Category Archives: Policy

CCC/IOU Energy Efficiency Partnership

CCC_IOU_EE
The Energy Efficiency Retrofit element of the program involves implementation of energy efficiency retrofit projects providing cost-effective energy savings during the program implementation period.

The California Community Colleges (CCC), and Investor-Owned Utility (IOU) Energy Efficiency Partnership is a unique, statewide energy efficiency program achieving cost-effective immediate and persistent peak energy and demand savings. Moreover, it establishes a permanent framework for a sustainable, long-term, comprehensive energy management program at the one hundred and twelve (112) campuses served by California’s four large IOUs (PG&E, SDG&E, SCE and SoCalGas).

Established in the 2006-08 CPUC Energy Efficiency Program Cycle, the CCC/IOU Partnership set ambitious goals of saving 19,000 kW,  84 million kilowatt-hours, and 2.5 million therms of gas by the end of the cycle.  To achieve these goals, the Partnership is committing $22 million in incentive funds to Community College Districts to assist in the accomplishment of energy partners.

The program employs four key strategies to meet its goals: energy efficiency retrofits, monitoring based commissioning (MBCx), energy efficient new construction, and training and education. This multifaceted approach delivers comprehensive savings, and contributes to California’s national leadership in energy efficiency and reducing climate change.

The Partnership capitalizes on the vast resources and expertise of the California Community Colleges and California’s IOUs with program administration assistance from Newcomb Anderson McCormick of San Francisco.  It is funded by California’s investor owned utility customers through Public Goods Charges (PGC) under the auspices of the California Public Utilities Commission.

UC/CSU/IOU ENERGY EFFICIENCY PARTNERSHIP

The University of California (UC), California State University (CSU), and Investor-Owned Utility (IOU) Energy Efficiency Partnership is a unique, statewide energy efficiency program achieving cost-effective immediate and persistent peak energy and demand savings. Moreover, it establishes a permanent framework for a sustainable, long-term, comprehensive energy management program at the thirty three (33) UC and CSU campuses served by California’s four large IOUs (PG&E, SDG&E, SCE and SoCalGas).

Established in 2004-05, the UC/CSU/IOU Partnership significantly exceeded its goals, saving approximately 32 million kilowatt-hours and 1.5 million therms of gas. Peak demand savings were also targeted and achieved. As a result of this success, the program was renewed for 2006-08, and again for the 2009-2012 program cycle. Funding levels for the renewed program more than doubled on an annual basis, and energy savings goals increased approximately four-fold.

The program employs four key strategies to meet its goals: energy efficiency retrofits, monitoring based commissioning (MBCx), emerging technology demonstrations, and training and education. This multifaceted approach delivers comprehensive savings, fulfills key elements in UC and CSU sustainability policies, and contributes to California’s national leadership in energy efficiency and climate change.

The Partnership capitalizes on the vast resources and expertise of the University of California, California State University, and California’s IOUs with program administration assistance from Newcomb Anderson McCormick of San Francisco.  It is funded by California’s investor owned utility customers through Public Goods Charges (PGC) under the auspices of the California Public Utilities Commission.

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World Economic Forum: Catalyzing Retrofit Finance and Investing in Commercial Real Estate

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 This report  is the product of the Retrofit Finance & Investing Project, a cross-industry, multi-stakeholder initiative of the World Economic Forum launched in 2010.

The report equips policy-makers and industry leaders with the information and tools needed to build and scale retrofit markets around the world. It highlights the business potential waiting to be tapped by multiple industries and underscores the acute importance for government leaders to take action now: to ensure a resource-secure, low-carbon future and to benefit from the economic and job creation potential that retrofitting promises. It calls to action the range of existing and potential stakeholders to fully and jointly participate in growing a healthy retrofit market, including government, financial service institutions, investors, property owners, utilities, equipment manufacturers, energy service companies and other related industries. Finally, it provides industry-specific recommendations to enable their participation.

The U.S. potential is reported by C40 Cities…

$400 billion market potential in building retrofit market

A new study from the World Economic Forum (WEF) has found that retrofitting commercial buildings could represent a $400 billion market in the U.S. alone. Citing C40’s own study with the Carbon Disclosure Project, WEF says:

“Any successful approach to combating climate change must include commercial buildings, which are responsible for approximately 30% of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide and, in some countries, 70% of electrical consumption. Nearly one-half of all energy consumed by buildings could be avoided with new energy-efficient systems and equipment, and the energy savings would exceed the cost of upgrades, generally within five years or less.”

The report also found that governments are “the single greatest catalyst” for a thriving retrofit market, a conclusion supported both by C40’s research with Arup showing that mayors from C40 Cities have strong powers in this sector – and by action on the ground across the C40 network.

Earlier this month, C40, CCI and Los Angeles announced the city’s launch of a major effort to spur commercial retrofits through a new program offering both technical and financing support; the program is a participant in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Challenge. A similarprogram has also been created by Melbourne. Chicago is serving to catalyze the city’s retrofit market by targeting an iconic government building; while in Mumbai, it is a commercial real estate giant who is a first mover. In June, Houston Mayor Annise Parker made C40 proud by winning  the 2011 Mayors’ Climate Protection Award for the city’s green building leadership in the public and private sectors.

READ MORE…

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Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Funding

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Building Performance Tracking is the process of analyzing a building’s operations and energy consumption over time to identify anomalies and areas for potential improvement.

Measurement and Verification(M&V) is a process of using actual measurement, calculation, and/or modeling to reliably determine actual energy/utility savings achieved within a facility by an energy management, energy conservation, or energy efficiency project.

