More Towns Committing To "Going Green"

[Guest]

(AP) This town, with its vast housing developments and miles of shopping centers lining every thoroughfare, was not designed to go easy on the Earth, but that isn't stopping local officials from going green.

Cherry Hill, once a desolate farmland and now a bustling Philadelphia suburb of 70,000, is one of the latest examples of a nationwide movement of local governments committing to make environmental issues a priority.

The township is switching to lower-energy traffic lights, offering residents incentives to recycle and even looking into putting solar panels on a municipal building.

"For far too long we have waited for other government agencies to act on these issues," Mayor Bernie Platt told the township council before it adopted a plan last month to reduce carbon emissions and waste. "This elected body will act to provide leadership, guidance and immediate action."

Many local governments across New Jersey and the nation are also taking formal steps to "go green."

Some examples:

* Westwood, N.J. is converting its fleet of police cars to gas-saving hybrids.
* Austin, Texas is planning to power all city-owned buildings with renewable energy by 2020 and require new single-family homes to do the same within a decade.
* Warwick, R.I. has is using more efficient LED lights in all its traffic signals.

Former Vice President Al Gore deserves part of the credit for raising awareness of the idea - backed by many scientists - that people's activities are responsible for global warming, according to Annie Strickler, spokeswoman for the Oakland Calif.-based U.S. offices of The International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, or ICLEI. The organization's U.S. membership, consisting of local governments trying to be more sensitive to the environment, has nearly doubled in the past year.

Cynthia McCollum, president of the National League of Cities and a member of the city council in Madison, Ala., says the jurisdiction of cities gives them good reason to be thinking green.

For far too long we have waited for other government agencies to act on these issues.
Cherry Hill Mayor Bernie Platt
"We control the building codes," she said. And in most places, local government controls the roads and planning regulations, she noted.

McCollum's group is lobbying Congress to allocate $2 billion a year to help local governments with environmental initiatives.

"I think it's a good thing in that towns are at least talking about going green," said Peter Kasabach, executive director of New Jersey Future, which promotes sustainable land-use planning. "The concept of going green has gone mainstream."

Cherry Hill isn't exactly a granola-crunching town that you might expect to strive for greenness.

Before it was Cherry Hill, it was Delaware Township, a mass of mostly farmland and a few suburban neighborhoods just east of Camden and Philadelphia.

Starting in the late 1950s, development took off with waves of ranches, split-levels and, later, Colonials, condos and McMansions until by 1985, practically every lot in the 24-square mile town was developed. Population swelled to about 70,000, making it one of New Jersey's largest suburbs.

The town's claim to fame was having the first large, enclosed shopping center on the East Coast. The Cherry Hill Mall opened in 1961 and the same year, the township changed its name, picking a moniker that matched the mall, which remains a shopping hub.

Mayor Platt, a funeral director long involved in local politics, looked at recycling as a way to save money. The cost of taking trash to a landfill was rising relentlessly.

Township officials calculated that by using RecycleBank, a program that gives residents gift certificates in exchange for recycling, it could save $2 million in landfill fees over the next five years.

Lori Braunstein, chairwoman of the advocacy group Sustainable Cherry Hill, said Platt turned out to be an easy sell on the goal of reducing and even mitigating carbon emissions, which scientists say lead to global warming.

The 10-point plan the township developed calls for modest measures like annual tree-planting, and ambitious ones such as exploring offering builders incentives to do earth-friendly construction.

There are some environmental concerns in Cherry Hill that might be harder to fix because of the spread-out nature of a suburb built for people expected to commute by car.

"One of the challenges still faced is being able to define green broadly enough," said New Jersey Future's Kasabach. "How people use their land, and get around your town."

His ideal would be relatively dense, walkable villages surrounded by farms and green space and linked by mass transit. That does not describe present-day Cherry Hill, or many of the suburbs that sprung up across New Jersey at the same time.

"Previous planners in Cherry Hill have to take almost all the blame," Mayor Platt said. "We inherited this sprawling suburban community."

