October 11, 2011

Solar@Work Offers Huge Discounts To Commercial Building Owners And Lease Holders

Posted by Steve Sacks under Building Operations, Energy, Finance, Free, Government, Green Economy, Incentives and Rebates, Make Money, Marketing Ideas, Photovoltaic, Save Money, Solar | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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A new program in San Francisco, Solar@Work, offers discounts, and in some cases free installation, on solar arrays for commercial building owners and lease holders.  Almost any size business can qualify for the program that will lower energy costs for participants.  For businesses proactively addressing San Francisco’s required energy audits, this program requires a closer look. (For full analysis of San Francisco’s commercial building energy audit program, click here)

Solar@Work groups commercial building owners and/or lease holders together to reduce costs through economies of scale.  Participants generate the greatest savings on energy costs through the purchase of a solar array.  The cost of purchasing and installing a system can be prohibitive, so Solar@Work creates a discount on installation and financing through volume pricing.  A “traditional” solar lease is also available with no up front cost, but the savings on energy bills are markedly less significant.

The Collaborative Solar Procurement model created by the World Resources Institute allows the Solar@Work program to offer four financing options.  Owners can purchase systems at a discount, secure a solar lease, secure a capital loan, or finance through other options including power purchase agreements.

The goal is to collect enough businesses in the program to collectively generate 2 megawatts of power or more.  Applications are being accepted until October 31, 2011, and an informational conference call is scheduled for October 21, 2011.

The ideal applicants are owner/occupiers or long-term leasers whose available space on a roof or parking area is 5,000 square feet or more.

Solar City is the exclusive vendor for the program created by the World Resources Institute, the City and County of San Francisco’s Department of the Environment (SF Environment), in collaboration with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and Optony.

Solar City was selected through a competitive process to provide the installation services for the program.  The company anticipates hiring 400 new workers in the second half of 2011 including 100 in the Bay Area, partly due to Solar@Work.

Congratulations to WRI, San Francisco, and the other contributors to this program.  Solar@Work promises to be another great example of how sustainable development will lead a growth in the economy through reducing energy costs and increasing employment.

 

June 14, 2011

Dwell On Design Speaking Gig

Posted by Steve Sacks under Building and Design, Conferences / Conventions / Events, Editor's Note, Speaking Engagement | Tags: , , , |
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Just a quick note to let you know I will be in Los Angeles June 24 and 25, at the Dwell on Design conference.  My panel will discuss financial incentives and traps when undertaking sustainable construction.

Other panelists include Eve Troeh, Reporter, Sustainability Desk, Marketplace; Bill Baldwin, from HartmanBaldwin Design/Build; and Aaron Britt, Senior Editor, Dwell Media.

The event is always a big hit, and draws thousands.  The expo looks great and the line-up of speakers is stellar.  I hope you can join us!

The Dwell on Design homepage is here: http://dod.dwell.com/

The link to our session is here http://dod.dwell.com/stages/3

 

February 22, 2011

Green Jobs At All Levels For Retrofitting Buildings In California – AB 758 Gains Speed

Posted by Steve Sacks under Government, Green Economy, Law, Legislation, and Policy | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |
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Invariably, those in sustainable development acknowledge the greatest impact in reducing green house gasses (GHGs) will come from improvements to existing buildings. The new commercial building energy performance ordinance that we recently spent a great deal of time covering is an example of that focus.  That is not to say that intelligent new building codes are ineffective. It’s just that refurbishing the existing building stock will have a far greater impact. Just how drastic is the difference in impact, you ask? How about seven times greater for residential retrofits and two times greater for commercial?!

Just think of it from this starting point: “72% of California’s 13 million residential buildings and over 5 billion square feet of commercial structures were built before the implementation of California’s energy efficiency building code (Title 24) in the early 1980’s. This means that 3 out of 4 homes in California have never had to comply with any energy efficiency requirements whatsoever.” (Citation: http://bleer.lbl.gov/?p=635)

AB 758, sponsored by Assembly Member Nancy Skinner, was signed into law in October 2009 to addresses this underserved area.  Now, the program has created a need for hiring at the California Energy Commission to implement the provisions. Jobs, people. Jobs!  (Click here to see the job postings from the California Energy Commission).   I won’t get into it, but for the critics who will gripe about government jobs we can not afford, I argue, we can not afford to waste energy across our great state.  When companies waste money on energy, they don’t hire.  Further, jobs are created to fix the inefficient structures that are identified.

