Responding to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's executive order S-20-04, otherwise known as the California Green Building Initiative, the Department of General Services will be turning all state-owned and state-leased commercial buildings green. Starting with its own headquarters located in West Sacramento's pyramid-shaped Ziggurat Building, the DGS will be doing its part to cut energy use in state-operated buildings 20 percent by 2015.
The Green Building Initiative, enacted in 2004, is one of many efforts to reduce California's carbon footprint. Commercial buildings account for 36 percent of California's electricity use, and the DGS hopes cities, counties, schools and private-sector buildings will follow the state's example by reducing their energy use.
According to Ken Hunt, a spokesperson for the DGS, the Ziggurat Building is striving to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, the national benchmark for green buildings.
"Right now we are in the beginning of the process, which is benchmarking the building, finding out how much energy we use," Hunt said. "You can't manage what you haven't measured. That's the first step for all buildings."
Hunt said the DGS hopes to obtain LEED certification for the Ziggurat Building by the end of the year. In conjunction with having a Pacific Gas and Electric Company energy consultant walk each of the Ziggurat Building's 10 floors evaluating the building's energy efficiency, the DGS is working hand-in-hand with the California Energy Commission and UC Davis' California Lighting Technology Center.
The California Lighting Technology Center is directed by UC Davis professor Michael Siminovitch, who has developed several different highly efficient lighting systems. He said although architects and engineers are becoming more conscious of designing energy-efficient buildings, there are multiple improvements that can be made to existing commercial buildings that can be applied cheaply.
"We presented to the Green Action Team an office lighting system that saves 50 percent," Siminovitch said. "This can be used in every single office space in California. If this was implemented across the board in California, it would save two to three power plants."
He also noted that commercial buildings currently waste a tremendous amount of energy by not "daylighting" effectively and by leaving unnecessary lights on.
"For example, we are working on smart parking-lot fixtures," Siminovitch said. "If you go by the Mondavi Center at 11 at night, all the lights are on in the parking lot and there are no cars there. You catch my drift?"
Rather than consistently leaving lights on, California can save quite a bit of energy by applying sensors that toggle lights on and off based on the presence of people, Siminovitch added.
The green improvements the DGS has in mind go further than limiting electricity use, encompassing water use, reverting waste from landfills and educating its 1,200 employees.
"We are making the building more energy-efficient, resource-efficient, environmentally friendly, and a healthier, more productive place to do business," Hunt said.
The DGS is using the Ziggurat Building as a "green laboratory" and will apply the lessons learned there to the rest of the government-leased buildings in the state. The California Department of Education building was the first state-owned building to achieve LEED platinum certification -- the USGBC's most prestigious award.
As Schwarzenegger called for local governments to follow suit, Davis Mayor Sue Greenwald said reducing Davis' carbon footprint was a top priority for her and the City Council. The council tentatively plans to discuss the issue at its March 20 meeting, which she encourages students to attend.
"This is the sort of thing that will affect the younger generation more than ours, and they should really help in designing this -- I would really encourage student input," Greenwald said.
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