Southern California Green Real Estate Blog

New Life for Old Buildings: Why Recycling Buildings is Green

Wade Killefer, a principal with Los Angeles-based Killefer Flammang Architects, has worked on many rehab projects in downtown Los Angeles. He laid out the arguments for green historic rehabs, identifying several social and environmental benefits of these projects, including:

o    Conservation of natural resources o    Repopulation of cities, which helps create sustainable communities

o    Minimizing waste/keeping debris out of landfills

o    Minimizing transportation costs for new materials

o    Reduced heating and cooling loads in rehabs of old concrete and masonry buildings

o    Increased cultural pride

o    Shared resources/lower per-capita energy use

o    Increased use of/demand for mass transit

Get  the whole story @

http://www.multifamilyexecutive.com/industry-news.asp?sectionID=565&articleID=728664

OTHER PEOPLE’S SOLAR

OTHER PEOPLE’S SOLAR

Those on the path of LEED compliance have been complaining about solar panels’ big expense, minimal points, and many years before you recoup your investment. The story goes that the new 8-kilowatt solar power array on David Kokka’s roof doesn’t belong to him — and he likes it that way.

Instead, David Kokka has rented his roof out, so to speak, to a Silicon Valley startup called Sun Run Generation LLC. For the next 20 years, Sun Run will own and maintain the solar panels, and Kokka will buy all the electricity his family uses that’s generated by the photovoltaic power system over that time — at a steep discount to the prices he’d otherwise be paying to utility Pacific Gas & Electric Co.

 

“I’m getting a system that’s not only maintenance-free, but they’re guaranteeing the output of the system and components over 20 years,” he said.

But the main bonus, he said, was the low up-front cost, which has traditionally been a key barrier to wider adoption of solar systems by many homeowners.

Such power-purchase agreements are fast becoming the model of choice for large-scale commercial solar systems. But with Sun Run’s entry into the residential market,  the sights of investor-owned solar power systems are now centered on American homeowners’ rooftops as well. Homeowners can a arrange financing to purchase their own solar system in a way that avoids tens of thousands of dollars in up-front costs, with Sun Run making sure solar panels are working to maximum efficiency and replacing any worn-out parts.

If the home is sold, Sun Run will offer to remove the system if that’s what the new owner wants. Nat Kreamer, President of Sun Run, says he expects most will choose to continue the contract or take over the system at a discounted buyout cost, since market studies show most people consider home solar systems a valuable asset.

 

 Original article by Michele Joyce, REC Solar

The letter from the City titled - NOTICE OF PROPOSED WATER AND WASTEWATER RATE INCREASES -

The letter from the City titled - NOTICE OF PROPOSED WATER AND WASTEWATER RATE INCREASES - must have made you really happy when you got it in the mailр but those in the know, saw this coming months ago though it went public in the spring

Calif. Water Supply Crisis Affecting Economy

With deep cuts in water deliveries ordered this year to help protect a threatened fish species, the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) said impacts are beginning to ripple across the state and will likely continue until action is taken to improve the sustainability of the state’s water supply system.

“For the first time in a long time, California is losing income and jobs because our water supply system is in crisis,” ACWA Executive Director Timothy Quinn said. “Every day that goes by without a solution is another day of environmental deterioration and lost water supply. “ACWA member agencies report that court-ordered restrictions on water deliveries through the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta are creating drought-like conditions despite the fact that snowpack levels were near normal in February 2008. Runoff from the mountain snowpack is expected to be below average due to dry soil conditions and warm temperatures that evaporated some of the water content in March.

Agencies stand to receive just 35 percent of their requested water deliveries from the State Water Project (SWP), forcing many to dip into dry-year reserves and seek out expensive alternative supply sources where possible. In some cases, reserves already are low following a string of dry years and a 10-day shutdown of the SWP pumps last summer to protect the Delta smelt.

This has impacted Southern California, causing the state’s largest water wholesaler, our local Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, to propose increased water rates by 14 percent next year due in part to the cost of acquiring water to off-set reduced SWP supplies.

This rate increases will affect millions of households in Southern California.

Knowing this was coming down, in March, Metropolitan Water District’s Board of Directors approved a $1.98 billion spending plan for 2008-09 in order to maintain reliable imported water supplies for more than 18 million Southern Californians.

The board also approved a 9.8 percent increase in the district’s base wholesale water rate as well as a special surcharge to purchase additional supplies. Those supplies are needed to help compensate for a loss of up to 30 percent of the Southland’s supplies from Northern California because of court-imposed pumping restrictions due to endangered species like the Delta smelt.

Trickling down the bureaucracy pipeline, this increase will come to us looking like some version of this:

NOTICE OF PROPOSED WATER AND WASTEWATER RATE INCREASES

The City of Santa Monica has issued water and wastewater rate increases for a five year period beginning August 1, 2008. The proposed rate increase will provide funding for local and imported water, operation and maintenance, capital infrastructure costs, financial commitments to the City of Los Angeles for wastewater disposal, and appropriate reserve levels.

