Author Archives: slcgreen

Five Quick Tips for a Greener Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Turkey

Thanksgiving is a time for gratitude, delicious food and great company. Unfortunately this most American of holidays can generate a lot of waste: food waste, disposable plates, plastic utensils and cups, and wasted energy.

Here are five quick tips to reduce waste and focus on the things that matter.

1. An Organic Bird: When it comes to buying the holiday turkey, we recommend buying an organic bird. Look for labels saying, “USDA certified organic” or “No Antibiotics Administered” with a “USDA Process Verified” seal. e2 Business Liberty Heights Fresh offers some great options.

2. Local Sides: Swing by the Winter Farmers Market this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Rio Grande Depot to pick up local greens, squash, root vegetables, etc. Also, think about minimizing your use of meat in recipes — vegetarian dishes have a lower carbon footprint. For recipe suggestions, visit our Green Thanksgiving Pinterest board.

3. Durable Tableware: We understand the temptation, but please resist the urge to purchase single-use table settings. After their one use, they go right to the landfill where they take years to degrade (if they ever!) If you’re hosting, ask your guests to pitch in to help wash dishes. If you’re headed to a celebration away from your home, pack up some silverware, plates, and cups (or a water bottle) and bring them along. The extra ten seconds it takes to pack up your own dishes saves landfill space and energy.

4. Creative Leftovers: Thanksgiving dinner is wonderful, but we all know that there is plenty of food left over after the big meal. If you’re planning to take some leftovers home with you, bring along a few empty glass food containers from home, which will eliminate the need for disposable containers. You can also minimize food waste by turning your turkey, potatoes, stuffing, and other foodstuff into innovative leftover recipes. Dispose of spoiled fruits and vegetables food in a compost bin.

5. Compost and Recycle: For those hosting Thanksgiving meals, be sure to clearly mark bins for recycling and composting. This will eliminate the build-up of trash in your home and will keep unnecessary waste out of the landfill.

For more information, visit these websites:

Salt Lake City Perspective: White House Climate Recommendations

Photo Credit: Patrick Nelson

Big Cottonwood Canyon. Photo Credit: Patrick Nelson

The final report of President Obama’s Task Force on Climate Preparedness and Resilience includes 34 recommendations organized into seven primary themes, all which emphasize the nexus of Federal programs and executive actions with the actions of state, local, and tribal governments and their citizens.

Water, energy and infrastructure are cross-cutting issues in many of the themes. Recommendations include climate planning efforts that not only prepare for climate effects, but also include mitigation approaches to reduce climate impacts in the future.

Five overarching principles were part of all recommendations:

  • Require consideration of climate-related risks and vulnerabilities as part of all Federal policies, practices, investments, and regulatory and other programs.
  • Maximize opportunities to take actions that have dual-benefits of increasing community resilience and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
  • Strengthen coordination and partnerships among Federal agencies, and across State, local, and tribal jurisdictions and economic sectors.
  • Provide actionable data and information on climate change impacts and related tools and assistance to support decision-making.
  • Consult and cooperate with Tribes and indigenous communities on all aspects of Federal climate preparedness and resilience efforts, and encourage states and local communities to do the same.

Take a look at the recommendations below, including how they apply to Salt Lake City.

Theme 1: Building Resilient Communities

The Task Force has four recommendations that will support the development of resilient communities through new approaches to land use, building and infrastructure design, and planning:

  • Accelerate the development of models and disseminate best practices for community resilience.
  • Develop and encourage the adoption of resilience standards in the siting and design of buildings and infrastructure.
  • Encourage and reward climate-smart land use management and development practices.
  • Lead by example: The Federal Government should serve as a model for climate resilience in its investments, operations and programs.

Salt Lake City is aggressively preparing for future climate challenges, to be a resilient community with a high quality of life due to our climate preparedness activities. Our efforts will ensure future clean and sufficient water supplies, investment in renewable, clean energy systems, and alternative transportation systems. These investments will not only make Salt Lake City more resilient; they will also improve our citizens’ health through improved air quality and a more walkable community.

We have been fortunate to partner with Western Water Assessment, part of the NOAA Regional Integrated Science Assessment Program, to conduct climate vulnerability work.  This partnership has leveraged our access to actionable data and tools to support climate adaptation decision-making.  This is a good example of federal support being used to help local communities prepare for climate change impacts.

