Southern California Green Real Estate Blog

SMART ENERGY EFFICIENCY FOR YOUR BUSINESS

Edited by Jodi Summers

You have LEED, ICC, USGBC and SMART. As we haven’t covered the last acronym before, allow us to elaborate SMART stand for Specific, Measurable, Accountable, Realistic, and Time-bound, and has been used in mission and goal-setting exercises for years. According to a recent report on best practices in business energy efficiency by the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, the SMART concept provides guidance to other companies seeking to develop new, or strengthen existing, energy efficiency programs.

The Pew Center report titled, “From Shop Floor to Top Floor: Best Business Practices” notes way makes the SMART concept specific and unique to energy efficiency strategies are the following characteristics:

•• Goals are organization-wide. Today’s best efficiency strategies engage most facilities, plants, and organizational units, instead of focusing on specific plants, facilities, or processes.

•• Goals are also translated into operating/business unit goals. Effective strategies need to be set, and bought into, at the operating unit level as well as corporation-wide.

•• Goals are specific enough to be measured. Effective efficiency strategies set goals with numbers and metrics that enable independent parties to verify whether the company met its targets.

•• Goals have specific target dates. Without a timeframe, there is no way to gauge how much effort or investment is needed, nor much urgency to prioritize energy efficiency compared to other needs. (According to the Pew Center survey, businesses averaged an eight-year timeframe from the base year to the year in which the target was to be met.)

•• Goals are linked to action plans in all business units.

Goals and timelines are great, but what happens when an operating unit of an energy efficiency program falls short of its goal? If it’s a good plan, effective strategies back up goals with action plans; they do facility assessments to identify the best efficiency opportunities, develop technical assistance networks, develop best-practice checklists, and make solutions accessible across the organization via web-based information, active peer networks, and other means.

•• Goals are updated and strengthened over time. The leading companies have been at their efficiency strategies long enough to show that a successful strategy reveals additional efficiency potential, leading to a reassessment point at which goals are renewed and typically increased.

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http://www.shiftportal.com/amgb/daily/files/15910/Pew-Center-EE-Report.pdf

Trusts to bring a new cooperative approach to the global climate change debate. We inform this debate through wide-ranging analyses that add new facts and perspectives in four areas: policy (domestic and international), economics, environment, and solutions.

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THE KEYS TO BEING A HIGHLY ENERGY EFFICIENT BUSINESS

Edited by Jodi Summers

This just in! This just in! The guide to the Nonresidential CALGreen Code - First Edition, August 2010 http://tinyurl.com/socalre-calgreen.

The guide to the Nonresidential CALGreen Code is another tool that makes it easier to go green. Driven by rising energy prices and growing concerns about greenhouse gas emissions, and social pressures of the new millennium, cities and companies are implementing aggressive, division-wide energy efficiency strategies. Leading companies are not only setting ambitious energy savings targets, they are educating their suppliers and customers, and engaging employees at all levels of the organization to advance an ethic of energy efficiency.

A report from the Pew Center on Global Climate Change titled “From Shop Floor to Top Floor: Best Business Practices” shows that business energy efficiency yields noticeable savings. Some companies reported billions of dollars of cost savings and millions of tons of avoided greenhouse gas emissions from their efficiency efforts. Research shows that the companies that have achieved these successes share several key attributes.

1. Efficiency is a Core Strategy

• Efficiency is an integral part of corporate strategic planning and risk assessment and not just another cost management issue or sustainability “hoop” to jump through.

• Efficiency is an ongoing part of the organization’s aspirations and metrics for itself.

2. Leadership & Organizational Support is Real & Sustained

• At least one full-time staff person is accountable for energy performance.

• Corporate energy management leadership interacts with teams in all business units.

• Energy performance results affect individuals’ performance reviews and career advancement paths.

• Energy efficiency is part of the company’s culture and core operations.

• Employees are empowered and rewarded for energy innovation.

3. The Company Has Energy Efficiency Goals

• Goals are organization-wide.

• Goals are translated into operating/business unit goals.

• Goals are specific enough to be measured.

• Goals have specific target dates.

• Goals are linked to action plans in all business units.

• Goals are updated and strengthened over time.

4. The Strategy Relies on a Robust Tracking & Measurement System

• The system collects data regularly from all business units.

• The data is normalized and baselined.

• Data collection and reporting is as granular as possible.

• The system tracks performance against goals in a regular reporting cycle.

• Performance data is visible to senior management in a form they can understand and act upon.

