Sustainable Development Focus
Stanford News Service - Dec 5 It was a cold, blustery day in Rosamond, California, but spirits were high in a small, wind-rattled tent where about 30 people gathered for the dedication of the Stanford Solar Generating Station. The last major piece of Stanford Energy Systems Innovations (SESI), which will reduce Stanford’s greenhouse gas emissions by 68 percent and use of fossil fuels by 65 percent, the nearly 155,000-panel array will produce the equivalent of over half of the electrical power used by the Stanford campus. For the project, Stanford teamed up with SunPower, a solar energy company founded by Richard Swanson ’74, which designed and built the plant in a western valley of the Mojave Desert, about 20 miles north of Palmdale. “Stanford’s commitment to use solar power to serve 53 percent of its total campus electricity demand demonstrates unparalleled leadership in responsibly meeting our energy and climate challenges,” said Tom Werner, SunPower CEO and president. “SunPower is proud to partner with Stanford on its on-campus rooftop solar systems, as well as Stanford Solar Generating Station.”
Proud Green Building - Dec 2 San Francisco has introduced legislation to increase the sustainability of future city structures. The policy updates the San Francisco Environment Code with new green building standards for all new municipal construction projects, according to a press release from the city. CBRE Group, Inc. recently named San Francisco the top market for green building in 2016 for reaching seven million square feet of city-owned and operated LEED certified properties, an increase from four million square feet in 2014. The proposed legislation updates the San Francisco Environment Code to bring municipal green building code into compliance with new state law and LEED version 4. It also includes new studies to explore achieving zero net energy in new municipal construction by 2030, a goal that has been set by the state, and identifying potential sites for solar and storage capacity to increase resiliency in case of a disaster or emergency.
Daily Breeze - Nov 29 Carson is one of 13 communities chosen as testing grounds for a future envisioned by state leaders that doesn’t rely on electrical usage or natural gas emissions. The City Council approved last week a contract that allows Charge Bliss Inc., a West Hollywood clean-energy grid developer, access to city facilities and documents to develop alternative-energy solutions as part of “The EPIC Challenge: Accelerating the Deployment of Advanced Energy Communities.” Charge Bliss won a $1.5 million grant to do the work from the California Energy Commission’s Electric Program Investment Charge challenge, which also awarded a dozen other grants to clean-energy companies. Santa Monica, Berkeley, and Lancaster are among the other phase-one participants that are each working with different clean-energy companies.
Imperial Valley News - Dec 4 Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. last week issued the following statement on the California Air Resources Board’s initial draft plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 – the most ambitious target in North America. The initial draft plan, released today, builds on the state’s successful efforts to reach its more immediate goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 and outlines the most effective ways to reach the new 2030 goal, including continuing California’s Cap-and-Trade program. “This plan lays out a road map for California – and the rest of the world – to achieve climate goals that were inconceivable only a decade ago,” said Governor Brown, who established this 2030 target by Executive Order in April 2015 and signed SB 32 in September to codify it. “There are steep hills ahead, but we’ll scale them by continuing to take a series of bold actions, including extending California’s Cap-and-Trade Program.”
Environmental Leader - Nov 29 Microsoft’s zero waste efforts have earned it the U.S. Zero Waste Business Council’s highest certification level at its Redmond, Washington campus, making Microsoft the first technology company to achieve zero waste facility certification. The gold-level certification recognizes the IT giant’s efforts to divert at least 90 percent of its waste from landfills. In a blog post about the certification, Microsoft’s Susan Wagner, senior director of Puget Sound, writes that the 500-acre campus diverted its food, office, and construction waste through employee-driven reuse, recycling, and composting programs, along with community partnerships.
Inhabitat - Dec 2 An office building in Palo Alto that produces all the energy it needs on-site is a leading example of smarter, water-efficient architecture in drought-stricken California. The net-zero energy building, called Hanover Page Mill, was designed by Form4 Architecture to use significantly less water than comparable buildings thanks to low-flow fixtures, water-efficient irrigation systems, and native drought-tolerant plantings. Completed this year, the LEED Platinum-certified building was just awarded the LEAF Award in the Best Sustainable Development category. The building achieves net-zero energy on an annual basis with superior insulation, natural lighting, low-flow fixtures, and photovoltaic panels that provide all of the building’s electric energy use, including the energy used by the 15 on-site electric car chargers.
