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Solar Santa Monica's goal is to help the City become "energy neutral" by 2020 through efficiency and self-generation. Now in its fourth year, the program has been instrumental in trebling the City's solar capacity.
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April, 2011
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Don't have an Earth Day Resolution?
Be an Earth Day leader in your community and invest in solar!
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Energy Upgrade California Kick Off is Right Around the Corner..
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Tuesday, April 26th, 2011 -- 7:00 - 8:30 p.m.
Join us at the Santa Monica Main Library
(Multi-purpose Room, 2nd floor)
601 Santa Monica Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA 90401
(Parking under building)
Featuring Santa Monica's EUC Certified Contractors, Available to Answer All Your Questions About How to Get EUC Rebates:
- Building Doctors (Whole Home Energy Assessments & Retrofitting)
- Solarcon (Solar Construction)
- Alpine Green Properties (Energy Assessments)
- WRAPS - Venice Community Housing Corp (Specialized Home Repair)
- She Builds Green (Green Construction & Building Performance Contractor)
- Mimeos (Whole Home Energy Assessments & Solar Design)
Space is limited - RSVP today!
Online: reserve a seat at our Eventbrite page.
By Phone: Drew Lowell-Britt at Solar Santa Monica (310) 804-8449
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Report on Green Building Tour
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 | | PV on a rooftop deck |
 | | Rain water collection |
Three Santa Monica Properties Participate
The City of Santa Monica and the US Green Building Council-LA Chapter organized a Green Building Tour last week. Over 450 people signed up for the tour that visited five sites in both Santa Monica and Venice. Some of the newest green homes in Santa Monica were on the tour, including the town homes on 21st St. between Montana and Idaho. Pacific Cove Development, the project developer, reports that the homes will earn a LEED for Homes Gold rating and a GreenPoint Rating designation. This will be the first dual-branded project in Santa Monica (and one of the first in Southern California). Eco-friendly building materials, xeriscaping, dual-flush toilets, Energy Star lighting, and solar photovoltaic panels all contributed to making these homes GREEN. For information on all five properties on the 2011 Green Building Tour, click here.
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City of Santa Monica - Pushing Ahead on All Fronts!
|  Solar Santa Monica continues to explore new solar strategies and cost effective ways to increase the amount of solar in Santa Monica.
Community Solar Plant
Expanding solar boundaries is a concept known as Community Solar Plants. They allow people with poor roofs or no roofs at all to participate in the production of clean solar energy. Participants buy units or shares of an offsite solar array that allow them to offset their own electricity use. Community Solar plants are springing up in Colorado, Utah, Arizona, California, and many other states. The Sacramento Munipal Utility District's 1MW plant (1,000 kilowatts) is fully subscribed with some 700 shareholders purchasing up to 4kW of solar capacity each. SMUD is in the process of expanding the program; the program brochure is shown above.
Solar Santa Monica is actively looking for ways that more of its residents can participate in solar. But because Santa Monica does not have a municipal utility (as does Sacramento), it needs to find sources of outside financing, whether from public or private funds.
Solar Santa Monica is also always on the lookout for innovative pilot projects that could bring greater solar photovoltaic, solar thermal, and energy efficiency uptake. Of particular interest to Santa Monica would be programs that allow renters, multi-tenant building residents, and commercial lease holders to qualify for the same kinds of solar incentives that are currently available to property owners with a suitable roof and electric meter.
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More Upcoming Events You Don't Want to Miss!
|  Alt Build Alternative building material and design exposition.
Join in for the eighth year of one of the most vital Green Building and Design events in the Country! Where & When Santa Monica Civic Auditorium
1855 Main Street
Santa Monica, CA 90401-3209
May 6-7, 2011
10am - 5pm
Look for the Energy Upgrade California booth!
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Santa Monica Spring Festival
Celebrate the twentieth annual zero-waste event highlighting the City's communities, culture, business, environment and art!
Where & When Clover Park 2600 Ocean Park Boulevard Santa Monica, CA 90405 May 7th, 2011 11am - 6pm Look for the Energy Upgrade California and Solar Santa Monica booth! |
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