Now, let’s examine what the bill requires.  In summary (and using a great deal of the direct language from the bill) the bill mandates three main initiatives

First, the Energy Commission is required to establish a regulatory proceeding to develop a comprehensive program to achieve greater energy savings in the state’s existing residential and non-residential building stock.  A brief but thorough report on their progress is available here. The CEC created the Home Energy Rating System (HERS Phase II). Next is a complimentary program for commercial buildings. Further, the Energy Commission is required to report on the status of the program in the integrated energy policy report.

(If you’re reading on our home page, click “more” to read on and get links to a power point presentation from Assembly Member Skinner that has tons of great concise information.) (more…)

 

December 14, 2010

FTW! Largest Municipal Solar Project In California Comes Online

Posted by Steve Sacks under Energy, Finance, Government, Green Economy, Law, Legislation, and Policy, Make Money, Photovoltaic, Risk Transfer, Save Money, Solar | Tags: , , , , , , , , , |
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Last week Mayor Gavin Newsom  and Recurrent Energy announced the completion of the Sunset Reservoir Solar Project.  We mentioned the story back when it started, and we’re glad to see it finished quickly! A year and a half is pretty good to install 24,000 solar panels (imagine 12 football fields) generating 5 megawatts of power (with some sources stating as high as 7 megawatts).  The energy generated can power 1,500 homes, but will be used instead by the city to power public transportation and city buildings.

The project is the result of a public-private partnership (P3) with Recurrent.  As a result, San Francisco owns the property, but leases the rights to operate the plant and sell the energy.  Under the current contract, Recurrent will sell energy to the city at $0.235 /kWh.  That price will allegedly save roughly $1 million per year in energy costs.  Through the P3 procurement method, San Francisco saves the up-front costs of implementing the system, and reaps the rewards of low cost sustainable energy.

And, let’s not forget.  The money paid to Recurrent stays right here in California.  The corporation was founded in California, pays taxes in California, and employs people in California.  71 general labor jobs – in a decimated construction industry – were created from this project.  30 percent of those jobs were for individuals from disadvantaged communities (Though they had to fight to keep those jobs).

This project looks like a win for proponents of sustainable energy, public-private partnerships, and green job promotion (The CGBB fits into that category).  It also looks to be a win for San Franciscans who will instantly see savings in energy costs to public services.

In the meantime, congratulations to Recurrent Energy and San Francisco.  The Sunset Reservoir Solar Project is currently the largest municipal solar installation in the state.  We hope more of these projects are built immediately all around California and the nation!

San Francisco Press Release Here

(For those of you wondering, “FTW” stands for “For The Win”)

 

November 16, 2010

Discount For Cleantech Open On Wednesday, November 17!

Posted by Steve Sacks under Awards / Competitions, Conferences / Conventions / Events | Tags: , , , , |
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Tomorrow is the Cleantech Open in San Jose, and for those of you who have made it there in the past, you know it’s an exciting event for anyone interested in the latest in clean technology.  Below is a communication from the organizers with a discount code for registration – check it out!

* Expo from 12pm to 2pm – showcasing technologies from throughout the United States and 16 other countries
* Awards Gala from 2:30pm to 6:30pm – technology demonstrations and some terrific speakers
* Networking Reception from 7pm to 9pm.

There will be networking all day, and speakers including Lori Wigle – head of Eco-Technology at Intel, Neal Dikeman – Jane Capital, Chuck Reed – Mayor of San Jose, Lesa Mitchell – VP of Innovation at Kauffman Foundation, Joel Serface – Managing Partner at Serface Ventures, Trond Unneland – Managing Executive, Chevron Technology Ventures, Chuck Reed – Mayor of San Jose, VIP Dinner speaker Representative Jeremy Kalin – Chair of CLEAN, and others.