Platt says he's seeing progress on the land-use front. There's a building boom going on at the former site of the Garden State Park horse track. While part of the development consists of big-box stores in a sea of parking lots, Platt likes to point out that it's bringing homes and offices within walking distance of a train station.

"It's sort of ironic to green one of the biggest examples of suburban sprawl in the country," said Jeff Tittel, executive director of the Sierra Club in New Jersey. "If you can do it in Cherry Hill, you can do it everywhere."

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/04/20/national/main4029387.shtml

[Star Ledger]

Startup offers low-cost options in solar energy
by Tom Johnson/The Star-Ledger
Tuesday July 29, 2008, 12:01 AM
Appliance Dealers Cooperative, like most other businesses, is coping with sharply rising electric bills that show no sign of leveling off.

But the company does not use enough power each month to justify the huge expense of switching to an alternative technology to reduce its energy bills, according to Yanai Siegel, corporate counsel for the not-for-profit price club for appliance retailers.

It recently found a way to stabilize its energy costs with the help of Soltage, a Jersey City startup founded by two Yale University graduate students. The renewable energy company helps businesses go green and save money by tackling one of the biggest obstacles to installing solar power systems -- the up-front capital costs.

Soltage finances and installs solar panels on the roofs of its customers, maintains and operates the systems, then sells the power back to the clients at a discount. The customer saves money on electricity and is shielded from the big spikes in energy bills other businesses face -- without having to invest in expensive solar equipment or installation.


ADC expects the solar system Soltage will install on its warehouse roof in Monroe Township will save it in excess of $1 million over the next several years, Siegel said.

"What Soltage has done is make this kind of technology attractive," Siegel said. "At the end of the day, it will allow us to save on our energy costs and allow us to hedge electric costs going forward."

Privately held Soltage was co-founded three years ago by Jesse Grossman, chief executive, and Vanessa Stewart, chief operating officer, who came up with the business model along with three other classmates at Yale University's School of Management as part of a class project.

The 29-year-old co-founders concluded solar energy capital costs -- which can run from $2 million to $14 million for the commercial and institutional customers Soltage is targeting -- were both a challenge and an opportunity. Their model allows customers to reap energy savings without diverting needed investment capital.

"The reality is, this is a very large market -- the opportunities are quite massive," said Grossman, who says they decided to locate the business in Jersey City, about a block away from the Hudson River, because of the state's commitment to promote renewable energy.

New Jersey has set a goal of having 20 percent of its electricity generated from renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power by the year 2020. The state is second behind only California in the number of solar installations.

Last year, Trenton revamped its solar program from one relying largely on rebates to fund new projects to a market-based system, which requires the private sector to pick up most of the cost. To make the systems more affordable, the state has created incentives in the form of solar renewable energy certificates, which can be sold to big energy suppliers that face mandates to increase the amount of renewable energy they produce.

With the certificates, as well as federal tax incentives, energy sales and depreciation on the equipment, Soltage can make money on the solar systems it installs, Grossman said. He declined to say how much the company generates in revenue or profit, but did say the company was "revenue positive." It currently operates in 10 states, but about half of its business -- mostly involving commercial clients with large expanses of roof space -- is in New Jersey.

The opportunity is huge. The $16 billion solar industry will expand to a $50 billion market in the next five years, according to some projections. New Jersey, which wants to be a leader in the solar field, hopes to have at least 2 percent of its electricity generated from solar panels by 2020.

"What New Jersey has done is very encouraging," Grossman said. "This is a market we can grow in scale. From an economic point of view, it could be a real boon for the state, creating many new green collar jobs."

Others in the sector also predict solar is ready to take off.

"One of the biggest problems facing American families and businesses is rising energy costs. Managing those energy costs is the key to profitability," said Neal Lurie, a spokesman for the American Solar Energy Society. "The biggest hurdle for solar energy is the up-front costs. What we're seeing is an increasing trend toward new financing mechanisms to help invest in solar technology."

Michael Albert, owner of Pilgrim Furniture in Milford, Conn., had a solar system installed by Soltage on his 80,000-square-foot store and expects to cut his energy bill 10 percent each month.

