Sitting at home, reading about coronavirus, you peruse social media, pick up your phone, reach out to friends and strategize on staying connected while distanced and being safe. This is the current situation in which many of us find ourselves.

Media is abuzz with questions, concerns and consolations. What businesses are open? Is City Hall open? What grocery stores are stocked? Who is selling local food? Who knows how to educate children from home? Where is the best place to get information about what is happening?

Whether sheltering in place or out conducting essential business, it is clear that we’re all wondering what’s next. For all of us, the most important thing is to prioritize the essentials and support one another in this time of heightened uncertainty. We are all in this together and it is up to us to create what’s next.

Fortunately, we already live in a vibrant and healthy community; we have an abundance of resources that we can pull together to thrive despite adversity.

Farmers, contractors, educators, health professionals, caretakers, artists, business owners, energy providers… we can work together to meet each other’s needs, mindful of one another’s capacity to be social. It’s time we start thinking of our community as an asset that can benefit us now and in the future. This means living locally and investing in our community. It means leveraging our strengths and forming trusted partnerships around what sustains us: food, water, shelter and energy.

While it can be costly to procure these things locally, our livelihoods depend on it. Going forward, we can save our community and local economy if we commit to buying local goods and services.

Whenever possible, buy local food from Nevada and Placer county. Many stores sell baked goods, ferments, and wholesome local dishes. Alternatively, Nevada County Grown and Placer Grown have wonderful directories that list local farmers. Get in touch with ones that offer Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs. Also, consider converting your yard into a microbe rich permaculture garden ready to plant by summer or building a greenhouse to grow food in year-round. If gardening isn’t your thing, protect native species on your property, increasing local biodiversity and providing vital habitat for pollinators. Otherwise, engage in responsible forest stewardship to protect your private property and neighborhood from fire.

Equally as important, hire local contractors if you plan to build a new structure or renovate an old one. If you have space on your property and no intention to grow food or native species, think about building a natural accessory dwelling unit on your property to provide affordable housing for members of our community facing severe consequences of unemployment.

Together with buying local food and hiring local contractors, turn to local energy. If you own a home or commercial building, purchase solar and a backup energy system to generate local energy. At the very least, you’ll stop paying PG&E; ideally, you’ll make a return on your investment in less than 5 years. In the long run, solar not only increases the value of your property, it builds community resilience to things like pandemics and power outages.

To increase community resilience, install a generator following some practical considerations or add battery backup to an existing solar system. If you already have a generator, take care of it properly, so you can rely on it when you need to. Having power at all times, even when the grid is out, allows you to pump water, which is crucial for good health, sanitation and nutrition.

If installing solar or a backup system is not in your wheel house right now, develop a strategy to save energy. South Yuba Club serves as a great example of what’s possible. Then, should you want to install solar later, you’ll need fewer panels to meet your energy needs.

This is one of those times when no one has to do everything, but everyone has to do something. And beginning with the essentials is an obvious first step. Paying a little bit extra for locally produced goods and services or paying upfront for solar might seem like an immediate hurdle, but it’s worth it to jump. Yes, it adds up over time, but it adds up within our community. That is what we want. That is what it means to invest in community.

While, the links in this article pertain to Northern California specifically, this information is true no matter where your community is located. Whether you want to build community on your private property, in your neighborhood, in your town or city, it is crucial to leverage the strengths of those around you.

This time is a window of opportunity to generate abundance in the community, affording us our security, comfort, and happiness. Coming together to produce food, water, shelter and energy is a way to sustain our freedom. No matter what’s next, we must protect our wellbeing and our freedom. It is through embracing our interdependence that we can gain greater independence and flourish at this time.

Please, take care of yourself and others; be safe, happy and healthy!

The post COVID-19, WELLBEING AND FREEDOM: WHAT’S NEXT? appeared first on Sustainable Energy Group.

I never imagined learning as much as I did while interning at Sustainable Energy Group.

Not only did I learn about solar, the renewable energy industry and the energy grid, I had the privilege of working alongside inspiring and insightful people.

At SEG, I got to experience doing meaningful work in a supportive environment and I feel like my work made a positive impact in the world. More importantly, I feel like my work made a positive impact in the local community, right here in Grass Valley. For example, I helped accomplish goals set out in the Grass Valley Energy Action Plan that Sierra Business Council created.

Needless to say, Solar does so much for the community.

Solar powers so much more than buildings. It powers the economy, raising up local businesses and entire industries, because it exists at the intersection of many different crafts and policies.

Solar attracts and retains knowledge and talent within the community, because it offers jobs to expert engineers, like Ray Darby, who might otherwise choose to live in a bigger city where there are more job opportunities. Moreover, solar employs contractors, electricians, plumbers, roofers, landscapers, and tree trimmers as well as other business personnel in sales, marketing and management. Comparatively speaking, the coal industry employs somewhere around 174,000 workers in the United States, while the solar industry employs over 374,000.

Through providing jobs and keeping money in the local economy, solar builds community resilience to all kinds of problems that are present on a global scale. For this, people who install solar are doing far more than meets the eye.