The city Council will hold a public hearing on this matter on July 8, 2008 at 5:45 p.m. In the City Council Chambers, 1685 Main St, room 213, Santa Monica, CA 90401. Written protests to the proposed rate increases may be submitted at the public hearing, or given to the City Clerk 1685 Main St, room 102, Santa Monica, CA 90401 in sufficient time to be received before the hearing. Please include the parcel address and number and write Water and Wastewater Rate Increase on your written protest.

The new structures will be based on commodity only thereby eliminating the bi-monthly service charges.

The Metropolitan Water District’s rate adjustment and supply surcharge amounts to a 14.3 percent overall increase in the cost of Metropolitan’s wholesale supplies to the district’s public agencies. The effect on Southland consumers will depend on how much of Metropolitan’s imported water is purchased by their local water agency to augment supplies, such as groundwater. For the average household, the total rate increase equates to about $1.50 per month.

Never let it be said that Santa Monica isn’t ahead of the curve.

Under the board action, raw water purchased and delivered under Metropolitan’s full-service, tier one rate will be $412 per acre-foot, while drinking water treated at the district’s regional filtration plants will cost $579 per acre-foot. Metropolitan’s full-service, tier two untreated rate will be $528 per acre-foot, and treated tier two water will increase to $695 per acre-foot. The difference between the basic upper and lower tier rates reflects Metropolitan’s cost for acquiring new supplies.

In response to our growing water shortage in Southern California, Mayor Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced plans to recycle Los Angeles’ sewage water to replenish drinking water qualifiers.

Faced with a persistent drought and the threat of tighter water supplies, the Los Angeles plan is to use heavily cleansed sewage to increase drinking water supplies, joining a growing number of cities considering similar measures.

Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa, who opposed such a plan a decade ago over safety concerns, announced the proposal as part of a package of initiatives to put the city, the nation’s second largest, on a stricter water budget. The other plans include increasing fines for watering lawns during restricted times, tapping into and cleaning more groundwater, and encouraging businesses and residents to use more efficient sprinklers and plumbing fixtures.

The move comes as California braces for the possibility of the most severe water shortages in decades.

More info @ water.smgov.net

http://www.wwn-online.com/articles/60061/

http://www.wwn-online.com/articles/61097/

http://www.planetizen.com/node/31250

mid American paleontological society

GOV. SCHWARZENEGGAR MAKES THE CALIFORNIA DROUGHT OFFICIAL

GOV. SCHWARZENEGGAR MAKES THE CALIFORNIA DROUGHT OFFICIAL

SACRAMENTO, California (AP) — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared a statewide drought after two years of below-average rainfall, low snow-melt runoff and a court-ordered restriction on water transfers.

 “We must recognize the severity of the crisis that we face,” the Governor noted, signing an executive order directing the state’s response to unusually dry conditions that are damaging crops, harming water quality and causing extreme fire danger across California.
  Schwarzenegger warned that residents and water managers must immediately cut their water use or face the possibility of rationing next year if there is another dry winter. Already, many communities require water conservation or rationing.
 

THE US GREEN BUILDING COUNCIL WANTS YOUR INPUT

THE US GREEN BUILDING COUNCIL WANTS YOUR INPUT The US Green Building Council has unveiled LEED 2009, an evolution of the green building certification system it introduced in 2000, and opened a 30-day public comment period on the draft. The comment period ends at 5 pm, Pacific Time, June 22.   “Continuing to seek the right balance between technical advancement and market transformation was a driving force behind the LEED 2009 work,” says Horst. Described as an “evolution,” rather than a “tear down and rebuild” of the existing LEED rating system, the 2009 version reorganizes the system and includes several advancements. Chief among the changes is a transparent re-weighting and point re-allocation of LEED credits so the highest-priority credits achieve the most points. The weighting redistributes the available points, so point value more accurately reflects features that affect a building’s environmental impact.  Among complaints about the existing rating system, Horst noted, “a bicycle rack is equal to some more energy efficient system.” The weighted feature in LEED 2009 is based on 100 points that Horst says, “can address all systems consistently.” An additional six points are available for innovation and design, and four regional points are also available as bonuses.  Regionalization is another new aspect of LEED 2009. USGBC chapters can determine regions they want to single out, down to zip codes. “In Phoenix,” Horst explains, “water is more important than in Washington DC. LEED 2009 weights the issue of water for that part of the country.”  After the initial comment period, the USGBC steering committee and staff will respond to comments and issue a revision of LEED 2009. That version will be open to public comment Aug. 4 through Aug. 19. After incorporating additional comments, a ballot will be sent only to USGBC members, and LEED 2009 will be ready at Green Build in Boston, Nov. 19 thru 20, then launched formally in January 2009.  More details @ http://www.globest.com/news/1164_1164/washington/171002-1.html