British Columbia Parliament (Photo: Flickr)

British Columbia recently became the first government in North America to put in place a consumer-based carbon tax. The revenue-neutral tax, which will apply to gasoline, diesel, natural gas, coal, propane and home-heating fuel, takes effect July 1. Initially, consumers will pay about 2.5 cents (CAD) more per liter ($0.10 per gallon USD) for gasoline. The tax will increase each year until it reaches 7.2 cents per liter ($0.28 per gallon) in 2012. The tax on other fuels will rise by a comparable amount. British Columbia’s Finance Ministry estimates that consumers using natural gas to heat their homes and water will pay $60 (CAD) more for fuel in 2008, rising to $180 by July 2012. To offset these increases, the provincial government is offering tax incentives toward the purchase of energy-efficient appliances and fuel-efficient vehicles, and it is reducing corporate, small business and personal income taxes.

• Read “$1 Billion Over 4 Years to Fight Climate Change,” By Jonathan Fowlie and Fiona Anderson, Vancouver Sun (2/22/08)
• Read more: “San Francisco Mayor Proposes Carbon Tax to Encourage Businesses to Invest in Efficiency” (e-Newswire, 12/12/07)
• Read more: “Portland Proposes Carbon Tax, Cash Reward to Encourage Energy-Efficient New Homes” (e-Newswire, 11/14/07)
• Learn how energy efficiency helps combat climate change

The d’Souza/de la Torre residence, a nearly energy self-sufficient, solar-powered green home located in Belmont (Photo: San Mateo County)

Last month, San Mateo County approved a new Green Building Ordinance that sets minimum building efficiency standards and offers expedited permit processing for high-performing residential, commercial and industrial buildings. The minimum standards and expedited permitting are tied to buildings’ performance under Build It Green’s GreenPoint Rated and the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating systems. Here are key points of the new ordinance:

• New residential construction and remodels that are 50% or greater are required to reach a minimum of 50 GreenPoints or LEED for Homes certification
• Residential projects that reach 75 GreenPoints or higher receive expedited permit processing
• Commercial and industrial buildings over 3,000 square feet are required to be LEED Certified
• Commercial and industrial projects that reach LEED Silver certification can receive guaranteed building inspections within two working days of a request for inspection

The Green Building Ordinance complements a Sustainable Building Policy, established in December 2001, which requires San Mateo County buildings over 5,000 square feet to achieve the highest possible LEED rating.

• Read background on and the full text (PDF, 169 KB) of San Mateo County’s Green Building Ordinance
• Read more: “Northern California Home Builders Pledge to Cut in Half the Energy Consumed in New Homes by 2020” (e-Newswire, 1/23/08)
• Read more: “New Energy Ordinance to Make Santa Barbara’s Buildings 40% More Efficient Than Any Other U.S. City” (e-Newswire, 11/14/07)
• Read more: “City of Corona Adopts Ordinance That Fast-Tracks Green Buildings” (e-Newswire, 10/31/07)
• Read Flex Your Power’s best practices guide for local governments

The Sacramento headquarters for the California Department of Rehabilitation recently became the first renovated state building to receive a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating from the U.S. Green Building Council. The circa-1950s, 145,000-sq.-ft. building, formerly home to the Department of Education, is now 15% more efficient than required under California’s Title 24 building efficiency standards. Designers replaced the HVAC and mechanical systems and lighting with energy-efficient products, installed an ENERGY STAR qualified cool roof and added insulation to the exterior walls and roof. Low-E glazing on the windows helps prevent heat gain and heat loss, and low-flow faucets and toilets are expected to reduce water consumption by nearly 25%. The Department of General Services reports that 10 state buildings have earned LEED ratings, 200 existing state buildings are pursuing the distinction and more than 200 new state buildings are being designed and built to earn LEED Silver, as required in Governor Schwarzenegger’s Green Building Initiative.

