Earth Day is celebrated April 22 but for the County of San Diego, the ideals behind Earth Day are part of life year round.
How can you tell? One of the County’s three main strategic initiatives focuses on the environment. We consider the environment in most everything we do.
“At the County, protecting the environment is something we do every day. To us, every day is Earth Day,” said Board Chairman Greg Cox. “You’ll see it in projects ranging from our new construction projects to recycling tires and batteries to cafeteria food composting.”
Chairman Cox and Supervisor Ron Roberts are teaming up Tuesday with the Industrial Environmental Association and I Love a Clean San Diego for a recycling event that focuses on going “back to basics” when it comes to conserving our resources.
“County employees can turn in batteries and compact fluorescent light bulbs for recycling and you’ll see a demonstration of the County’s food composting program,” said Supervisor Ron Roberts. “More than a dozen County departments, local businesses and non-profits will be on hand to show what they’re doing to help the environment.”
All this will take place at the County Operations Center (COC) in Kearny Mesa, a prime example of how the County is taking the environment to heart. This last year alone, the two newest office buildings at the COC earned a LEED Gold rating. The COC Conference Center won LEED Platinum certification. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and the standards were set by the U.S. Green Building Council. All three new structures are energy and water efficient, feature natural lighting and used recycled materials in their construction and are set on a campus that boasts drought-tolerant landscaping.
“County policy requires all its new buildings to be LEED certified,” said County Energy and Sustainability Manager Peter Livingston. “Work is underway on the new Rancho San Diego Sheriff Substation, Women’s Detention Facility, County Administration Center Waterfront Park and Registrar of Voters Building and they are all seeking LEED Silver or Gold ratings.”
The County also helps residents visualize how they can save energy in their own homes. The County was one of the partners transforming homes into showcases of energy efficiency. Visitors can take tours for a first-hand look at features that contribute to energy savings and get information on how to upgrade their houses.
More and more, we’re looking to the sun to save energy. In the last year, County projects at Sweetwater Regional Park, the Lincoln Acres Library, County Operations Center Conference Center and Guajome Regional Park have added 333-kilowatts of solar power generation saving $43,000 in first year energy costs. In the case of Guajome Park, if the system produces more electricity than what the park uses in a year, the County will get a check from SDG&E instead of the other way around! The excess power goes back into the SDG&E grid.
Meantime, building permits for residential solar power systems are increasing. The County expects to issue up to 2,338 photovoltaic permits by the end of this fiscal year – a 38 percent increase over the previous fiscal year.
The County also launched a new online permitting system that allows the public to conduct property research and permit history research without taking a trip to County offices. The online permitting service saves the public time and fuel costs while reducing air pollution and traffic congestion and is just one of many County services that the public can get online.
What else are we doing to stay environmentally friendly? Find out by visiting the County’s Energy Management Program and if you’d like to get old paint, electronics and motor oil out of your house among other things and recycle it, find out how at this collection of Waste and Recycling links.
