The county has a transparent, open access database with detailed information on property structures, local service districts (i.e. local provider of water, utilities, sanitation, fire safety, etc.) permits, official documentation, zoning, and much more.

All you need is internet connection and an address to access the Nevada County GIS database! Go to the Nevada County GIS home page, and under the Value tab, simply type in the street address of the property you are looking for in the search dialog box. A map of the parcel will appear, with a red line indicating the property boundaries. See photo below of our the GIS map of the business park where our office is located in Grass Valley.

The search results include APN (Assessor’s Parcel Number), Gross Roll Value, Tax Area Code, and Assessed Acreage.

Under Report Link, click on the link to view detailed property information. The report is divided into the following categories, with detailed data about the site, including site specifications, real estate value, zoning codes, and permits:

• Site Information – This section contains legal, geographic, and zoning information about the property. This section includes site address, jurisdiction, legal description, subdivision, zoning, and property context.
• Property Details – This section contains information about site infrastructure and existing structures. In this section, you will find information about structures, layout, amenities, infrastructure, and land characteristics.
• Districts – This section contains information about utility and public services. In this section you will find out what school district, fire department, water, and utilities serve the property location, as well as the sanitation districts and political districts that serve the location.
• Permits – County permit information is only available for certain addresses (usually those outside of the city limits). This is a very valuable resource, because it allows you to determine what permits apply to existing structures, and which permits are missing. You can click on the building department permit number (starting with the last two digits of the year it was issued) of any permit. 

The permit link directs you to Nevada County Building Department’s permit webpage, which provides downloadable official permit documents for each construction project, and information on permit processing status (from various different departments) and all inspections that were carried out.

• Unrecorded Maps

The post Finding Property Information Using Nevada County GIS appeared first on Sustainable Energy Group.

This new approach has significantly increased the scope of inspections, making the construction industry ever more conscious of the possibility of encountering building code violations. 

This trend underscores the importance of building with a big picture perspective, taking into account the whole property, before constructing anything new that requires a permit.

Any structure with electrical or plumbing infrastructure or which will serve as a human dwelling requires a building permit, including solar arrays and pools.

In the case of solar arrays, PG&E requires a final, signed-off permit prior to allowing a customer to connect to their grid.

According to Section L-V 2.4, Land Use and Development Code, structures that do not require permits must meet the following criteria: “One-story detached accessory building without electrical, mechanical, or plumbing not intended for habitation provided the projected roof area does not exceed 200 square feet.”

Even these exempted structures require the standard setbacks and are limited to one structure per parcel.[1]

In the United States, the building code enforced by most authorities having jurisdiction, namely city and county governments, is based on the International Building Code (IBC), a nationwide, integrated building standard which unified the previously independent regional standards of the Western, Midwestern, South-Eastern, and Eastern United States.

The goal of the International Building Code is to establish consistent building standards across multiple related industries and across the country.

“The code provisions are intended to protect public health and safety while avoiding both unnecessary costs and preferential treatment of specific materials or methods of construction.” [2] The IBC is a baseline requirement enforced in each jurisdiction.

Local authorities must enforce all of the building codes established by the IBC (cannot nullify any of the codes contained within). But they can choose to add additional requirements if they are deemed necessary.

As a general rule, it is always advisable to have building plans and apply for appropriate permits to avoid additional costs of bringing structures up to code in the future. To find a licensed contractor who can help with plans and building code compliance, visit the Nevada County Contractor’s Association website.

Many property owners upgrade or build new structures without involving the county to avoid increases in property value and associated property tax, and to save money in construction by building structures themselves.

There are several risks involved with building unpermitted structures:

Difficulty selling the property

Home buyers are becoming increasingly aware of the problems associated with unpermitted work. The last thing a new homebuyer wants is a property that requires a lot of work and additional investment to bring to code. Additions or alterations may have been done improperly and be a health or safety hazard. Property assessors may discover unpermitted structures and back charge new homeowners for unpaid taxes.