Theme 2: Improving Resilience in the Nation’s Infrastructure

Infrastructure has already been compromised in many areas of the nation by extreme weather events, affecting local economies and community security. Recommendations for the Federal Government to reduce the vulnerability of public and private infrastructure to climate impacts include these six major topic areas:

  • Support climate resilience as part of coastal infrastructure planning and investments.
  • Promote and prioritize the use of green and natural infrastructure.
  • Support and incentivize climate resilient water resource planning and management.
  • Integrate climate resilience planning and preparedness criteria throughout existing Federal transportation funding programs.
  • Support Property Assessed Clean Energy programs.
  • Support development of a clean and resilient energy grid.

Salt Lake City will benefit from these recommendations as it is proposed to require grant programs to address potential climate impacts as projects are reviewed. It is also recommended that the Federal Government finalize its guidelines on climate impacts and carbon emissions in NEPA evaluations, which will provide better long-term considerations of public health, safety, and financial risks for communities. This will especially help our regional transportation and watershed planning efforts.

Theme 3: Ensuring Resilience of Natural Resources

The five recommendations here emphasize the need to protect and conserve terrestrial and aquatic natural systems to reduce climate vulnerabilities and enhance community resilience:

  • Restore and conserve ecosystems and lands to build resilience in a changing climate.
  • Combat the spread of invasive species, pests, and diseases.
  • Support resilience planning for ocean and coastal ecosystems.
  • Promote integrated watershed management and planning to protect water quality and quantity.
  • Enhance the scientific understanding of climate impacts on natural resources and provide technical assistance to help communities reduce adverse climate impacts.

Salt Lake City: Specific actions that will support Salt Lake City include the development of regional modeling initiatives to provide information to adapt to climate change impacts on water quantity and quality; and the development of a national, integrated water strategy that focuses on watershed protection and water conservation.

Our Mountain Accord process is an excellent example of how climate issues can be integrated into long-term integrated decision-making processes that encompass natural systems, land use, and transportation. Future preservation and development actions are evaluated and determined with a climate resiliency lens, and Federal support on how to measure climate resilience will be invaluable. Federal recommendations also include forest health planning at the State and regional level, which will directly benefit the Wasatch watersheds.

Theme 4: Preserving Human Health & Building Resilient Populations

Communities need to recognize the impacts of climate change on public health, social networks, and vulnerable populations, and prepare for those impacts by developing mechanisms to enhance resilience among residents. Major recommendations to support this theme include:

  • Address the needs of vulnerable populations, especially those already facing economic or health-related challenges.
  • Improve capacity to protect public health.
  • Assist communities in building food system security.
  • Improve disaster preparedness for communities most at-risk.
  • Explore Federal role in addressing climate change-related displacement, needs of affected communities, and institutional barriers to community relocation.

Salt Lake City will look to receive resources and incentives to support clean water, air, and local, healthy foods. The Federal Government is also recommending additional pre-disaster training on Federal response and recovery programs for elected officials and community leaders which would enhance our current emergency planning efforts.

Theme 5: Supporting Climate-Smart Hazard Mitigation and Disaster Preparedness and Recovery

Knowing that climate change will affect the frequency and severity of extreme weather hitting communities, these recommendations focus on ways for Federal agencies such as FEMA to better coordinate with communities both in preparedness planning and during disaster recovery.  Six recommendations in this area include:

  • Build a stronger culture of partnership and service to communities impacted by disaster.
  • Remove barriers to rebuilding for future climate resilience.
  • Incentivize and fund Community Resilience Plans with a holistic approach to preparedness and recovery.
  • Modernize data collection, analysis, and mapping based on current and predicted climate impacts to help improve local capacity for effective hazard mitigation planning.
  • Modernize and elevate the importance of hazard mitigation programs.
  • Strengthen the National Flood Insurance Program to prevent development that increases exposure and losses to flooding, and eliminate inequities for urban and rural locations.

While Salt Lake City is fortunate that we have yet to have a major climate-related disaster, continual planning will reduce risks to our citizens and minimize the costs of recovery when a severe weather event does occur. Having access to updated information from our Federal partners such as flood hazard maps, wildfire risk and erosion hazards will be essential to our resilience efforts.

