Los Angeles Receives Energy Star Crown

By Linda Coburn
San Fernando Valley Business Journal Staff

The Los Angeles metropolitan region was the Energy Star approved capital of the country for commercial buildings in 2008, said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The distinction came in the most active year ever for the Energy Star program, according to EPA spokesperson Maura Beard.

“Over 3,200 buildings across the country earned the Energy Star in 2008,” said Beard. That was almost as many buildings as for all years of the program combined. “We had 130 percent growth over the prior year and a 53 percent increase cumulatively. It was just a huge unprecedented growth for us.”

In the greater San Fernando Valley region, 44 buildings earned the energy efficiency designation in 2008. The buildings that qualified emit 35 percent less greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and reduced their energy use by 35 percent.

That translates into an average energy savings of $0.50 per square foot on average for a commercial building.

It’s important to note that the Energy Star looks purely at energy efficiency, which has little to do with installing expensive equipment like solar panels and wind turbines, and more to do with things that any business, regardless of size, can implement.

“The best way to be efficient is to look at things like the operating characteristics of your building,” said Beard. “A lot of folks, once they start measuring and monitoring with our tools, find they are heating and cooling their buildings while unoccupied. So by adjusting those operating features they’ll save energy.”

Installing sensors on light switches, automated thermostats and turning computers off at the end of the day can have a big impact on a operating costs. “And you can do that in a way that doesn’t sacrifice comfort and safety,” said Beard.

Energy Star gives its blessing to 12 different types of commercial buildings, five types of manufacturing plants, and new home construction in addition more than 50 product categories like televisions and appliances.

This article was originally posted at www.sfvbj.com.

Campus Teach-In Draws A Crowd

The CSUN Teach-In on Climate Change and Sustainability drew a crowd with headliner Andy Lipkis, founder of TreePeople, kicking off the day with a call to action for students and faculty alike.

Saying that everyone makes a difference, whether positive or negative, with every action or inaction, the engaging Lipkis detailed a wide variety of projects undertaken by the organization he started when he was 18 and a student at Sonoma State.

Read all about it on the Sundial website.

EPA Award Deadline Looms

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is seeking nominations for their 2009 Western Region Environmental Awards program.


The deadline to submit nominations is February 8. Those with residences, businesses or organizations in California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii, and the Pacific Islands are eligible.

The goal is to identify and honor those who made significant contributions toward improving the environment last year.
Click here for criteria and other information on the contest.

Two Valley residents were recognized at the 2007 awards: Dennis Washburn, then Mayor of Calabasas and presently a Calabasas City Council member; and Robina Suwol of Toluca Lake who founded California Safe Schools.

CSUN Sustainability Event

As part of a nationwide Climate Change Teach-In, California State University Northridge will be hosting an all-day event with speakers, workshops, headlined by Andy Lipkis of Tree People.

The Teach-in On Climate Change and Sustainability is open to the public.

Kickoff is at 10:45 a.m. and Lipkis will speak from 11 a.m. to noon. "I told Andy he could go on at 11 a.m. and then I realized we needed to have an introduction," said Ashwani Vasishth of the odd start time. "Plus it sticks in peoples' heads." he added with a chuckle.

Vasishth is the newly appointed director of the CSUN Sustainability Institute. He and others who have been involved in the start-up of the Institute will speak from noon to 12:30 on the CSUN Greening project. From 1:15 to 3 p.m., there will be hour-long panels covering Climate Change Science, Climate Change Policy, and Actions to Combat Climate Change Impacts.

The West Valley Occupational Center starts a new program for solar panel installers on Feb. 9.

The 100-hour program will teach participants the basics of installing photovoltaic (or PV) solar panels, said Luis A. Lopez, assistant principal of the West Valley campus. By fall, he added, "we plan on offering the advanced 300 course that leads to a state certification in solar panel installation. Eventually we plan on offering the NABEP Test here on Campus."

That test is required by contractors to be licensed in solar panel installers.

In the summer, Lopez said, WVOC will be offering a Hybrid Technology class in their automotive program. Other classes are going to be developed in that arena including hydrogen conversion kits and how to convert hybrid cars to all-electric.

For more information on the classes offered by WVOC call (818) 346-3540.

Sustainabilities?

This blog started as a CSUN Student Project and thus had a student-y name: "Save the Planet, Not the Hippies." The class is over but the blog has turned into a passion for one student who sees no reason that the San Fernando Valley should not become the center of cleantech and other sustainable products and services for Southern California. Thus the name change which attempts to combine the words "sustainability" and "opportunities."

Stay tuned for information on the Valley Green Team and the Valley Green Pages, a directory of resources for businesses, consumers and organizations who share this commitment.

CSUN Sustainability Overview

For our final class project, the Save the Planet team interviewed two of the key players in the California State University Northridge sustainability movement: Dr. Ashwani Vasishth, the recently appointed head of the new CSUN Sustainability Institute, and Tom Brown of the Physical Plant Department. We also talked to some students about recycling.

Burbank Airport Unveils First LEED-Certified Hangar

This story was posted on the San Fernando Valley Business Journal website on Dec. 9, 2008. Photo is courtesy of the Los Angeles Times, photo credit goes to Scott Firestone.

Solar power, drought-resistant plants and recycled materials all contribute to Hangar 25 at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, what its builder is calling the most sustainable aircraft hangar in the world.

The hangar built by Shangri-La Construction was given Platinum LEED Certification, the highest rating from the U.S. Green Building Council.

The building, which is powered by a solar array on the roof, plugs the aviation industry into the green market, said John Picard, a consultant on the project.

“The doors have opened to the industry and now can ask, ‘What can we do next?’” Picard said.

The building has a concrete floor that uses no chemical polymers, a hi-fog fire suppression system that reduces water usage and minimizes waste from fire damage, and bicycle racks to encourage employees to not drive to work.

Shangri-La is in negotiations to construct a similar facility for Maguire Aviation at Van Nuys Airport.