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City of Santa Monica News
The California Sustainability Alliance Honors Sustainbility Programming
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The California Sustainability Alliance Announced the City of Santa Monica as grand prize winner of its 2009 Sustainability Showcase Awards held at the Renaissance Montura hotel in Los Angeles.
Selected by an esteemed panel of industry leaders, The City of Santa Monica (The City) was recognized as the organization best exemplifying a holistic adoption of sustainability. Some of the City's sustainable efforts include:
· Purchasing 100% post-consumer recycled content copy paper for municipal operations
saving an estimated 1.2 million gallons of water, 158,000 pounds of CO2 and 1,700 trees
annually
· Transitioning eighty-two percent of the municipal fleet to alternative fuel and creating a
100% alternatively fueled public transit system (including liquid and compressed
natural gas, biodiesel, hydrogen, and hybrid and electric vehicles); additionally, the
transportation collaboration between the Big Blue Bus and Santa Monica College
eliminated 1.6 million car trips within its first year of implementation
· Launching the Solar Santa Monica Program, doubling the solar capacity of the city with
139 grid connected solar projects to date, which represent 926 kilowatts of solar capacity
· Diverting more than 1 million pounds of food waste and over 137,000 pounds of
hazardous waste materials from landfills in 2008 alone
· Recognizing and encouraging sustainable business through Green Building Certification
and The City's own Sustainable Quality Awards
As the grand prize winner of the 2009 Sustainability Showcase, the City of Santa Monica will be featured in a video documentary showcasing its sustainable practices, and will have a grove of trees planted by Tree People, an environmental nonprofit that unites the power of trees, people and technology to grow a sustainable future for Southern California, creating a living monument to The City's contribution to California's sustainable future.
Now in its second year, the Sustainability Showcase Awards recognize the successful
sustainability policies, programs, practices, and technologies implemented by leading
organizations.
Winners in seven categories, including the grand prize winner, were honored at
the luncheon: Jones Lang LaSalle (Commercial Buildings); Los Angeles Housing Partnership
(Multifamily Housing); Town of Los Gatos (Local Government, Small); City of Santa Monica
(Local Government, Medium); County of San Diego (Local Government, Large); Sonoma
County Water Agency (Water Agencies); and Los Angeles Community College District (Other
Products and Services).
California policymakers and industry leaders in sustainability were on hand to present the recipients with their awards on behalf of The Alliance. Presenters included Craig Sheehy,
President of Envision Realty LLC and Vice Chair of the Governor's Real Estate Industry
Leadership Council; Bridgett Luther, Director of the Department of Conservation and developer
of the state's Emerald California pilot program; Cynthia Truelove, Senior Policy Analyst for the
California Public Utilities Commission and Co-Chair of the Climate Action Team's Water-
Energy Subgroup; Lynn Jacobs, Director of the Department of Housing and Community
Development; and Stephen Bushnell, Senior Director at Fireman's Fund Insurance Company.
To learn more about the California Sustainability Alliance's Sustainability Showcase and the award recipients, visit www.sustainca.org/showcase. The California Sustainability Alliance was designed to help meet the State of California's aggressive energy, climate and resource and environmental goals by increasing and accelerating energy efficiency in combination with complementary green measures and strategies. Founded in 2006, The California Sustainability Alliance is funded by California utility customers and administered by Southern California Gas Co. (The Gas CompanySM) under the auspices of the California Public Utilities Commission, through a contract awarded to Navigant Consulting. California customers who choose to participate in this program are not obligated to purchase any additional services offered by the contractor. The trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners. For more information about The California Sustainability Alliance, visit www.sustainca.org. |