"It was a combination of favorable power rates and the opportunity to reduce greenhouse gases," he said. "We're looking to be as environmentally friendly as we can be."

http://www.nj.com/business/index.ssf/2008/07/startup_offers_lowcost_options.html

[Star Ledger]

Solar panels present challenge for local N.J. authorities
by Nyier Abdou/The Star-Ledger
Tuesday March 17, 2009, 6:00 AM

State rebates and incentives that help cover the cost of solar panels have made New Jersey a solar energy leader. With federal stimulus dollars expected to flow toward green projects, renewable energy producers expect a sharp rise in solar panel installations.

John Grabowski, vice president of Live Data Systems, looks at the solar panels installed in 2007 on the roof of Ferreira Construction in Readington. NJ man pioneers nations' first solar-hydrogen home

But where there is new industry, old squabbles can arise. A plan by Verizon to install an acre of ground-level solar panels at the company's headquarters in Bernards Township has raised a question among local planning officials - do the 1,584 ground-level panels constitute "impervious coverage," a planning term for structures that prevent water from being absorbed by the ground.

"It's a new thing," said planner Peter Messina. "It really depends on what gets covered."

The proposed solar field would spread out over the grassed roof of the company's underground garage and an adjacent field. The panels would be mounted on arms that rotate to track the sun. The project will be considered at the planning board meeting tonight.

Large-scale ground solar arrays are few and far between in the state. The vast majority of commercial solar installations are on rooftops, said David Hebert, a spokesman for the solar energy company Gloria Spire Solar, which is handling the Verizon project.

But there is the occasional "poster child," Hebert said. Merck just completed one of the largest solar fields in the state at its complex in Readington Township. The panels cover 7.5 acres and contribute 7.5 percent of the location's energy needs - 2.5 million kilowatt hours per year, said spokeswoman Kyra Lindemann.

The Readington planning board included the solar panels in its calculation of impervious coverage, but with a site that is nearly 500 acres, it did not affect the plan's approval, said the board's coordinator Linda Jacukowicz.

The issue was handled differently in Montgomery Township, however, where Johnson & Johnson installed some three acres of ground-level solar panels.

"We did not consider it impervious coverage because the panels move," said Mayor Louise Wilson, who also serves on the planning board. The panels are usually slanted and there is adequate space between them, so water can reach the ground, Wilson said.

"One of the big problems is the individual local codes. They're not consistent," said Andrew Topinka, of the United States Green Building Council's New Jersey chapter.

Despite stumbling blocks, Topinka said officials are far more willing to accommodate renewable energy projects. Instead of posing a problem, the impervious coverage issue will likely "spark discussion," Topinka said.

"More people are open to doing the right thing," Topinka said. "When we first started, doors were shut in our face."

"It's a challenge that is not new," said Scott Weiner, executive vice president of Resource Energy Systems, a Rochelle Park-based solar technology developer. Electricity poles, coal-fired and gas-fired power plants - all these energy industries faced off with local officials, he said.

Weiner, a former president of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities and a founding director of Rutgers' Center for Energy, Economic and Environmental Policy, said confusion is sometimes resolved by the state stepping in and creating state-wide codes.

"This is still a very new industry," Weiner said. "The situation hasn't become so critical that it necessitates state intervention."

Hebert said ground-level solar fields are "an anomaly," but local zoning laws may be a glaring reason. New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance Group considered installing a ground array at its new location being constructed on a 56-acre property in Hammonton. NJM spokesman Patrick Breslin said the array was sacrificed because of the impervious coverage issue.

"It was rejected pretty early in the process," Breslin said, underscoring stringent zoning in the Pinelands region.

In the case of the Verizon project, the property is so large that counting the solar panels as impervious coverage would not make a difference, Messina said. But it sets a precedent for smaller-scale projects, where a home or business may not have acres to spare.

Messina said a typical slatted wooden deck for homes is not considered impervious coverage in Bernards because rain can still be absorbed by the ground. But assistant township planner David Schley said water drainage is not the only factor. The township's law is broad, counting any area "covered by impervious materials." Any natural green space covered with materials, could be considered impervious coverage, Schley said.