Lack of insurance coverage if damages are associated with an unpermitted structure

Good luck trying to get homeowners insurance to cover any damages if they involved unpermitted structures, which do not abide by building safety protocols.

Possibility of litigation

Injuries and property damage resulting from unpermitted structures can motivate homeowners to sue the previous owner.[3]

For example, as a licensed general contractor, we have brought unpermitted structures such as pools and granny units up to code in order to be able to build and permit a solar array. In many cases the homeowner wasn’t aware of the unpermitted work, but because they needed to pull a permit, they were required to bring the unpermitted structures up to code before the County would sign off on the solar permit.

The good news is that most unpermitted structures can be brought up to code without tearing down the structure and starting over.

However, the upgrades, permitting process and inspection can take a while, and can add unforeseen headaches to a building project, turning a small project into a massive one, spanning multiple structures on a parcel. As a result, we always recommend complying with building codes for home improvements or new structures.

The post The Potential Risks of Unpermitted Construction: What You Need to Know appeared first on Sustainable Energy Group.

Share with them some scientific evidence to credibly explain the benefits of renewable energy and distinguish fact from fiction. All too often, the oil and gas industry’s marketing tactics and slanted journalism are one sided, and are designed to misrepresent the facts.

Recently, Yale Climate Connections published an article that compares the health and economic impacts of different types of energy, looking at the energy industry holistically without partiality. What did they find? They discovered that the numbers speak volumes for the benefits of renewable energy. In fact, many of the principal arguments used to undermine confidence in renewable energy technologies more accurately describe fossil fuels than they describe renewable energy. Here are four renewable energy myths that the article dispelled:

1. Renewable energy technology is economically unsustainable because it is largely dependent on government subsidies.

Many proponents of lassiez-faire economics consider renewable energy technologies to be a losing venture because of the impression that they are subject to the availability of government funding. Free market proponents suggest that if the funding dries up, renewable energy technology will fail to be profitable and competitive in the marketplace.

However, this argument is technically false because it ignores both the historical context of energy development in the United States and the quantity of government subsidies invested into other energy sources. “In the United States, the federal government has paid US$145 billion for energy subsidies to support R&D for nuclear power ($85 billion) and fossil fuels ($60 billion) from 1950 to 2016. During this same timeframe, renewable energy technologies received a total of US $34 billion.”[1]

While renewable energy technologies are aided by federal economic incentives such as tax credits and rebates, they help spur economic growth through increased demand in renewable energy, which translates into greater growth and job creation.

The more accurate way to assess the economic feasibility of different types of energy is to compare their leveled cost without subsidies. Leveled energy cost is the universal per unit cost of electricity calculated by dividing the total production and operation costs of a power plant by the quantity of electricity produced over its lifetime.[2]

Two credible sources of research on energy economics are the Energy Information Administration and Lazard Financial Analysts. Both of these organizations conducted detailed and comprehensive studies on the leveled cost of electricity and came to the same conclusions—that solar and wind energy are less expensive than any of the fossil fuels (coal, propane, and natural gas) based on a per unit cost-production analysis.

Table 1. Levelized Cost of Electricity From Different Sources, 2009-2018

2. The coal industry is a stable source of employment for Americans that will be maintained into the future

According to the U.S. Board of Labor and Statistics, the rate of growth of employment in coal mining has precipitously declined over the last decade.

Figure 2. Coal Miners Employed by the Thousands, 2009-2018

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

On the other hand, the top two fastest growing jobs in the U.S. economy in 2016 were solar installers and wind turbine technicians, respectively.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of solar installers is expected to grow by 96% between 2016 and 2026, and for wind turbine technicians, the growth will be 105%. Now how’s that for economic prosperity and job security?

