Berkeley has awarded more than a quarter of a million dollars in grants under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to local businesses to increase the use of green technology.
The city announced Tuesday that it awarded $270,000 in grants to four local businesses and seven multifamily housing projects to encourage energy savings to help the city reach its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 33 percent by 2020.
The city solicited, evaluated and rewarded the grants based on how much energy-saving potential a property had, said Neal DeSnoo, the city’s energy program officer.
“Most of the savings come from natural gas, which is almost completely nonrenewable, if at all,” DeSnoo said.
The city projects 1,000 megawatt-hours per year in energy savings, 90 percent of which come from natural gas, according to a Tuesday press release. Overall, the city expects the average project to reduce its energy use by 29 percent, with some properties saving up to 45 percent.
The grants were awarded to seven multifamily housing projects and four local businesses, including the Bancroft Hotel, the Berkeley Food and Housing Project and Trumer Brauerei.
Trumer Brauerei is working to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by using its $30,000 grant to overhaul its pipe cleaning system, according to Lars Larson, master brewer at the microbrewery.
Currently, the pipes are cleaned by running hot water through them. The new system will rely on running ozone through the pipes at colder temperatures, producing the same cleaning effect as hot water.
“That’s where the energy savings come in,” Larson said.
The Bancroft Hotel, dating back to 1928, is now trying to be a beacon of sustainability for other hotels in Berkeley, partly by using the $30,000 grant from the city, according to owner Daryl Ross. The hotel is in phase one of a three-phase shift to solar energy.
“We just bought high-efficiency water tanks to upgrade our heating system,” Ross said.
The second and third phases revolve around installing solar panels, resulting in energy savings of 55 percent.
The $270,000 in incentives from the city will be matched by $300,000 put up by the local businesses collectively, according to the press release.
“These grants will meet a small fraction of the overall goal but are significant in that we are motivating property owners,” DeSnoo said.
The multifamily homes receiving grants totaling $155,000 are two student cooperatives, several local apartment buildings and a fraternity. The upgrades will include increased insulation and new high-efficiency water heaters and boilers, according to the press release. The improvements will make tenants more comfortable year-round while reducing energy bills and improving indoor air quality.
The properties will be monitored for three years in order to assess the impact of the program.
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