• Energy performance data is shared internally and externally.

• The system is linked to a commitment to continuous improvement.

5. The Organization Puts Substantial Resources into Efficiency

• The energy manager/team has adequate operating resources.

• Business leaders find capital to fund projects.

• Companies invest in human capital.

6. The Energy Efficiency Strategy Shows Demonstrated Results

• The company has met or beat its energy performance goal.

• Successful energy innovators are rewarded and recognized.

• Resources are sustained over a multi-year period.

7. The Company Effectively Communicates Efficiency Results

• An internal communications plan raises awareness and engages employees.

• Successes are communicated externally.

**

http://www.shiftportal.com/amgb/daily/files/15910/Pew-Center-EE-Report.pdf

Trusts to bring a new cooperative approach to the global climate change debate. We inform this debate through wide-ranging analyses that add new facts and perspectives in four areas: policy (domestic and international), economics, environment, and solutions.

http://blogs.uscannenberg.org/neontommy_science/Pew-Research-Center.jpg

http://www.ifea.com/zencart/images/Green%20Business%20Practices.jpg

http://www.fastupfront.com/pics/green%20business.jpg

http://smallbiztrends.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/green-business-practices.jpg

http://cartfly.typepad.com/cartfly/images/2008/07/21/recycle_cat.jpg

http://news.aqua.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/ICCsymbol.png

EASY WAYS TO GREEN YOUR PROPERTY

Edited by Jodi Summers

Thanks to the Green Building Update for these easy tips for greening your property and saving money on your utility bills.

1. Use light paint colors for the property’s exterior. Lighter colors reflect heat better than darker colors.

2. Insulate the attic, basement and crawl spaces of your property. Around 20% of energy costs come from heat loss in those areas.

3. Reuse old materials such as brick, stone, glass, slate and wood when building or renovating.

4. Keep doors airtight by weather stripping, caulking, and painting them regularly.

5. Have an energy audit done by your utility company or visit Energy Saver (http://hes.lbl.gov).

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http://ecodeonline.com/

http://www.allenmatkins.com/emails/nltr-green/newsletter.asp?is_id=87&utm_source=Listrak&utm_medium=Email&utm_term=http%3a%2f%2fwww.allenmatkins.com%2femails%2fnltr-green%2fnewsletter.asp%3fis_id%3d87&utm_content=jodi%40jodisummers.com&utm_campaign=Green+Building+Update+-+May+21%2c+2010

BIG NEWS IN SOLAR EVOLUTION -> THANK YOU PETE

By Jodi Summers

PETE is the “big man on campus.” An acronym for “photon enhanced thermionic emission,” PETE offers a new solar conversion process that boasts efficiency upwards of 60% — and potentially cheap enough to compete with oil.

PETE was discovered by a Stanford University research group headed by materials science and engineering Prof. Nick Melosh.

“This is not a panacea, but is a unique method that can capture both heat and light, and may one day be a valuable part of the energy solution,” Melosh observed. “This is really a conceptual breakthrough, a new energy conversion process, not just a new material or a slightly different tweak,” said Nick Melosh, an assistant professor of materials science and engineering, who led the research group from Stanford University.

Photovoltaic solar technology, such as those used in rooftop solar panels, currently uses the semiconducting material silicon to convert the energy from photons of light to electricity. But the cells can only use a portion of the light spectrum, with the rest just generating heat, and the more heat it generates, the less efficient the process becomes. Thus, heat from unused sunlight and inefficiencies in the cells themselves account for a loss of more than 50 percent of the initial solar energy reaching the cell.

Melosh’s theory was to harvest the wasted heat energy and make solar cells more efficient. The issue to be tackled -> high temperatures are necessary to power heat-based conversion systems, yet solar cell efficiency rapidly decreases at higher temperatures. Melosh’s group figured out that by coating a piece of semiconducting material with a thin layer of the metal cesium, it made the material able to use both light and heat to generate electricity. The Stanford team wed thermal and solar cell conversion technologies. PETE actually combines both mechanisms into a singular process using a semiconductor cathode at 200 degrees Celsius.

“What we’ve demonstrated is a new physical process that is not based on standard photovoltaic mechanisms, but can give you a photovoltaic-like response at very high temperatures,” Melosh noted. “In fact, it works better at higher temperatures. The higher the better.”

Stanford documents note that, “By using the semiconductor gallium nitrate, coated with cesium, the researchers constructed a parallel plate thermionic emission device, in which higher temperatures will excite more electrons from the semiconductor cathode and generate current.”

