house is so well insulated, it can hold heat from sunshine, body heat, lights and appliances."

The idea behind passive houses is that they use 90 percent less energy than a conventionally outfitted home of the same size. This also could apply to commercial buildings, but most information I've seen seems to keep this trend firmly entrenched in residential construction, at least in this country.

Passive House Institute U.S. defines the concept this way: It's a "very well-insulated, virtually air-tight building that is primarily heated by passive solar gain and by internal gains from people, electrical equipment, etc. Energy losses are minimized. Any remaining heat demand is provided by an extremely small source."

The push is to carbon neutrality.

The Passive House Institute says in the past decade about 15,000 buildings, mostly in Europe, have been designed and built or remodeled to passive house specifications. It's a small number but could gain significant influence as others see the lifetime benefits and reduced operating expenses -- not to mention the ecological rewards.

Statewide LG EE Best Practices Coordinator: Weekly Update Vol. VII, Issue II

Net-zero construction gains ground in U.S.