California Center for Sustainable Energy

In December, 2010 CCSE awarded Father Joe’s Villages $408,000 for their MASH Track 2 proposal. The recipient, Village Place, is located in San Diego’s East Village and serves a variety of the community’s hardest to serve members. Residents range from extremely low income to formerly homeless to those with chronic physical disabilities, substance abuse and mental illness. The building is 100% affordable with 94% of residents receiving incomes at or below 30% AMI.

Father Joe’s Villages has a long history of serving the homeless and impoverished in San Diego through its relationship and collaboration with St. Vincent de Paul Village. Together, these two sister organizations have been empowering people to achieve self-sufficiency for over 60 years.

Father Joe’s Villages’ experience with the construction of affordable housing reflects an ongoing commitment to energy efficiency and to being a responsible steward of our natural resources. The MASH program represents a unique opportunity for the organization to take a significant step towards further greening their facilities and toward helping to alleviate a substantial financial burden for those who most need it.

100% of the 54kW photovoltaic system’s production will be allocated to the tenants through virtual Net Metering, reducing each unit’s energy bill by 77%.  This is an average annual savings of $194 per tenant. In addition to the ongoing saving from the PV system, tenants will enjoy added financial benefits from the installation of a Title 24-certified “Cool Roof” and energy efficiency upgrades provided by SDG&E’s Low Income Energy Efficiency Program. Village Place will host an “Energy Day” event in conjunction with SDG&E’s Energy Team to complete weatherization and energy efficiency upgrades to units before the installation of the PV system. Father Joe’s Villages will offer Sustainability and Energy Conservation Education to 550 low income tenants and will host an “Intro to Solar Jobs” workshop at every one of their affordable housing developments.

Further information regarding this project will be posted on the MASH website as we move through the milesones.