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 kyrocketing energy costs; businesses closing due to
inflated energy prices; cities threatened with brownouts. These
are just some of the realities San Diego has faced during the
past few months as the result of deregulated energy sources.
While the public's reaction demanded immediate solutions, the
City of San Diego's Environmental Services Department (ESD) offers
solutions to cutting energy expenses through its functioning
Ridgehaven "Green Building" Demonstration Project and
utilization of liquefied natural gas as an alternative fuel source.
 "As
the Environmental Services Department, we are tasked with designing
proactive efforts that support a sustainable future for the environment,"
said Richard L. Hays, director of the Environmental Services
Department. "In the early 1990s, when our department changed
names from Waste Management to Environmental Services and moved
to another facility, the Mayor, City Council and Environmental
Services realized the need to live up to our new name and practice
what we preach by creating an office building that would be the
most environmentally sound and energy efficient building in the
City of San Diego."
Today, that
vision has evolved into the Ridgehaven "Green Building"
Demonstration Project, which is occupied by the City's Environmental
Services Department. Completed in 1996, the building's retrofit
incorporates state of the art lighting, water source heat pumps,
recyclable construction materials and reused items that all contribute
to the reduction of energy and water consumption and ultimately
reduced utility prices. Also, the landscape surrounding the building
utilizes water conservation techniques, drought-tolerant plants,
and recycled products to help reduce costs and energy use.
As a result,
Ridgehaven is one of the lowest commercial energy users in San
Diego County today and saves approximately $90,000 annually in
energy costs. This success has earned this energy-efficient building
national recognition, and in 1998 was the first building in the
United States to receive the US Environmental Protection Agency
and the US Department of Energy's prestigious Energy Star Label.
"The
Ridgehaven Green Building is truly demonstrating that designing
an energy-efficient building is possible," said Hays. "We
believe in the Green Building design and we will offer assistance
to existing businesses and contractors to help retrofit a building
that ultimately will save energy and money."
Past studies
that determine saving also project future savings. During the
next 10 years, Ridgehaven will prevent an estimated 3,540 tons,
of carbon dioxide, 10 tons of sulfur dioxide, and nine tons of
nitrogen oxides from being released into the atmosphere. These
greenhouse gases directly contribute to three major environmental
problems: acid rain, smog, and global climate change.
"Energy
is a resource and without it our lives would radically change,"
said Hays. "We are just the preachers of conservation, but
it is up to everyone to embrace methods that reduce over use
of our natural resources, whether it is simply turning off the
lights or using an alternative fuel source."
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