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SAVE THE DATE
Upcoming BC3 Events
January 2812:00 - 1:30 PMHow to Track Your Climate Impact - Tracking Tool Brown BagHOK, 1 Bush Street, Suite 200 February 36:30 - 8:00 PMClean Coalition: Clean Local Energy Accessible Now (CLEAN) California Program
sponsored by Generate Now
Nixon Peabody (1 Embarcadero Center)
February 14
9:00 AM-12:00 PM
1st SF Climate Action Plan Advisory Panel Meeting
(BC3 Project Team Members Only)
February 23
5:30 - 7:00 PM
Networking Event
with The Orchard Hotel
featuring tours, wine and local organic appetizers
Root restaurant, Orchard Hotel
February 25
9:00 AM-12:00 PM
2nd SF Climate Action Plan Advisory Panel Meeting
(BC3 Project Team Members Only )
March 2011 (Date TBA)
1:00 - 4:00 PM
Electric Vehicles for Your Business - Workshop
The Ferry BuildingClick here to see our full calendar, including local and regional climate and business events.
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BC3 events are for Members Only: All guests must be accompanied by a Member. If you are a member, but have not received our event invitations, please email us at bc3@bc3sfbay.org. If you are not a member, but are interested in attending BC3 events, please go to www.bc3sfbay.org/join
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Other Climate Events in the Bay Area
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MEMBER & PARTNER ANNOUNCMENTS
BOMA
BOMA requests your assistance with its upcoming EARTH Award Workshop (Jan 27, 2011), including for sponsorship and EARTH Award Booth Experts.Please contact
Zachary_brown@equityoffice.com
about Sponsorship, and cwong@swigco.com
with all other inquiries.
SF Green Film Festival
SF Green Film Festival is now offering tickets for pre-purchase. This new global film festival will showcase the latest innovative film and media that explore the environmental, cultural, and socioeconomic aspects of living sustainably on this planet. SFGFF is also looking for sponsors. Please contact Rachel Caplan, at rachel@sfgreenfilmfest.org for more information.If you would like to post an announcement for the Spring 2011 Newsletter, contact BC3 at bc3@bc3sfbay.org
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SF Environment News
SFE launches new recycling website! It's a one-stop shop for all your recycling questions.
Become a certified Green Business!
Learn more from the San Francisco Green Business Program! 
New Green Building Codes! Effective for all new building projects as of January 1, 2011, San Francisco's amended green building code (Chapter 13C) fully integrates CALGreen (the State's new green building code) while maintaining our more stringent local requirements.
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NEW AC Members
BC3 is pleased to announce two new Advisory Committee Members. Welcome Roger and Bill!
Bill Peterson
Chief Credit Officer, New Resource Bank
Bill combines a long history in community banking with a deep interest in sustainability. After beginning his career at Bank of America, he spent 18 years in commercial lending and credit administration at several San Francisco Bay Area community banks. He returned to his home state of Michigan to help found First Michigan Bank, a de novo community bank, then moved back to the Bay Area to join New Resource, drawn by the bank's sustainability mission. He hopes New Resource will have a significant impact on the way people and businesses view the role of banks in the United States.
Roger Huldi
General Manager, W Silicon Valley
Roger was previously Director of Operations at the W San Francisco. He joined Starwood in 1991 at the Sheraton Mirage Resort. He has held a number of assignments in Food & Beverage and Operations, including The Westin Maui Resort and Spa and the Sheraton San Diego Hotel and Marina. Roger earned his Bachelor's degree in Business Management from Bond University, in Australia. He is a trained chef, an advocate for the environment, and serves as co-chair of the Hotel and Restaurant Foundation Scholarship Committee.
For more information on Advisory Committee roles and responsibilities, see here.
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Other Announcements
BC3 Members! Put your energy into cost cutting:
Hire an EDF Climate Corps Fellow! Prioritize investments and develop a plan with expertise from top MBA programs.
Applications Now Being Accepted for Acterra's 2011 Business Environmental Awards!
The Silicon Valley Leadership Group issued a call for papers for The Sustainable Corporation 2011: Sustainability as Business Strategy. The Symposium will showcase case studies and best practices.
To submit your case study, please email sustainability@svleadershipgroup.org.
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Welcome to the Winter 2011 edition of the Business Council on Climate Change (BC3) newsletter. These quarterly updates are intended to fill you in on recent events, inform and remind you of upcoming seminars and meetings, and communicate best practices and programs available through the BC3 network.
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B C 3 N E W S
Climate Leadership Profile Tool Now Available!
