Los Angeles is at a critical energy crossroads. The choice facing Los Angeles consists of staying on a path of dirty, unsustainable and dangerous energy resources or shifting to a clean energy path that exploits the abundant, renewable and reliable energy resources available today.

Los Angeles currently relies heavily on fossil fuels and nuclear power subjecting residents to long-term instability from price spikes, market manipulation and supply shortages. In 2005, 75 percent of the city’s energy came from burning fossil fuels: 50 percent from coal and 31 percent from natural gas. Renewable energy accounted for five percent of DWP’s total electric generation which is significantly lower than the state average of 12 percent.

Much progress has been made over the past few years. Los Angeles now has a goal of increasing renewable energy to 20 percent by 2010, and renewable energy has doubled in the past three years.  These developments should be applauded. However, most of the renewable energy developed by LADWP under its new renewable energy program is large scale projects like wind farms, geothermal fields and biogas facilities. The amount of solar power installed in Los Angeles is among the lowest in the state despite the city’s unparalleled amount of sunshine.

There’s no question, the city of Los Angeles has the potential to be the world’s capitol for solar power. With its year-round sunshine, growing energy needs and an enormous number of rooftops just perfect for solar panels, Los Angeles could easily generate at least five percent of its energy needs from solar power within the next decade. And, accounting for 10 percent of the state’s entire electricity usage, Los Angeles can play a leadership role in realizing California’s goal of building a million solar roofs in 10 years. 

Furthermore, LADWP’s rate structure creates financial barriers for individuals wanting to go solar. For example, DWP limits excess solar electricity generated during a weekday afternoon to offset net demand only during other weekday afternoons, as opposed to allowing afternoon-generated electricity to offset energy usage at night-time. In contrast, the rest of California allows customers to use their solar credits to offset any and all net demand within an annual timeframe. In other words, usually net metering allows a solar system owner to essentially use the grid as a giant battery, storing solar power by day for use by night. LADWP’s net metering program, in contrast, only allows solar system owners to “store” solar energy during the day which is, of course, the time of day storage is not needed.

Both of these issues need to be addressed if Los Angeles is to comply with the spirit of the Million Solar Roofs Initiative and, more importantly, if it is to become a world-wide solar power leader. The opportunity is to make Los Angeles a world-class solar city, bringing significant environmental, public health and economic benefits. Building 100,000 solar roofs in Los Angeles over the next ten years would:

Result in 300 MW of solar power installed in Los Angeles;
Cut global warming pollution by roughly 300,000 tons per year
Reduce smog forming pollution by 90,000 pounds per year
Create 2,100 new jobs

Bookmark to:

Angelenos use, on average, 140 gallons of water every day, but most usage is misusage - nobody is that thirsty. There are several things one can do reduce water usage at home and most are no-brainers. First, use only as much water on your lawn as you need to. Studies show that the average homeowner uses more than 4 times the actual amount of water needed to keep a lawn healthy and green – wasted water that runs off of property and into storm drains. We recently got a lot of rain so give your automatic sprinklers a rest. Second, run only full loads in the washing machine and dishwasher - this saves 300 to 800 gallons a month. Use a broom instead of a hose to clean driveways and sidewalks. Shortening showers also helps as every minute of shower uses 2.5 gallons of water. And lastly, don’t use the toilet as a wastebasket. The city got some much needed rain, but the drought is far from over - most of the rain ended up in the ocean.

Bookmark to:

Recognizing again the environmental leadership of the Los Angeles Community College District, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger Nov. 20 bestowed the state’s highest and most prestigious environmental honor upon the district. The 2007 Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership Award was presented during a ceremony at the California Environmental Protection Agency Headquarters Building in Sacramento. The program recognizes individuals, organizations, and businesses that have demonstrated exceptional leadership and made notable contributions in conserving California’s precious resources, protecting and enhancing our environment, and building public-private partnerships.

