The County shall conduct a study and prepare a publicly available assessment of suitable undeveloped lands near electrical transmission and distribution lines that serve as priority areas for the development of utility-scale solar energy generation and storage projects. If suitable locations are identified, the County shall establish a new zone, if necessary, called a Renewable Energy Priority Zone, for these sites in the County’s Coastal and Non-Coastal Zoning Ordinances.
Climate Action Plan
COS-P Study to Demonstrate Energy and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Savings
The County shall conduct a study that demonstrates the energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) savings of the options identified in Implementation Program COS-R using modeled building prototypes. To satisfy state regulatory requirements for Energy Reach Code adoption, the study shall also demonstrate long-term cost savings of the options through a life-cycle cost analysis that considers the initial costs of efficiency improvements offset by utility bill cost savings and other relevant factors.
COS-Q Incentives for Development of Renewable Energy Projects
To incentivize the development of the Renewable Energy projects, the County shall consider waiving permit fees for renewable energy generation or storage projects.
COS-R Performance-Based Building Code for Green Building
The County shall maintain and update as needed the Building Code to establish performance-based standards that incentivize green building techniques.
COS-S Building Code Update
The County shall update the Building Code to include a mandatory Energy Reach Code.
COS-T Energy Consumption Performance
The County shall continue to review its energy consumption performance and implement programs designed to increase energy efficiency in County-owned buildings, including, but not limited to:
- reduced operating hours for heating, ventilating and lighting systems,
- installation of weather stripping on all openable doors and windows,
- development of energy audit and energy management programs,
- implementation of operation and maintenance programs which contribute to energy conservation,
- develop energy audits and energy management programs for all County-owned facilities,
- develop a plan to re-invest utility company rebates and utility savings into a long-range funding program for on-going conservation projects,
- implement operational and maintenance programs which contribute to energy conservation,
- investigate and implement new energy technologies such as solar and fuel cells,
- install energy management systems in all County-owned facilities to control air conditioning and lighting systems where beneficial,
- install ceiling, wall, and roof insulation whenever feasible,
- install plumbing flow restrictors in toilets, lavatories and showers, and
- provide energy conservation training and literature to all County agencies.