Sdrsp Newsletter 1st Qtr 2008

F irs t Q uarter 2 0 0 8

is a proud sponsor of SDRSP

Plugging Into the Board For SDRSP board members, sustainability is more than good business, it’s also personal...

Mark Gaines, SDG&E “My participation in SDRSP is driven by several factors. First, my employer, SDG&E, is very committed to sustainable development with its own facilities and its energy sources. We design to LEED silver or higher for all our new facilities and we are striving to purchase 20% of our electricity supplies from renewable sources by 2010. SDRSP helps us promote the same sustainability commitment from our customers. Secondly, my job at SDG&E is to promote energy efficiency to all of our customers and I believe SDRSP is a great opportunity to carry our message to like minded companies and individuals. Finally, I have a personal commitment to be more sustainable in my life and SDRSP gives me the opportunity to learn from experts in all areas of sustainability. I believe SDRSP can make a difference in San Diego and I look forward to help make that happen.” continued on page 4.

“Advancing a Sustainable Future in the San Diego Region”

“Starting, building, growing a Sustainability Partnership: lessons learned by the SDRSP” “If you want to understand what California’s state and local governments are doing to create healthy communities and a vibrant, green economy, you can’t miss the Green California Summit. This is the event for anyone who wants to be part of green revolution that is changing the world.” - Rosario Marin, Secretary, State and Consumer Services Co-Chair, Summit Advisory Board This spring, sustainability advocates, organizations and leaders from around the state will come together to share their accomplishments and find out about the latest green products and services at the 2008 Green California Summit. It all takes place in Sacramento April 7-9 and SDRSP has been invited to conduct a much anticipated workshop on the second day of the conference. “Starting, building, growing a Sustainability Partnership: lessons learned by the SDRSP" will focus will be lessons learned about the challenges we face and solutions we created while developing an effective sustainability partnership. The three and a half hour workshop will feature six seasoned veterans from the SDRSP: Elaine Rosenberger (EMR Banker Financial Consultants), Irene Stillings (California Center for Sustainable Energy), Bill Franklin (Navy Region Southwest), Dave Meyer (Brown and Caldwell), and Josh Gelfand (formerly Flexcar). Guest speakers scheduled to highlight our local efforts include Rear Admiral Len Hering Sr. and Rosario Marin, Secretary, State and Consumer Services Co-Chair, as well as other dignitaries not yet confirmed. Board chair Elaine Rosenberger will kick off the presentation and set the context by explaining the practical payoff for sustainability and why what the SDRSP has to share is important. Irene Stillings then continues with Words of Wisdom from a Sustainability Veteran, including her three C’s for success. Al Hurt explores the intricacies of turning sustainability concepts into reality by building a foundation, including an effective board. The nuts and bolds of building a structure that works will be explained by Bill Franklin followed by Dave Meyer’s emphasis on the critical importance of metrics and measurement. We’ll also present the exciting possibilities of the groundbreaking Sustainable Field Station being developed by SDSU. Finally, Josh Gelfand will facilitate a round table discussion that encourages participants to get specific about their own efforts and invite clarification and problem-solving from the group to help move them along in building partnerships in their own community. By the conclusion of the workshop, attendees will have a realistic view of the benefits and rewards developing such a partnership can offer as well as overcoming the various challenges and obstacles. Look for an update on our website later in April at www.sdrsp.org. For more details on the 2008 California Green Summit please go to http://green-technology.org/gcsummit.htm.

Upcoming Events Celebrate Earth Week With UCSD Celebrate UCSD’s Earth Week April 20-26, 2008. This year’s theme, “Choose to Change,” targets what each of us can do to build a sustainable future. Attend a variety of events like the Clean Car Show, Sustainable Art Exhibition, Tree Planting, Eco-Job Fair and more. View each day’s events at http://earthweek.ucsd.edu/

Spring Garden Festival “Conservation in Bloom” April 26, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. The Water Conservation Garden 12122 Cuyamaca College Drive West El Cajon, California, 92019 Tel.: (619) 660-0614 * E-mail: info@ TheGarden.org www.thegarden.org

The San Diego Regional Sustainability Partnership Board of Directors. Visit www.sdrsp.org to view their biographies.