“Receiving this prestigious award validates our commitment to promoting environmental preservation and protection while fulfilling our mission to train our students for the jobs of the 21st century Los Angeles economy,” said Dr. Marshall E. Drummond, Chancellor, LACCD. “Following the recognition of our partnership with the Clinton Climate Initiative, it’s clear we are leading with green.”

“This honor is for the entire LACCD team, including our students, administrators, construction team, faculty, and staff,” said Larry Eisenberg, executive director, facilities planning and development for LACCD . “It’s especially great for our students, who through our green curriculum, are learning that not is only building green good for the planet, it’s good for their careers.”

The annual Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership Award Program is administered by the California Environmental Protection Agency and Resources Agency, in partnership with the Department of Food and Agriculture, Business, Transportation and Housing Agency, and the State and Consumer Services Agency.

A major feature of the District’s effort to build green is to use innovative and environmentally-friendly construction practices and materials, decrease its dependence on fossil fuels, and increase energy efficiency in every building. This is being demonstrated through the LACCD’s 9-megawatt Solar Energy Plan, which calls for the installation of enough photovoltaic (solar) panels to produce at least one megawatt of electricity on site at each of its nine colleges, enough to meet daytime electricity needs and take the campuses “off the grid.”

The Los Angeles Community College District is the largest community college system in the country, educating more than 188,000 students each year. The LACCD has embarked on a $2.2 billion construction and modernization program at its nine college campuses. As funded by the Proposition A/AA Bond construction program, the LACCD is also currently undertaking the largest public sector sustainable building effort in the United States. For more information, visit www.LACCDBuildsGreen.org.

Bookmark to:

MMA Renewable Ventures, a company which coordinates the financing, installation, and operation of renewable energy systems and energy efficiency projects, is presently installing a new solar energy system at East Los Angeles College (ELAC). The system will be one of the largest photovoltaic systems in U.S. higher education.

ELAC is the largest college within the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD). Upon its completion, ELAC’s new solar energy system is expected to generate 1.6 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of clean power annually, enough to cover nearly all the ELAC campus’ daytime electricity needs.

The energy system will consist of approximately 6,000 solar panels installed atop carports at ELAC’s Monterey Park, California campus. The system at ELAC is part of LACCD’s comprehensive plan to meet its campuses’ growing energy demand in ways that benefit the community and the environment. (Jeffrey Tipton)

Bookmark to:

The L.A. Times has an interesting article today on high-end sustainable housing in the Los Angeles area, which seems to be concentrated in the Venice / Brentwood / Santa Monica “aging hippie turned limousine-liberal triangle.”  (Where Ed Begley, Jr. lives!)

The article makes particular note of the Beitcher house, a lovely and laughably unaffordable home in the leafy La Mesa Drive neighborhood of upper Santa Monica (average home price, per Zillow: $2,152 per square foot! And the Beitcher house is 4,000 square feet.  You do the math).  The Beitcher family, though, have built an awfully amazing residence.  Sustainable to the core.  Of course it has solar paneling, bamboo flooring (and a bamboo ceiling), and a state of the art energy-efficient heating/cooling system.  Indeed, it is a “zero energy house,” consuming no more energy than it produces.  But it also has (drumroll…) denim walls.  Yup, denim walls!  Remnants from an old jeans factory!  Whoa.

Sounds pretty spectacular, right?  You can see it for yourself, without being a stalker.  See it TODAY during the CaBoom 4 home tour (tickets $75, shuttles leave from the CaBoom show at Barker Hangar, call 310-394-8600 for reservs).  See it on April 28 during the Third Annual Santa Monica Green Gardens Tour, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., tickets $30 in advance, call 310-264-4224).  Finally, you can catch the Beitcher house on May 19 at the Venice Art Walk Architectural Tour, a tour of green homes in Santa Monica and Venice (11 a.m. to 4 p.m., tickets $50 each, sponsored by Dwell Magazine).  And while we don’t advise doing a drive-by since it’s sort of invasive of these nice folks’ privacy, and we’re not even sure you can see it from the street, we hear it’s in the vicinity of 21st and San Vicente.

Bookmark to: