Green Technology Home

By Racquel Palmese

When Mayor Cheryl Cox joined with the mayors of Imperial Beach, National City and other San Diego County mayors to sign onto the Mayors’ Alliance for Green Schools recently, it was the latest move in a two-decade tradition of sustainability in the city of Chula Vista. With a population of about 240,000 and estimated per capita income (2008) between $32,000 and $52,000, it is not a wealthy suburban area. The foreclosure crisis hit the city like a firestorm a full year before rippling through the rest of the nation. Still, Chula Vista has been a bastion of green initiatives long enough to be a source of information and inspiration to other cities. Mayor Cox, now beginning her second term, is pushing the green envelope even further. In an interview with Green Technology Magazine she describes the green mindset of her city.

Give us a snapshot of Chula Vista in terms of its history of green initiatives.

We're the second largest city in San Diego County, which is comprised of 18 cities, including the cities of San Diego, Imperial Beach, National City and Chula Vista. Over the last twenty years, the city council has been involved in green, so this is something that's not new for the city. There are a lot of people who are joining us at this point.

We know we're doing the good things. We're replacing half of our streetlights now with induction lighting. We’re putting solar panels on 11 municipal building roofs. We've persuaded our constituents to conserve water. The Sweetwater Authority, which provides water to almost half the people in Chula Vista, is now the third most water-conserving water deliverer in the state.

We have a lot of redevelopment areas, like our Bay Front area. When we finish our process with the California Coastal Commission and get the Bay front Master Plan certified by them, 1,500 condominiums will be built over the next 25 years. The developer has already said he's going for LEED [the U.S. Green Building Council’s rating system] certification. The question is can he get Platinum, which is the highest level? He's not sure, but he is promising Silver. It's a good goal to achieve the highest level of sustainability and energy conservation you can.

What are some of your other initiatives?

We've got new fuel tanks that will allow us to convert heavy duty vehicles to run on biodiesel. We're asking contractors who provide fleet services to us to replace all their vehicles - transit buses, trash haulers and so forth - with alternative fuel or hybrid substitutes.

We've offered our businesses a no-cost energy assessment so that when they renew their business licenses they can have someone from our conservation department tell them what modifications they might make that cost very little but save them a lot.

When it comes to building, we have mandatory green building standards that are above Title 24 standards and a community program to install solar renewable energy systems funded through property tax assessments. We want to help our residents with solar installation. This method of financing is currently being contested in courts, but we think it's a good thing.

Mixed use, walkable, transit-friendly development is something else we’re promoting. We've got three trolley stations with trolleys that run every 15 minutes or so. In redevelopment areas we want to build residential developments in a transit-oriented way so that people will hopefully walk to the trolley, take it to where they need to go and not have to drive their cars, thereby minimizing vehicle miles traveled by single-passenger cars.

We have programs to help residents replace their turf lawns with drought tolerant landscaping. We do a naturescape program to help owners with nature-friendly landscaping that helps conserve water, reduce pollution runoff and may even save time and money on maintenance. Their yards are declared “Certified Wildlife Habitat.” Those are some of our initiatives.

You are also applying for a Sustainable Communities Grant. Would you describe what this is?

We understand what municipal greenhouse gas emissions are, and we understand the need to find ways to measure our them. So we're working with academic partners on creating a piece of software that helps estimate emissions. If we do this right, our application for a HUD Sustainable Communities Partnerships grant will be approved. This software has enormous implications for us as well as other communities.

This is a planning grant, and a portion of it will go to develop measurements for SB 375 compliance. [SB 375 provides emissions-reducing goals including incentives for local governments and developers to follow new conscientiously-planned growth patterns to help meet the goals of AB 32, California’s Global Climate Initiative.]

We know that San Diego will be the first of all the Councils of Government in California to submit their SB 375 plans. SB 375 has set up a tremendous number of goals, but the real kicker is how do you know that you got where you were supposed to be? If we can create that measuring tool, or build upon it, or improve it, it will be something that could be replicated by any other city council or agency in the state. We're all about SB 375, and obviously AB 32.

Your green building standards obviously extend to your school construction and renovation program. What are Chula Vista’s goals for green schools?

The Sweetwater High School District has been planning not for 30-year schools but for 50-year schools. These healthy schools will allow us to keep the energy efficiency and conservation going way into the future. It's an extraordinary testament to a community as a whole that you can have a functioning building with air flow and natural light that will stand the test of time for 50 years and will also provide the kind of learning environment that you'd like every youngster to have. [See related article, San Diego Mayors United for Green Schools.]

We have the largest K-6 school district in California - about 28,000 students. The 7-12 high school district’s population is around 38,000. The city of Chula Vista rests inside the Sweetwater Union High School and Chula Vista Elementary School Districts. The size of the districts allows cooperation on projects like installing solar panels.

You were a teacher for a long time. Does your experience play into a personal desire for green schools?

I think it's a component. I've always considered schools to be the hub of the community. The library is the hub of the school. It's where kids go to learn more, where they go to hear from others. It's a focal point of every school, or should be if it isn't.

So what's our focal point within a community? It's the schools. That's where parents gather, whether it's spaghetti night, a parent-teacher conference or band review. I'm encouraged about both of the school districts wanting to look at conserving and energy efficiency, because I think in and of themselves they have an opportunity to demonstrate to others that it works.

Why did you decide to become involved in the Mayors’ Alliance for Green Schools?

The Alliance is an indication that it is an appropriate role for mayors to be involved in what happens with school construction, at least to the point that we show our support and offer our help. In Chula Vista, we sincerely mean that we are here to help. The city’s director of environment and conservation and environmental resource manager have both been in this business for as long as the city has. In fact, our director is probably the number one most informed person in the city about what opportunities we have to do a better job regarding the environment. He'll get into the climate change argument. I don't think we need to be part of a debate as much as needing to ask ourselves how we can be more self-reliant. Can we find ways to consume less?

What is your vision for the future of Chula Vista when it comes to the greening of the city and the community.

As we attract new businesses, we will be helping them - whether it's with new construction or building improvements - to recycle as much as possible, to use materials that are friendlier to the earth, to encourage our residents to participate in making Chula Vista job friendly, resident friendly, business friendly.

SB 375 doesn't create the anxiety for the City of Chula Vista that I can understand it may create in another community. If we can help other cities to do their part, we're ready to do that. We’ve got a 20 year head start, and a lot of cities are only just now coming onboard. In terms of energy conservation, water conservation, efficiency of operations - the city can truly become a model. In the end it always comes down to what is this going to cost the taxpayer? But the other issue is, what will it cost us if we don't keep the focus on sustainability?

Copyright © 2009, Green Technology. All rights reserved.