Theme 6: Understanding and Acting on the Economics of Resilience

Climate change poses significant economic risk to all sectors and communities. These four measures encourage more prudent investments in long-term resilience to better ensure a vibrant economic future as the climate continues to change:

  • Promote private sector and workforce resilience to reduce economic disruptions associated with the impacts of climate change.
  • Reward resilient investments and consider the benefits of ecosystem services in cost-benefit analysis.
  • Safeguard places of national, economic, and historical significance.
  • Collaborate with the insurance industry.

Salt Lake City: Applying the true economic costs of future climate risks will be essential as we make future decisions. One example of this is our work with the State of Utah and regional energy providers to evaluate appropriate costs and account for benefits of renewable energy. We need to consider long-term economic, environmental and societal benefits of these investments, not simply short-term decisions that often undervalue climate resilient strategies. And as we move forward with our regional climate preparedness efforts, input from business leaders and representatives from professional organizations will be vital.

Theme 7: Building Capacity for Resilience

Communities must have the capacity to recognize, understand, and assess relevant climate-related risks in order to successfully prepare for climate change. These recommendations detail the ways that the Federal Government can provide data resources and create public awareness to support local climate preparedness efforts:

  • Provide data, tools, and guidance at a scale sufficient to guide decision-making and investments.
  • Foster and support cross-jurisdictional and regional cooperation.
  • Create a Climate Resilience Corps to boost community capacity.
  • Increase climate literacy and public awareness.

Salt Lake City: Education is needed to clearly link how the climate is changing and how it will impact the lives of our citizens. Having more centralized data will help both Salt Lake City and our residents identify climate risks and support community resilience planning.

Mayor Becker, Leaders Present Task Force on Climate Preparedness and Resilience Recommendations to the Administration

Over the past year, Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker and Sustainability Director Vicki Bennett have participated in the President’s State, Local and Tribal Leaders Task Force on Climate Preparedness and Resilience. Today, the White House released the list of recommendations presented to the administration by the task force and executive actions already in the works. Read on for details!

As part of the Administration’s overall effort to combat climate change, President Obama is committed to ensuring that U.S. communities thrive in the face of a changing climate. The Administration has made significant investments in resilient disaster recovery in the wake of devastating storms like Hurricane Sandy, ensuring that rebuilding and infrastructure projects factor in climate impacts such as sea-level rise and investing in making transit systems more resilient to flooding and extreme weather.

Last year, as part of his Climate Action Plan, the President established the State, Local, and Tribal Leaders Task Force on Climate Preparedness and Resilience, which recognizes that even as we act to curb the carbon pollution that drives climate change, we must also improve our ability to prepare for the climate impacts we are already seeing across the country. The Task Force comprises Governors, Mayors, county executives and Tribal leaders from across the country who are experiencing climate change impacts ranging from more severe droughts and wildfires to record heat waves and damaging storms.  Task Force leaders have taken bold action to protect their communities by investing in more resilient infrastructure, updating building codes, adjusting the way they manage natural resources, and planning for rapid recovery from extreme weather events.

Today, at a meeting with Vice President Biden and Senior White House officials, Task Force members will present their recommendations for how the Federal Government can respond to the needs of communities nationwide that are dealing with extreme weather and other impacts of climate change. The Administration is also announcing new tools and actions to help these leaders and others contend with climate impacts and build healthy and resilient communities, including a web-based Climate Resilience Toolkit that provides for the first time easy, intuitive access to dozens of Federal tools that can directly help planners and decision makers across America conduct their work in the context of a changing climate.

Recommendations of the Task Force on Climate Preparedness and Resilience

The Task Force’s recommendations are the culmination of a year of work to solicit input from across State, local, Tribal, and territorial governments, trade associations, academic organizations, civil society, and various other stakeholders and translate their first-hand experiences into action items for the Federal Government to support climate-ready communities. The recommendations offer guidance on how the Federal Government should modernize programs and policies to incorporate climate change, incentivize and remove barriers to community resilience, and provide useful, actionable information and tools. The Task Force organized its report across seven cross-cutting themes: building resilient communities; improving resilience in the Nation’s infrastructure; ensuring resilience of natural resources; preserving human health and supporting resilient populations; supporting climate-smart hazard mitigation and disaster preparedness and recovery; understanding and acting on the economics of resilience; and building capacity.

This approach ensures that the recommendations reflect the diversity of needs across the country and within each community, ranging from health to natural resources management to infrastructure and building design. For example, the recommendations address how the Federal Government can limit disease spread that is caused or exacerbated by climate change through the development and enhancement of climate-sensitive health tracking and surveillance tools, and call on the Federal Government to integrate climate resilience planning and preparedness criteria throughout existing Federal programs, such as those that provide transportation funding, to ensure these projects will last as long as intended.