"It's a legitimate question that people have differing points of view on," Weiner said, adding new questions will arise as renewable energy goes mainstream. "There's going to be an acceleration of these issues."

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/03/bernards_township_to_consider.html

[Star Ledger]

Town backs Clearview solar plan
Monday, March 16, 2009
By Lucas K. Murray

HARRISON TWP. On the heels last week of an informational session in which school board officials and solar energy experts met with members of the public to tout the virtues of a green power system at Clearview Middle School, township officials are backing the school district's effort.

As it stands, the project will not come at any cost to taxpayers.
"I've heard rumblings of voting it down during these tough economic times," Mayor Lou Manzo said. "That opinion can only exist if you're not clear on the funding."

Under Clearview's plan, the district will use a CORE (Customer On-site Renewable Energy) rebate that will offset costs of the $1.3 million project. Almost 51 percent of the total cost will be covered by state debt service aid and $990,675 in SRECs (Solar Renewable Energy Certificates) that will become available once the system would be online.

SRECs are sold to electricity providers. For each megawatt hour of electricity generated by the school, the district would earn one SREC. Electric companies are required to produce some sort of renewable energy and fulfill that requirement by purchasing SRECs.

To get the project running, voters must first approve a bond referendum April 21. The CORE rebate offered by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities and the Office of Clean Energy is only good if the referendum passes.

If voters agree to approve the bond referendum, the district could reduce its energy costs at the middle school by about $24,000 per year. Getting the word out to those same voters is what officials at the township and the school district see is the key to the project.

"I intend to hammer the facts between now and the vote in April to dispel any doubts or misinformation," Manzo said. "This is an absolute no-brainer."

http://www.nj.com/gloucester/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-12/123717931482330.xml&coll=8

[The Times]

Alternative energy draws new interest
Monday, March 09, 2009
BY CURT YESKE

LAMBERTVILLE -- Buoyed by its recognition by the state Division of Local Government Services, the South Hunterdon Renewal Energy Co-op is exploring ways to create and possibly sell alternative energy.

The City of Lambertville, West Amwell Township, the Lambert ville Public School, the West Am well School, the South Hunterdon (high School) District and the Lambertville Sewerage Authority have banded together in a move to hold down the costs of energy for their facilities. In addition to generating energy for the members' use, they hope eventually to have a surplus to sell.

The certification was the first hurdle to creating co-op. Next comes finding the most practical and productive ways to create energy.

"The first logical step is to have an energy audit of all of our buildings," said Ron Shapella, West Am well's delegate to the co-op. "There could be efficiencies that could save the taxpayers thousands of dollars.

"Alternative energy is the way of the future and I think we owe it to the taxpayers to do whatever we can to save taxpayers' dollars," he said.

David DelVecchio, Lambert ville's mayor, said that after a re cent meeting with Brad Campbell, the former state commissioner of the EPA, members were very encouraged about their prospects.

The mayor said that in early meetings members of the group believed the best route would be to engage a vendor to create and operate any alternative energy systems.

"We are already busy enough dealing with problems caused by cuts in state aid and a bad economy," said the mayor. "We don't want to own and maintain solar panels."

He said the co-op will receive advisory help from the governor's staff on how to identify potential vendors and in developing requests for proposals from entities that have experience in the field.

DelVecchio said there are four broad benefits that can come from adopting a solar-based system.

"You get renewable energy credits, depreciation, investment tax credits with the federal government and you get energy," said the mayor.

Shapella noted that the cost of solar power equipment is still expensive even though it has come down over the years since its first surge into the marketplace in the 1970s.

"Experts expect new breakthroughs that could make solar systems more affordable. We should do what we can to be ready to take advantage of any breakthrough," he said.

He said the township's environmental commission has already considered the possibility of installing solar panels on the 100-acre property where the municipal building is located.

Mayor DelVecchio said, "Having less state aid and rising costs have forced us to restructure the city budget which makes it important that we look seriously at alternative energy because it is sustainable, allowing us to anticipate some fixed costs.

