Sustainable Development Focus
Los Angeles Times - Jan 12 In April 2015, Governor Jerry Brown called on the people of the most populous state to reduce their water use by 25 percent in response to a punishing four-year drought. Between June 2015 and April 2016, when restrictions were in effect, residents reduced the amount of water they used by 24.5 percent. Now, research has revealed there were some unintended side effects to this massive water-conservation experiment. It turns out that California residents weren’t just saving water, they were saving energy as well. In a new report published in Environmental Research Letters, a team from UC Davis found that in addition to saving 524,000 million gallons of water over the mandate period, state residents also saved 1830 gigawatt hours of electricity — enough to power 274,000 average homes for a year.
SFGate - Jan 16 Each weekday morning, school buses running on nothing but battery packs shuttle students to schools in northern Sacramento and the neighboring suburbs. The vehicles, made by Lion Bus of Quebec, Trans Tech Bus of New York state, and Motiv Power Systems of Hayward, are cleaner and quieter than their diesel-burning counterparts. Since they spend most of the day idle, recharging isn’t a problem. School districts across California are experimenting with electric buses, drawn by the appeal of exhaust-free driving. They are partnering with state and local government agencies to share the high up-front cost, anywhere from $225,000 to $340,000 for an electric bus, versus $100,000 for the fossil-fuel version, while hoping to recoup some of the money through lower maintenance and fuel bills.
Bisnow - Jan 11 While Salesforce Tower is the tallest building in San Francisco, it also is among the most sustainable. Salesforce, the tower’s biggest tenant, plans to install a blackwater system within the LEED Platinum-certified building in collaboration with Boston Properties. Salesforce is the first company to receive a blackwater grant from the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, according to Salesforce Senior Director of Sustainability Patrick Flynn. The system will save about 7.8 million gallons of drinking water each year, equivalent to the amount of water used by 16,000 San Francisco residents annually, according to Flynn. The blackwater system will reduce Salesforce Tower’s water footprint by 76 percent. While greywater recycling systems recycle water from shower, bathroom sinks, and washing machines, blackwater recycling systems will extensively filter water used from toilets and urinals in addition to greywater sources.
Greentech Media - Jan 11 Fluence, the new joint venture from Siemens and AES Energy Storage, kicked off operations at the start of the new year. The company is positioning itself as a global heavyweight system provider capable of tackling everything from commercial projects up to the rarefied "100 megawatt club." The company announced a dedicated project financing program from Siemens Financial Services, which will simplify and shorten the timeline to finance upcoming projects. Fluence's first big contract is the 100-megawatt/400-megawatt-hour project for Southern California Edison in Long Beach.
North Bay Business Journal - Jan 11 Topping out at $1,500 per night, Bardessono Hotel and Spa in Yountville is one of only three Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum-certified hotels in the country. Bardessono was built with 100,000 square feet of salvaged wood used for doors, flooring, and walls of the guestrooms, spa, and restaurant and event space. During the site preparation and building process, contractor Cello-Maudru Construction recycled 93 percent of the waste. To heat and cool guest rooms as well as the property’s water supply, a system of 82 300-foot geothermal wells were drilled to work with a specially developed ground source heat pump system.