Executive Actions on Climate Resilience to Support State, Local and Tribal Leaders

At today’s meeting, Task Force members will view a demonstration of the Administration’s new Climate Resilience Toolkit, which was called for in the President’s Climate Action Plan and developed with input from the Task Force. In addition to providing easy access to resources ranging from a tool that helps planners see which neighborhoods are likely to flood in future storm surges to a tool that shows how predicted future drought conditions would affect regional crop growth, the Toolkit presents more than 20 case studies that feature step-by-step examples of how real-world decision makers have used these tools, lessons learned, and best practices. The Toolkit, which is publicly accessible at toolkit.climate.gov, initially focuses on the topics of coastal flood risk and food resilience. In the coming months, it will be updated to address additional areas such as water, ecosystems, transportation, and health.  Some features of the Toolkit include:

  • The Climate Explorer: A visualization tool that offers maps of climate stressors and impacts, as well as interactive graphs showing daily observations and long-term averages from thousands of weather stations across the Nation.
  • Steps to Resilience: A five-step process that users can follow to initiate, plan, and implement projects to help make their homes, communities, and infrastructure more resilient to climate-related hazards.
  • “Taking Action” Stories: More than 20 real-world case studies describing climate-related risks and opportunities that communities and businesses face, steps they’re taking to plan and respond, and tools and techniques they’re using to improve resilience.
  • Federal Resource Database: The Toolkit provides centralized access to federal sites for future climate projections, as well as freely available tools for accessing and analyzing climate data, generating visualizations, exploring climate projections, estimating hazards, and engaging stakeholders in resilience-building efforts.

In addition to the Toolkit, the Administration announced several other initiatives to support State, local, and Tribal climate resilience needs, including:

  • Developing Online Resilience Training for Local Officials The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is developing an online climate adaptation training module for local government officials with locally tailored information that can help officials answer questions about climate impacts and resilience opportunities specific to their community. The virtual training module, which is being developed with advice from members of EPA’s Local Government Advisory Committee, and will be accessible through the new Climate Resilience Toolkit, will also include examples of effective resilience strategies that have been successfully implemented in representative types of cities and towns across the nation.
  • Announcing a Hampton Roads Preparedness and Resilience Exercise Led by the National Security Council and supported by the National Exercise Division, the Administration will conduct a climate preparedness exercise in partnership with State and local leaders, as well as private-sector, academic and non-governmental partners in the Hampton Roads, VA region on December 2, 2014.  Similar to successful workshops in Houston, Texas; Fort Collins, Colorado; and Anchorage Alaska, this one-day exercise provides partners with the best-available science on climate effects and consequences and a tailored scenario designed to enhance regional climate adaptation and hazard mitigation planning. This workshop will reinforce work currently underway in the Hampton Roads and Norfolk areas to address climate impacts, especially sea level rise, extreme storm surge, and recurrent flooding.
  • Creating a Disaster Recovery App The Department of Energy is launching Lantern Live, a mobile application that will provide real-time information in the wake of severe weather events on which gas stations have fuel and which neighborhoods have electricity.  The app was developed in response to lessons learned in the aftermath Hurricane Sandy, and will allow users to report and view availability of fuel at nearby gas stations and access power company outage maps.
  • Launching a Climate Education and Literacy Initiative The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) is launching a Climate Education and Literacy Initiative, which has been developed in collaboration with Federal partners and shaped by input from communities and organizations across the country.  OSTP will convene leaders in education and climate science from the public, private, nongovernmental, and philanthropic sectors at the White House to discuss new commitments and steps to connect our students and citizens with the skills they will need to succeed as tomorrow’s community leaders, city planners, and entrepreneurs, in the context of a changing climate.  This effort is a key step in growing a next-generation American workforce that is equipped with scientific information and tools, grasps the climate-change challenge, and is empowered to develop and implement solutions.

The Administration has previously taken additional actions to build National resilience based on input from Task Force members. This includes launching Federal competitions – like the $1 billion National Disaster Resilience Competition – that spur innovation and encourage investments in community resilience, new funding to support tribes prepare for climate impacts, and making vast Federal data resources on climate change impacts more accessible to decision-makers, innovators, and the public through the Climate Data Initiative.  The Administration is also taking steps to ensure that public investments – whether in transportation systems, infrastructure, or natural resources – are made with future conditions in mind, and has ensured Federal agencies ranging from the Department of Health and Human Services to the Department of Homeland Security are actively incorporating climate resilience into their missions and operations. Going forward, the Administration will continue to collaborate with Task Force members and other community leaders from across the country to build a healthier and more resilient Nation.