The PACE structure was enacted into California State law in 2008, to help property owners fund efficiency upgrades and onsite clean power generation projects. Under PACE property owners can negotiate project-specific financing terms with the investor(s) of their choice, and repay the cost of the upgrade over time through a voluntary contractual assessment on the property tax bill. PACE can be used to fund a range of building performance upgrades, from high-efficiency lighting retrofits, to advanced controls systems, to installations of fuel cells and solar photovoltaic power generation.

And because PACE assessments are fully secured through contractual assessments, capital providers have the security to offer financing at lower rates and over longer periods of time than has been possible until now. This combination of lower rates and longer terms improves the economics of deeper energy efficiency upgrades and on-site power generation projects, and allows for positive cash-flow from day one.

PACE is voluntary, not mandated by the government. It provides long term funding from private capital markets at low cost, and requires no subsidies. PACE raises property values by making buildings less expensive to light, heat, and cool and enjoys broad-based support nationwide. PACE enabling legislation has been adopted by 24 states in just 24 months, and there are dozens of programs in operation and in development around the country today.

For more information visit http://www.cleanfund.com/

 

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CA AB 1103 – Energy Rating Requirement for Commercial Buildings

GreenCreditRating

Assembly Bill 1103 (Saldana, 2007) allows the Energy Commission to implement the requirements of Assembly Bill 1103 in stages.
Assembly Bill 531 (Saldana, 2009) supercedes Assembly Bill 1103 and clarifies the Energy Commission’s authority to set a schedule of compliance. The initial proposed draft regulations required the initial compliance to begin on January 1, 2011. However, new proposed draft regulations will postpone the initial compliance date until July 1, 2012.
Initial compliance will not be required on January 1, 2012.

From the Center for Sustainable Energy, California (5/11/2010) –

Unlike California’s stringent Title 24 building energy efficiency codes that regulate standards for commercial construction and renovations, AB 1103 comes into play when a building is sold, leased in whole or refinanced. Along with the usual financial and transaction disclosures, it requires that building owners provide 12 months of energy-use information using the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager,.

AB 1103 is one of the ways the state legislature is working to help achieve the greenhouse gas emission reductions mandated by the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, also known as AB 32. Commercial buildings account for more than 35 percent of electricity consumption in California and are significant contributors to the state’s greenhouse gas emissions.

While many in the commercial real estate marketplace believe AB 1103 regulations will be a big headache, they should really see this energy benchmarking as a tremendous opportunity that can benefit both sellers and buyers, according to Beth Brummitt, president of Brummitt Energy Associates, a consulting firm specializing in energy modeling for high-performance buildings. Brummitt was among a panel of local green-building experts who spoke at CCSE in April as part of a workshop on AB 1103 and its impacts on commercial real estate transactions.

“ AB 1103 is a significant game changer across California because it demands a true comparison of building performance with other, similar facilities within the same industry sector, not simply a disclosure of monthly utility costs and energy consumption,” Brummitt said. “Even though building owners may think this is going to harm them, it will actually provide motivation to improve building energy performance, resulting in increased net operating income and enhanced property values.”

The ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager is a free, online software tool that allows users to track and assess energy consumption tailored to the occupancy of the building in 13 broad categories from banking to warehousing.

“It makes comparisons of a building’s energy performance to statistically representative models of equivalent buildings with similar operating characteristics drawn from a national database compiled by the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration,” explained Eric Scheidlinger, manager of efficient sustainable practices at Reno Construction.

In addition to 12 months’ worth of energy-use data and building use, the Portfolio Manager asks for the building size, number of occupants, hours of operation, number of computers, types of equipment and other parameters. In many areas, the local electrical utility can automatically supply and update energy consumption data on a monthly basis.

The result is a rating on a scale of one to 100. A rating of 50% means that the building performs at the midpoint when compared to similar buildings. While a building in Detroit will always use more energy than a comparable one in San Diego, the Portfolio Manager uses national weather data to assure that buildings are compared to those in similar climates. A building that achieves a verified score of 75 or above qualifies for ENERGY STAR certification.

The purpose of AB 1103, according to Brummitt, is to drive the commercial building owners to not only to track and but to also improve their ENERGY STAR rating by optimizing the energy performance of existing systems and installing new energy-efficient upgrades and renewable energy technologies. A higher rating means lower energy costs, decreased occupancy costs and, potentially, increased building valuation.

Buildings with ENERGY STAR certification generally use about 35 percent less energy and save, on average, 50 cents per square foot in energy costs, according to Steve Kaplan of McParlane Building Optimization, a mechanical engineering firm. A study published by the Institute of Business and Economic Research at UC Berkeley found that office buildings with energy efficiency certification have rental rates that are two percent higher per square foot than otherwise identical buildings nearby, and when adjusted for their higher occupancy levels, the “green premium” goes to above six percent.

Knowledgeable building owners and facility managers can usually handle the inputs for the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, particularly if the local utility updates the monthly consumption data. However, since small mistakes can result in skewed information, owners should consider getting professional assistance. Energy Star provides both a benchmarking tool and has a program for awarding an ENERGY STAR Certification. To gain the certification, the data must be verified by a licensed professional engineer.

Commercial building owners in California should start compiling energy-use data this year, regardless of their intention to sell or hold onto their property. It may be a little complicated at first, but you never know when circumstances might require a quick sale, a new lease or a refinance. Starting now will be ever so much easier than trying to backtrack through a years’ worth of energy bills or being surprised by finding out building performance is lower than expected.

Related resources – Clean Techies Blog

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