"Another plus to what we are doing is that the schools may make anything we do into a learning component to go along with clean energy and costs savings."


http://www.nj.com/timesoftrenton/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-16/1236571510177330.xml&coll=5

[Cranbury Press]

CRANBURY: Police eye hybrid
Thursday, March 19, 2009 1:07 PM EDT
By Maria Prato-Gaines, Staff Writer

CRANBURY — As it prepares to add to its fleet, the next stop for the Cranbury Police Department: hybrid vehicles.

The department expects to hear back from the state concerning bids on a hybrid sports utility vehicle by the end of the month, said Police Chief Ed Kahler.

”Once you have a hybrid, you’ll get more value from the gas savings,” he said.

By purchasing from the state, the department could save around $4,000.To purchase a hybrid under the capital budget, the department must acquire a vehicle that will have a life span of at least five years, which limits its options to SUVs, Chief Kahler said.

Once purchased, the vehicle will be added to the detective bureau, which has one 2003 unmarked Ford Crown Victoria, Chief Kahler said.
”It was something that was absolutely and definitely needed,” he said.

In total, the department has nine vehicles: a 2002 Chevrolet Blazer for the chief; one vehicle for the detective bureau; six patrol cars, including four Dodge Durangos that are nearing the end of their “useful life” and two newer Dodge Chargers; and one unmarked Dodge Charger for the Traffic Bureau.

Police Department vehicles take a harder beating on the roadways than civilian cars, meaning more frequent replacement, Chief Kahler said.

”A lot of the time, these vehicles are running 12-hour days, usually seven days a week,” Chief Kahler said. “It’s tough on the vehicles. They rotate out every few years.”

Last year, collectively, Cranbury’s police vehicles racked up 163,971 miles on the road, he said.

Although the department has been looking at phasing out the SUVs and incorporating the Dodge Chargers into its patrol unit, those plans have been temporarily suspended due to the economic climate.

”Because of the tough economic times, we’ll be making do with what we have — we’re not getting any new patrol cars,” Chief Kahler said. “All patrol vehicles will be refurbished and reused.”

In the midst of a full-blown recession, the department has seen a number of changes in the way it typically manages its fleet.

This year, the department will not be adding two new vehicles to the fleet and, likewise, will not have two cars to sell during an annual April auction as has been the routine in the past, Chief Kahler said.

The department plans to auction one vehicle that had been seized and used by the department, he said.

When the department does eventually add to the patrol fleet, residents won’t likely see hybrids on the road as the state does not offer that package with the Dodge Charger and Crown Victoria stock, Chief Kahler said.

[??]

"...the department must acquire a vehicle that will have a life span of at least five years, which limits its options to SUVs, Chief Kahler said. "

Only SUVs can last at least five years?

(Well, I am still driving a 1994 Sedan).

[Guest]

Maybe the Chief was implying American cars are not as well-made as American SUVs.

[Guest]

From the article, I took it that if they buy from the state the only hybrid option for a police car is an SUV.

[Guest]

[GreenCar]

Hybrid cars are much greener than hybrid SUVs...

[Guest]

I have mixed feelings on this.

I extensively researched Hybrid cars and particularly Hybrid SUV’s last summer. There were only a few choices for SUV’s – there are a couple more now, but they were coming out at the time so I included them in my research.

What is not clear from the article is whether our police force is getting some kind of grant or subsidy to get the Hybrid vehicles. If so, perhaps it makes sense economically. If not, it most definitely does not make sense.

The problem is the Hybrid cars are priced so uncompetitive as to make it take years, if ever, to justify the additional up-front cost. And I did this math when gas was over $4/gallon – it only gets worse when gas is below $2/gallon. Coincidently, the WSJ and USA Today both did similar studies around the same time. They showed, for example, that the Toyota Highlander Hybrid would take 18 years of use at 12,000/year with $4 fuel to justify the up-front expense versus the comparable equipped non-Hybrid Highlander.

