 GREEN CALIFORNIA NEWS
Sustainable - Energy Efficient - Green Buildings - Green Buying
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State and Utility Companies Take Action to Maximize Energy Efficiency
Energy efficiency is the quickest, most cost-effective way to meet California's growing energy demands. That's why state officials and California's investor-owned utilities are working together to significantly increase the level of energy efficiency in state-owned buildings.
Under the Memorandum of Understanding signed in August, the California Department of General Services joined forces with Southern California Edison, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, San Diego Gas & Electric and Southern California Gas Co. to implement nearly $17 million worth of energy-saving programs.
Once the programs are in place, state facilities, from large office buildings to smaller facilities such as DMV field offices, will run at top efficiency.
This investment in energy efficiency will pay dividends in the years to come in resulting energy savings.
State and Consumer Services Agency Secretary Rosario Marin accepts a check from California's largest investor-owned utilities to improve the energy efficiency of state buildings. From left, Anne Shen Smith, Senior Vice President, Customer Services, Southern California Gas Co./San Diego Gas & Electric; Rosario Marin; Helen Burt, Sr. VP, Chief Customer Officer, PG&E; Lynda Ziegler, Sr. Vice President, Customer Services, Southern California Edison. Photo Courtesy Southern California Edison.
VOLUME 1 - FALL 2006 |
Welcome to the first edition of Green California News. This publication will enable the Department of General Services to share news on a regular basis about what is being done to meet the state of California's energy efficiency and resource conservation goals.
Turning Gold Into Platinum:
Department of Ed Building Gets "Straight As" For Being Green
How do you take an already green building and make it even greener? That's exactly what the state of California has done with the Department of Education Building in Sacramento.
As part of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's Green Building Initiative, the Education Building has become the first state-owned and operated office building in the U.S. to achieve the nation's highest level of energy efficiency and environmental conservation.
In July, the U.S. Green Building Council awarded the building its coveted LEED platinum certification for existing buildings. LEED is a green building rating system and stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. USGBC is the nation's foremost coalition of building industry leaders working to promote buildings that are energy efficient and environmentally responsible.
"In 2003, this building was designed and constructed to meet the LEED gold standard of energy conservation and environmental design," explains Rosario Marin, Secretary of the State & Consumer Services Agency. "But we wanted better than gold. So we kept on fine-tuning it with still more energy-saving and conservation techniques, and now I'm proud to say that we've taken it to the highest level. You can't get any higher than platinum."
After the Education Building opened for business, the California Department of General Services launched additional operations and maintenance practices to make the six-story facility even more energy-efficient and environment friendly. The building is now 40 percent more energy efficient than required by the California Building Code. |