COMMUNICATORS WANTED What does the SDRSP Communication Committee do? You’re holding one example in your hands! The SDRSP CommTeam develops, creates, and conveys consistent and meaningful messages that impact behavior in measurable ways to support SDRSP’s mission of education and empowerment. The members of the CommTeam come from diverse backgrounds and disciplines but we all share a passion to connect with individuals and organizations in our region that can contribute to a sustainability future. We divide our efforts over four major workgroups - Brand/Marketing Management, Information Management, Digital Media, and Public Relations – to work on our primary areas of concentration. These include establishing a clear brand and brand message for the SDRSP that can be clearly and consistently articulated in all forms of communication; developing a compelling, dynamic website as a highly effective hub for sustainability information and community building; and developing other active information outlets, such as newsletters, to build visibility and grow participation. Over the coming year we’ll produce multimedia marketing materials, develop fundraising events, grow our web interactivity, increase our visibility in all media and create experiences that move people to think, feel and do more to support sustainability. What could be better than that? Of course, we need smart, creative and enthusiastic people to accomplish these goals so we’re always looking for folks who want to work hard but have fun doing meaningful work. If you interested in exploring the possibility of working with our CommTeam, e-mail us at join@adrsp. org. We’ll be in touch! I’m the kind of guy who loves to see the results of actions I take. When it comes to recycling there are a couple of big things we do around our home which are age old and well-tested methods of reducing waste flow and harvesting something useful. The first thing is kitchen scraps. Instead of going in the garbage disposal, we collect and feed them to our chickens. Now I understand that only people who live in rural areas and have chickens can do that but it does save me money on chicken feed and diverts waste from the garbage or disposal. If you don’t have chickens...just compost it. Today I pulled weeds from a small area and filled two trash cans. Most went into the compost heap and the stinging nettles went to the kitchen. If you steam them and use them as you would other greens you’ll be amazed at how good they taste. They are full of vitamins and minerals too. Make certain they have not been sprayed with poisons of course, and don’t touch them while they’re raw. They do sting. Once steamed, they’re sting free and really good. The most important thing about compost is making sure it is turned regularly to keep air in it, and make sure the pile stays as wet as a wrung out sponge. If you do these things it will turn into rich dark sweet smelling compost in a few months. How about sharing some of the ways you are recycling at home? There’s a saying I love which explains what we can accomplish in this blog. “ If I have an apple, and you have an apple and we exchange them, we each still have one apple. However, if you have an idea, and I have an idea and we exchange them, then we each have two ideas” Please help make me smarter by sharing your ideas with me at 10News.com/sustainsandiego. Best regards, Loren Nancarrow

NAVY Region Southwest Looking For Sustainable Interior Showroom Product Donations

Navy Region Southwest invites you to participate in their new Sustainable Interiors Showroom (SIS). By partnering with the Navy, vendors assist the Navy in developing an environmentally green showcase at minimal cost with maximum impact.

The Sustainable Interiors Showroom (SIS) is a demonstration area and product library designed to allow end users the opportunity NAVFAC Interior Designers Lisa to “test drive” furniture, floor covering and DeMulder and Stephanie Asenbauer review wall applications prior to determining which selection of sustainable GSA items to be products best meet their requirements for featured in the Commander Navy Region their work space application. It was created Southwest Sustainable Interior Showroom. to support Navy Region Southwest’s (NRSW) endeavor to achieve zero net waste by 2025 and is the first SIS in the Department of the Navy and the largest SIS in the Department of Defense. More durable than traditional furniture, sustainable products furniture typically comes with warranties of 10 or more years, protecting the initial investment made by the Navy. Long-term warranties enable vendors to come on-site for repairs, reducing the likelihood of discarding furniture that is broken or missing parts. The showcased furniture allows for quick and easy reconfiguration, is manufactured from materials emitting zero or minimal toxins or made entirely from recycled, recyclable or rapidly renewable materials. Currently, the Navy is looking for energy-wise entry door and three windows, a shade canopy or sail cloth, two door canopies, xeriscape trees and plants with recycled content planters. The partnering company will receive recognition during the televised ribbon-cutting ceremony as well as advertised recognition in the product showroom and executive office showroom. To discuss your company’s products for the NRSW Sustainable Interiors Showroom, please contact Suzanne Smith at (619) 532-2284.

