California Center for Sustainable Energy

Irene M. Stillings CCSE Executive Director

From the Director's Desk: Energy Efficiency is the #1 Activity to Curb Energy Use

Like the rest of the nation, Californians' energy consumption habits -- and our addiction to the fossil fuels burned to generate the bulk of that energy -- are more than costing us money. They're making us precariously dependent on a volatile fuel market, encouraging inefficient practices, frustration at the pump and polluting our air and coastlines.

But there is some good news: the State of California has the lowest per-capita electricity usage of any other state in the country. We have for years. But we are not doing all that we can. The per capita use is going up... slower here than in other states, but increasing nonetheless.

Population growth, the increase in the size of homes, expansion into hot desert areas, the explosion of new electric devices and other factors continue to fuel demand, and are creating the need for an additional 100MW of new electricity every year in the San Diego region. One MW is generally the amount of energy needed to power 750 homes.

Yet it is getting more difficult, more expensive and more contentious to meet this demand with traditional power plants and transmission.

What do we do to ensure we can sate our voracious appetites for electricity? We become more efficient.

According to the Energy Action Plan developed by the California Energy Commission ( CEC) and the California Public Utilities Commission ( CPUC), "cost effective energy efficiency is the resource of first choice for meeting California's energy needs... it is the least cost, most reliable and most environmentally-sensitive resource and minimizes our contribution to climate change."

Energy efficiency is the most cost effective means of finding the energy to power the computers, iPods, hairdryers, plasma TVs, DVD players, mobile phones and other gadgets that we increasingly purchase to enhance our quality of life.

Energy efficiency is not conservation. In contrast to energy conservation, which often involves short-term behavioral changes (turning off the lights when leaving a room, shutting down your computer when the day's done, taking shorter showers, for example), energy efficiency involves making physical, long-lasting changes to buildings and equipment that result in less energy use while providing the same utility benefits (installing energy-efficient light bulbs like CFLs, new Energy Star appliances or flow restrictors)

At the California Center for Sustainable Energy ( CCSE), we conduct extensive energy audits of municipal buildings and businesses. We identify thousands of dollars of savings for large energy users. There is substantial money available for rebates and incentives to cut the up front costs of upgrading equipment and drastically reducing one's electric bill. Yet business owners and consumers do not take action.

It's a no-brainer, for instance, for business owners and home owners to replace incandescent bulbs with CFLs that use up to 70% less energy and last 8-10 times longer. And yet we are not doing it. There is only a 5% penetration of efficient compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) in San Diego. Bad jokes notwithstanding, it only takes 18 seconds to change a light bulb. The potential savings are huge.

The costs of not becoming more energy efficient are substantial. The Energy Action Plan described the priority sequence for actions to address increasing energy needs. They call it the Loading Order. The loading order identifies energy efficiency and reducing peak demand as the state's preferred means of meeting growing energy needs. After cost-effective efficiency we are to rely on renewable sources of power and distributed generation. Then to the extent that energy efficiency, demand response, renewables and distributed generation are unable to satisfy our energy appetites, we as a last resort turn to fossil fuel-fired generation (power plants) and transmission.

Energy concerns are a national topic of conversation, however, the answers appear out of touch with everyday lives. Many people come to me and ask what they can do specifically in their own lives to help the situation. The answer is simple: energy efficiency!

Daniel Yergin, Chairman of the Cambridge Energy Research Associates, cites the National Petroleum Council's Facing the Hard Truths about Energy: A Comprehensive View to 2030 of Global Oil and Natural Gas: "Energy efficiency is a very near-term energy resource, and tapping it is essential to national energy strategy. The challenge is that it involves thousands and thousands of decisions, not a few big decisions. But there is a focus on efficiency in the United States and around the world at a level never seen before."

Change comes not from one big decision but through many small decisions. Each household, office, and business that installs energy efficient devices and at the same time conserves energy by reducing overall consumption, makes a conscious decision to change the world. It is the simplest decision -- and the most economical solution -- we have.
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Irene M. Stillings is Executive Director of the California Center for Sustainable Energy ( CCSE), an independent non-profit 501(c)(3) dedicated to fostering public policy and administering programs, services, information and f orums to facilitate the adoption of clean, reliable, renewable, sustainable, and efficient energy technologies and practices. For more information, please visit www.energycenter.org or call 1-866-SDENERGY.

