Energy Efficiency Sector: Commercial ~ California Commercial Energy Efficiency Improvements The Santa Monica Sustainable City Program was begun in 1991, with the establishment of the Santa Monica Task Force on the Environment, and was officially adopted in 1994 by the City Council. The Program's intent is to stress the importance of environmental protection in city policies and commit the city to minimizing negative environmental and social impacts. Many of the policies and programs that have been implemented by the Santa Monica Sustainable City Program are energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. Examples of the actions implemented under the commercial/public energy use sector include energy efficiency retrofits in City facilities, the development of a City Energy Management Plan (EMP) and an Energy Efficiency Strategy (EES), and Solar Photovoltaic Demonstration Projects. In addition, several projects are still in the planning stages such as traffic signal retrofits with Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs), and the use of renewable energy for all city facilities. Results: The energy efficient measures implemented through the Sustainable City Program resulted in energy savings and, therefore, have reduced carbon dioxide, nitric oxides, and sulfur dioxide emissions from the commercial/public energy use sector. In 1997, the program accounted for a 20% decrease in energy use. This is equivalent to a reduction of 499,000 mmBTU. This energy savings reduced the amount of fossil fuels burned by electric utilities, and therefore avoided C02 emissions of 18,505 tons of C02 (or 4,470 MTCE). Additionally, the energy efficiency measures account for a reduction of approximately 259 MT of NOx and 540 MT of S02.** Principal Actors: The City of Santa Monica. For the most part, organizers of the program have acted as volunteers. Administrative overhead for the project has been absorbed by the Environmental Programs Division of the City of Santa Monica. Individual departments cover implementation costs of new policies, which are designed to fall under existing programs. Additional Information: Dean Kubani, City of Santa Monica, 310-458-8972, Dean-Kubani@ci.santa-monica.ca.us; Craig Perkins, City of Santa Monica, 310-458-8221. This case study is based on information provided by Dean Kubani, City of Santa Monica, arid information found in Sustainabfflty in Action; Profiles of Community Initiatives Across the United States, a document prepared for the US EPA by Concern, Inc., September 1995. * Original data have been converted from short tons of C02 equivalent to Metric Tons of Carbon Equivalent (MTCE). ** The following conversion factors were applied to the original data: 1.77 MT NOx / GWh and 3.69 MT S02 / GWh, MT = metric tons. Energy Greenhouse Gas Savings Reductions 499,000 4,470 MTCE*/yr mmBTU/yr ------- |