Moving Forward With the Clean Transportation Committee The vision of the SDRSP Clean Transportation Committee (CTC) is widespread use of transportation solutions that dramatically reduce greenhouse gas and air pollution emissions. Our purpose is to promote best practices to broaden advances needed in such areas as alternative fuels, fuel efficiency, mass transit and roads. With this end in mind, we aim to increase the use of fleet and personal alternative fuel and fuel efficient vehicles; advance best practices in alternative transportation solutions; and recruit and maintain a diverse and committed CTC membership. Last year CTC hosted a joint workshop with the San Diego Regional Clean Fuels Coalition where some of our region’s leading agencies and organizations presented on the past, present and future of alternative fuel vehicles in our region. Those attending learned that the Metropolitan Transit System and San Diego Transit will have over 400 CNG buses in its fleet by the end of 2008; San Diego Gas & Electric is successfully pioneering a plug-in electric hybrid vehicle demonstration project; the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority is going green and saving green with its fleet of eleven compressed natural gas shuttle buses; and New Leaf Biofuels will open a biodiesel production plant this year producing vehicle grade fuel from local restaurants’ used cooking oil. The CTC is planning its next joint workshop with the Clean Fuels Coalition and hosting special guest speakers on Clean Transportation related topics at its regular monthly meetings. The CTC is also developing a “Best Practices in Clean Transportation” Database that will highlight what’s being done in clean transportation and how you can do it too. New members and stakeholders with an interest in advancing clean transportation solutions are always welcome. Contact Derek D. Turbide, CTC Chairman at dturbide@ cleanenergyfuels.com to get involved today!

Norm & Norma

Refocusing On Core Strengths and Interest

Ready, Set, Measure! As the old saying goes—“What gets Measured Gets Managed”. In the fall of 2007, the SDRSP committed to initiating a process designed to 1) identify measurable regional sustainability metrics and indicators, which can be used in the programs and initiatives developed by the SDRSP and by its stakeholders; and 2) Identify a coordinated sustainability vision for the region. To start, the SDRSP posed two basic questions: 1) As community, government and business leaders make collaborative, positive changes to guarantee the region’s sustainability in the future, how will they and 2) What standards of well-being, known as indicators or metrics, could be used to assess and measure the region’s social, environmental and economic progress, and guide their decisions, in an integrated holistic manner? What is an ”indicator” and why is it important to the SDRSP? “Indicators” are quantifiable trends that point to the direction in which a particular condition is heading. Indicators measure whether a community is getting better or worse at providing all its stakeholders with a productive, enjoyable life, both now and in the future. Indicators also reflect the values of people and organizations. The SDRSP sees the value of indicators to gauge whether the San Diego region is moving toward sustainability. The SDRSP recognizes that there are many organizations in the region that have similar efforts in place, but not all address the scope of an entire region, as SDRSP is seeking to do. . MTF Formation and Scope After soliciting volunteers from throughout the SDRSP volunteer membership, the Metric Task Force (MTF) was launched in early 2008. Over the next year the group plans to perform the following key tasks: 1. Benchmark/contact other locales/regions for their current/planned use of sustainability metrics and indicators 2. Perform literature and web searches of sustainability metrics 3. Determine “outer ring” of key Partnership stakeholders and Committee subject matter experts to establish key points of reference that may be critical to a regional sustainability framework, including goals and objectives established by the local and state government. 4. Develop and conduct a SDRSP stakeholder sustainability metrics survey 5. Determine the framework to be used to direct the scope of Task Force the initial and subsequent regional assessments 6. Summarize the sustainability research and applications and develop a workable list of metrics to present to key stakeholders. 7. Conduct community wide sustainability metrics user forums and user outreach groups to communicate the results, gather feedback, and continue discussions and civic involvement. 8. Revise list of key indicators based on results of stakeholder engagement process. Key outcomes expected from this effort include: 1. Development of a Regional Scorecard/Annual State of the Region template for 2009 rollout 2. A practical “guidebook” for Partnership members and selected others that potentially includes: a. Definitions; Existing tools and frameworks for corporate, nonprofit organizations, and individuals; b. “key performance indicators” or KPIs; c. Key regional metrics (and inclusion of relevant regional applications, e.g., case studies); d. Metrics baselines and calibration; e. Metric relationships and impact (e.g., list of stakeholders, process of engagement and results); f. evaluation of SDRSP committee structure to facilitate growth and evolution; g.and Methodology for ongoing comment and input 3. Develop (or recommend commercially available) sustainability metrics application/meta tools for partner use We expect that the indicators the SDRSP eventually tracks will change over time as experience determines the need to modify the existing indicators or add new ones. For further information feel free to contact the Partnership and [email protected] or Dave Meyer (MTF Facilitator) at [email protected].