And you can’t just go off a sticker price comparison because the car companies are trying to fool consumers. With the Highlander, for example, the sticker prices starts out at only around $4K more for the comparably equipped Highlander. But what that doesn’t show is they have stripped basic features out of the “standard” pricing on the Hybrid version and included them as required “options” at an extra cost. We’re not taking vanity features like a sunroof. We’re talking basic AC for example – yep, it’s an “option” in the Hybrid. By the time you add it back, add the auto climate control and separately pay to have AC in the real of the vehicle (I know that sounds ridiculous but that’s how they do it in the Hybrid), you’ve added over another $3K to the price, all of which was included in the non-Hybrid from the start. Then there is a major difference in “street price.” You can pick up a non-Hybrid at or below in many cases the “dealer invoice” price, which is at least $4K below the MSRP. Local dealers will only sell you the Hybrid version at MSRP. The net result of all this – you end up paying 25% more for the comparably equipped vehicle to get the Hybrid Highlander.

The math wasn’t quite as severe with the Ford Hybrid SUV, but it may be too small for Police use. It was about as bad for the Yukon and even worse for the new Escalade.

So, again, unless they are getting some “green” rebate, it doesn’t make sense on cost. Also, as someone else noted, a Hyrbid SIV is only slightly hybrid – they average 4-5 MPG in real-world conditions better than their counterparts.

That said, a Hybrid would be particularly beneficial for vehicles that spend a lot of time idling like police cruisers do. Frankly, a vast majority of the MPG benefit comes from idling, because the Hybrid engines have a feature that literally shuts the engine down at idle, operating entirely off the battery, then quietly re-engages it, initially with the battery, when starting motion again. So the more time spent idling, the better the MPG advantage over the non-Hybrids.

[OK]

With no new vehicle's and them just keep fixing the old problems, sounds like peoples lives could be at risk. But its ok, cranbury only deals with issues as they happen. Never can they plan ahead or be ready for a problem. I guess it'll take a car breaking down while going to the MAYOR's house for a burglary call for something to Change.

[Guest]

Not much of an impact will be made by tying to upgrade with one or two hybrid SUV's. If the township wants to get serious about going green, they should evaluate trading in the fleet of 4 x 4 Pickup Trucks and Suburbans that are parked in the township lot in exchange for highly effecient Smart Cars. There is no need for each of the building inspectors to drive around town getting 8-9 MPG in a pickup truck that is not even insured to carry supplies or cargo. Who is the genius who authourized that expense when fuel was $4-5 per gallon ? The sticker price alone for one Suburban could buy 3 Smart Cars. The fuel savings is huge as well. There is really no need to travel the roads in bad weather - town hall closes when it snows or the employees don't leave the building anyway.

[Guest]

[Cranbury Press]

Grant to help town go green
Thursday, April 2, 2009 12:37 PM EDT
By Maria Prato-Gaines, Staff Writer

CRANBURY — In search of a greener future, township officials have recently applied for a matching grant that would encourage environmental sustainability in the municipality’s planning elements.

The township is applying for the grant through the Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions, a non-profit organization that helps preserve natural resources and promote sustainable communities.

”It’s about developing a green chapter for the Master Plan,” said Christine Smeltzer, township administrator.

The maximum the township could see from the grant would be $20,000, an amount it would have to match, totaling $40,000.

At the Township Committee’s Monday meeting, Richard Preiss, the township planner, said Cranbury also would have to expend $5,000 for “in-kind of services” if grant money was to be received. Ms. Smeltzer said the grant funds would be limited to planning on future projects, say as a guideline for a developer who would be building in the township.
The ANJEC grant is one of many options the township has looked into to maintain its status as an environmentally conscience community, she said.

Last year the township hired an outside company to conduct an energy audit on several municipal buildings, which in turn offered officials a number of greener and more efficient alternatives for repairs and replacements, Ms. Smeltzer said.

Mayor Pari Stave recommended the formation of a sub-committee when the process for this greener planning begins. The committee would consist of various representatives from community organizations who would have valuable input, such as the Environmental Commission, the Board of Health, the planning and zoning boards and the Public Works Department.

http://www.centraljersey.com/articles/2009/04/02/cranbury_press/news/doc49d4e809690f7437027050.txt