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SLCgreen Director Vicki Bennett Honored with Sustainable Leadership Award from Utah Business Magazine

Today Salt Lake City Green Director Vicki Bennett was recognized with a Sustainable Business Leadership Award from Utah Business Magazine. And the entire SLCgreen team was there to cheer her on! Please join us in congratulating Vicki on this outstanding achievement.

Visit Utah Business Magazine to read the award nomination, also included below.

Vicki Bennett has led Salt Lake City’s award-winning Salt Lake City Green program for 13 years, spearheading initiatives to reduce carbon emissions, improve air quality and divert waste from the landfill. “What we are trying to achieve is the healthiest possible place to live,” Bennett says. “That’s what the breadth of sustainability is all about.”

The scope of her work is reflected in the Sustainable Salt Lake Plan 2015, a plan that has been described as one of the most ambitious and broad-reaching sustainability agendas in the country. Some of the plan’s “targets” include increasing the number of CNG fueling stations and electric-vehicle charging stations in the city, increasing renewable energy generation for city buildings, increasing the residential recycling rate to 50 percent, increasing on-road bikeways by 50 percent—and many, many more.

The Sustainable City Dashboard provides details of the plan and its goals, and enables residents to track the city’s progress toward meeting those goals. Going forward, Bennett says the city will focus on climate issues and adapting to the changes that are already happening.

Community outreach is a major component of her work. She says, “It’s important to help people understand they are paying for the pollution they create,” whether that’s through health impacts, ecological degradation, or waste cleanup and storage.

Prior to joining the city, Bennett implemented environmental management systems for PacifiCorp and offered international environmental consulting for a variety of industries.

Growing Community Gardens Leadership Training Series – Apply Now!

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Great news! Our friends at Wasatch Community Gardens will once again offer their popular Growing Community Gardens leadership series. 

Growing Community Gardens is a 6-week leadership training series facilitated through community gardening concepts. This is ideal for individuals or groups interested in community garden organization and development, focused on building skills, sharing ideas and identifying resources for developing successful community gardens and school gardens.

Upon completion of the training, participants whose projects meet program requirements are invited to join our network of garden leaders, continuing to connect their community gardens with Wasatch Community Gardens resources, as available, throughout the year.

Location
Sorenson Unity Center, 1383 S 900 W, SLC, UT 84104

Dates
Tuesdays, 6 p.m.-8:30 p.m.
January 6 – February 10, 2015
Optional Garden Tour in March, Date TBD

Topics
Classes focus on community organizing, and cover such topics as leadership, diversity, volunteer management, facilitation, and garden design.

Program Fees
$65 for all 6 sessions. Scholarships available.
Payment is due upon acceptance into the training.

Applications are due by December 1, 2014 — enrollment is limited so apply today!

Download the application.

For assistance in preparing an application, or more information, please contact:

Susan Finlayson, Community Gardens Program Director for Wasatch Community Gardens
Phone: (801) 359-2658 x 12
Email: susan@wasatchgardens.org

Winter Farmers Market Opens this Saturday!

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Hooray!

Saturday, November 8th is the opening day of the Winter Market at Rio Grande Depot. Featuring a stunning array of fresh, local produce, grass fed meats, artisan cheeses, and unique packaged foods – this market has it all!  Hours are 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM. Support your local producers and reap the benefits of fresh, local food. And, of course, remember to bring your reusable bags.  Next market is November 22!

Fruit: Local apples are in season.  Enjoy many varieties including; Rome, Beauty, Johnathan, Fuji, Golden, Red Delicious and Granny Smith.  Also, Asian Pears if you’re not feeling the apple spirit.

Vegetables: sweet potatoes, tomatillos, winter squash, pumpkins, peppers, onions, lettuce, leeks, kohlrabi, eggplant, broccoli rabe, potatoes, broccoli, tomatoes, chilis, cabbage, radish, and beets.

