Monterey Bay Green Business Certified 

“The Monterey Bay Area Green Business Program is a successful partnership of environmental agencies, utilities and nonprofit organizations that assist, recognize and promote businesses and government agencies that volunteer to operate in a more environmentally responsible way. To be certified "green," participants must be in compliance with all regulations and meet program standards for conserving resources, preventing pollution and minimizing waste.”

The program was created in 1996 and first started in San Francisco as the Bay Area Green Business Program. It has since moved into seven counties who all work in partnership with the US EPA and California EPA. The program is being copied in Southern California, Sacramento, Arizona and Hawai’i.

In its part to become a certified member of the Program, the WWTF:

• Replaced several high flow toilets with low flow models
• Completed a fluorescent lighting upgrade
• Gave a plant-wide presentation on environmental and energy concerns and how to be more sustainable at work and at home
• Installed occupancy sensors for lighting and computer workstations
• Promoted paper recycling and reduction habits
• Converted many cleaning chemicals to eco-friendly brands
• Audited the heating and cooling systems for leaks and insulation integrity
• Continues to monitor and record greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions data
• Creation and implementation of a Climate Action Plan and Environmental Policy Statement

US EPA Green Power Partnership Member
https://www.epa.gov/greenpower/green-power-partner-list

The WWTF has a 53kW photo voltaic system and 1300kW capacity of cogeneration using on-site derived methane gas. On an annual basis, this makes the facility 68% powered from Green Power. Both of the generators have continuous maintenance and on-going technology upgrades to make them more efficient and run cleaner. The PV system also had several inverters replaced this year to keep the output at its maximum. By utilizing as much renewable energy as we can, we continue to be a partner with the EPA’s program. 

We also have use of the logo to show our allegiance to using green power.

 

  

Energy Star Partnership Member
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=water.wastewater_drinking_water
By becoming a member of this program, the WWTF “makes a fundamental commitment to protect the environment through the continuous improvement of our energy performance”.   Additionally, we:
• Measure and track the energy performance of our organization's facilities where possible by using tools such as those offered through ENERGY STAR
• Develop and implement a plan consistent with the ENERGY STAR Energy Management Guidelines to achieve energy savings
• Help spread the word about the importance of energy efficiency to our staff and community
• Support the ENERGY STAR Challenge, a national call-to-action to help improve the energy efficiency of America's commercial and industrial buildings by 10 percent or more
• Highlight our achievements with recognition offered through ENERGY STAR
We have an Energy Star online account, where we enter our annual usage data for electricity, natural gas and water. This is monitored by a third party website www.noesis.com, for benchmarking and collaboration with other, similar facilities. We can compare our energy/gallons treated with facilities that are members of the program.  We also have use of the logo.         

ISO 50001
The International Organization for Standardization is a global consortium of countries who have created many standards relating to safety, manufacturing quality and environmental protection to name a few. ISO 50001 is the Global Standard for Energy Management.
“The ISO 50001 energy management standard is an international framework for industrial plants, commercial facilities or entire organizations to manage energy, including all aspects of procurement and use. The standard provides organizations and companies with technical and management strategies to increase energy efficiency, reduce costs, and improve environmental performance.”
The WWTF has been documenting its usage and GHG data for many years. This existing data can be used to become an ISO 50001 certified facility by showing improved performance year over year, and by committing to a formula of continual reduction. We are presently researching the requirements to becoming ISO 50001 certified. The main facets as listed in the Standard are:
• Plan- conduct the energy review and establish the baseline, energy performance
indicators (EnPIs), objectives, targets and action plans necessary to deliver results in accordance with opportunities to improve energy performance and the organization’s energy policy
• Do- implement the energy management action plans
• Check- monitor and measure processes and the key characteristics of its
operations that determine energy performance against the energy policy and objectives and report the results
• Act- take actions to continually improve energy performance and the energy management system (EnMS)

 

For more information please contact:
Anne Hogan
Wastewater System Manager
110 California Street
Santa Cruz, California 95060
831-420-5425 
Fax: 831-420-6489
email