S
outh Bay Cities Council of Governments
Green Building Challenge Newsletter
|December
2017
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What is ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager®?
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You can't manage what you don't measure. That's why EPA created ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager®, an online tool you can use to measure and track energy and water consumption, as well as greenhouse gas emissions. Use it to benchmark the performance of one building or a whole portfolio of buildings, all in a secure online environment.
ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager® offers a benchmarking starter kit. All buildings can assess their energy performance, water efficiency, and carbon emissions using Portfolio Manager.
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What is Benchmarking and What are The Benefits?
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Benchmarking the energy performance of your buildings is a key first step to understanding and reducing energy consumption and your carbon footprint. The average building wastes about a third of the energy it uses. By understanding these inefficiencies and taking action, you can reduce your energy costs. By reducing the amount of energy you use, you lessen the amount of greenhouse gases that need to be emitted at power plants, which helps create a cleaner, healthier environment.
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West Basin Municipal Water District participates in a FREE Level 1 Audit!
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What happens in a Level 1 Audit? Jeremiah Shea, Water Resources Analyst and Green Team Organizer at West Basin, made the following observations:
As a supporter of sustainability and a sponsor of the GBC, West Basin Municipal Water District (WBMWD) wanted to be sure their headquarters building was as energy efficient as possible. WBMWD is an industry leader in water conservation, and as such, they want to lead by example and conserve both water and energy at their own facilities. The SBCCOG Engineer met with the WBMWD Building Engineer on December 19th to conduct a walk-through of the WBMWD Donald L. Dear Headquarter building in Carson to identify any areas of energy waste or inefficiency. The data collected will be compiled to be used for a preliminary energy use-analysis which will provide WBMWD with a list of low-cost/no-cost measures along with potential capital improvements for further study. The Level 1 Audit will help to prioritize energy efficiency projects and to assess the need for a more detailed audit.
WBMWD has been taking other sustainable actions in "going green", when recently the agency switched their building's air-cooled ice machine from a water-cooled model. There is an increasing trend to replace water-cooled ice machines with air-cooled models that use much less water and have a smaller impact on the environment. WBMWD's green efforts also extend into the community. Recently WBMWD enhanced their Cash for Kitchens program to provide commercial kitchens, restaurants, hotels, and other institutional food service facilities (such as hospitals and schools) with free high-efficiency equipment installations to conserve water and energy. To participate, facilities must first complete a water-use survey to determine if they are eligible for the following kitchen equipment: pre-rinse spray valves, faucet flow restrictors, connection less food steamers, and air-cooled ice machines. For more program information and to schedule a survey, please contact the South Bay Environmental Services Center (SBESC) at 310-371-4633.
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From our friends at Building Operator Certification: Give Your Building a Holiday Too!
One of the easiest ways to save energy is to turn off equipment when it's not needed. Most systems let you designate "holidays" for the entire year, saving staff time, and ensuring holiday weekdays are in unoccupied mode. Check out the tips below to ensure your building is saving energy over the holiday.
- Set back thermostats for heating or air conditioning (unless you have a programmable thermostat already set to do this automatically).
- Turn off all lights except safety and security lights.
- Send a reminder to building occupants to turn off all unused office equipment, including computers, monitors, printers, copiers, fax machine, and scanners.
- On electric water heaters, check time-of-use controllers to be sure the water heater is set to turn off at closing time and on at opening time.
- If your water-heating system includes a circulation pump, turn it off.
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West Basin Municipal Water District
Ocean Friendly Garden Hands-On Workshop
Thursday, January 18, 2017
9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Gardena
Learn how to create a California Friendly Garden with native and climate appropriate plants, water-efficient devices, organic mulch and more. Register
here.
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Mark your calendars for the following upcoming SCE events, hosted by the SBCCOG in Torrance:
- Friday, February 2, 2018 - Title 24: Where We're Headed with the 2016 Standards
- Friday, June 22, 2018 - CALGreen Title 24 Part 11
- Friday, July 13, 2018 - Variable Refrigerant Flow and Ductless Systems: Design and Application
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