Pleasanton Develops A Sustainable Energy Strategy
by Peter Asmus
The City of Pleasanton is moving forward with a comprehensive energy
strategy. It’s being formulated by a voluntary Energy Advisory
Group (EAG) task force that reflects the diversity of this East
Bay community of 65,000 located in Alameda County. A pool of highly
motivated business leaders, environmentalists, academics, scientists,
planners and others are deeply immersed in a consensus approach
suggested by the Rocky Mountain Institute’s Community Energy
Work Book: A Guide to Building a Sustainable Economy. If all
goes as planned, a Sustainable Energy Plan should by completed by
the end of the year.
As noted in the last issue of Currents, Pleasanton created its
energy task force in response to local opposition to a power plant
proposed within the city limits by Enron. Because the city is growing
so rapidly, local government leaders recognized a unique opportunity
to contribute to solving the energy crunch wrecking havoc with the
state’s power markets by taking a closer look at building designs
as well as other local demand reduction and supply-side opportunities.
While a comprehensive green building ordinance is still under development,
a construction and demolition debris ordinance, which would require
that half of the waste generated by new development be diverted
from local landfills, is nearing final City Council approval.
“These changes will either require, or strongly encourage,
green buildings,” said Pleasanton Mayor Tom Pico. He sits on
the energy conservation subcommittee of the U.S. Council of Mayors,
and has also served on the Local Government Commission’s governing
board for eight years.
“The major thrust of our plan will be alternative forms of
energy, including efficiency. We want to be as independent as we
can from the electric grid,” Pico said.
Because the City has no debt and an ever-increasing tax base due
to rapid expansion of business parks, it is in excellent shape to
be a leader on energy matters. The community is blessed with an
affluent, highly educated and technically sophisticated population.
With Lawrence Berkeley Laboratories, a Pacific Gas & Electric
Energy Center and the Electric Power Research Institute all located
nearby, there is a exceptional pool of local expertise for a city
of this size.
There are also several political reasons why Pico is optimistic
that the City will take a proactive approach to solving energy supply
problems at the local level.
“We have a pro-environment city council, as well as a planning
commission filled with individuals who are environmentally aware
and genuinely interested in alternative and sustainable energy concepts.
We’ve been leaders in the region in developing urban growth
boundaries. Our community feels empowered. We also just have a lot
of charged up people who know an awful lot about energy ® folks
like Matt Sullivan.”
“This effort started here at the Planning Commission in 1999,”
said Sullivan, a Pleasanton planning commissioner involved in energy
issues since the 1980’s. Pleasanton’s first step was to
integrate green building measures into new project approvals, relying
upon the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards
developed by the US Green Building Council.
The LEED green building design guidelines evaluate environmental
performance from a “whole building” perspective over the
entire life-cycle of a building structure. Credits are earned for
satisfying a list of criteria. For example, a total of 17 points
can be earned under the “energy and atmosphere” category.
Among the prerequisites for being deemed a “green building”
is a minimum level of energy efficiency. Two points each are then
awarded for optimizing energy usage in incremental steps increasing
from 20% to 30% to 40% to 50% and 60% beyond base standards for
new buildings. The same stepped-up approach starts at 10 and increases
to 50% beyond base standards for existing buildings. If a new structure
performed 60% better than the minimum energy efficiency standards,
the structure would be awarded a total of 8 points under this category.
For more information on the LEED guidelines, visit http://www.usgbc.org/programs/leed.htm.
“We have been building like crazy here in Pleasanton, and
we decided conditioning project approvals on these green building
standards would help mitigate the impacts of all this new development
on the local and global environment,” said Sullivan. “Our
approach is basically a best effort score,” added Sullivan.
One condition of approval for both commercial and residential project
approvals is that rooftops be “solar ready.” The rooftops
are designed to be able to handle the extra weight of a solar photovoltaic
system and that the building is oriented to take advantage of good
solar exposure. Space for the DC to AC inverters necessary for grid-connected
solar PV systems are also incorporated.
Because of the green building conditions applying to commercial
structures, some businesses have totally revamped their designs.
For example, when Applied Biosystems demolished its old facility,
it then developed a 900,000-square-foot office and research facility
that incorporates solar PV panels and many other cutting edge designs.
“They took a very progressive green building approach to the
new building design and have, by far, exceeded anyone else’s
effort to date,” said Sullivan.
Other local business leaders, such as James Paxson, general manager
of the 865-acre Hacienda Business Park, have also been sold on the
consensus process and green buildings.
“The scope of the work the EAG is addressing is so comprehensive.
Drawing together this diverse group of stakeholders in this incremental
process has identified a number of opportunities for Pleasanton
to reduce energy consumption,” said Paxson. “The last
five or so parcels we have developed here at Hacienda Business Park
have met the minimum LEED energy efficiency standards.”
Many of his tenants are very concerned about the reliability and
stability of their flow of power. They are looking into solar PV
and other clean distributed generation system options to supplement
energy efficiency options such as cool roofs.
Pleasanton follows the Alameda County Solid Waste Authority’s
green building guidelines in the residential sector. It hopes to
attract green developers such as Centrex, Pulte Homes, Silverwood
Homes, Greenbriar Homes, Toll Brothers, Signature Properties and
Ponderosa Homes to develop model green residential developments.
In February, Centrex completed construction on a 3,070-square-foot
house prototype in nearby Livermore that features cool roofs, solar
PV panels, extra insulation, and virtually every energy efficiency
device currently on the market.
“We want to take from this house what we’ve learned and
potentially build communities that have energy efficiency and green
features,” said Paxson.
Once its green building measures are finalized, look for more forward
looking housing structures to be proposed in Pleasanton and throughout
Alameda County.
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Pleasanton’s Energy Partners
The City of Pleasanton has also taken advantage of another
resource, Pacific Gas and Electric’s (PG&E) Local
Government Energy Efficiency Program (LGEEP). Working with
the Local Government Commission and Energy Solutions, LGEEP
helped develop a local energy efficiency “tool lending
library,” a rebate program directory for the City web
site, and created specific energy efficiency language for
its draft Housing Element update. “We’re happy to
support Pleasanton’s current activities in this area
and we’re impressed by the enthusiasm with which the
City is pursuing new energy efficiency initiatives,”
said Misti Bruceri, PG&E’s program manager for LGEEP.
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