The Cleantech Open is a nonprofit and the Awards Gala is a fundraiser. Tickets normally go for $97 and up –but there are some discounted tickets which will give you a 20% reduction – just click this link: www.cleantechopen.com/20_percent

 

August 20, 2010

Upcoming Speaking Gig For California State Bar, And Info On West Coast Green And GreenBuild

Posted by Steve Sacks under Build It Green / Green Point Rated, California Green Builder / Building Industry Institute, Conferences / Conventions / Events, Editor's Note, NAHB / National Association of Homebuilders, Speaking Engagement, USGBC / LEED | Tags: , , , |
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Just a quick editor’s note (and honestly, a little self-promotion) to let you know I will be a panelist on September 25, 2010 at the 83rd Annual Meeting of the State Bar of California.  You don’t have to be an attorney to attend, so please consider this engaging educational event.  The Annual Meeting will be held in Monterey, California from September 23 -26.  My panel is entitled Sustainable Development: Moving Beyond Green Building Toward Sustainable Building and Master Planning, and I will be joined by Ed Quevedo and Bret Stone of the Paladin Law Group, (a great law firm by the way). 

The Annual Meeting promises to be informative, and our panel will address a number of the new developments in laws supporting sustainablity.  The keynote speaker this year is Justice Anthony Kennedy, and there are lots of other insightful speakers.  Check 0ut the dozens of sessions by clicking the link above!

While we’re discussing conferences, I want to note that West Coast Green 2010 is coming up September 30 – October 2, 2010.  Once again, West Coast Green lo0ks to be a fantastic event at the same scenic location on the bay in San Francisco.  Last year it was a lot of fun. Note that the early bird discount for West Coast Green ends today, August 20!

Also note, the USGBC’s GreenBuild, November 17-19 in Chicago, IL, has early registration going on, too (until September 10).  They have not announced the keynote speaker for GreenBuild, and it will be tough to top Al Gore from last year… who knows….  Regardless of the speakers, I attended last year, and it was a blast (though Gore was a very inspiring speaker).  It is still the largest green building conference and expo in the United States (if not the world).

 

August 12, 2010

Bayview Hunters Point Shipyard Redevelopment Project Approved

Posted by Steve Sacks under Energy, Government, Green Economy, Law, Legislation, and Policy, Make Money, Sustainable Community | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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Last week the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a measure approving the plan and EIR for the redevelopment of the Bayview Hunters Point neighborhood.  The measure was championed by City Supervisor Sophie Maxwell, and passed with an 8-3 margin.

The project, encompassing 720-acres along the Southeast waterfront of San Francisco, adds 10,500 residential units, nearly a third of which would be priced for low-income residents.  The plan also calls for 320 acres of parkland and open space; retail and commercial space – including a new stadium if the 49ers show some loyalty (they won’t) – and new transportation.

Predictably, there are more than a few immediate issues with the project.  At the top of the list….Lennar needs funding, the stadium has no tenant, the shipyard at the site is highly toxic, and a proposed bridge appears to unnecessarily impact sensitive wetlands. Lets just gloss over those for a minute and imagine what this current symbol of blight might look like if these initial issues are solved and the plan moves forward.

We are interested in green building here at the CGBB, so let’s look at this statement from the project website:

“Hunters Point Shipyard will be the first neighborhood in San Francisco powered entirely by clean, reliable public power. In the new “Green Public Power Community,” the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission will deliver reliable, 100 percent renewable and cost-competitive power to new residents and businesses of the current and future developments through its extensive hydropower, solar and other renewable energy generation projects.”

What? 100% from renewable sources?  Until someone really proves they can pull this off, I’m going to say this looks like greenwash. Where’s the co-gen plant?  Where’s the solar array?  There is not much on their website about how efficient the structures will be, so just stating they will pull 100% of renewable energy from the PUC sounds like Lennar is setting up a patsy if the plan falls short, and the PUC will still get paid. Lennar’s plan relies on the development of new energy production technology, and the cost reduction of existing technology.  That, in and of itself, is risky. One can not rely on new technologies.  For example, as we discussed last month, the California Solar Initiative is reducing the state (taxpayer) funded incentives and rebates for solar installations.