• Read background
• Read more: “Treasurer Lockyer Proposes $5 Billion Bond Measure to Fund Solar and Efficiency Upgrades for State Buildings” (e-Newswire, 8/22/07)
• Read more: “State of California and Utilities Team Up to Save Energy in State Buildings” (e-Newswire, 9/06/06)
• Read more: “California Dept. of Education Building Earns Highest LEED Rating and State Releases Green Building Initiative Update” (e-Newswire, 8/09/06)
• Energy efficiency resources for government

(Photo: Northwestern University)

“The lesson is important: price stimulates inventive activity. Even if you think the price is too low or ridiculous. Carbon has to be rationed, like water and clean air. But I absolutely promise that if you design a law and a trading scheme properly you are going to find everyone from professors at M.I.T. to the guys in Silicon Valley coming out of the woodwork. That is what we need, and we need it now.”

• Read “Big Foot,” By Michael Specter, The New Yorker (2/25/08)

The California Public Utilities Commission and California Energy Commission recently issued an update (PDF, 5 MB) to the state’s Energy Action Plan, which the agencies last revised in 2005. The report sets goals for meeting electricity and natural gas needs in California, and it emphasizes that greater energy efficiency and demand response efforts are needed to help comply with the state’s landmark greenhouse gas laws, AB 32 (the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006) and SB 1368 (the emissions performance standard for all retail providers of electricity in California). The update asserts that efficiency is the most important tool for GHG reduction in the energy and gas sectors and that “meeting our AB 32 goals will require, under any scenario, unprecedented levels of energy efficiency investment.” The EAP reported that conservation from utility efficiency programs has remained about the same since the mid-1980s, while savings from building and appliance standards have risen. And, because “current rebate programs have not been adequate to capture all cost-effective energy savings” in buildings, the plan calls on utilities to offer customers comprehensive packages and strategies to save energy. To “reinvigorate” the effort to reach 5% of peak demand coming from consumers responding to prices, a goal called for in the original EAP, the update recommends understandable and transparent dynamic-pricing tariffs and demand response programs, time-differentiated default rates for large users and the pairing of advanced meters with automatic infrastructure and dynamic-pricing tariffs from public utilities.

• Read the 2008 Update to California’s Energy Action Plan
• Read “Updated Energy Action Plan Takes a Climate-Change State of Mind,” By Hillary Corrigan, California Energy Markets (2/22/08) (subscription required)
• Read more: “CEC’s Draft 2007 Integrated Energy Policy Report Recommends Feed-In Tariffs for Renewables, Ramped Up Efficiency Efforts” (e-Newswire, 10/17/07)
• Read more: “CPUC Proposal Would Require ‘Zero Net Energy’ Buildings, Urges Utilities to Develop Unified Statewide Efficiency Plan” (e-Newswire, 10/3/07)
• Read more: “CPUC Approves Deal to Allow Commercial Building Owners in PG&E Territory to Individually Meter Tenants” (e-Newswire, 9/19/07)

CPUC Commissioner Dian Grueneich presents Steve Diels of Aamcom with an Energy Efficiency Award at the 5th Annual Flex Your Power Awards (Photo: Flex Your Power)

Aamcom’s call center based in Redondo Beach has taken a number of steps to slash energy use, including installing IntelliCon controls on the three HVAC units. The upgrade enabled the HVAC units to operate 15% more efficiently by regulating the A/C on-off cycles. Aamcom also converted all lighting to second-generation compact fluorescent and electronic ballast fluorescent lighting, switched 30 computer monitors to flat panels, and installed an efficient roof that allows fans to blow in cool outside air and vent hot air through high windows. Aamcom also recently installed a new photovoltaic system. Aamcom was the recipient of an Energy Efficiency Award in the 5th Annual Flex Your Power Awards.