3.Toxic solar panels are damaging to the environment and require unsustainable mining of minerals

It is true that solar panels contain a small amount of heavy metals and toxins. But these metals are found in a wide range of ubiquitous electronic devices, such as computers and cell phones. However, unlike these technological gadgets, which are designed to be replaced every few years, solar modules are usually warrantied for 25 years.

In terms of the manufacturing, “Solar panels are mostly made of glass, which is easily recycled. The remaining major components are plastic, aluminum, silicone, and metals, each with its own pathway for recycling and disposal.

The recycling efforts of solar panel manufacturers can be compared using the Solar Scorecard.” [3] In terms of the ability to recycle existing solar panels that are broken or being replaced, there are currently companies that provide recycling services and the list is growing.[4]

We need to acknowledge the fact that all forms of electricity production have environmental impacts.

“Environmental impacts are an inherent part of electricity production and energy use. Electricity generated from renewable energy sources has a smaller environmental footprint than power from fossil-fuel sources, which is arguably the major impetus for moving away from fossil fuels to renewables.”[5]

4.Wind turbines kill migratory birds

While it’s true that wind turbines are a source of bird fatalities, those numbers should be put in perspective with other causes of bird deaths. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the estimated number of birds that die each year due to oil pits (750,000) is nearly twice that of the birds that die due to wind turbines (328,000).

Moreover, when compared with other types of energy, wind turbines actually rank the lowest with regard to bird mortality. According to a wildlife study published in the Journal of Integrative Sciences “fossil fuels cause approximately 35 times more bird deaths per unit of energy generated” than that of wind energy.[6]

The post Debunking Renewable Energy Myths appeared first on Sustainable Energy Group.

We recognize that each property is unique, and carefully tailor each design to the site’s environmental conditions, taking into account solar resource, grading, and shading from trees. We understand and appreciate the important ecological roles that trees play, including carbon sequestration, oxygen production, topsoil preservation, as well as their aesthetics.

One of the most important roles of trees, that contributes to the biological richness of forest ecosystems, is their ability to sequester carbon.

The carbon sequestration potential of trees is dependent on multiple variables, including age, tree type (hardwood or softwood), species (allometric coefficients can account for species variation in tree growth and size), climate, and size (biomass accumulation). If you are interested in estimating the carbon sequestration potential of trees in your property, Carlton College’s EarthLabs has developed a step-by-step resource for calculating carbon sequestration of common tree species in North America.[1]

However, not all is lost if you have a shaded roof and you have to cut down some trees to make space for a solar array. While solar modules cannot sequester carbon or produce oxygen, they can offset a significant proportion of your household energy use. This is noteworthy given that residential and commercial buildings contribute 11% of all greenhouse gas emissions, according to 2016 national data from the EPA.[2]. 

To give a sense of the relative impact of CO2 emissions saved by solar, the carbon offset potential of a solar electric system can be quantitatively compared to the carbon sequestration benefits of trees or the equivalent CO2 emissions saved by not driving a car. Naturally it depends on the types of trees, density of trees/acre.

But generally speaking, in one year an average-sized solar system can offset the equivalent of burning 362 gallons of gas in your car or planting over 90 trees.[3]

SEG can provide tree planting services if trees must be removed in the process of installing ground mount solar electric systems. Recently, SEG replaced trees that were displaced on two project sites, one in Shingle Springs and the other in Grass Valley. The one in Shingle Springs was noteworthy because it was a planting of native oaks in accordance with the California Oak Rehabilitation Program.

The Oak Canopy Retention Plan was developed by CalTLC, a northern California arboricultural consulting company (see Figure 1). SEG planted 27 native oaks on the property to replace the trees felled for the installation of the ground mount solar array. The photo of the final installation of the ground mount array is shown above.

The post Preserving Trees in Solar Designs appeared first on Sustainable Energy Group.

The workshops will take place on Tuesday, April 2^nd; Wednesday, May 1^st; and Monday, June 3^rd from 6:00-7:30pm at the Grass Valley Courtyard Suites. The free educational workshop series will focus on three core areas of energy efficiency: water heating efficiency, building efficiency, and heating and cooling.

