San Mateo County and its cities take the Gold Beacon, two Silver Beacons and 41 Beacon Spotlights for CO2 reductions, energy savings, and sustainability
DNV GL, the world’s largest resource of independent energy experts and certification body, is pleased to announce that twelve recipients of the 2015 Beacon Awards and Beacon Spotlight Awards were supported by the City/County Associated Governments of San Mateo County Regionally Integrated Climate Acton Planning Suite (RICAPS) program, for which DNV GL serves as the prime contractor, responsible for the day-to-day management of the project. The Beacon Awards, sponsored by the Institute for Local Government (ILG) and the Statewide Energy Efficiency Collaborative (SEEC), is a California-wide program that recognizes cities and counties that are reducing greenhouse gas emissions, saving energy and promoting sustainability through policies and programs.
In San Mateo County, eleven cities and the county received awards. City of Brisbane won the highest honor, the Gold Beacon Award, as well as a spotlight award in each of the five categories. Redwood City and the County of San Mateo each took two of the four Silver Beacon Awards, the second highest honor, and won Spotlight Awards in every category. The cities of Burlingame, Colma, Daly City, Foster City, Menlo Park, Millbrae, Portola Valley, San Carlos and San Mateo each won one or more Spotlight Awards. Significantly, San Mateo County is the first county to receive a full Beacon Award.
DNV GL serves as the technical assistance provider for climate planning for each of the cities in the program and San Mateo County.
“Energy master planning and climate action planning are important activities for cities and counties,” said Betty Seto, acting head of DNV GL’s Sustainable Buildings and Communities group. “Through our work with many local government and private sector organizations, DNV GL has developed a proven framework to clearly outline specific steps, issue areas and an analytical approach for prioritizing action.”
In this capacity, DNV GL completed greenhouse gas inventories for each of the cities and countywide, including compiling data such as electricity, natural gas and water consumption, transportation and solid waste generation for both government facilities and city-wide. To support the RICAPS program, DNV GL developed a suite of tools including a greenhouse gas reduction measure analysis tool, word document templates and approaches for tracking climate action planning progress. DNV GL also provided individualized technical assistance to the cities of Brisbane, Colma, Foster City, Millbrae, Portola Valley and San Mateo County to facilitate the development of the cities’ and county’s climate action plans, which were recognized by the Beacon awards. As a result of the RICAPS program, all cities in San Mateo County have either implemented climate action plans or are in the process of building one.
“We are very pleased that these cities and counties are being recognized for their efforts to build more sustainable communities,” said Seto. “Local communities are taking a leading role in addressing climate change by recognizing that sustainability can help create a higher living standard for their residents and help their cities grow and thrive.”
For more information about the RICAPS Program, visit http://www.smcenergywatch.com
Beacon Award Program, visit http://www.ca-ilg.org/beacon-award-program