“When photons strike the cathode, they increase the population of electrons that can participate in the thermionic emission process, which Melosh and his team dubbed ‘photon enhancement.’”

“What we’ve demonstrated is a new physical process that is not based on standard photovoltaic mechanisms, but can give you a photovoltaic-like response at very high temperatures,” Melosh noted. “The PETE process could really give the feasibility of solar power a big boost.”

Researchers envision solar concentrators, which can multiply the sun’s intensity by 500 times, focusing light on a PETE device and siphoning unused heat to drive other thermal conversion systems.

Another big step in making solar more accessible and desirable for everyone is that the technology is impressively inexpensive. Melosh notes that, “For each device, we are figuring something like a six-inch wafer of actual material is all that is needed. So, the material cost in this is not really an issue for us, unlike the way it is for large solar panels of silicon.”

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http://www.stanforddaily.com/2010/08/12/pete-could-improve-solar-tech/

http://www.energyboom.com/solar/love-pete-stanford-university-reveals-groundbreaking-solar-technology?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+energyboom+%28EnergyBoom+Daily+Briefin

http://news.stanford.edu/pr/2010/pr-new-solar-method-080210.html

http://solar.calfinder.com/blog/solar-research/stanford-pete-tech/

http://yubanet.com/scitech/New-solar-energy-conversion-process-could-revamp-solar-power-production.php

http://www.inhabitat.com/2010/08/02/stanford-harnesses-light-and-heat-with-new-solar-tech/

http://earth2tech.com/2010/08/03/in-the-lab-solar-cells-that-capture-light-heat/

http://dunbar.stanford.edu/dunbar_ges.html

http://today.slac.stanford.edu/a/2010/08-03.htm

http://www.onlineuniversities-weblog.com/50226711/take_stanford_university_classes_online.php

REAL ESTATE RETROFITTING STATISTICS

Edited by Jodi Summers

* Residential and commercial buildings consume 40 percent of the energy and represent 40 percent of the carbon emissions in the United States. Building efficiency represents one of the easiest, most immediate and most cost effective ways to reduce carbon emissions and save money on energy bills while creating new jobs.

* Existing techniques and technologies in energy efficiency retrofitting can reduce energy use by up to 40 percent per home and lower total associated greenhouse gas emissions by up to 160 million metric tons annually.

* Residential and commercial retrofits also have the potential to cut energy bills by $40 billion annually.

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http://www.energy.gov/news/8870.htm

http://www.matternetwork.com/images/Matter/house_insulation_installation_3251.jpg

http://apolloalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/evergreen_solarmed2.jpg

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/greenhouse/post/2010/04/white-house-awards-452-million-to-retrofit-homes-businesses/1

INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY TERMINOLOGY

Edited by Jodi Summers

Industrial Ecology is one of the finest concepts to come out of the green revolution. It also has some terminology that is uniquely its own…so we looked all the relevant terms up on Wikipedia (thank you http://en.wikipedia.org/) and would now like to share them with you…

Industrial Ecology - Industrial Ecology has been defined as a “systems-based, multidisciplinary discourse that seeks to understand emergent behavior of complex integrated human/natural systems”. The field approaches issues of sustainability by examining problems from multiple perspectives, usually involving aspects of sociology, the environment, economy and technology. The name comes from the idea that we should use the analogy of natural systems as an aid in understanding how to design sustainable industrial systems.

Circular Economy - Circular Economy is an evolving term that emphasizes strategies which a circular flow of materials and energy for environmental and monetary gain. An example of Circular Economy would be selling waste heat from one process to run another process that requires a lower temperature, thus maximizing energy efficiency by circulating emissions from one business to another.

Closed system - A closed system is a system in the “state of being isolated from its surrounding environment.” The term often refers to an idealized system in which closure is perfect. In reality no system can be completely closed; there are only varying degrees of closure.

Isolated system - In the natural sciences an isolated system, as contrasted with an open system, is a physical system that does not interact with its surroundings. It obeys a number of conservation laws: its total energy and mass stay constant. They cannot enter or exit, but can only move around inside.

Open system - Open system (systems theory), a system where matter or energy can flow into and/or out of the system, in contrast to a closed system, where energy can enter or leave but matter may not.