A sell-out crowd of 44,272 San Diegans stepped up to the plate and learned how to combat climate change by joining the California Center for Sustainable Energy for its inaugural Be An Energy All-Star^sm Night with the San Diego Padres, this past Saturday, August 18th, 2007.

Each ticket holder in attendance received a free Be An Energy All-Star^sm sports bag (also functional as a reusable shopping bag).

Energy-saving tips, coupons, and product discounts from sustainability partners like the San Diego County Toyota Dealers, Kyocera, the SD County Water Authority, SDG&E™, and the Birch Aquarium at Scripps were distributed to all in attendance.

Get to know CCSE and the wide range of energy-efficiency rebates and free workshops available to help businesses, consumers and public agencies reduce their energy costs and help the environment.

Cover all your energy bases; visit the CCSE Web site to take advantage of the Energy All-Star extras shared with all in attendance.

CCSE Hosts Third Annual Solar Energy Week!

Join CCSE for its Third Annual Solar Energy Week (SEW), October 21 - 27, 2007. SEW is designed to help San Diegans learn how they can take advantage of generous solar rebates and tax incentives, while cutting energy costs in their homes, businesses and commercial properties. Become a sponsor or register to attend. Go to www.energycenter.org for details on the week's events, including a San Diego Solar Conference, the San Diego Solar Homes Tour, the San Diego Commercial Solar Tour and Family Solar Energy Day.

CCSE Launches Solar Water Heating Pilot Program

The California Solar Water Heating Pilot Program ( SWHPP) is now accepting applications from residents, businesses, and contractors interested in reducing their energy costs by switching from the typical gas or electric water heater to a state-of-the-art Solar Water Heating System.

The California Public Utilities Commission ( CPUC) recently awarded CCSE $1.5 million to provide incentives to licensed contractors and homeowners to help reduce the costs and promote the installation of clean, renewable solar water heating systems. Solar water heaters convert the sun's energy to heat, which helps reduce consumers' dependence on the fossil fuels that power traditional water heating systems. In California, water heaters account for about 30 percent of a home's energy bill.

"In California, about forty percent of the natural gas used to heat water could be saved through the use of clean, renewable solar water heating systems," said SWHPP Manager Annie Henderson. "Solar water heating helps reduce gas and electric consumption, avoids combustion-related emissions, and reduces the need for new fossil fuel infrastructures (power plants)," she added.

The life cycle cost of using a Solar Water Heating system is lower than using gas and electricity at current prices, and in many cases the performance and quality warranties of Solar Water Heating systems exceed the guarantees of other household appliances. Federal tax credits are also available.

And sunlight is a clean, renewable resource. Solar Water Heating Systems make businesses and consumers more energy independent by helping insulate them from future gas and electricity shortages and/or price increases.

The Solar Water Heating Pilot Program Handbook, Program Brochure and Application Forms are now online.

CCSE offers free workshops to help consumers, business owners and contractors interested in participating in the program understand the advantages of going solar.

Attending a one day workshop is mandatory for those collecting program incentives. Please check CCSE's online Events and Workshops Calendar for event times. Workshops are free and ongoing, so if you miss one, check the next month's calendar to identify a workshop that accommodates your schedule.

For more information about the Solar Water Heating Pilot Program, please visit www.swh.energycenter.org.

Learn more by clicking on the links below:

• The SWHPP Program Handbook (PDF)
• SWHPP Contractor Participation Application (PDF)
• SWHPP Application (PDF)
• SWHPP Project Cost Affidavit (PDF)
• SWHPP Project Cost Summary (PDF)
• SWHPP Incentive Claim Form (PDF)
• SWHPP Brochure (PDF)

Connect to a qualified, licensed contractor with CCSE's online list of Eligible Contractors

CCSE knows that quality installation is the key to a reliable, trouble-free solar water heating system, and requires all participating contractors to be licensed and insured and to receive specialized customer service and technology training.

Climate Smart Partnership Wins Inaugural Climate Change Champion Award

Climate Smart Partners Offer A Variety of Ongoing Ways to Help San Diegans Learn About Climate Change, Energy Efficiency and How to Reduce Greenhouse Gasses

The region's Climate Smart partnership -- a coalition of energy efficiency and climate change experts, scientists and policy experts representing the Birch Aquarium at Scripps, the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center, the Natural History Museum, the San Diego Foundation and the California Center for Sustainable Energy -- has been selected as San Diego's inaugural Climate Change Champions.

The Climate Smart Partnership was recognized for a series of “Understanding Climate Change” lectures it produced from October 2006 through May 2007. Featuring renowned scientists and public leaders in the climate change realm, the lectures attracted more than 3,000 San Diegans, often with standing room only availability. The collective impact of individual actions is the most daunting challenge for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and these community forums successfully advanced a “climate-smarter” citizenry.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Department of Conservation Director Bridgett Luther and Mayor Jerry Sanders presented the Climate Change Champions award – the first of its kind -- at the City of San Diego’s 2007 Waste Reduction and Diversion Awards Program. The annual event is sponsored by San Diego’s Environmental Services Department (ESD) and is held in conjunction with EarthWorks’ Very Important Planet (VIP) awards program. EarthWorks is a San Diego organization that endorses waste reduction and environmental goals.

While government, business, and technology can help forge the path to a clean energy future, Climate Smart encourages individuals to act.

“San Diegans are becoming increasingly concerned about climate change,” said California Center for Sustainable Energy Executive Director Irene Stillings. “They’re eager for information on what they can do to assert their energy independence, cut energy costs and help the environment. We’re here to help -- not only with education and training, but with free energy audits, events touting alternative fuel vehicles and related energy efficiency recommendations. We’re also here to help with that all-important economic stimulus: millions of dollars in rebates and related incentives.”

As a valuable postscript to the lecture series for which the Climate Change Champions were acknowledged, Climate Smart partners are helping San Diegans deepen their knowledge about Climate Change in the following ways:

The California Center for Sustainable Energy (formerly the San Diego Regional Energy Office) is an independent non-profit dedicated to fostering public policy and administering programs, services, information and forums to facilitate the adoption of clean, reliable, renewable, sustainable, and efficient energy technologies and practices. It offers free workshops and provides millions of dollars in rebates for home owners, businesses and public agencies interested in cutting energy costs, deploying solar and learning about energy-efficient technologies that can save money while helping reduce carbon emissions.
Please visit www.energycenter.org for more information.

The San Diego Foundation produces a free informational Climate Smart guide featuring “10 Simple Steps to Help Slow Global Warming.” For more than 30 years, the San Diego Foundation has been committed to improving the quality of life in the San Diego Region. With more than $500 million in assets and more than 1,200 funds, The San Diego Foundation is a knowledge-based grant-making organization that supports a broad range of charitable purposes.
For more details, visit www.sdfoundation.org.

“As the region’s leading environmental grantmaker, The San Diego Foundation has taken a strong position on creating awareness of climate change,” states Bob Kelly, The San Diego Foundation’s president and CEO. “It is critical we take steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and decrease our vulnerability to the most severe effects of global warming.”

Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UCSD has been a leader in climate research since the 1950s when Charles Keeling began his pioneering measurements of carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. Today, Scripps scientists continue cutting-edge investigations of the causes and PACE of climate change and its implications for California and the world. The Birch Aquarium is currently featuring a bellwether exhibit: Feeling the Heat: The Climate Challenge, which highlights the science of global warming and Scripps's half-century commitment to studying climate change, while educating visitors on current environmental changes, predicted climate changes, frequently asked climate-change questions and how people can make a difference: http://aquarium.ucsd.edu/Exhibits.

Reuben H. Fleet Science Center (the Fleet), is a non-profit museum with more than 100 interactive science exhibits, the world’s first IMAX® Dome theater, and education programs to serve citizens of all ages. Reaching more than 100,000 children every year, the Fleet is dedicated to furthering the public’s understanding and enjoyment of science and technology and the ways it can profoundly change our world. Go check out "So WATT! An Illuminating Look at Energy" exhibit that opens September 15th, and explore some of the ways we generate electricity as well as learn more about the unique way that the Fleet Science Center is on the cutting edge of electric production. So WATT! An Illuminating Look at Energy" is made possible by grants from San Diego Gas & Electric and Shell Trading with additional support from the Kenneth T. and Eileen L. Norris Foundation: www.rhfleet.org

San Diego Natural History Museum has served the community in biodiversity research and education since 1874. Its mission is to interpret the natural world through research, education and exhibits; to promote understanding of the evolution and diversity of Southern California and the peninsula of Baja California; and to inspire in all a respect for nature and the environment. Teacher workshops for the aforementioned Polar-Palooza event (Oct. 20, 2007): can be made via the San Diego Natural History Museum’s Director of Education: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Please include first and last name, school name and grade level.