The workshops will be lead by engineers and industry experts with decades of experience in energy efficiency.

One workshop leader, Gary Klein, of Gary Klein and Associates, Inc., is an energy conservation expert with 25 years of experience working at the California Energy Commission. His broad scope of knowledge includes regional water budgets and distribution on the macro-scale to plumbing and water heating on the building level. The water efficiency workshop is scheduled for Tuesday, April 2nd (RSVP here).

Another workshop leader is Ray Darby, a licensed mechanical engineer and the owner of Sustainable Energy Group, Inc. Darby is an expert in energy efficiency and solar energy and has worked in the field since 1980 in areas ranging from R&D to the construction of solar and energy efficient building installations. The building and lighting workshop is scheduled for Wednesday, May 1st. For more detailed event information, visit the Energy Savings Solutions Facebook page.

Energy Savings Solutions is the product of a collaborative effort of community members, businesses, and industry experts. The primary organizer of the series, Renata Langis, is a Nevada City local who works at Sustainable Energy Group, Inc. (SEG), a solar contractor based in Grass Valley. Through the course of working at SEG and learning about a broad range of cost-effective energy efficient upgrades to buildings, she was inspired to organize public workshops to engage a larger audience in discussions about energy efficiency.

In November 2018, the city of Grass Valley approved the Energy Action Plan (EAP). The plan includes an analysis of energy use within the city limits and the development of guidelines to advance energy conservation efforts and promote renewable energy adoption in Grass Valley.

“The GV Energy Action Plan is a community-oriented, multi-year plan to reduce Grass Valley’s natural gas and electricity usage by 29% and 36% respectively, and will save the community over $10 million over the course of 15 years,” says Simone Cordery-Cotter, an AmeriCorps CivicSpark Climate Fellow at Sierra Business Council. Cordery-Cotter is one of the leading coordinators of the Energy Action Plan working group in Grass Valley.

Shortly after the plan was approved, Langis got involved with the Grass Valley Energy Action Plan working group. The working group is a grassroots coalition of local businesses, non-profit organizations, and community members who are working to help raise awareness about the EAP and help implement the plan. Members of the group include representatives from Sierra Business Council, the Grass Valley Chamber of Commerce, Sustainable Energy Group, Nevada City Climate Change Coalition, and California Solar Electric.

For more information about the Energy Savings Solutions Series, please contact Renata Langis at (530) 588-3220 or rnlangis@gmail.com or visit the Facebook page.

The post Energy Savings Solutions Series in Grass Valley appeared first on Sustainable Energy Group.

What are CCAs?

CCAs are “nonprofit public entities formed by local communities working together to supply the electricity needs of their residents.” Nearby in Placer County, the regional CCA is Pioneer Energy. Currently, there are 19 CCAs in California, which are actively displacing PG&E and other IOUs in their regional service areas.

Today, 42% of PG&E’s customer base has been lost to CCAs, and by 2025, the California Public Utilities Commission estimates that the percentage of bundled load loss will increase to 85%.[2].

Since 2015, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has been investigating PG&E to assess how the company’s governance and organizational culture administer and protect public safety. Given the costly liabilities associated with numerous recent California wildfires, PG&E has filed for bankruptcy protection.

In a fragile energy marketplace highly dependent on only a few utility companies, the future of PG&E and its inherent consequences for California’s energy landscape are highly uncertain. However, the utility will continue to manage transmission and distribution of power in California in the foreseeable future. But it may not continue to be the dominant electricity provider (essentially an unregulated monopoly) for much longer.

On February 14, 2019, a coalition of six Northern California CCAs known as the California Community Choice Association filed a report to the CPUC arguing that it should take over the responsibility of power generation and procurement for the communities it serves, and that PG&E should only be responsible for transmission and distribution of power.

