Culminating the end of our successful first year of actively working with businesses to assist them in adopting sustainable practices, the South Bay Cities Green Building Challenge Recognition Breakfast was held at the Automobile Driving Museum in El Segundo on September 28th.
More than 60 attendees were on hand to celebrate the efforts of participants aimed at making their buildings more energy efficient, saving water, reducing waste, exploring alternative transportation options and engaging employees to conserve at home. With 172 participants ranging from a Fortune 500 company to midsize manufacturing to small restaurants, nearly 400 activities have been completed through this program so far.
Special awards were presented to the following participants:
Watson Land Company
received an Environmental Stewardship Award for the Highest Achievement in the Building Challenge.
Raytheon received an Environmental Stewardship Award for the Highest Achievement in the Tenant Challenge.
Shade Hotel was awarded with an Environmental Stewardship Property Upgrade Award.
Beach Cities Health District was presented with an Environmental Stewardship Employee Engagement Award.
South Bay Workforce Investment Board also received an Environmental Stewardship Employee Engagement Award.
Kaiser Permanente-South Bay Medical Center received an Environmental Stewardship Award for completing the most activities in the shortest length of time.
The following restaurants received
Restaurant Environmental Stewardship Awards for participating in at least 3 of our partner programs focused on improving energy efficiency and saving water:
Lomita's Best in Lomita
Mi California in Hawthorne
Corner Burger in Lawndale
Philly's Best in Torrance
Tacos El Unico in the unincorporated community of Westmont.
The attendees heard the most current information about air quality policy from the Keynote Speaker, the Honorable Judy Mitchell, a Councilmember from the City of Rolling Hills Estates and former chair of the SBCCOG. Councilmember Mitchell serves as a Board Member of the South Coast Air Quality Management District and California Air Resources Board. She applauded participants for their commitment to sustainability and thanked them for being part of the solution to help achieve statewide climate goals. El Segundo Mayor Suzanne Fuentes and California State Assemblymember Mike Gipson also gave congratulatory remarks.
The momentum of the Green Building Challenge continues! We are pleased to announce that the program will receive additional funding which will allow us to 
