HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT, STRONG ECONOMY, VIBRANT COMMUNITIES
Our blog focuses on innovation and real stories of businesses, community organizations, local governments and devoted citizens doing their part to enhance San Diego’s quality of life. We also highlight new research and emerging sustainability trends from around the globe, and engage you in the issues of the day.
As part of its groundbreaking H2Overview Project, Equinox Center released two new reports: Assessing the Options, and The Potential of Purified Recycled Water.
2. The Potential of Purified Recycled Water
Read More »The following is an excerpt from a commentary posted by Aaron Contorer, Equinox Center founder and board chair, in the Voice of San Diego.
Recently I heard a California water expert call for a "local water movement." He likened this potential new trend to the "local food" movement which offers an alternative to the large scale corporate food industry. How many of us now look for "locally grown" produce at our grocery stores, or buy a weekly supply of fruits and veggies from the farmer's market or farm stand in our town?
Read More »New programs to encourage homeowners and businesses to make energy efficiency improvements and invest in alternative energy technologies, originally slated to be rolled out in our region this summer, looks like it may be facing some potential hurdles. The program, commonly referred to as PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) allows local governments to offer fixed rate loans to eligible residential and commercial property owners to offset upfront installation costs of sustainable energy devices such as solar panels. The legislation also allows property owners to repay their loans over 20 years through their property tax bills.
Read More »Founded by one of San Diego’s business pioneers, Irwin Jacobs, Qualcomm frequently shows up on the Forbes top 100 “Best Companies to work for” list. It may be less well known for its leadership on sustainability, but many of the company’s green practices are recognized by experts as cutting edge in the field.
Read More »San Diegans can be proud that we have taken action to improve our region’s air quality over the past two decades. The Equinox Center’s Regional Quality of Life Dashboard released earlier this year found that the number of days that air quality was considered unhealthy for vulnerable populations in the county was 40 in 2008, compared to 63 in the year 2000.
Read More »U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson, the Senator from Wisconsin credited with initiating the first Earth Day in 1970 was quoted as saying this:
“Earth Day worked because of the spontaneous response at the grassroots level. We had neither the time nor resources to organize 20 million demonstrators and the thousands of schools and local communities that participated. That was the remarkable thing about Earth Day. It organized itself.”
Read More »Today is the international observance of World Water Day, an initiative that grew out of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro. March 22 of each year was designated by the United Nations General Assembly as the World Day for Water and has been celebrated since 1993 with growing numbers of activities across the planet (including this year’s Guinness World Record attempt of the World’s Longest Toilet Queue!).
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With the recent rains our region has received, it is easy to think San Diego’s water supply issues will soon be resolved. However the reality is that San Diego has a Mediterranean climate and on average we receive less than 10 inches of rain per year. The native vegetation that grows naturally in our area is reflective of that low rainfall…it requires little water to survive.
However, in San Diego County, approximately 55% of all residential water use goes towards outdoor landscaping. Unfortunately, in many cases, that landscaping is lush with non-native plant species that require significant amounts of water to thrive. Given the long-term challenges to our water supply, we need to continue to look for every potential solution that will help our region achieve the dual goals of a reliable, clean water supply and an excellent quality of life. Fortunately, many of the solutions are “home grown” and it’s just a matter of tapping into native, local resources, which a number of communities have already done.
Read More »Equinox Center Volunteer Kyle Klinger’s report from RETECH, 2010
RETECH 2010 took place Feb 3-5, 2010 in Washington, D.C. and was a who’s who of those highly involved in revolutionizing energy as we have known it. The conference was organized by the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) and provided a platform for over 250 industry-leading speakers to share their knowledge and insights with attendees on each of the key technologies (wind, solar, hydro, ocean, geothermal, and biomass/ biofuels/ waste energy), plus cross-cutting sessions on markets, finance and policy. Attendees included industry, government, scientific, and policy leaders to help lay the foundation for the transformation of America that will increase energy security, combat climate change, and provide economic growth and jobs.
Renewable Energy (RE) is being compared to the Information Technology boom that surrounded the internet. As Carol Browner, Advisor to President Obama for Climate and Energy, explained in her speech at RETECH, “This is our generation’s shot to the moon” – meaning, the country that leads in clean energy technology will lead the 21st century.
Read More »Property Assessed Clean Energy, or PACE, has taken off like wildfire since the concept was first introduced in Berkeley, Calif. in October ‘07. PACE allows private property owners to pay for energy efficiency and renewable energy projects through an addition to their property tax bill, overcoming the high upfront costs that prevent most property owners from investing in such retrofits.
PACE financing has the capacity to be transformative: property owners realize immediate savings on their utility bills with minimal money down; local green jobs are created through increased demand for retrofitting goods and services; and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are dramatically reduced. With America’s building stock responsible for approximately 40 percent of its demand for energy, these kinds of improvements have the potential to get us significantly closer to our GHG reduction targets. Recognizing the potential of this model, Scientific American magazine recently named PACE one of the top 20 ideas that can change the world.
States around the country are recognizing the potential of PACE. Over the past 18 months, 16 states have adopted legislative changes to allow municipalities to use property taxes as a vehicle for private property improvements of this kind. In California, PACE financing can even be used for water conservation improvements. While many states and municipalities are just beginning the process of designing their programs, several cities and counties around the country already offer PACE financing to their residents, or are well on their way.
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