Climate Smart is a San Diego County initiative created to deepen community awareness about the local impacts of climate change and catalyze regional action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It is the collaborative effort of The California Center for Sustainable Energy, the San Diego Foundation, the Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and the San Diego Natural History Museum and the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center. Their aim is to leverage their expertise in philanthropy, research, and public education -- and their financial resources -- to spur government, business and individuals to do more to slow global warming and create a sustainable energy future.

Building the CCSE Brand

The California Center for Sustainable Energy is now an integral part of the Kearny Mesa Cabrillo Technology Center landscape. New building signage will make it easier than ever for visitors to identify CCSE's expanded, state-of-the-art facilities, located at 8690 Balboa Avenue.

In a move to better serve the public's growing hunger for information on energy efficiency practices and technologies, CCSE moved into larger, higher-performance offices in late 2006. CCSE's relocation accommodates expansion of one of its most important offerings, the Energy Resource Center, which provides San Diegans access to interactive technology displays, valuable calibration tools and energy resource libraries that feature the latest in energy efficiency practices, products and services -- even business opportunities. It also provides free, ongoing workshops to businesses, public agencies and homeowners interested in learning more about cutting energy costs - and the economic incentives to deploy renewable technologies in their homes, public agencies, agricultural facilities and businesses.

CCSE changed its name from the San Diego Regional Energy Office in May of this year, when it announced it was expanding its scope of service to provide energy efficiency expertise, education and rebate program administration in five critical areas: green building, education, renewables -- and now, transportation and climate change.

Inside the San Diego Energy Resource Center Lending Library

The Energy Resource Center ( ERC) has a vast array of books, periodicals, DVDs and tools to assist businesses and home owners with energy efficiency products, services and practices. Books, periodicals and DVDs can be checked out free of charge. Please call toll-free: 1-866-SDENERGY for more information. For a peek at tools and resources available in the lending library, click here. Featured Display Name: Solar Water Heating (closed-loop system) Description: Cut-away of a closed loop active system Systems Addressed: Solar Water Heating System Description: - Flat plate solar collector - Pump runs on a small PV panel (no parasitic losses) - Uses glycol, safe for cold environments - No need for separate storage tank; works with existing water heater A heat transfer fluid (glycol) is pumped from the solar collector to a heat exchanger in the existing water heater, thus heating the water inside the tank, which is then ready for use. Up to 40% of a home's energy use can go toward heating water for showers, dishes and laundry. Savings of 50%-80% can be expected. Featured Instrument Name: Solar Pathfinder Description: The Solar Pathfinder is used for shade analysis to determine where to place equipment to optimize solar-generated power year-round usage. Required equipment: Solar Pathfinder with case and tripod. Examples of Use: Trees, buildings, or other objects that could cast shadows are reflected in the plastic dome, clearly showing shading patterns at the site. Benefits: The underlying diagrams are latitude-specific and are engineered with data for the entire year. A wax pencil can be used to trace around the reflected shadows on the sunpath diagram providing a permanent record of each reading. Availability: Loaned free of charge for up to five business days. Remember: Safety first! Featured Book The Energy Management Handbook, edited by Wayne C.Turner, Steve Doty and published by The Fairmont Press, is recognized as the definitive stand-alone energy manager's desk reference, used by thousands of energy management professionals throughout the industry. The Energy Management Handbook includes new chapters on ground-source heat pumps in commercial applications, sustainability and high performance green buildings, plus an in-depth revision of control systems. Featured Periodical Sun & Wind Energy is the product of a unique forum of about 20,000 experts on renewable energy. This internationally-distributed, English-language periodical offers information, statistics, prospects and exclusive company profiles on organizations offering expertise in the fields of Solar Thermal, photovoltaics, wind energy and biomass. In addition to providing up-to-the-minute industry news, this publication offers an exhibition calendar and a branch office directory of participating member companies.   Featured Video/DVD Name: Blue Vinyl Description: Award-winning filmmaker Judith Helfand set out with co-director Daniel B. Gold to discover the truth behind the potentially toxic effects of vinyl, which is used in building everything from automobiles to computers to medical equipment and children's toys. With a tender-hearted agenda and a piece of blue vinyl siding firmly in hand, Helfand and Gold travel to the vinyl-manufacturing capital in Louisiana, enlist the help of a "green" builder in California, and journey as far as Venice, Italy -- where 31 former executives from a PVC-producing company await trial for manslaughter in a landmark conspiracy case. Length: 98 minutes NOTE: Books, Periodicals and Videos can also be checked out free of charge. Please call Toll Free: 1-866-SDENERGY for more information.