At BC3's full member meeting on November 17th, CSRware introduced the new Climate Leadership Profile Tool. The tool provides BC3 members with a way to chart their progress along BC3's Five Principles of Climate Leadership. The survey aims to help members assess their own climate leadership, and identify areas for improvement. Email invitations were sent to all primary liaisons. Please contact BC3 Intern Laura Cackette at laura@bc3sfbay.org with any questions/concerns. On January 28, HOK will host a brown bag lunch in their computer lab to help members complete the survey.
New Project Team - SF Climate Action Plan Advisory Panel
BC3 is proud to host the Business Advisory Panel for San Francisco's Climate Action Plan (CAP). The CAP, first created in 2004, is being revised this year. SF Environment is seeking comments and recommendations on the plan from a diverse group of stakeholders, including the private sector, community members, and government agencies. The business perspective will be represented by a group of twelve BC3 and non-BC3 members, including Blue Shield, Yahoo, New Resource Bank, Google, Natural Capitalism Inc, and Safeway. Panel members will focus on new GHG reduction measures put forward under the CAP.
BC3 will host one event in early March, open to all BC3 members, to allow for additional comments by the wider BC3 community. Questions? Please contact BC3 Intern Laura Cackette at laura@bc3sfbay.org.
Launch of New Website!
BC3 is launching a new website designed to better serve the needs of the BC3 community. We hope this website will be easy to navigate, accessible, and provide BC3 members with improved opportunities to connect with each other. We're looking for a few BC3 members to provide feedback on the test site. Please email BC3 Program Manager Katherine Michonski at katherine@bc3sfbay.org for more information. Stay tuned! BC3 Interns - Swaroop and Laura This fall, BC3 welcomed two new interns, Swaroop Raju (October) and Laura Cackette (November).
 Swaroop Raju recently graduated from Pomona College with a BA in environmental analysis, focused on biology. He previously worked as a grassroots organizer for the Borgen Project in Riverside, CA and hopes to pursue a career in corporate social responsibility, or a similar field. Swaroop will be working for BC3 member Luminesa in February.
 Laura Cackette graduated from the University of California, Davis in June with a BS in environmental science (focusing on air quality and climate change) and a minor in English. Laura previously worked as the zero waste team leader for the UC Davis R4 Recycling Program, and as a clean energy government and public affairs associate in the summer of 2010 at Renewable Energy Institute International.
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F A L L E V E N T
H I G H L I G H T S
December 3
Elliot Hoffman previewed Natural Capitalism Inc.'s Sustainability Circle program. The program provides small to mid-sized firms profitable ways to infuse sustainability into their operations and culture.
November 23
BC3 and non-BC3 members gathered for a workshop on electric vehicles. The event was a one-stop shop for information on the roll-out of electric vehicles in the Bay Area.
November 17 BC3 held its Semi-Annual Full Member Meeting at the Ninth Street Independent Film Center, home of this year's hosts: the San Francisco Green Film Festival. The meeting attracted 36 BC3 members for three hours of presentations, discussions, and networking at the film center.
October 14 Jeff Caton and Robin Schidlowski from Environmental Science Associates, and Alex Dmitriew from the SF Department of the Environment, discussed how businesses and government can work together to achieve San Francisco's zero waste goals.
September 22
 San Francisco's Office of Economic and Workforce Development outlined major developments expected for the Hunters Point Shipyard rehabilitation. Building 813 will be updated with the highest sustainability targets, and upon completion is targeted to provide space for early stage clean technology companies, as well as a home for the United Nations Global Compact Sustainability Center.
For more event resources, please see BC3's Event Resources Page. If you have an idea for a brown bag, or would like to host a BC3 brown bag or networking event, please email BC3 Program Manager Katherine Michonski at katherine@bc3sfbay.org.
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BECOME A BC3 SPONSOR TODAY
BC3 has created a new way for firms to demonstrate leadership, support the BC3 program, and build member brand value with the Bay Area's top business leaders. We've created four-tiered sponsorship and benefits package: Bronze ($2,500), Silver ($5,000), Gold ($7,500), Platinum ($10,000).
Sponsorship benefits include preferred speaking and hosting opportunities, spotlight article and press mentions, and other high-profile public recognition. See here for more details.