In the report, the association claims that locally regulated energy service providers can offer greater choice, affordability, and public safety for the grid. “The joint CCAs strongly endorse a restructuring that allows PG&E to focus where safety improvements are needed most—delivering electricity across the energy grid—while allowing locally-controlled public agencies to safely, reliably, and cost-effectively purchase the energy Californians rely on,” said Beth Vaughan, executive director of the California Community Choice Association (CalCCA). [3]

Because CCAs, generally speaking, have a high renewable energy portfolio, they are able to offer electricity at more competitive rates to their customers.

As locally controlled, decentralized power producers, in addition to being more responsive to specific community needs, CCAs are more responsive to technological innovation in the rapidly-evolving energy industry, and climate change. The association promotes renewable energy generation and widespread adoption of electric services, through partnerships with local governments to remove barriers and facilitate electrification of municipalities.

In January 2019, Governor Newsom noted at his State of the State address, “We must map out a longer-term framework, not just for the utilities’ future, but for California’s energy future, to ensure that the cost of climate change doesn’t fall on those least able to afford it.”

CCAs pave the way for a more democratic energy landscape, offering alternatives to IOUs that provide reliable, cost-effective, and greener energy sources for a more resilient energy grid in California amidst a changing climate.[4]

To read more about the Community Choice Association’s filing to the CPUC and PG&E’s current stance, check out Green Tech Media’s recent article on this topic.

Community Choice Aggregates are diverse and are not all created equal. Instead, they are locally controlled by the governments they are partnered with. For example, some CCAs have different approaches to crediting customers for electricity generated; it depends upon on whether or not they have approved the Net Energy Metering tariff.[5]

For more details about the policies and benefits of a specific CCA, visit the website or contact the representative of the CCA. However, CCAs provide a welcome breath of fresh air in terms of new competition in the electricity marketplace in California, which is highly centralized and in need of diversification.

The post CCAs and California’s Changing Electric Energy Landscape appeared first on Sustainable Energy Group.

Over the past year, SEG Inc has collaborated with Sacramento Habitat for Humanity by assisting with the installation of solar electric systems on their homes. Last week, our Operations Manager, Brian Gardner, was invited to attend Habitat for Humanity’s annual Hammy Awards Night Dinner.

It was a celebration in recognition of all the accomplishments of 2018, including the contribution of over 20,000 hours of volunteer labor, the construction of 8 new homes and repair of 32 homes in California, and the construction of 122 homes for low income families in Nicaragua (on behalf of the Nicaragua Habitat for Humanity chapter). They created a compelling video summarizing their work last year, which you can watch on Youtube.

We are honored to work with a non-profit organization doing such critical work to positively transform families and neighborhoods in Sacramento.

Habitat for Humanity of Greater Sacramento’s goal is to eliminate “substandard housing locally and worldwide through constructing, rehabilitating and preserving homes; by advocating for fair and just housing policies; and by providing training and access to resources to help families improve their shelter conditions.”

Habitat for Humanity’s mission to actively build communities, families, and hope is driven by a firm belief in the Christian faith and in social equality, along with the principle that all people deserve a dignified place to call home. They empower low-income families to realistically accomplish their goal of home ownership and stability by offering training and resources to help families construct their own homes.

Habitat Home owners contribute 500 hours of labor, an investment of sweat equity, into building a home that is affordable, with a 30-year, 0% interest mortgage, for a brighter future for their families. The result is more confident, stable, and healthy families and more beautiful and safe neighborhoods.

The post Celebrating Habitat for Humanity Sacramento appeared first on Sustainable Energy Group.

Here are a few reasons why solar is a smart, low-risk, high-return investment:

High Valuation

Solar electric systems have strong valuation due to their potential to reduce long-term energy costs for homeowners.

As such, solar electric systems are recognized as marketable improvements to homes that, on average, significantly enhance the real estate value of properties. In a study of over 22,000 homes with solar panels (PV homes) across 8 states, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found that “home buyers are consistently willing to pay PV home premiums across various states, housing and PV markets, and home types.

