Thursday, May 11, 2000, Santa Monica, California
Summary Notes by Jim Stewart
Sponsored by the City of Santa Monica and the Southern California Council on Environment and Development with additional support from the South Coast Air Quality Management District and Southern California Gas Company

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Becoming a Sustainable City

Dean Kubani, Senior Environment Policy Analyst and Director of Santa Monica's Sustainable City Program, 310-458-2227: The Sustainable City Program involves the community in developing a comprehensive vision, including environment, housing and economics. Our accomplishments include a 5% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, 92% reduction in urban runoff, and more.

Eugene Zeller, Director of Planning and Building Department, City of Long Beach, 562-570-6428: We will establish baseline data and benchmarks as part of a community scorecard. We will develop "green" building guidelines for purchase of materials and maintenance of city facilities. We will also revise our land use plan to allow for appropriate densities and development.

Douglas Otto, Facilitator for the Long Beach Strategic Plan and member of the Planning Commission, 562-491-1191: We saw sustainability as a metaphor for the entire Strategic Plan. Ultimately the residents must buy into the process, through development of community indicators and long term involvement in the process.

Energy Efficiency, Renewables and Deregulation

Craig Perkins, City of Santa Monica, 310-458-8221: Our program involves energy efficiency projects (lighting, etc.), renewable energy procurement (we are now 100% green power for all city facilities), local energy sources (photovoltaic carport, solar electric roofing, etc.) and new efficient HVAC systems.

John Moot, City Council, City of Chula Vista, 619-233-1888: Energy deregulation is a big opportunity for us to make a statement to the marketplace that there is a demand for clean energy. Users of 50 kW or less per meter are eligible for a subsidy of 1.25¢ per kWh, so we got it for less than the cost of dirty brown energy.

Environmentally Preferable Purchasing

Manuel Jaquez, Purchasing Specifications Analyst, General Services Department, City of Los Angeles, 213-847-1434: There are many benefits in sustainable products procurement that can help protect the environment, human life, and natural resources, as well as reduce product cost and provide revenue savings to public agencies.

Dean Kubani, City of Santa Monica, 310-458-2227: The US EPA did a report of "green" purchasing in Santa Monica. We decided to define green purchasing as "environmentally preferable purchasing," including products that are recycled, less hazardous, resource efficient and less polluting (such as alternative fueled vehicles).

Alternative Fuel Vehicle Fleets

Rick Cole, City Manager, City of Azusa, 626-797-4757: We have used AB 2766 funds to purchase five CNG trucks. We are working with the Gas Company to install a fast CNG fueling facility for our area of the San Gabriel Valley. Even if you have limited finances, you can still do it.

T. L. Garrett, Air Quality Division, Environmental Affairs Department, City of Los Angeles, 213-580-1025: Clean fuels funding can come from the Carl Moyer program, MSRC, heavy-duty diesel retrofit program, AB 2766, State energy program grants, etc.

Green Building and Design

Susan Munves, Resource Efficiency Coordinator, City of Santa Monica, 310-458-8229: Good green buildings often cost little or no more to build than inefficient ones. We have developed guidelines that will apply to all new construction and substantial remodels of commercial and multi-family buildings.

George Burmeister, Colorado Energy Group (consultant to Santa Clarita), 303-494-4711: The Community Energy Efficiency Program is a utility-sponsored voluntary program, which encourages incentives from local governments to homebuilders to build at least 30% beyond code requirements for efficiency. The results are big savings in utility bills for homeowners.

Cities for Climate Protection Campaign

Pam O'Connor, Santa Monica City Council, 310-458-8201: The International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) brings together municipal policy and technical people to support improvements in our cities. It creates a network for sharing information and makes it fun and interesting.

Abby Young, USA Director, ICLEI, 510-540-8843: The Cities for Climate Protection campaign began in 1993 to see how cities could readily achieve global warming reductions. It doesn't cost anything to participate. We have software programs, materials and training workshops.

Field Visits to Santa Monica's Facilities

• Pico Boulevard Streetscape Project — median strip with trees, accent street lights, crosswalk enhancements with in-street flashing lights.
• Alternative Fuel Vehicles — 70% of the City's Solid Waste vehicles on alternative fuels, including CNG trash trucks, street sweepers, shovel loaders, and GEM neighborhood electric vehicles.
• Green Fleets — re-refined oil, propylene glycol antifreeze, water-based parts cleaner, re-conditioned batteries, retread tires on heavy duty vehicles.
• Green Street Repair — "white topping" cement mixture, brick pavers for sidewalks, rubberized sidewalks, recycled glass beads for utility trench refill.
• Green Cleaning Products on the Third Street Promenade — small electric utility trucks, less toxic cleaning products, improved custodial morale and lower costs.
• Santa Monica Urban Runoff Recycling Facility (SMURRF) — treats up to 0.5 million gallons per day of urban runoff from the Pico-Kenter and Pier drains, preventing untreated water from reaching Santa Monica Bay.