Special Projects

Through Special Projects, the Community Energy Partnership enhanced traditional utility-consumer relationships by developing innovative projects that facilitate partner collaboration, reached people in new ways, and illustrated the power of energy efficiency. Past projects:

Little League Baseball & Softball Western Region – San Bernardino

The Little League® Baseball and Softball Western Region received numerous energy efficient upgrades as a result of the City of San Bernardino's participation in the Community Energy Partnership. Nearly 80 people joined with the Mayor and other partners to celebrate energy efficiency at the Ribbon Cutting ceremony on Wednesday, February 25th. These retrofits have already led to a 20% reduction in electricity use and a 40% reduction in natural gas, which amounts to over $4,000 in savings just over the past 6 months. The partnership hopes that this demonstration project will show local residents and businesses the benefits of energy efficiency improvements and encourage them to take advantage of utility rebates for products similar to those installed at this facility.

In 2007, the City of San Bernardino submitted a Demonstration Project proposal on behalf of the local Little League® Baseball and Softball Western Region to showcase various energy efficiency retrofits that could be made to educate the community on ways to save energy and money on their utility bills. Built in 1969 mostly by volunteers and run by a national non-profit, the facility was in dire need of energy efficiency upgrades. With nearly 75,000 people visiting during the Western Regional Little League® Tournament each August and its year-round use as a meeting location by local organizations, this facility serves as an ideal candidate for demonstrating energy efficiency to the community.

The energy efficient retrofits, which were completed in late 2008, included installation of highly insulating dual pane windows in the cafeteria, conversion of hundreds of inefficient T12s fluorescent lights to efficient T8s, installation of low-flow faucet aerators and showerheads, replacement of an old inefficient water heater with a tankless water heater and much more. All of these measures will help to lower the facility's electricity, gas and water bills, and make their building much more comfortable to the many community groups that use the facility year round. But that's not all! The facility staff were educated on further energy efficient and conservation recommendations that can be completed at their leisure.

The Little League Western Region is serving as a model for Little League® International, which is launching a green campaign of all of their facilities. "Hearing about these immediate benefits validates our new nationwide direction to implement sustainable practices at the local level. We hope that all of the facilities experience as great a success as we have experienced in San Bernardino," stated Dave Bonham, Assistant Director of Western Region.

Santa Clarita Valley Senior Center – Santa Clarita

The Santa Clarita Valley Senior Center (SCVSC) was recently selected to receive numerous energy efficiency upgrades, including five sun tunnels, as part of a large-scale energy efficiency tune-up and demonstration project of the CEP. The retrofits will save the SCVSC approximately $2,700 (14,933 kWh and 515 therms) annually. Additional energy savings will be tracked over the course of this next year.

Craig Perkins, Executive Director of The Energy Coalition, stated, “We commend the City of Santa Clarita and the Santa Clarita Valley Senior Center on their commitment to save energy and their ongoing efforts to address climate change. For example, the Senior Center has installed an additional three tubular skylights, which will further reduce their energy consumption and utility costs while decreasing their carbon footprint at the same time. We anticipate long-term savings for them as a result of all of these energy efficient upgrades.”

The collaboration with the City of Santa Clarita, the Santa Clarita Valley Senior Center and the Community Energy Partnership goes back to 2007, when the CEP presented an energy efficiency workshop for the seniors and distributed energy efficient technology to be installed in their homes. From September 2008 through February 2009, approximately $10,000 of energy efficiency retrofits and services have since been provided. The tubular skylights were installed as part of a CEP Demonstration Project to illustrate the different energy efficiency strategies that residents can implement to save energy and money on utility bills. CEP Demonstration Projects, which are located in different regions across Southern California, are intended to educate, inspire, and impress upon the consumer that simple and often inexpensive changes can be made in any home or business, to positively impact the bottom line.

Some key benefits of installing tubular skylights:
• Natural light can be used in place of electricity, and is easy on the eyes.
• Skylights have been shown to significantly reduce energy costs.
• Certain manufacturers of tubular skylights meet ENERGY STAR® guidelines.

On April 23rd, CEP will present another energy efficiency educational workshop to the seniors at SCVSC to highlight and share the benefits of these recent energy efficiency retrofits and to provide additional information on city and utility programs that will further help them with saving energy.

If you would like to learn more about any of these Special Projects, please contact us at partnership@energycoalition.org or (949) 701-4646