Statewide LG EE Best Practices: Weekly Update

Here are your WEEkly Updates:

1. Registration has opened for the 7^th Annual SEEC Forum! The Forum will be held June 15^th-16^th in Riverside, CA and will feature updates from key state leaders, up to 16 breakout sessions sharing local government energy and climate best practices and lessons learned, and constant networking opportunities to learn the latest in energy activities from across the state. Registration is no-cost to local governments. Click here to learn more or to register.

2. Interested in having a CivicSpark AmeriCorps fellow during the 2016-17 service year? CivicSpark is a great way for local governments to find capacity for energy efficiency and sustainability efforts - and educate future local government leaders. The program is recruiting now, and is ready to answer your questions. Informational webinars will be held Wednesday, April 13^th at 1pm and Wednesday, April 27^th at 10am. Click here to register.

3. Resources and Opportunities at the State Level, 101: In response to local government requests, SEEC will be holding a webinar: State-Level EE 101: Agencies Furthering Energy Efficiency, How they Work, & Resources & Processes Local Governments Can Leverage.  The goal will be to give local government energy efficiency leaders a sense of what opportunities there are on the state level to provide feedback, shape current activities, and leverage state requirements and resources in strategic planning and implementation of energy projects. For more information, and registration, click here.

4. Best practices for Zero Net Energy: NREL Commercial Buildings Principal Engineer Paul Torcellini will participate in an upcoming ASHRAE Webcast - Making Net Zero Positive: Solving the Efficiency and Cost Paradox - April 21, 2016 at 1:00pm. Click here for more information and registration.

5. For those that missed the AB 802 workshop held by the CEC last week, notes on items discussed and a link to the saved recording on the CEC’s website is available here. Any comments must be submitted to the CEC by April 8^th.

6. The Energy Data Access Committee also met last week – a summary of items discussed that may be of interest to local governments is available here.

7. The Alliance to Save Energy’s recent article shares why homeowners should care about building energy codes: energy efficiency adds value to a home. A great initiative adding transparency to this, and empowering homebuyers and sellers to make market-driven choices and improvements is the application of the Department of Energy’s Home Energy Score in Berkeley’s new Building Energy Savings Ordinance (BESO). Read more on the Ordinance's goals, and implementation, here.

8. While on residential programs, congratulations to the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments for a strong first year of their Energy Assessment Screening for Your Home, or “EASY” Program! Supported by the SCE and SCG through the San Gabriel Valley Energy Watch, the EASY Program provides residents with free home assessments and customized home reports with information on smart upgrade opportunities as well as utility incentives to support them. As of January, the EASY Program had provided well over 100 assessments in 19 cities. For more information, click here.

9. High-tech EE in residential: The U.S. DOE has a great story and video on high-tech options on the horizon for residential. Click here to review.

10. Jumping to EE activities in the commercial sector: the U.S. EPA and U.S. DOE have released their 2016 Energy Star Partner of the Year Award winners to honor outstanding achievements in energy efficiency – which include two businesses in California. Click here to learn what these businesses are doing to save energy, and share some great ideas your commercial community partners.

11. More value for commercial partners: for 6 Benefits of Becoming a Sustainable Business, learn more in an Environmental Leader article here.


12. EE Opportunities in IT: Many think of server closets and data centers as spaces that just have to use lots of energy. However, the energy intensity of data center and IT space often makes it ripe for opportunities to save. Microsoft’s new data center Sustainability Chief explains how energy efficiency saves money and allows greater operation in a smaller footprint, here. For more resources on energy efficiency in IT, click here.


13. The California Financing Coordinating Committee has released its 2016 Funding Fair schedule – the Fair events are a great way for local and tribal governments to connect with a variety of financing and funding opportunities for water and energy infrastructure projects. To learn more and review the schedule, click here.

14. Funding review: This was a popular item last week, so for those that missed it: $569M has been made available from federal agencies for energy and other activities – click here to learn more. A new U.S. Department of Transportation grant program has made $800M available, with applications due April 14^th: More here.

15. Congratulations also to the City of Hayward for winning the Acterra 2016 Business Environmental Award for its green power initiative at the City’s water pollution plant! Learn more about how the City is leveraging incoming credits from renewable generation to fund energy efficiency and sustainability projects (and connect to a great video on operations at the facility).

16. The California Energy Commission (CEC) has developed a list of Title 24 energy code trainings that will be made available through different ICC chapters. Click here for more information.

17. The CEC’s 2016 Integrated Energy Policy Report (IEPR) Update is underway: click here to learn about scoped Update topics and schedule for release.

As always, you can keep track of relevant events by connecting to the EE Events Calendar, and find more resources being added daily on the EECoordinator website. 

That is All For This Week!