But, before I just cynically dismiss this lofty and worthy project, let’s look at Lennar’s track record.  Lennar is experienced in green development, and has the ability to scale the implementation of sustainable technologies.  According to a June 15, 2010 press release, Lennar is the largest producer of solar residential homes in the nation.  In the press release, Lennar discussed the success of its “SunPower Access” partnership with SunPower Corporation to provide a “no-money-down” leaseback program for residential photovoltaic solar installations.  (I am not familiar with the program, but I imagine it follows a Solar City model).  Additionally, Lennar, through its PowerSmart program, offers a pre-designed green home in about a dozen cities in four states (including California).  The PowerSmart program offers homes that are 15% more efficient than California’s current Title 24 requirements.

Whether PowerSmart homes are more efficient than the CalGreen codes that are mandatory starting in 2011 is another story. And, it will take more than green building to make Bayview Hunters Point stick to its 100% renewable energy promise.  Stay tuned for more on this project.

For more information visit the community group by clicking here, or Lennar’s website by clicking here.

 

July 19, 2010

California Sues Federal Government! BerkeleyFirst and GreenFinanceSF In Jeopardy

Posted by Steve Sacks under Energy, Finance, Finance / Mortgages, Government, Green Economy, Incentives and Rebates, Just Plain Wrong, Law, Legislation, and Policy, Mortgages, Risk Transfer | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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The local California programs that allow homeowners to pay for green renovations through an added assessment on their property taxes is in jeopardy.  The BerkeleyFirst program – the first Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program in the nation, is still up and running, but San Francisco suspended the GreenFinanceSF program, and Sonoma County now sends warning letters out with every application.  Mind you, 22 states now have PACE programs (enabled in California by AB 811), and President Obama wants to allocate $150 million in federal funds for these programs.  Someone in his office better call the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), because they don’t like the programs one bit.

The issues started when Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac sent out a letter in the beginning of May that scared some investors and homeowners because it stated, “an energy-related lien [i.e. PACE loan] may not be senior to any mortgage delivered to Freddie Mac.”  Then, at the beginning of this month, the FHFA (who oversee Fannie and Freddy) stated that the PACE loans pose a risk to lenders, and called for the programs to be stopped.  Last week, California shot back and sued the Federal Government to have the FHFA back PACE programs.

FHFA’s concern is that if a property goes into foreclosure, property taxes are the first debts paid off.  Since the PACE loans are an assessment included in property taxes, the PACE loans would be paid off first in a foreclosure.  Almost universally, a primary mortgage is paid off before any subsequent loans taken on a property.  The PACE loans throw that fundamental rule out the window.  This allegedly adds risk to the primary mortgage, and since Fannie and Freddie are the largest purchasers of mortgages in the nation, they object.

To make matters worse, a New York Times article reports that Fannie and Freddy might not accept mortgages with PACE loans.  Fannie and Freddy turning down mortgages is huge.  The two entities own nearly 50% of the mortgages in the nation, and banks rely on the ability to sell mortgages in bulk to Fannie and Freddie.  If PACE loans make mortgages less valuable in the mortgage market (the banking market that bundles groups of mortgages and sells them wholesale between banks and investors . . .e.g. “mortgage-backed securities”), that will essentially end the programs.

I understand the FHFA point of view, but I think their concerns are overblown. The improvements to the property add value, and the PACE payments are generally very small. A $25,000 loan at 6.5% over 20 years comes to about $185 / month.  If you consider the savings to the owner’s energy bill, are we really talking about a debt obligation that will jeopardize someone’s mortgage payment?  Indeed, what if the local government just increased taxes outright?

The PACE programs are gaining tremendous momentum, creating jobs, and leading us toward energy independence.  Throwing a wrench in the system over something quite small is not only counter-productive, its subversion.  We’ll track this issue closely, and let you know of further developments.

