Fall 2011

Sustainable Oakland 2010 Report

Oakland, California is one of the most livable and sustainable cities in the nation. It recently released its 2010 report on how what it is doing to become even more livable and sustainable. The six elements of Oakland’s Sustainable City Vision are:

• Housing, Land Use & Transportation
• Buildings, Energy & Climate
• Community, Culture & Education
• Economic Prosperity
• Health, Safety & Wellbeing
• Natural Resources, Waste & Environmental Health

Recent progress in the Buildings, Energy & Climate area include:

Green Building Requirements for Private Development – The City adopted a green building ordinance for private development in fall 2010. Oakland’s ordinance applies to construction projects for most types of buildings, including residential and nonresidential new construction, additions and alterations, and alterations to historic buildings. More information is available at www.oaklandgreenbuilding.com.

Oakland Energy and Climate Action Plan – The City of Oakland has developed a draft Energy and Climate Action Plan (ECAP) that identifies, evaluates and prioritizes opportunities to reduce energy consumption and GHG emissions in its own government operations and throughout the community. The draft ECAP includes a set of actions aimed at increasing local resilience and helping Oakland adapt to the projected impacts of climate change. The draft ECAP is available at www.sustainableoakland.com.

Oakland Shines – Kicked off in 2010, the City of Oakland has teamed with QuEST, Community Energy Services Corporation and PG&E to launch Oakland Shines—an energy upgrade program for downtown businesses. Oakland Shines offers free start-to-finish technical assistance, free energy audits and big cash rebates to eliminate or help defray the cost of installing energy–efficiency lighting and HVAC equipment. One of the most ambition central business district energy programs in the country, Oakland Shines is helping businesses reduce energy costs, enhance the economic value of their properties, attract and retain tenants, and achieve energy savings of up to 20%. To learn more, visit www.oaklandshines.com.

Weatherization and Energy Retrofit Loan Program – In 2010, the City integrated energy efficiency priorities with its use of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds to create the Weatherization and Energy Retrofit Loan Program. This program provides zero-interest loans of up to $30,000 with deferred repayment to help low-to-moderate income residents improve energy efficiency and reduce energy costs of their homes.

Comprehensive Energy Efficiency Programs – Energy efficiency programs now operating in Oakland are separately targeting downtown commercial, small commercial, residential market-rate, residential renter-occupied, and multi-family affordable housing markets. Partnerships that include Oakland secured more than $61 million in ARRA funding for energy efficiency retrofits and are projected to generate about 1,000 new jobs for Oakland and the region and about 2,000 jobs statewide.

In addition to supporting energy efficiency throughout Oakland, the City is leading by example by reducing energy use in its own municipal operations. Over the next two years the City will be performing energy retrofits to several key facilities. The City retrofitted 129 of its 141 largest facilities over the past 20 years, creating savings of over $1 million per year to the City’s budget. The City operates one megawatt of solar electric panels on the rooftops of its Municipal Service Center and the Oakland Ice Center, and is planning for more.

Oakland is a founding member of the East Bay Green Corridor, a cooperative effort of local governments, universities and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab to attract green industries and jobs to the East Bay. Oakland was one of the first cities in the nation to develop a Green Jobs Corps to create green pathways out of poverty for local residents and grow a local green workforce to meet the needs of local businesses. In 2010, the City created the Oakland Green Map to help community member find local green businesses online at www.sustainableoakland.com.