Vendor List for November 8

On the Portico:
Amour Spreads
Asian & Heirlooms
Biocentric Bros
Blue Spring Farm
BlueTree Cattle Co.
Canyon Meadows Ranch
Chad’s Produce
Charming Beard
Clifford Family Farm
Crumb Brothers
Drake Family Goat Dairy
Earth First Eco-Farm
Epicurean Chefs
Farmer Next Door
Frisky Fresh Fish
Garden Goodies
Lau Family Farm
Laziz Foods
Parker Farms
Pyne Farms
Red Rock Pistachios
Rico’s Mexican
Riley’s Farm Fresh
Rino’s Italian Heirloom
Salt Lake County Jail
SLC Walnuts
Smith Orchards
Spring Creek Farms
Tequenos Factory
Zoe’s Natural Garden

Upstairs on the Mezzanine:
Beehive Cheese Co.
Beltex Meats
Blue Copper Roasters
Caputo’s Market and Deli
Cheese Bread Mania
Chili Beak
Chocolate Conspiracy
Cupcakes by Kasthuri
Desire Dessert
Good Grains Gluten Free Baking Co.
Grandma Sandino’s Sicilian Sauce
Mamachari Kombucha
Mountain Town Olive Oil
Oolite Cheese Co.
Rosemain
Salsa Del Diablo
Slide Ridge
Sugar House Libations
Sugared
Terrapin Station
The Queen’sTea
Tulie Bakery
Urban Pioneer Foods
Van Kwartel
Vive Juicery
Vosen’s Bread Paradise
White Lake Farms
Winder Farms

Join the SLCgreen Team (Paid Intern Position)

Partners_RoseParkThe SLCgreen crew is looking for a self-motivated and enthusiastic individual to join our intern staff!

Please note that is a seasonal PAID position for 20-25 hours a week.

Review the job description below and email your resume to kate.lohnes@slcgov.com by Monday, November 17th for consideration.

Job Title: SUSTAINABILITY INTERN

Job Code Number: 330066

FLSA: Non-Exempt

EEO CODE: 6

Pay Level: SEAX

POSITION RESPONSIBILITIES:

  1. Assists with SLC Green internship program, including development of intern orientation and serving as a resource for intern projects. Ensures advancement of intern projects through collaboration with interns and full-time office staff.
  2. Coordinates public outreach at community events to promote sustainability initiatives. This includes applying for booth space and scheduling interns to staff these events.
  3. Organizes and keeps up to date log of outreach and education materials. Requests print bids for projects and submits print orders. Contacts government agencies to obtain outreach materials.
  4. Updates sustainability information and events on the city’s website; responds to resident and business inquiries to sustainability programs; administers sustainability email list serves.
  5. Develops and coordinates the SmartTrips program.
  6. Performs other duties as assigned.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

Project Skyline: October Recap

Building Operator Certification

Beginning in October, Salt Lake City facilities staff began attending the Level 1 Building Operator Certification training as part of the City’s internal efforts to lead by example and meet the overall energy goals of Project Skyline. BOC training focuses on the improved operating efficiencies that can be realized in existing buildings by ensuring that mechanical systems are properly functioning and synchronized with each other. While this may sound like an obvious course of action, many existing buildings systems do not function as they are designed. BOC training explores the methods of evaluating and fine-tuning building systems to cut energy waste and maintain maximum efficiency.

Members of Salt Lake City building staff are very enthusiastic about what they have already gained from these courses. “My work in the facilities division is on the preventative maintenance team, and the first few days of this course were closely related to my day-to-day assignments,” says Ron Lindquist of Public Services Facilities

What’s most compelling about the BOC training is the focus on major building efficiencies that can be gained from no-cost measures. Salt Lake City plans to continue participating in these training opportunities in the future.

Energy Star Certification Nation

To celebrate 15 years of ENERGY STAR certification for buildings, EPA launches Certification Nation 2014, awarding special recognition for multiple-building certifications. If your buildings have an ENERGY STAR score of 75 or better, there has never been a better year to certify. Join today!

Project Skyline Welcomes new participant Fidelity Investments

Fidelity focuses its environmental sustainability efforts on the tangible steps they can take to minimize the effect our operations may have on the environment. In that regard, they focus on reducing consumption of resources such as paper, water, and energy. As a result they are  expanding LEED® certification to 65% of the North American corporate real estate portfolio to 6 million square feet of green office space.

