Family Energy Day, Sept. 12 2010
The large parking lot at CCSE was filled with more than 50 vendor booths, displays of electric vehicles, live entertainment on a solar-powered stage, test rides on electric scooters and bikes, a faux soccer field and more while inside visitors checked out displays in the Energy Resource Center and sat in on a variety of mini-workshops about solar power, energy efficiency and clean transportation.
An estimated 800 people took part in the day’s activities, including State Senator Christine Kehoe, San Diego City Councilmember Todd Gloria and special guest speaker Leilani Münter, the pro race car driver and environmental activist known as Carbon Free Girl. Lots of families attended, with the kids getting a special kick out of the electricity-producing “sOccket” ball, driving solar-powered minicars and electric bikes and taking part in Green Learning Adventure and Ms. Smarty-Plants activities.
"Congratulations to you and your staff for a very successful Clean Energy Conference last week. . . . Thank you for all the great public service you and CCSE provide every day."
- Paul E. Symczak, business development advisor
Street Smart San Diego, Sept. 12 2010
As part of Family Energy Day, Street Smart San Diego highlighted that CCSE is a key player in the electrification of our local transportation systems, from providing rebates and introducing new vehicles to developing the infrastructure to support them.
Several vehicle manufacturers displayed their products, from compact neighborhood electric vehicles to the stealthy Tesla Sports Roadster, and a few offered test drives, including the Toyota Prius plug-in hybrid, the all-electric THINK City, Green Vehicles’ three-wheeled electric Triac and a variety of electric motorcycles and ATVs from Extreme Green Products. Also on display were the Nissan LEAF, electric conversion cars from the San Diego Kick Gas Club and Blink, the first smart electric vehicle charging station from ECOtality.
Congratulations to the Raffle Winners!
1st Place SANYO ENELOOP - Peggy Clark, Lakeside
2nd Place INNERGY VOLTAIC BACKPACK - Ron Salisbury, San Diego
3rd Place INNERGY PARABOLIC SOLAR COOKER – Edward (no last name given), Encinitas
Proceeds from the raffle will benefit CCSE’s Green Learning Adventure program. Special thanks to all participants.
Clean Energy Commercial Tours, Sept. 14–15 2010
Two days of guided bus tours took participants to visit high-performance buildings and facilities featuring advanced energy efficiency and renewal energy technologies. At each stop, they learned what makes a building “high performance” and were able to ask the experts who installed and maintain the systems about their operations and successes.
On the first day, the tour went to the SDSU Aquaplex, a swim facility with solar photovoltaics and large amounts of solar water heating; Qualcomm’s certified Green Restaurants cafes; the Hill ‘N Dale Townhomes, a multifamily residence with solar water heating; and Albertson’s environmentally friendly grocery store in Clairemont Mesa.
The second day included tours of Mission Heights Condominiums where a retrofit installation of three independent solar water heating systems was under way; the Urban Corps of San Diego County’s facilities with two LEED-certified buildings, a community recycling center and green rooftop garden; the innovative offices of DPR Construction, designed to be net zero energy use and LEED Platinum; and Hotel Indigo, San Diego’s first LEED-certified hotel.
"I have attended and spoken at many conferences across the country during the last 12 years and this conference ranks among the top ten percent. I did not expect a mayor and county supervisor of a major metro area in Southern California to speak about green with such conviction. The representatives from the PUC & CEC were inspiring. . . . I appreciate how green permeated so many details of the conference."
- A. George Beeler, principal architect
Clean Energy Conference, Sept. 16
Declaring that getting to a clean energy future will require a focused, collaborative approach, CCSE Executive Director Irene Stillings opened the Clean Energy Conference at the San Diego Convention Center where some 400 participants gathered for the day-long event featuring 40 energy experts and sustainable industry leaders speaking in 16 workshop sessions.
Stillings went on in her opening remarks saying that California’s clean energy policies are good for the state’s economy and not “job killers” as proponents of Proposition 23 claim. She cited a Pew Charitable Trusts report stating that California’s clean-energy job growth outpaced traditional jobs while the state attracted some $6.5 billion in clean-energy investments over the past three years.
San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders said that the city now has hundreds of clean-tech companies and that “we’re seeing a lot of jobs being created.” Also giving welcoming remarks were Michael Niggli, president and COO of San Diego Gas & Electric, who wished the audience well in “taking the green economy to the next step,” and San Diego County Supervisor Ron Roberts, who spoke about the electrification of transportation and how local governments can remove barriers to clean-energy development.
Workshops throughout the day offered a high level of detailed information on subjects as diverse as best energy practices for businesses and ways to get a good return on energy investments to how to better bid solar projects and tips for marketing a home performance business. Presentations from the Clean Energy Conference are available online for viewing and downloading.
