The Richmond District Neighborhood Center, located on 30th Avenue near Balboa.
Beginning this week, merchants and small businesses in the Richmond District will be visited by representatives from San Francisco Energy Watch. The program, a joint venture between the city and PG&E that began in 2007, offers incentives to local businesses to encourage them to make energy efficient upgrades.
They’ll be in the Richmond District this week, stopping in to offer free energy assessments to local businesses. If a business finds that they could make upgrades to become more energy efficient, SF Energy Watch can also help with financial assistance.
Earlier this year, the Richmond District Neighborhood Center participated in the program, starting with a free on-site assessment of their office buildings.
Dorian Luey, Operations Director for the RDNC, said the program was attractive because of the financial incentives it offered for upgrades.
“We found out we were doing as much as we could to be energy efficient, but they recommended that we add more efficient lighting,” Luey said about the initial assessment.
SF Energy Watch helped the RDNC replace all of their interior and exterior light bulbs with compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) bulbs, which use less power and have a much longer life than standard, incandescent bulbs.
The total cost to replace the lighting was $2,877, but only $270 was passed onto the RDNC thanks to the financial assistance that the program provided.
“Other businesses should give it a try, especially if you have an older facility like ours,” Luey said. “And you don’t have to go through with the changes they recommend – it’s up to you.”
The upgrades to their lighting also means future energy bills for the non-profit neighborhood center will be lower. SF Energy Watch estimates that the $270 RDNC spent on upgrades will pay for itself in savings in just a couple of months.
Representatives from the SF Energy Watch program will begin visiting Richmond District businesses this Wednesday, June 22. If you have a small business here in the neighborhood and would like more information, or would like to schedule a free on-site assessment, call 355-3769 or visit sfenergywatch.org.
Sarah B.
Sounds like a good opportunity for bussnesses that could use a little extra money, esspecialy the financal assistance offered.
The ultimate goal is to help lower our impact to the environment so it is a win-win situation: the business owners cut down utility costs while helping lower greenhouse gas emissions!