$19 Million for New Energy Efficiency Projects in San Francisco

February 4th, 2010 by Zachary Shahan

Energy efficiency may not have the glamor of solar power or wind power, but it’s also a critical and immediate solution to cutting pollution.

Today, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom announced $19.2 million in funding for energy efficiency programs through the San Francisco Energy Watch program and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

In the announcement, Newsom highlighted the creation of new local jobs through the programs and outlined the total energy and financial savings from the San Francisco’s energy efficiency work on city buildings during the last 6 years.

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“San Francisco’s energy-efficiency programs demonstrate how protecting the environment creates jobs and helps businesses and property owners save money,” said Mayor Newsom. “To dramatically reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, we have to be responsible stewards of our buildings and facilities. That’s why we are leveraging all these funds to create green jobs and further our environmental goals.”

Of the $19.2 million, $11.5 million is new funding for free on-site assessments of energy savings as well as the installation of energy-efficient lighting, refrigeration, heating, air conditioning, and food service equipment at greatly reduced costs. This program, in its first phase, has already delivered over 2,000 energy efficiency retrofits to mid and small-sized businesses and multi-family housing in San Francisco.

From the $7.7 million San Francisco was awarded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) for energy efficiency programs that conserve energy in municipal buildings (including health centers, county jail buildings, and cultural centers), $3.1 million will now be used to conduct energy efficiency upgrades to an array of facilities in the city (including the Ella Hill Hutch Center and Southeast Health Center). These upgrades will result in nearly $3 million dollars in savings each year.

JobsNow

The recent expansion of the city’s energy efficiency programs have been aided by JobsNow employees that have been trained to introduce the Energy Watch program to San Francisco businesses. JobsNow is a stimulus-funded jobs program created by the City to put unemployed citizens to work. The program has already put nearly 1,700 San Franciscans back to work.

“We go to local businesses and tell them how they can save money by working with our program, installing new light bulbs and the like,” said Lee Williams of the JobsNow program. “Our team has learned so much by working with this program. We are all so happy to have this job. But to have a job where we also learn so much and do something we can feel good about, now that’s exciting.”

SF Environment’s combined energy efficiency programs dating back to 2001 have reduced the city’s overall energy use by 29 MW. The city expects to gain an additional 6 MW savings from these initiatives—totaling 35 MW — enough to power over 30,000 San Francisco residences.

More great news from the great city of San Francisco!

Find out more about home energy audits in San Francisco at SFEnergyAudit.org.

Image Credit: Mike G.K. via flickr under a CC license

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Tags: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, ARRA, Ella Hill Hutch Center, Energy Watch, Gavin, JobsNow, Newsom, San Francisco, SF Environment, Southeast Health Center

About the Author

Zachary Shahan spends most of his time here on CleanTechnica as the director/chief editor. Otherwise, he's probably enthusiastically fulfilling his duties as the director/editor of Solar Love, EV Obsession, Planetsave, or Bikocity. Zach is recognized globally as a solar energy, electric car, and wind energy expert. If you would like him to speak at a related conference or event, connect with him via social media. You can connect with Zach on any popular social networking site you like. Links to all of his main social media profiles are on ZacharyShahan.com.

Gill do you have a j-o-b? . .

Gill do you have a j-o-b? . . .
http://www.thegreenlightdistrikt.com Chris Williams

This is great news! 650 million is being put into Massachusetts for energy efficiency. Here’s my question, do you know how the government is going to analyze the results of the use of the money and how its being implemented?
http://www.thegreenlightdistrikt.com Chris Williams

This is great news! 650 million is being put into Massachusetts for energy efficiency. Here’s my question, do you know how the government is going to analyze the results of the use of the money and how its being implemented?