Eco-Industrial Park - An eco-industrial park (EIP) is an industrial park in which businesses cooperate with each other and with the local community in an attempt to reduce waste and pollution, efficiently share resources (such as information, materials, water, energy, infrastructure, and natural resources), and help achieve sustainable development, with the intention of increasing economic gains and improving environmental quality. An EIP may also be planned, designed, and built in such a way that it makes it easier for businesses to co-operate, and that results in a more financially sound, environmentally friendly project for the developer.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/

http://greeneconomypost.com/retrofitting-industrial-ecology-for-increased-profitability-and-environmental-improvement-7663.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheGreenEconomyPost+%28The+Green+Economy+Post%29

http://www.bsdglobal.com/viewcasestudy.asp?id=77

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THE EPA WANTS TO IMPROVE YOUR BUILDING

By Jodi Summers

Southern California Edison is one of a handful of state utilities selected to partake in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s new pilot program – the Building Performance with Energy Star program. The goal of the program is similar to some of SoCal’s green building initiatives - to further improve energy efficiency in commercial buildings.

According to the EPA, energy use in commercial buildings accounts for 17 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions at a cost of over $100 billion per year. Energy Star Leaders prevented the emissions of more than 220,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide and saved more than $48 million across their commercial building portfolios in 2009.

The goal of the Building Performance with Energy Star program is to help utilities and state energy-efficiency programs become Energy Star Leaders and achieve greater energy savings and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by targeting whole building energy improvements with their business customers.

In addition to Southern California Edison, pilot program partners are Com Ed, MidAmerican, National Grid, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, Pacific Gas & Electric and Wisconsin Focus on Energy.

Key elements of the pilot, which follows the EPA’s Home Performance with Energy Star program, include:

* Incorporating use of the EPA’s Portfolio Manager, the agency’s online energy measurement and tracking tool, to score building performance;

* Approaching energy efficiency opportunities in the context of findings from whole building assessments; and

* Creating a robust delivery network for whole building efficiency services.

The program will allow operators of commercial properties to realize greater savings by strategically planning and implementing whole-building energy efficiency improvements. SoCal Edison and the other selected partners are expected to help business customers plan and implement energy-efficiency improvements over time, starting with low-payback measures that can create revenue to fund capital upgrades in the future.

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http://www.environmentalleader.com/2010/05/06/epa-help-states-utilities-reap-greater-energy-savings/

http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2010/05/06/epa-powers-building-performance-new-energy-star-program

http://www.cbpca.org/

http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/e51aa292bac25b0b85257359003d925f/23d4c522b2e723da8525771a0057a925!OpenDocument

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THE GOVERNMENT HAS $42 BILLION FOR GREEN REAL ESTATE

By Jodi Summers

Experts have calculated that the Obama administration has put together more than 30 programs worth $72 billion that can be used to increase energy efficiency in commercial buildings and multifamily housing.

“The Obama Administration has tremendous, untapped opportunities to use legal tools already at its disposal to enhance the energy efficiency and sustainability of the nation’s multifamily and commercial buildings — all without seeking new funds or authority from Congress,” observes a report prepared by Van Ness Feldman. “All told, the programs identified in this report have the potential to directly provide or facilitate over $72 billion in funding or loan guarantees, and can leverage hundreds of billions of dollars in private investment through instruments such as mortgage insurance and regulation of the real estate lending market.”

Titled “Using Executive Authority to Achieve Greener Buildings: A Guide for Policymakers to Enhance Sustainability and Efficiency in Multifamily Housing and Commercial Buildings,” the legal analysis, suggests several ways the Obama administration can use existing programs to enhance building efficiency:

* Reforming appraisal and underwriting practices at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Greening federal banking regulations

* Promoting flexible FHA insurance products

* Integrating energy efficiency and sustainability criteria into competitive grants and funding formulas

* Strengthening minimum property standards for federal housing and economic development programs to reflect energy efficiency and sustainability standards

* Improving performance standards applicable to federal buildings and leases

* Refining guidance applicable to the energy efficient commercial buildings tax deduction and the national historic preservation tax credit

* Using SBA funding mechanisms to support small business energy efficiency investments

* Streamlining Title 17 loan guarantees to make them suitable for buildings

“As an early adopter of green buildings and the LEED green building certification system, the federal government has been a leader in bringing green buildings to cities and towns across America,” said Roger Platt, the USGBC’s senior vice president of Global Policy & Law declared. “This new report unveils an even larger opportunity for the Obama Administration to increase our nation’s energy efficiency, while creating thousands of jobs and saving taxpayers money.”