More on the lawsuit from Sustainable Business here

More on the lawsuit from the San Francisco Chronicle here

The CGBB first post on BerkeleyFirst is here

 

June 16, 2010

Mayor’s Task Force Report On Existing Commercial Buildings – Part 4

Posted by Steve Sacks under Building and Design, Carbon, Energy, Finance, Finance / Mortgages, Government, Green Economy, Incentives and Rebates, Just Plain Cool, Law, Legislation, and Policy | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |
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The Mayor’s Task Force Report On Existing Commercial Buildings divided their recommendations into four themes.   In this final post of our series, we address the final theme, “Lead By Example.”

The theme speaks for itself.  The task force essentially states that the city must institute change in municipal buildings before it can insist on changes in the private sector.   I emphatically agree, if for no other reason than the government needs to understand how the systems work before enforcing their use.  San Francisco, under Chapter 7 of the Environment Code leads by example, and there are other examples.  The recently launched GreenFinanceSF, a Green Finance program from the SFPUC, is a direct answer to the task force report.  Admittedly, we missed it in our last post on the topic, but we’ve updated the post, and we will discuss the program in the future.  Please check out the program, it looks great.

Some argue that the private sector is more adept to implement change.  The belief that the private sector will lead the way, however, is misguided.  The private sector has had years to renovate existing buildings, but the implementation is only on the fringe.  Below, please find a quick timeline as to why this is.

The 1960’s and ‘70’s saw a huge surge in societal awareness of sustainability.  This was due to hippies, the oil embargo, and in my case, Ranger Rick, Woodsy Owl, the Tearful Native American, and John Denver (among others).  Even then, these advocates addressed pollution and environment.  Sustainability in construction was considered a fringe movement for those who could afford it.  Then, sustainability lost momentum when the price of oil tanked in the 1980’s.

Even when oil prices rose in the ‘00’s, and analysts touted life-cycle cost savings, private developers were unwilling to pay a “green premium” (the cost difference between a green building and a standard building).  But in 2001, citing life-cycle costs, energy independence, and social consciousness, California and Oregon required that all new municipal buildings meet high environmental and energy efficiency standards.  Other states including Washington, and New York followed, and in 2003, the GSA mandated that all new federal buildings meet LEED Silver standards.   Other states including Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Florida joined the green movement.

With such huge markets mandating green, economies of scale took over.  To answer the large orders from state and the federal government, manufacturers produced higher volumes of green products thus reducing the price. The municipal contracts created a new green economy, and materials such as denim insulation (pun intended) emerged as viable products.  New companies formed and new technologies were invented to answer the call for green supplies.  Large contractors altered their methodologies and trained their workforce for the green future.

Legislating incentives to encourage green building helped too.  The government, with the help of the taxpayer, led all of this.  Let’s be clear.  If it were not for government, the green building movement would still be for the eccentric fringe. Period.

I’ve said many times that political parties are a liability to progress.  There is no room for partisanship in promoting sustainability and green building.  Energy independence is a matter of national security, and as the gulf oil spew shows, clean energy is a matter of protecting our domestic economy (e.g. keeping fisheries open, generating new construction, or creating auto jobs building electric vehicles at the NUMMI plant).   There is nothing wrong with government leading the way in green building and energy efficiency.  To the contrary, it must be one of their highest priorities.  Government involvement in sustainable development creates jobs, and makes us a stronger, more secure nation.

The task force report is very good, but now the hard part begins.  It has been six months since the report was issued, and I have not seen any new legislation passed or proposed.  GreenFinanceSF is a great program, but that was in the works long before the task force report was issued.  According to the San Francisco Examiner, the Mayor was going to propose new legislation, but I haven’t heard about it since.  I’m happy to help if that’s what it takes, but let’s keep up the momentum.

 

June 2, 2010

Mayor’s Task Force Report On Existing Commercial Buildings – Part 3

Posted by Steve Sacks under Building Operations, Energy, Finance, Finance / Mortgages, Government, Green Economy, Incentives and Rebates, Law, Legislation, and Policy, Solar, Sustainable Community, Wind | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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Parts One and Two of our analysis of the Final Report and Recommendations from the Mayor’s Task Force on Existing Commercial Buildings discussed mandatory energy audits, the risks associated with allowing unilateral submetering, and the welcome drive to increase transparency in energy use reporting under an expanded implementation of AB 1103.  In Part Three of this post, we look at the task force’s proposal to “attract game-changing capital.”

