Today at 9 am, we kicked off the 5th District Solar Energy Task Force’s Solar Energy Conference and Tour of homes and businesses in the area that are retrofitted with solar energy panels. The room was packed which is great for a Saturday.
Mayor Bob Foster joined me in welcoming those in attendance and discussed the importance of encouraging the use of clean, sustainable energy such as solar.
Lance Williams of the US Green Building Council gave an excellent talk about LEED certification — “The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System™ encourages and accelerates global adoption of sustainable green building and development practices through the creation and implementation of universally understood and accepted tools and performance criteria.”
Click on 45 Ways to Green Your Home for a great list of ways to “green” your home to make it environmentally friendly.
Participants listened to several speakers at separate workshops on — solar water heaters, the City’s permit process for retrofitting your home with solar, solar panels 101, energy audits, etc.
In the middle of the conference, we filled a bus (burning clean fuel) and took participants to several homes in the 5th District that were retrofitted with solar energy — including the home of former city councilmember Jerry Schultz who now lives in the 5th District. Participants also got a look at the solar trees installed at the Long Beach Airport.
Outside on the patio of the Senior Center, Southern California Edison and several solar energy companies had informative displays.
But I have to say, the hit of the day were the brownies that were baked on site with a solar oven.
We will have this conference and tour next year — and by the response it is clear it will be much bigger.
Thanks to the 5th District Solar Energy Task Force and to my council staff, Josh, Tiffany, Matthew and Liz for all their hard workd in putting this event together. Also thanks to the Parks, Recreation and Marine Department for making the facilities available.