An enthusiastic crowd gathered at the Main Library on November 1 to celebrate Solar Santa Monica' first year. Mayor Richard Bloom called residents and installers from the local community up onto the stage to recognize them for taking concrete action - namely, for installing either solar electric (photovoltaic) or solar thermal (hot water) systems on homes and businesses.

Santa Monica's accomplishments were put into a larger context by Terry Tamminen (photo), Governor Schwarzenegger's chief energy policy advisor, in his remarks about "The Climate Change Challenge." "I talk about Solar Santa Monica everywhere I go," he said. "The City is providing that one additional ingredient that helps make solar a reality."

The town hall portion of the evening invited questions and comments from the audience. One resident insisted that residential solar owners deserved the same reward (in the form of an unlimited 30% tax credit) as commercial owners. Another resident expressed his frustration that Californians can only get "credit" for producing energy up to the amount of energy they use. It was agreed that being able to produce and sell excess energy would invigorate the California Solar Initiative.

"We just have to do more," said resident John Demery.

(Town Hall photos by Louella Boquiren)

The combination of tax credits, solar rebates and accelerated depreciation mean that for many commercial solar installations as much as 80% of the initial cost is recaptured the very first year!

For example, here are figures taken directly from an analysis done this week for a Santa Monica business:

If you live in an apartment, it's not likely you'll be able to put up solar panels. But we want to remind apartment dwellers of the free Energy Efficiency Tune-Up, available through the Community Energy Partnership. A specialist will come to your apartment and replace incandescent light bulbs, halogen torchiere lamps, and wasteful shower heads -- all for free. Call for your appointment: 1-800-447-7611.

Welcome to new readers who signed up for the Solar Santa Monica newsletter at the Town Hall event. New or old reader, home or business owner, if you're ready for your no-cost On- Site Energy Assessment, please complete the questionnaire at the Solar Santa Monica website or call or email the office to request a copy: (310) 458-4992. If you have questions about the process, call Assessor Russell Flanigan directly at (949) 422-1796.

Last week I attended the US Green Building Council's annual event, GreenBuild, in Chicago. GreenBuild brings together manufacturers, government officials, architects, developers, property managers, construction companies, and consultants - just about everyone who is interested in green building. The USGBC has enjoyed an explosive growth over the last few years, and the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating system has established itself as the clear standard for commercial buildings.

The scale of the conference was impressive. The organizers had expected 18,000 people; by the afternoon of the first day, 25,000 had shown up. There were over 800 exhibitors! (See photo above.)

Although the energy was palpable, the feel was less personal than I had expected. Several thousand professionals sat watching on Jumbotron monitors. Sponsors included GM, GE, Honda and Target. Ultimately I realized that though the warm fuzzy feeling might be gone from GreenBuild, this was a necessary step in the transformation of an industry.

President of the USGBC, Rick Fedrizzi, gave a moving and powerful speech, affirming that green building is simply the way that building should be done. Former President Bill Clinton sounded a similar, if less aggressive tone. From both - and from all -- the message was clear: we should demand clean, safe, efficient buildings.

As for the future of GreenBuild itself, I wonder if it will be more effective as regional conferences, so that the building community in each area will be able to find the resources it needs for actual projects on the ground.