First, it should be noted that the task force’s interest in attracting game-changing capital comes from not only prudence, but also awareness of the acute financial restraints facing our society.  The task force offers low-cost solutions such as the Green Tenant Toolkit, and looks to engage the private sector in these and other initiatives.

There are two possibly expensive financial initiatives proposed by the task force that we will address at length.  The first is a Financial Optimization Tool (FOT) – a fantastic idea.  The proposed FOT is software that organizes and amalgamates all incentives and rebates available to building developers, managers, and tenants.  Currently, the best place to find such information is through the Database of State Incentives and Renewable Energy (www.dsireusa.org) (a website that is the anchor on our Tax Incentives and Rebates page).  The problem with DSIRE, and other resources such as the Flex Your Power website or the US Department of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy Newsletter, is the fluctuating information is difficult to organize.

DSIRE addresses this problem by simply listing every incentive available, and weekly (if not daily) updating that list.   This approach is thorough, however it creates a mountain of information to sift.   The FOT is a great alternative because it allows owners to use all incentives to design an energy efficiency program specifically tailored to their financial circumstances and their building’s design and condition.

To address the need for constant updates, the task force suggests a public-private partnership (P3).  The inclusion of a private partner could be effective.  But, as with so many other opportunities that are offered to private industry, this represents an early sale of future assets.  Further, including private industry may undermine the intent of the FOT

P3s have an essential place in our society, however, for this situation P3s are not an effective solution.  To have the greatest impact, all parties should have access to the FOT.  Use could eventually be required as a standard of care for the building management industry or as part of energy audits.  But, if a P3 private company is involved there needs to be a profit angle. Due to its niche market, the FOT will not produce sufficient advertising revenue.  And without advertising, the only profit angle is through subscriptions.

A subscription-based FOT will fail because it will deter a majority of potential users including other municipalities.  Further, if the FOT is privatized, anti-trust issues arise if use of the FOT is required

The best approach to implement the FOT is a “top down” approach that I will discuss in Part Four of our analysis.  The federal government, working with state and local agencies, must come up with this tool, so that it is accessible to all interested parties.  Perhaps federal leadership is too much for a locally convened task force to suggest, and perhaps this tool needs to start at the state level with contributions from our state universities.  What the FOT does not need is a private partner seeking profit.

There are areas where a P3 will work, and one surprising area the Task Force misses is an opportunity to suggest a partnership in finance.  The report suggests following the BerkeleyFirst distributed power program that utilizes AB 811.  As we previously discussed on the CGBB, the BerkeleyFirst program is not only innovative in attaching the debt obligations of a solar installation to property taxes, it is also innovative in allowing a private company to underwrite the financing for the installations.  This powerful P3 model epitomizes P3 success.  The private partner provides funding, and earns a fair return on investment.  The municipality reaps the reward of infrastructure development at a fraction of the cost.   Perhaps the task force was wary of opening the proverbial floodgates to private enterprise, or perhaps the task force did not want to single out Renewable Funding LLC, the underwriter in the BerkeleyFirst program.

Nonetheless, San Francisco launched GreenFinanceSF, and the city called on Renewable Funding LLC to finance the project.  BerkeleyFirst deserves a great amount of credit as the first program of this type in California, but GreenFinanceSF looks to be a broader initiative that has a longer list of eligible projects.  Unlike BerkeleyFirst which funds solar residential solar installations, GreenFinanceSF finances a long list of energy and water retrofit projects.  The California Green Building Blog will offer further analysis of the GreenFinanceSF program in the future.

The next and final installation of our analysis of the task force report will discuss a topic near and dear to my heart – the suggestion by the task force that government “lead by example.”  I am a firm believer in this approach.  This is not about government intervention, this is about leadership.  No matter where your political loyalties fall, you’ll want to read next week…

 

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