The City Council approved a plan Tuesday for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the city and making planet-conscious choices in land use, transportation and waste reduction. The Climate Action Plan is designed to satisfy the requirements of AB 32, which the California Legislature adopted in 2008, calling for local governments to reduce community-wide greenhouse gas emissions to at least 15 percent below then-current levels by the year 2020. According to the plan summary, in 2005 Sacramento emitted more than 4.1 million metric tons of greenhouse gases – an amount equal to the emissions produced by driving around the earth almost 412,000 times. The single largest source of emissions cam

Sacramento|Yolo Mutual Housing Association celebrated the grand opening of the Highlands yesterday. The celebration included tours of the 90-apartment community and a ceremony honoring Darrell Steinberg, State Senate President Pro Tem and author of the California Mental health Services Act (Proposition 63) that provides partial operating support for the development. Located on a 3.5-acre parcel in the McClellan Redevelopment Area, the Highlands has 66 efficiency apartments for formerly homeless people and 12 studio apartments and 12 three-bedroom ones for people of modest means. The complex has a community room and kitchen, a computer lab and conference room as well as offices for staff.

UC Davis Extension recently announced the launch of its new program, Sustainability Studies, a multidisciplinary unit that combines aspects of green building, sustainable design and energy. Recognizing the integrated nature of sustainable solutions, this unique collaboration allows students from a variety of sectors, including energy, planning and policy, environmental and water resources, and public health, to access practical, timely training and flexible certificate programs. “UC Davis Extension has been providing the knowledge and tools to confront issues of sustainability for three decades, but to respond to today’s unprecedented challenges, professionals need cross-training to be ef

What: The Greenest Building Documentary Film, followed by a panel discussion on the connections between historic preservation, green building and economic sustainability. When: Monday, July 25 at 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM (Movie 7:00 PM, discussion panel 8:00 PM) Where: The Crest Theatre, 1013 K Street, Sacramento How Much: Free! Over the next 20 years, Americans will demolish one third of our existing building stock (over 82 billion square feet) in order to replace seemingly inefficient buildings with energy efficient “green” structures. Is demolition in the name of sustainability really the best use of natural, social, and economic resources? Or, like the urban renewal programs of the 1960’s, i

Two international real estate development companies and their tenants at 300 Capitol Mall on Thursday celebrated the building's LEED Gold certification. The 18-story office building — home to the California State Controller's Office, the California Department of Insurance and three other state agencies, as well as several businesses — won the second-highest rating for existing buildings from the U.S. Green Building Council. The LEED program is designed to guide building owners who want to boost a structure's operating efficiency while shrinking costs and impacts to the environment. The downtown property is the first on Capitol Mall to win LEED certification, according to the building's

Mercy Housing California of West Sacramento proposing affordable housing at the corner of 7th & H Street that will include 122 studios (325sf) and 28 one bed room (500sf) units as well as sixteen parking spaces, retail and health clinic on the ground floor. This eight story 102 foot tall building’s designed to replace other single room occupancy (SRO) units in downtown that are going to be replaced with other developments in the future. There will be 3,900sf of retail space as well as 3,750sf health clinic, residential lobby, and a structured parking garage. 7th & H will also be designed to have a LEED-Silver standard and registered with the US Green Building Council. This project is the

Ending urban sprawl is one of the keys to fighting global warming. That's why Sacramento and its outlying areas must focus on building sustainability through infill development and other measures, developer/architect David Mogavero said Thursday night at the first Sacramento Sustainability Forum. In fact, land use is the most important environmental issue in the state and the country, said Mogavero, who said he's been fighting sprawl in Sacramento for 20 years as head of the sustainable design firm Mogavero Notestine Associates. While the environmentally friendly or green elements of buildings are important, issues involving land use and transportation are even more critical because the

The good news is that sustainable or "green" home construction and remodeling -- and the businesses making it possible -- have been growing in Sacramento. The bad news is that the recession and other factors are making it hard for those businesses to stay afloat. Fledgling businesses that have taken off only within the last few years during a recent green building movement are being threatened by the virtual shutdown of housing projects and a lack of widespread support for ecologically friendly building materials. Businesses like Green Sacramento and GreenBuilt Construction also are suffering due to other types of income loss. "The economy is just taking its toll," said Green Sacramento

In no particular order here are ten green benchmarks in Sacramento during 2008: The City Council voted in August to allocate $650,000 to count trees in the city as well as to gauge the health of our conifers. TV's CBS 13 assigned an "outrage alert" to the move inferring it was misuse of precious funds. Mayoral candidate (now Mayor) Kevin Johnson echoed similar sentiment. BTW a tree limb did fall on a campaign party in June for then-incumbent mayor Heather Fargo causing some injuries. Sacramento lost its only progressive talk commercial radio station in June as Talk City 1240 became Rejoice 1240 KRJY with a format known as hip-hop gospel. This reporter read some of the newscasts for a tim