In addition to strengthening the local economy, solar builds community resilience to environmental challenges such as wild fires, which threaten homes and natural habitats. Solar reduces the threat of wild fires and solves the problem of power outages, because it eliminates the need to transmit power over great distances before it reaches the consumer. Transmitting power is expensive, inefficient, and dangerous, so the shorter the distance power has to travel, the better. And, what’s closer than a roof or backyard?

In general, the energy people use comes from all different sources, including renewable and nonrenewable; as it stands, energy gets dumped into the marble maze called our grid and each marble of energy pops out through plugs in buildings or pumps at gas stations. Even though there is a record high of renewable energy going into the grid, still most energy comes from fossil fuels. People who have solar are actively dumping marbles into the maze, providing energy to consumers that would have otherwise come from fossil fuels. As a solar company, SEG is changing the ratio of renewable to nonrenewable energy circulating in the grid. Generating power as close to home as possible, renewable energy is slowly but surely eclipsing fossil fuels and ridding their direct and indirect cost to the community.

Given infrastructure and transportation are responsible for most greenhouse gas emissions, powering buildings and vehicles with renewable energy will mark a tipping point in history, where humanity has a positive impact on the environment rather than a negative one.

There are policies ushering us closer to such a tipping point. For example, California’s new Building Energy Efficiency Standards encourage building electrification and zero net energy consumption, so that building energy needs can be met with renewables. Building electrification will become ever more important as electric vehicles, requiring home charging points, become used more widely, too.

In many ways, I have found that energy in general, and solar more specifically along with wind in some cases, is leading the way in regard to community resilience and sustainability. This is the case because energy has teeth sunk deeper into policy. More so than say, sustainable agricultural practices, which are known to keep toxins like Glyphosate out of ecosystems, sequester carbon dioxide, and promote healthy soils with a rich microbial makeup. Or, improved recycling and composting programs meant to circulate resources back into the economy and Earth. Even programs to replant forests and reverse climate change don’t get as much attention as energy.

It’s evident that developing renewable sources of energy is transformative. When it comes to securing a clean future for younger generations like myself–via clean air, water and ecosystems– solar is a master key, at least in Northern California where the sun is an abundant renewable resource.

The post Insight From Our Intern on Solar and Sustainability appeared first on Sustainable Energy Group.

Last May, the California Energy Commission (CEC) announced a ground-breaking update to the state’s building energy efficiency standards.

Starting January 1, 2020, all new buildings in California must have solar.

The standards (according to Title 24, Part 6, Building Energy Efficiency Standards) also contain a number of energy efficiency updates that together with solar will cut energy use in homes by more than 50% and reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with the building industry. Even though California has been updating standards with the intention of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 40% below 1990 levels, this update comes as a surprise to many. It’s apparent that California is taking a quantum leap in building standards.

The state aims to “reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 700,000 metric tons over three years, equivalent to taking 115,000 fossil fuel cars off the road”, according to the California Energy Commission. This estimate is based only on adding solar to homes built under the 2019 standards. It doesn’t factor in energy efficiency for homes or new standards for commercial buildings, which will be expected to comply with similarly ambitious standards in future code updates.

For now, the 2019 standards apply to all new buildings as well as additions and alterations to existing ones. While the energy efficiency standards apply to both commercial and residential buildings, the solar photovoltaic requirement only pertains to residential.

Specifically, it mandates that single and multi-family residential buildings up to three stories tall are built with enough solar to offset annual energy needs.

The size of the solar system ultimately depends on the building’s floor area, location in terms of climate zone, and energy demand.

In California, there are 16 different climate zones that are based on temperature, not necessarily solar radiation, so energy demand for heating and cooling is important.

There are six exceptions to the 2019 standards that allow for the solar system to be reduced in size or, in some cases, eliminated entirely.

Certain exceptions may apply when energy efficient appliances and technologies are installed in the home. For example, single and multifamily homes may have a smaller solar system setup, if all thermostats have demand-responsive controls. Similarly, single-family homes with more than three habitable stories qualify for smaller systems. Other exceptions apply depending on solar access and shade.

The standards are such that efficiency comes first, then solar, in order to avoid over generation of energy and reach zero net energy in California buildings especially in specifically in our Nevada County service area. Builders and developers are encouraged to improve efficiency cost-effectively through high performance attics, walls, windows, and lights alongside developing technologies such as battery storage and heat pump water heaters. Then comes designing an appropriate solar array to offset any remaining demand.

Who is responsible for designing and installing the solar system? How much does it cost? Who pays for it?

Builders and developers are responsible for complying with the 2019 standards and absorbing the costs of doing so. They can either work with a trusted solar company or take the solar design and install process in-house. Fortunately, incorporating solar into new homes at the start of construction is more economical than installing solar after the fact; the California Energy Commission notes that the new standards increase construction costs by $9,500, but will save $19,000 in energy and maintenance costs over a 30 year mortgage period (single page info sheet). In turn, the increased cost of homes will fall on homeowners and renters, however so too will the increased long-term savings.

Overall, the 2019 standards push sustainability to the next level via building electrification and self-sufficiency.