Waste Reduction and Recycling Committee Goals for 2008 Outreach We view outreach and education as a prime function of our partnership and our committee has targeted two events for this year that support regional efforts towards waste reduction and recycling. The first event will be a (1) Construction and Demolition (C&D) Waste Recycling Workshop, which is slated for October 2008. We plan to build on the success of our recent Waste Reduction Workshop by partnering once again with the City of San Diego on an outreach event that focuses on how to meet new waste diversion requirements and maximize our C&D waste recycling efforts. The second outreach goal is to hold an (2) Electronic Waste (e-waste) Collection Event, which we are targeting for November 2008. Here we will be partnering with e-waste recyclers and large venues, such as Sea World, to promote a one or two-day e-waste collection event open to local businesses and the public. Communication Sharing information is also an important role of the partnership and so we are tasking ourselves to provide (3) Waste Reduction and Recycling Resource Links on SDRSP Website, which should be on-line by May 2008. The goal is to establish links on SDRSP website to the City and other resource agency websites, such as the County and California Integrated Waste Management Board, with information on waste reduction, recycling and C&D, electronic, and household Waste reduction metrics hazardous wastes. Sustainability Establishing realistic and relevant sustainability metrics are seen as crucial, so our committee has committed to (4) Developing Waste reduction metrics for the region. In this effort we will be working closely with SDRSP Metrics Taskforce, so we are going to (5) Invite metrics task force representative to our next meeting in April 2008 to ensure a coordinated and consistent outcome. Management, Membership Our other goals for 2008 include our committee providing a(n): (6) Update to committee’s vision, mission, goals; (7) Commitment to monthly meetings and seeking out waste/recycling stakeholders as participants.

As with any new startup organization, its always difficult to get it right the first time. The primary strategy for establishing 10 committees prior to the inaugural charter signing ceremony was a brief discussion around the table with the Management Committee. Since then we have concluded changes were needed to focus on our core strengths and on topics that were directly related to Sustainability. At the forefront we are a Board driven organization that works directly with the Management Committee. What follows are additional details to define our reorganization efforts: • The Outreach Committee was combined with the Communications Committee and reports directly to the Board. • There are now four primary working Committees which include: Energy, Clean Transportation, Waste Reduction and Recycling, and Green Products/ Materials. • All other previous committees have been combined to form an advisory panel to the Management Committee which includes: Interregional Partnership, Sustainable Business Practices, Natural Resource Conservation, Education (Advance & K-12). This new structure will allow us deal with growth in a healthy more sustainable manner. For example in the future we may focus on healthcare, and agriculture to help align our organization with other Sustainability core interests to our stakeholders and the community. As efforts proceed to identify key Sustainability metrics via our Metrics Taskforce we will likely add other core interests which may eventually reach committee status, or remain within the Advisory panel to help guide us in the right direction. Please be patient as we make changes to reflect this new framework on our website. We look forward to working with all within the Partnership to help us determine what’s important to measure and focus on.

Plugging Into the Board Angela Schafer-Payne, San Diego County Regional Airport Authority “He who transports, sustains.” Leonardo da Vinci “The 21st Century gave us air transportation, but our job in the twenty-second century is to make it sustainable. That is especially true in Southern California where air transportation capacity is bursting at the seems and conflicts between economic development needs are often pitted against environmental protection. I’m Angela Shafer-Payne, Vice President Planning & Operations for the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority. At the Authority we are serious about sustainability having recently adopted a sustainability policy and are in the process of updating our Business Plan as a Sustainability Report. In my free time, my husband and I are frequent users of natural resources that San Diego County has to offer and are interested in and participate in environmental stewardship that helps to preserve these resources. It is my hope and desire to not only maintain, but improve our quality of life within this beautiful region. I feel a great sense of responsibility and honor to serve as a Board Member to the Sustainability Partnership, and look forward to my opportunity to contribute to what has become a world-wide concern.”

Lyn Hall, Qualcomm “When I first started at Qualcomm over 15 years ago, I was given the title of Safety Administrator. I very quickly realized when the full scope of my responsibilities were explained to me, that this title was not appropriate and so I had it changed to Environmental Health & Safety. I’m proud to say that I’ve been part of an organization that has put corporate sustainability on the front burner. When we bought our first building back in 1993, we re-modeled using energy efficient lighting systems and low flow faucets and toilets. Since then, our company has completed 110 projects to improve energy efficiency and reduce Green House Gases, including the newest cogeneration facility which reduces CO2 emissions by 3.086 tons per year and our newly completed a 12 story LEED Gold certified building and have installed over 500 kW of Photovoltaic power. We also recycled nearly 2 million pounds of material in our comprehensive recycling program last year. Some days it would certainly be easier to just focus on safety but I’m proud of our accomplishments and glad to have been part of it. Being a member of the San Diego Regional Sustainability Partnership reinforces to both me personally and to Qualcomm, how important our efforts are both now and in the future.”

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