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Keeping Energy Costs from Going through the Roof
Palm Desert has stopped its electricity costs from going through
the roof. The City participated in the California Energy Commission's
cool roof incentive program to get a rebate for over 26,000 square
feet of roof. The City can expect 20% or more in cooling energy
savings and a roof that should last longer since it won't expand
and contract with temperature swings as much as a dark roof does.
Palm Desert's incentive was handled through the San Diego Regional
Energy Office (SDREO). SDREO administers the program in San Diego,
Imperial, Riverside, San Bernardino and Los Angeles (outside of
LADWP's service territory) Counties. LADWP and SMUD administer the
program in their respective territories, and the Sacramento Tree
Foundation (STF) administers the program in the rest of the state.
San Jose, Santa Clara and Redding have their own cool roof programs.
Who else is doing cool roofs?
 The
Local Government Commission (LGC) is helping to recruit public entities
to participate in the program. Other communities that have applied
to cool their roofs include the cities of Chino Hills, Chula Vista,
Covina, Lancaster, Morgan Hill, Orange Grove, Pleasanton, Redondo
Beach, Roseville, Sacramento, San Diego, San Marcos, Santa Barbara,
and Vallejo, and the counties of Alameda, Kings, Napa, San Diego,
San Luis Obispo, Santa Clara, and Sonoma. Schools are taking advantage
of the incentive, too, with over a million square feet of cool school
rooftops in the works.
What buildings are eligible?
Since funding for this program comes from legislation to reduce
peak electricity use, only mechanically air conditioned or refrigerated
nonresidential buildings in California (except along the north coast
and in the mountains) can apply. Buildings with swamp coolers do
not qualify. The only peaked roof product presently approved for
the program is a reflective clay tile, therefore, most qualifying
roofs will be flat. Individual homeowners cannot apply, but owners/managers
of multifamily projects can.
What about sloped roofs?
We are working with the clay tile manufacturer to get these cool
tile roofs, which come in several colors, installed on homes in
new subdivisions. If you'd like to see cool tile roofs in your community,
we can help you arrange that.
How do you apply?
Go to the LGC's Cool
Roofs section. There you will find information on the benefits
of cool roofs, the incentive application process, eligible cool
roof products, a list of cool roof contractors, and contact information
for LADWP, SDREO, SMUD and STF. Download and fill out the Request
for Inspection form and fax it to the appropriate administrator.
They will contact you to set up an inspection. You will be sent
a notification of eligibility with an estimate of your incentive
amount.
How much is the rebate?
Until September 30th, a 5¢ bonus brings the rebate amount to 20¢
per square foot for roofs over air-conditioned space (and 25¢ for
roofs over refrigerated space).
For uninsulated roofs (those with less than R-5 insulation before
the roof project), you can get an additional 5¢ per square foot
for adding insulation at the time of the re-roof.
Rooftop duct work qualifies for rebates, too. After September
30th, the rebate amounts will be 5¢ per square foot less.
For more information, call the Cool Savings Program toll free
at (888) 891-COOL or visit the LGC's web site at http://www.lgc.org/techserve/coolroofs/.
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Did You Know?
Compact fluorescent bulbs make cents. If
you switch from two 100-watt incandescent porch lights to
two 23-watt compact fluorescent bulbs with equivalent illumination,
you can save $54 on your electric bill the first year. This
is more than enough to offset the additional initial cost
of $8 to $12 per compact fluorescent bulb. When you consider
these bulbs also last about 10 times as long as incandescents,
the cost differential is reduced even further.
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