They flip the relationship between buildings and the power grid, turning homes into local energy producers as opposed to energy consumers and opening doorways for further advancements in the energy and building industry.

SOURCES

California Energy Commission

Building Energy Efficiency Standards – Title 24

Building Energy Efficiency Standards for Residential and Nonresidential Buildings

Frequently Asked Questions: 2019 Building Energy Efficiency Standards

2018_Title_24_2019_Building_Standards_FAQ.pdf

2018 – Title 24 2019 Residential Standards.pdf

California Energy Maps: CA Building Climate Zone Areas

California Public Utilities Commission

Zero Net Energy

News

LA Times | Starting in 2020, all new homes must come with solar panels. Builders are getting ready. 

Greentech Media | Everything You Need to Know About California’s New Solar Roof Mandate

Greentech Media | California’s Rooftop Solar Mandate Wins Final Approval

In Northern California solar and energy efficiency it’s important to understand what policies are in effect like Net Metering in California, the tax credit decreases and in this case the Title 24, Part 6, Building Energy Efficiency Standards for California mandating that all new buildings in CA must have solar to sized to net out annual KW energy usage.  This effects our area and solar installations in Grass Valley, Nevada City, Penn Valley, Auburn, North San Juan and Lake Wildwood, as well solar energy systems installed by our solar company in Nevada County, Placer, Yuba and El Dorado County. 

The post California’s Leap in Building Standards appeared first on Sustainable Energy Group.

This Q & A pertains to California’s Quantum Leap in Building Standards. The questions answered here come from inquiries into concepts, technologies and standard specific rhetoric found in our article on California’s rooftop solar mandate.

What are heat pump water heaters?

A heat pump water heater is an electric household water heating system that takes heat out of the air and puts it into a tank to provide you with hot water. What you have is heat being transferred from air to water. It compares to an air source heat pump, which takes heat from inside or outside to regulate the temperature of a building; in this case, you have heat being transferred from cool outdoor air to a warmer indoor space.

What’s a thermal envelope?

A thermal envelope defines the conditioned (heated or cooled) space in a building. It normally doesn’t include the attic unless there’s no attic floor insulation, in which case, the insulation is placed in the roof instead. This is often done so that ducting can be placed in the attic, making it part of a building’s selectively heated or cooled space to reduce duct heat loss in winter and heat gain in summer. Generally, the envelope is bounded by the roof/ceiling, walls, floor, doors and windows.

What is demand-responsive technology?

Demand-responsive technologies, also referred to as demand-response controls, coordinate the hours of operation of building systems and appliances so that they harmonize with the grid. That is, demand-response controls shift electricity usage to off-peak periods in order to balance supply and demand, and eliminate the need for “peaker” power plants. Demand-responsive technologies are incentivized by time-of-use rate schedules, which will be implemented in California across the board in late 2020. They are meant to save utility companies and customers money, while at the same time reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

How can people be more demand responsive without technology?

People can play the role of a demand-response technology by timing their use of household systems and appliances during peak usage hours, which are from 4pm to 9pm. For example, do laundry outside of peak hours, or run the air conditioner at a lower temperature in the morning, then turn it off and allow the house to warm up throughout the afternoon before turning it back on in the evening (or simply open windows if it’s cooler outside). Ventilating the house with cool night air in the summer can dramatically reduce air conditioning energy as well.

How can grid-tied homes have battery backup systems?

Yes, my own home feeds excess electricity back to the grid but, should PG&E go down, I can run off the batteries for a few days. If the outage lasts longer I can power my home and charge my batteries with my generator. What differentiates systems like mine from the majority of grid-tied solar systems is not only a battery bank but other additional components including a special kind of inverter.

Under the new Energy Efficiency Standards going into effect in January 2020 for new homes, there’s a mandate that a grid-tied solar system be installed. While this is an additional expense, it will save utility customers money over the course of their mortgage.

Read about California’s new solar mandate:

California’s Quantum Leap in Building Standards

It’s Officially Official: California Has Approved the Mandate for Solar on All New Homes Beginning In 2020

The post Q and A With President and Founder, Ray Darby appeared first on Sustainable Energy Group.

Renata is pursuing a master’s degree in Urban Planning from University of California at Irvine. Unfortunately, this new beginning means the end of Renata’s active engagement in the local community and her nine months at the Sustainable Energy Group. While working with us, Renata was responsible for graphic design, newsletter publication, event planning, and social media management. She was instrumental in growing our role in the solar industry and expanding our horizons in sustainable energy.

In the community, Renata dedicated her time to working on the Energy Action Plan for Grass Valley, CA and organizing public workshops around the subject of commercial and residential energy efficiency. She was also active in BNI, Grass Valley Chamber of Commerce, Wild & Scenic Environmental Film Festival put on by SYRCL – The South Yuba River Citizens League and Sierra Harvest.

All around, her work in the community and at SEG is visibly imbued with her passion for sustainable urban design and community development, and inspired by her hobbies such as culinary arts, gardening, hiking, studying Spanish, and traveling overseas. We wish Renata a heartfelt goodbye and good luck, knowing full well that her climate action and sustainability efforts will continue to be felt far and wide.

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