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http://www.usgbc.org/government

http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2010/04/30/obama-already-has-72b-tap-green-buildings-study-says

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LOS ANGELES WINS THE ENERGY STAR GRAND PRIZE…AGAIN

By Jodi Summers

Bravo to all of you greening your properties. According to our friends at the environmental protection agency, approximately 3,900 commercial buildings earned the Energy Star rating in 2009, representing annual savings of more than $900 million in utility bills and more than 4.7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions. Impressively, nearly 9,000 buildings across the nation have earned the Energy Star for superior energy efficiency during the past 11 years.

A standing ovation for our beloved Los Angeles. The EPA ranked us as first on its annual list of metro areas with the most energy-efficient buildings. We led the field with 293 buildings labeled Energy Star in 2009, up from the 262 that qualified the city as No. 1 in 2008.

Kudos also go to our nation’s capitol. Washington, DC, ranked fourth place in 2008, is now in second, with 204 Energy Star buildings, up from 136 the previous year.

Energy Star is a voluntary labeling program run by the EPA and U.S. Department of Energy. In order to qualify, a building or manufacturing plant must score in the top 25 percent based , on the agency’s National Energy Performance Rating System and use less energy, reduce operating expenses and cause fewer greenhouse gas emissions.

Roll the credits - the top 25 cities with the most energy star labeled buildings in 2009 are:

1. Los Angeles, CA

2. Washington, DC

3. San Francisco, CA

4. Denver, CO

5. Chicago, IL

6. Houston, TX

7. Lakeland, FL

8. Dallas-Fort Worth, TX

9. Atlanta, GA

10. New York, NY

11. Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN

12. Portland, OR

13. Boston, MA

14. Seattle, WA

15. Detroit, MI

16. Sacramento, CA

17. San Diego, CA

18. Austin, TX

19. Miami, FL

20. Phoenix, AZ

21. Ogden, UT

22. Charlotte, NC

23. Indianapolis, IN

24. Des Moines, IA/Fort Collins, CO/Philadelphia, PA

25. Louisville, KY

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http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2010/03/23/la-takes-top-spot-epa-green-building-rankings

http://www.costar.com/News/Article.aspx?id=624F645516667EF93A09A56906607F8E&ref=100&iid=174&cid=383F14EEE265B182474DA2442BACBBBF

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LOS ANGELES NEEDS AN INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGIST

By Jodi Summers

Industrial Ecologist > the job description would be: To ascertain, catalog and cross reference the inflow and outflow of materials involved in manufacturing conducted in a given geographic area and figure out how one manufacturer’s excretion becomes another manufacturer’s production components. Low temperature steam anyone?

Industrial Ecology is based on the ideology of nature. It claims that industrial ecosystem may behave similar to the natural ecosystem where everything gets recycled. It involves the shifting of industrial processes from open systems to closed systems. The difference? An open system is “a system where matter or energy can flow into and/or out of the system, in contrast to a closed system, where energy can enter or leave but matter may not.”

Industrial open systems may involve the sharing of information, services, utility, and stem by-product resources > the outcome is always intended to add value, reduce costs and improve the environment. This flow is called industrial symbiosis - a type of eco-industrial development which expounds upon the theory industrial ecology.

The most traditional form of industrial ecology is the inflow and emission of materials - energy, water, by-products, finished goods, waste.

Geographic proximity is an obvious factor – which is why warehousing near LAX (in areas like Inglewood + Lennox) + the ports (Long Beach, San Pedro, Torrance, Carson), will always be valuable.

An area offering a superior example of a closed industrial system is the municipality of Kalundborg, Denmark. There is an industrial co-operation taking place between a number of companies and Kalundborg Municipality which mutually exploits each other’s by-products. The brilliant industrial symbiosis of Kalundborg has evolved over several decades, and has grown to encompass some 20 projects. All projects are environmentally and financially sustainable.

It is a beautiful example of industrial recycling which could perhaps be implemented in nearby industrial regions around L.A. As environmental regulations became stricter, firms will become more motivated reduce the cost of compliance, and turn their by-products into economic products.

An added benefit - rekeying industrial usage is a great way to cost justify the expense of greening an industrial property and tapping into those government benefits.

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http://greeneconomypost.com/retrofitting-industrial-ecology-for-increased-profitability-and-environmental-improvement-7663.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheGreenEconomyPost+%28The+Green+Economy+Post%29

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_system

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_symbiosis

http://www.symbiosis.dk/industrial-symbiosis.aspx

http://www.bsdglobal.com/viewcasestudy.asp?id=77

http://www.industrialecologyinpractice.com/msc-programme