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M E M B E R S I N T H E N E W S
ParkPod Installs Charger at the Hilton
One of BC3's newest members, ParkPod was recently in the news for installing San Francisco's first commercial level two (J1772) EV charging station at the Hilton San Francisco Financial District. On December 9, the Hilton hosted a news conference to announce the roll-out of the Chevrolet Volt and EV charging infrastructure. Gap Inc. Recognized by U.S. EPA for Greenhouse Gas Emission Reductions In December, Gap Inc. was recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Climate Leaders program for reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) by 20 percent between 2003 and 2008, exceeding its goal of 11 percent energy reduction. According to the press release, Gap reduced energy use through the installation of energy-efficient light bulbs at its distribution centers, and improved energy performance at its headquarters locations and stores through better management systems and behavior changes. Bentley Prince Street Wins CalRecycle Waste Reduction AwardBentley Prince Street, was named a 2010 Waste Reduction Award Program (WRAP) winner by the CA Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle). CalRecycle selected each winner based on its reported waste prevention, recycling and composting, procurement and educational activities. HOK-Designed Johnson Space Center Building is NASA's GreenestHOK's design for the Johnson Space Center, NASA's newest office building, has achieved LEED platinum certification. Designed to be 57 percent more energy efficient than a typical office building, Johnson Space Center will be a showcase for environmentally sustainable architecture.Have a news story to share with the BC3 network? Email a link to BC3 Program Manager Katherine Michonski, at katherine@bc3sfbay.org.
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M E M B E R S P O T L I G H T
BC3 is excited to announce three new members, ParkPod, Natural Capitalism Inc., and Partnerships for Change, Inc. and two new partner organizations, Sustainable Life Media and the California Product Stewardship Council. Welcome! We're pleased to provide you with an introduction to the newest additions to the BC3 community:
 ParkPod markets turnkey commercial systems for charging of electric vehicle of all types. ParkPod hardware and software is available now for customer-ready pilot projects. ParkPod's President, Tom Brigham, recently presented ParkPod's Hilton pilot program BC3's November 17 Full Member Meeting.
 Natural Capitalism Inc. provides small to mid-sized firms practical and profitable ways to infuse sustainability into their operations and culture. Through these "High Tech - High Touch" Sustainability Circles, businesses learn how to reduce costs, improve profits, increase revenue, build brand equity and manage risk by fully embracing these practices. On December 3rd, BC3 members gathered at New Resource Bank to preview NCI's Sustainability Circles. The first San Francisco Sustainability Circles launched on January 10, 2011. For more information, contact Elliot Hoffman at ellioth@natcapinc.com.
Partnerships for Change, Inc.(PFC), led by Jackie Miller, promotes social and economic transformation through direct humanitarian action and sustainable development. PFC is dedicated to positive transformation at the community level.
 Sustainable Life Media is the leading producer of sustainable business conferences and educational events, with supporting products and services that include targeted e-newsletters, training, an online learning resource and community and more.
 The California Product Stewardship Council is a coalition of local governments and their associations related to solid waste, recycling, resource conservation, environmental protection, water quality, and other cross-media issues. |
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C L I M A T E & B U S I N E S S
N E W S
Cap and Trade in CA
In early December, California updated its Clean Air Act regulations on greenhouse gas emissions. Changes will mainly affect major GHG emissions sources that are newly built or modified after January 2011. Current plans will not affect smaller-scale emitters, like farms or restaurants.
On December 16, the Public Utilities Commission and Air Resources Board voted to establish a cap and trade system for the state of California. The changes will affect 360 businesses with 600 facilities, and will be implemented in two phases. Starting in 2012, large-scale emitters including the electricity industry, industrial manufacturers (of concrete, glass, paper, etc) will be allotted a baseline amount of free permits for emissions, and must pay for additional permits to cover any extra emissions. A second phase will begin in 2015, when refiners and distributors of transportation fuels and other fuels such as natural gas, will also be required to purchase permits to offset their emissions.
The amount of permits available will be lowered over time in an effort to create incentive for businesses to make long-term investments towards reducing their emissions. For further analysis, see here.
Electric Vehicle Market Roll-outs With the release of EV models from both Nissan and Chevrolet in December, the future of the electric vehicle market has been a constant subject of conversation. Both models, the Nissan Leaf and the Chevy Volt are already sold out! For an interesting perspective on the future of EV's in 2011, check out this Reuter's Article. The latest BC3 Project Team has been working on an Electric Vehicle Guide for business owners in San Francisco who are interested in establishing charging infrastructure for their company and/or it's employees. The guide is the first of it's kind to provide a comprehensive how-to for the SF Bay Area and will be released in early 2011.
Cancun 2010
The annual international climate negotiations, COP16, took place in Cancun this year, drawing a wide range of opinions on methods, negotiations, and future plans for an international effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and address climate change. For different perspectives on the results of the negotiations, see these Washington Post, BBC, and Mother Jones summaries. CFR Fellow Michael Levi and Time Magazine reporter Bryan Walsh each offered interesting analysis on what was achieved (and not achieved) at Cancun.
Federal Renewable Energy Grant Program Extended
In December, Section 1603 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act - a U.S. Treasury grant program for solar, wind, and alternative energy installations - was extended for one year. The program provided $1.3 billion in funding for renewable energy projects across the country, and analysts say that this extension could provide for another 140MW in solar power projects.
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