• Read background
• Read more about Intellidyne’s IntelliCon energy management controls
• View the winners of the 5th Annual Flex Your Power Awards
• Read Flex Your Power’s best practices guide for commercial office buildings

User tries the “Home Green Home” kiosk at the Arrowhead Credit Union branch in downtown San Bernardino (Photo: Intergy Corporation)

Southern California residents looking for ways to save energy in their new or existing homes can visit any of 16 Arrowhead Credit Union branches in the Inland Empire now hosting “Home Green Home” kiosks. The interactive video kiosks, developed by Intergy Corporation for Southern California Gas Company and Southern California Edison, provide users with energy- and money-saving tips, information on how to collect rebates for energy-efficient products and services, and guidance on how to obtain loans for energy efficiency upgrades. Kiosk users can also complete a Home Energy and Water Efficiency Survey that gives homeowners customized energy-saving recommendations. The first 600 customers who complete the survey will receive a complimentary gift card.

• Read background (PDF, 88 KB)
• Read more: “Energy Efficiency on the Road: New Technology in Hotels Has Guests Aware of Energy Use, Changing Behavior” (Power Plug, 11/16/07)
• Read more: “GE’s ‘Eco-Dashboard’ Aims to Help Homeowners Cut Their Utility Bills” (e-Newswire, 11/14/07)
• Find rebates, incentives and services for your home

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) new guidebook, Ensuring a Sustainable Future: An Energy Management Guidebook for Wastewater and Water Utilities (PDF, 1.9 MB), helps utilities assess their current energy costs and practices, set measurable performance improvement goals and monitor and measure their progress over time. Developed with the help of the utilities, the guidebook follows the Plan-Do-Check-Act methodology typical of environmental management systems and other utility management tools. According to the EPA, there are 15,000 wastewater systems in the U.S. and water and wastewater industries account for an estimated 75 billion kilowatt-hours of overall U.S. electricity demand. The majority of energy use occurs in the treatment process (aeration) and pumping of water. Drinking water and wastewater systems in the U.S. spend about $4 billion a year on energy to pump, treat, deliver, collect and clean water. If drinking water and wastewater systems reduce energy use by just 10% through cost-effective investments, collectively they could save approximately $400 million and 5 billion kilowatt-hours annually.

• Read Ensuring a Sustainable Future: An Energy Management Guidebook for Wastewater and Water Utilities, U.S. EPA, January 2008
• Read more: “California Water Supply Electricity Demand Tops 2,000 MW on Peak Days, Report Says“ (e-Newswire, 4/4/07)
• Read more: “EPA Looking to Certify WaterSense Partners” (e-Newswire, 11/15/06)

HydroPoint, maker of WeatherTRAK, recently announced that Solano County Water Agency (SCWA) is subsidizing the cost of its smart water management network for companies in Solano County and parts of Yolo County. Lowe’s, Phillips Edison other businesses are participating in SCWA’s program, which is expected to reduce landscape water use by about 30 million gallons and to conserve 45,000 kilowatt-hours of power annually. The WeatherTRAK smart water management network automatically adjusts irrigation based on local weather conditions and landscape characteristics. Outdoor landscapes, which receive 58% of urban water — more than all indoor appliances combined — are typically over-watered by 30% to 300%, according to HydroPoint. The excess water contributes to urban runoff and wastes energy — with 1,500 kilowatt-hours of electricity needed for every 1 million gallons of water consumed, according to EPA estimates. HydroPoint says that public agency studies prove that WeatherTRAK cuts water waste by up to 95% and reduces runoff pollution by 71%.

WeatherTRAK uses satellite technology to irrigate based on the weather (Graphic: HydroPoint)

• Read background
  
• Use HydroPoint’s Water Savings Calculator
• Read more: “San Diego Program Conserves 13% of City’s Water Use and Produces Nearly $200,000 in Energy Savings” (e-Newswire, 10/31/07)
• Read more: “Bay Area Water Agencies Launch ‘Water Saving Hero’ Conservation Campaign” (e-Newswire, 7/25/07)