October News

Project Skyline attends the Intermountain Healthcare Energy Summit

On October 29th, Intermountain Healthcare, one of our Mayor’s Skyline Challenge participants, hosted the company’s Energy Summit at the Marriott City Creek in downtown Salt Lake City. The day-long event featured panel discussions, break-out sessions, as well as the announcement of the Intermountain Energy Innovator of the Year award. The panel discussions explored the topics of Utah’s Energy Landscape and Energy Demand Management, and featured a long list of experts including Dr. Laura Nelson, Utah Director of Energy Development. While each of the panel discussions were engaging and insightful, one of the most remarkable aspects of the event  was seeing the level of focus placed on energy management by  Intermountain Healthcare. The Project Skyline team was happy to be in attendance and learn first-hand from Intermountain’s own expert energy staff as well as their guest speakers. Congratulations on a successful Energy Summit Intermountain Healthcare!

Project Skyline hosted another successful workshop

The Mayor’s Skyline Challenge workshop series continues, most recently with our October 30th installment that focused on Energy Action Plans. An Energy Action Plan serves as the road map for how you will move forward with efficiency improvement projects.

Leslie Cook of Energy Star took attendees through the various components of an energy action plan and what tools are available on Energy Star Portfolio Manager tool to assist in this process. Next, Troy Jensen of Intermountain Healthcare answered questions from attendees about the company’s own 10-year strategic energy plan. All of this tool place over coffee and pastries sponsored by official Project Skyline partner Rocky Mountain Power.

Thanks again to our presenters Leslie Cook and Troy Jensen, as well as Energy Star, Intermountain Healthcare and Rocky Mountain Power for sponsoring our breakfast.  We hope to see another great attendance at the next fall workshop on November 19th for presentations on building commissioning and recommissioning.

Project Skyline at the 2014 USGBC Green Build Conference and Expo

Thank you to the Challenge participants who have recently submitted 2013 baseline data. If you haven’t submitted the 2013 baseline data for your participating buildings yet, please visit this link to get started!

Project Skyline director, Sonal Kemkar, attended the USGBC Green Build Conference last week in New Orleans to discuss the progress being made on commercial building efficiency in Salt Lake City. In addition to highlighting the newest technologies in green building design, the conference brought together leadership from various levels of government and the real estate community who are working on the next-generation of energy efficiency programs. With the launch of the Mayor’s Skyline Challenge, Salt Lake City joins cities like New York, Denver, and Atlanta who are also working with local business leaders on increasing awareness of building performance. Salt Lake City joined members of USGBC and USGBC Utah, AIA, and BOMA at the annual conference.

Join us for the Dive Film Screening & Zero Waste Awards

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The Utah Recycling Alliance (URA), is pleased to announce the Fourth Annual America Recycles Day Zero Waste Awards and Film Screening on Thursday, November 13, 2014 at Brewvies Cinema Pub (677 South 200 West, SLC, UT).

We will be recognizing local businesses, non-profits and government agencies which have set the standards for zero waste in the Salt Lake Valley. The evening will kick off with a presentation of Zero Waste Awards by EPA Region 8 Director Shaun McGrath. Following the awards ceremony, attendees will be invited to a screening of “Dive”.

A $5 admission includes one drink ticket, two raffle tickets, the awards ceremony, movie screening and an evening of Zero Waste revelry. Food available for purchase. All proceeds from the event will go to the Utah Recycling Alliance. Become a member of URA and receive free entrance ($25 annual membership fee).

Date: Thursday, November 13th, 2014

Location: Brewvies Cinema Pub (677 South 200 West, Salt Lake City)

Schedule of Events:

6:00 p.m. – Purchase ticket, grab a drink and mingle

6:45 p.m. – Raffle followed by awards ceremony. Raffle items include tickets to Alta, gift certificates to some of our favorite local restaurants and more!

7:00 p.m. – “Dive” film screening

Event Sponsors: Ace Recycling and Disposal, Interwest Paper, Momentum Recycling, Rocky Mountain Recycling, Salt Lake City Corporation, and Uinta Brewing.

Urban Farming Open House

Are you interested in gardening and farming? Do you want to know where your food comes from? Would you like to start a community garden in your neighborhood? Are you interested in leasing land for small plot farming? Do you care about local food?

You’re invited to attend Salt Lake County’s Urban Farming Open House!

What: Urban Farming Open House

Where: 2001 South State Street, South Building Atrium

When: November 12 from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m.

Learn more at SLCo.org/urbanfarming.

UF Open House Flyer