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From the Director's Desk
We’ re disappointed by the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s decision this month to recommend Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Federal Home Loan Banks take steps that effectively prevent the spread of property assessed clean energy ( PACE) programs. It means the City of San Diego’s Clean Generation Program is on hold, as well as similar programs throughout California and across the nation. We continue to believe that PACE programs will make the clean energy transition easier, and while this is a setback we certainly are not discouraged. There are lots of good indicators that sustainable energy is strong and growing in San Diego. Click here to continue reading.
Gear Up for Sustainable Energy Week
SPECIAL NOTE: Register Today – Early Bird Discounts End July 15 For the past five years, CCSE has presented a series of successful Solar Energy Week celebrations saluting clean energy from the sun. But we now see an urgent need to broaden our scope to include energy efficiency and conservation, high-performance energy retrofitting and other renewable energy solutions. We’ve also incorporated our popular San Diego Street Smart event to highlight electric vehicles and alternative transportation. Click here to continue reading.
Prius Plug-in Hybrids Come to CCSE
Building More Sustainable Homes
Most of us live in traditionally constructed houses and buildings, but for those who want to build custom homes made with more sustainable materials, the choices are rather diverse – many more than the straw, wood and brick of Three Little Pigs fame. Click here to continue reading.
IR Cameras for Home Energy Audits
Look as hard as you like, but you can’t readily see if inadequacies hidden in and around your home’s walls, ceilings, windows, doors and air ducts are wasting energy and keeping your energy costs high. The good news is that you can either hire a professional to find leaks or borrow equipment to do it yourself at CCSE’s Energy Resource Center. Click here to continue reading.
Community Energy Action Hero
Sometimes it’s hard to wait for corporate America to catch up to consumer desires, so people take things into their own hands by converting what’s available into something they really want. Such was the case for Vickie Randle, who just couldn’t get by without the electric vehicle (EV) of her dreams, so she decided to build her own “solar Beetle,” a 2000 Volkswagen converted from gas to all electric. And it deserves the name solar, because Vickie charges up at home with 20 photovoltaic panels that power her home. Click here to continue reading.
California Legislative Update
The landmark Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (Assembly Bill 32) that put California forward as the nation’s leader in reducing greenhouse gas ( GHG) emissions with the goal to achieve 1990 levels by 2020 is in jeopardy of being postponed indefinitely. Proposition 23, the California Jobs Initiative, seeks to suspend AB 32, claiming that unemployment in California and the undertaking of GHG emission reduction laws are inextricably linked. Supporters, sponsored by oil companies Tesoro and Valero, state that California has lost manufacturing jobs and that industrial growth in California lags compared to other states, a situation they say will worsen unless AB 32 is stopped. Click here to continue reading.
San Diego 3rd District Councilmember Todd Gloria tries out CCSE’s human-energy bike that demonstrates how much electricity it takes to run lighting and other household items at the Kensington Clean Energy Festival held June 26. CCSE Green Learning Adventure coordinator Andrea Cook continues to add more electrical devices, making Gloria work harder to keep the lights on.
Policy and Planning
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PACE financing programs on hold nationwide Gear Up for Sustainable Energy Week Prius Plug-in Hybrids Come to CCSE Building More Sustainable Homes
Did you know CCSE offers free, ongoing workshops on energy efficiency, solar energy, green building, transportation and climate change? Register now! Click on the links below or call (866) SDENERGY. Designing High Performance Sustainable Homes Eco-Friendly Benefits of Cargo Container-Based Projects Solar Water Heating Basics for Homeowners Solar for Homeowners Rebates and Incentives for Energy Efficiency & Distributed Generation Part 2 Solar Technology Series - Microinverters and Maximizers Power Purchase Agreement Case Studies Energy-Wise Renovations Solar for Homeowners CSI Program Forum
CSI Public Forum – July 30 Join the CCSE Elite Volunteer Corp – August 3 Home Solar Survey
Jeffrey Wheeland Jeffrey Wheeland is a member of CCSE’s California Solar Initiative nonresidential program and plays a vital role in maintaining databases, tracking solar projects, processing applications and interacting with solar installers and customers. Jeffrey has experience working in Central America. He was a rural development coordinator for Futuro Forestal in Panama City, Panama, a private reforestation firm. He conducted surveys of low-level rural employees to assess methods of improving working conditions and retention. He also worked at the Foundation for Self-Sufficiency in Bajo Lempa, El Salvador, where he coordinated projects for community-based nonprofits to improve basic infrastructure and health standards. Jeffrey is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley with a B.A. degree in psychology and an M.A. degree in international affairs.
Gas Saving Realities It’s summer and time to consider how to keep cool without jacking up your electricity costs. It starts at your HVAC system. If equipment is more than 15 years old or not properly maintained, get a mechanical tune-up to reduce energy loss. Next, add ceiling fans. With fans, you can turn up your thermostat by 4 degrees and retain a good comfort level. In drier East County areas, consider an evaporative cooler that generally uses about a quarter of the energy of conventional air conditioners. Be energy wise about keeping cool.
Current green job openings: • Associate Program Manager - Transportation Programs • Building Retrofit Program Manager • Energy Engineer - Energy Efficiency Programs
“Ever since we've lived in caves, every time we've wanted energy, we light something on fire. We're still doing that. I think it's time for us to get out of our caves and use the clean, eternal, renewable energy that actually does run the planet, and harness that for our use. ” - Carl Safina, president and co-founder Blue Ocean Institute
Help us STAND FOR LESS. So that everyone can enjoy life more. Please take a few minutes today and join us at www.standforless.com.
Energy Connection is a monthly e-newsletter of the California Center for Sustainable Energy. We value your feedback. To submit comments, questions or suggestions, please click here. |
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