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Current Status: Over
Results: Appear Favorable
Based on preliminary indications, it appears that almost all cities in Alameda County will be contributing towards the development of stopwaste.org’s “Green Packages” program. This is county-wide program for improving existing buildings and landscapes that maximizes the long-term benefits from Federal Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) ‘formula’ distributions to Alameda County jurisdictions, and increases competitiveness for additional funding. The project will promote a comprehensive green approach (energy, water, waste, health, resources) even if only a portion can currently be financed. It will promote these packages as a regional and statewide standard.
The project will also develop a Technical Advisory Group to help make specifications widely accepted and useful; conduct extensive outreach to help property owners know their retrofit options; perform training, verification and tracking to help property owners and funders maintain quality; and leverage funding for implementation from multiple sources.
The campaign below was started May 18, 2009
Now is the time to let our local government officials know that a comprehensive building retrofit and solar program will generate thousands of new long term jobs while maximizing quantified energy, water, and carbon reductions.
While we applaud Berkeley for their work on sustainable energy financing districts, financing alone will not get the East Bay anywhere close to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) 2020 target of a 40% energy reduction on average for all homes. We recommend that East Bay Cities set aside a small portion (e.g., 10%) of their stimulus funds for the administration of a county-wide program that coordinates workforce development, outreach, and quality assurance on a regional basis while enabling cities to address their city-specific needs.
Investing in a comprehensive community-scale building retrofit program would provide much greater returns than putting solar on municipal buildings. Benefits include increased sales tax revenue, new long term jobs, and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
Our Recommendation
We recommend that local governments invest 10% of their Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) formula dollars to help build program infrastructure and necessary program elements (e.g. workforce, marketing & outreach, quality assurance, administrative, etc.) needed for successful implementation of sustainable energy financing district. Furthermore, we further recommend that cities in Alameda county work together to apply for the competitive EECBG grants.
Organizations supporting comprehensive AB811 type programs and the idea of setting aside some stimulus funding for such a program include:
County of Los Angeles Alameda County CDA StopWaste.org City of Irvine City of San Rafael City of Santa Rosa City of San Leandro City of Calistoga Green Capital Alliance in Sacramento Region Sonoma County |
California Center for Sustainable Energy Build It Green Local Clean Energy Alliance Bay Localize Emerson Environmental Environmental Building Strategies Renewable Funding Sun Light & Power Stone & Youngberg LLC BKi |
Act Now!
Please send an email or call the key influencers in your locale. Contacts for Oakland, Berkeley, and Hayward are below. Please also email dave@baylocalize.org to let us know who you contacted so we can track the outreach.
Talking points
Overview of the Recommended Program
Voluntary AB811 or Mello Roos special districts are the centerpiece of the program because they remove the high first cost barrier by providing low-interest long-term financing to building owners via annual property tax payments that transfer with the building when sold. However, in order to ensure significant market penetration and program success several supporting program elements are required. These include consistent and credible program standards for energy efficiency with clear verification protocols, training to ensure a robust and capable workforce, an effective marketing and outreach strategy offering bundled incentives to attain high participation, and a strict quality assurance program to protect consumers and reduce local government liability. In addition, ongoing tracking, measurement, and reporting is required to ensure program effectiveness and to quantify energy, water, and carbon reduction benefits.
A portion (10%) of each participating local government’s ARRA Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) funding would be committed to help build program infrastructure and necessary program elements (e.g. policy, workforce, marketing & outreach, quality assurance, administrative, etc.) needed for successful implementation of an AB811 or Mello Roos special assessment district. The California Energy Commission (CEC) is exploring the potential of matching that amount if local governments join larger county or COG-level aggregations for greater efficiency. AB811 or Mello Roos special assessment districts and new mortgage instruments such as FHA 203K loans would provide the financing to building owners. New and expanded 2009-11 utility-funded programs will add cash incentives for both broad building retrofits and renewables. NSP funds also can be utilized to retrofit foreclosed properties and incorporate green improvements.
Oakland | |||
Key Stimulus Advisors from Council and the Mayor's Office | |||
Ada Chan | Councilor Kaplan's Policy Aide | 238-7083 | |
Margaretta Lin | Mayor's office | 238-3141 | |
Zach Wald | Councilor Brunner's Chief of Staff | 238-7001 | |
Key Policy Shapers | |||
Susan Kattchee | Environmental Services Manager | 238-6382 | |
Garrett Fitzgerald | Sustainability Coordinator | 238-6197 | |
Scott Wentworth | Energy Engineer | 238-3984 | |
City Council | |||
Jane Brunner | 1st District | 238-7001 | |
Pat Kernighan | 2nd District | 238-7002 | |
Nancy Nadel | 3rd District | 238-7003 | |
Jean Quan | 4th District | 238-7004 | |
Ignacio De La Fuente | 5th District | 238-7005 | |
Desley Brooks | 6th District | 238-7006 | |
Larry Reid | 7th District | 238-7007 | |
Rebecca Kaplan | At-large | 238-7008 | |
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Berkeley | |||
Key Stimulus Advisors | |||
Julie Sinai | Mayor's Office Chief of Staff | 981-7100 | |
Nils Moe | Mayor's Office | 981-7100 | |
Key Policy Shapers | |||
Neal DeSnoo | Energy Officer | 981-7439 | |
City Council | |||
Linda Maio | 1st District | 981-7110 | |
Darryl Moore | 2nd District | 981-7120 | |
Max Anderson | 3rd District | 981-7130 | |
Jesse Arreguin | 4th District | 981-7140 | |
Laurie Capitelli | 5th District | 981-7150 | |
Susan Wengraf | 6th District | 981-7160 | |
Kriss Worthington | 7th District | 981-7170 | |
Gordon Wozniak | 8th District | 981-7180 | |
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Hayward | |||
Key Stimulus Advisors | |||
David Rizk | Director of Development Services | 583-4004 | |
Erik Pearson | Senior Planner | 583-4210 | |
Mayor and City Council | |||
Michael Sweeney | Mayor | 583-4340 | |
Olden Henson | Councilman | 583-4353 | |
Bill Quirk | Councilman | 583-4355 |
Attachment | Size |
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BKi COMPREHENSIVE RETROFIT and SOLAR PROGRAM Overview--summary.pdf | 305.03 KB |