The average premiums across the full sample equate to approximately $4/W or $15,000 for an average-sized 3.6-kW PV system.” [1] Therefore, solar electric systems maintain a significant portion of their market value, in addition to the financial savings they offer through reduced electric utility bills.

Low Risk

Unlike the stock market, the demand for solar technology is stable and continues to grow.

Solar technology is proven to be highly dependable and durable and unlike many other types of high-tech products, which are obsolete after only a few years, most manufacturers of solar panels offer a 25 year performance warranty (which typically guarantees 80% production at the 25 year mark).[2]

Tax Benefits

The residential renewable energy tax credit currently allows property owners to deduct 30% of the installed cost of the solar electric system from their annual tax return.

The federal tax credit will remain at 30% until December 31, 2019. (After that date, it will drop to 26% in 2020 and will continue to drop until it is phased out on January 1, 2022).[3] Moreover, solar is a tax-free investment. Solar customers do not pay increased property taxes associated with the added value of their solar electric system.

The post Solar As an Investment appeared first on Sustainable Energy Group.

Sharon Sausedo, of Sausedo Realty, bought a property in Penn Valley that needed extensive work and upgrades before selling. She repaired and remodeled the house, and then put it on the market in late 2018.

Prospective buyers saw the existing solar panels on the roof as a desirable feature which added value to the home.

But Sharon explained that what they thought were functioning solar panels were in fact the remnants of an outdated solar water heating system (originally from the 1970s). Interested buyers said they would buy the property if it had solar.

In order to continue with the solar power theme, but bring it to the 21^st century, Sharon added solar panels to the property. The buyers made an offer on the property with the contingency that solar was completed prior to close of escrow. SEG decommissioned the solar water heating system and replaced it with a very modestly sized, 8 panel, solar electric system. 

Sharon closed escrow on the home without difficulty. Sharon stated that the appraiser indicated that the property would likely not have come in at the offer price without solar.

The addition of a solar electric system increased the property value of the home by $5000 BEYOND the actual cost.

Sharon emphasized that she would consider the value of adding solar to all properties in the future because it enhanced the property value, adding greater market appeal, and offered a tax credit to the seller. In addition, an easy-to-use, monitoring system is included with purchase of a solar electric system, so the homeowners can easily track system performance and energy production from a mobile device.

She was pleased that the buyers were so happy and said it was a great learning experience. “It seems this is a no brainer for most sellers as long as the roof is good and they have proper sun. Since solar will be required in most new homes in California in 2020 and it has become much more affordable, I’ll be working with sellers to maximize return and appeal on their properties by adding solar.”

The post Enhancing Your Property Value With Solar appeared first on Sustainable Energy Group.

Proven successful through several pilot programs in California, the TOU pricing scheme is designed to reduce the demand for peak electricity by charging higher rates during peak-use periods of the day and lower rates during off peak hours.

By 2020, 22.5 million of California’s residential electric utility customers will be on TOU rates by default.

How can consumers benefit from time-of-use (TOU) rates? Customers can take advantage of lower priced electricity and more renewable energy availability during off-peak periods. Here’s a local case study on how leveraging TOU saves money.

Andre Ramirez, of Southern California Edison states it simply: “TOU empowers customers, and if they shift their usage to lower-cost time periods when solar and wind are abundant, they will not only lower their bills, they will also use cleaner energy.”[1]

How can consumers shift their energy use to off-peak times (peak times are typically between 4-9pm or 3-8pm for PG&E customers)? One easy way is to use energy-intensive appliances such as ovens, laundry machines, dishwashers, and pumps for landscape irrigation anytime other than afternoon or evening. For more tips on shifting energy use for TOU rates, visit SmartGrid’s website.[2]

The post The Time for Time-of-Use has Arrived! appeared first on Sustainable Energy Group.