San
Jose Sustainable City Status Report 6/98
Executive
Summary
In
August of 1994, San Jose's City Council adopted San Jose 2020 as its
general plan. Included within the plan was a new Strategy entitled the
"Sustainable City Major Strategy." The Sustainable City Major
Strategy is a statement of San Jose's desire to become an environmentally
and economically sustainable city. A "sustainable city" is
a city designed, constructed, and operated to efficiently use its natural
resources, minimize waste, and to manage and conserve them for the use
of present and future generations.
The
City of San Jose is working to become an environmentally and economically
sustainable city, one characterized by responsive and efficient policies
and programs, and by successful public-private partnerships. The City's
Sustainable City Major Strategy and environmental policies and programs
are based on the premise that natural resources are not inexhaustible
commodities to be exploited but are limited assets which should be wisely
managed for the benefit of present and future generations. By planning
for urban sustainability, the City of San Jose aims to promote resource
efficient land use, transportation, energy and water use, and resource
conservation.
San
Jose's Sustainable City Status Report
In
1980, a report was prepared for City Council that identified public
policy issues in natural resource management, and presented recommendations
for directions for the City to take that would improve the efficiency
and economy of the City's and the community';s handling and use of these
resources. Entitled "Toward a Sustainable City", this report,
and the subsequent actions taken by City Council to implement some of
these recommendations, laid the groundwork for the efforts, successes,
and lessons learned, within our City.
The
adoption of that report by the City Council began what is now almost
a seventeen-year journey towards becoming a Sustainable City. A journey
that was built on the major sources of power held by a City government
to shape its environment. These sources included resource decisions
on Energy Systems, Land Use Patterns, Communication, Transportation,
Water Systems and Waste Systems.
The
City of San Jose has used a broad array of policy, fiscal, administrative
and program tools to create and maintain its sustainability initiatives.
Examples abound throughout the city departments and offices, from watershed
management, economic development, to community education and environmental
compliance and legislative advocacy. This report presents a status on
the policies and programs that contribute to San Jose as a Sustainable
City. This report is an initial documentation of the City's programs,
policies and activities that contribute to San Jose as a Sustainable
City. The City should be proud of the variety of programs that have
been initiated and supported within the city departments and the community.
Achievements
of Environmental Programs
The
following represents just a few of the achievements of the City's programs
that support the Sustainable City Major Strategy.
- Jobs/housing
balance and transit oriented development policies within the General
Plan improve energy efficiency and air quality by reducing traffic
congestion, shortening trip lengths and increasing the availability
and convenience of alternate modes of transportation.
- The
Intensification Corridors Special Strategy will promote vigorous economic
growth by allowing more intensive commercial and industrial development
on scarce land particularly in northern and central San Jose.
- Implementation
of the Riparian Corridor Policy Study will help preserve the existing,
limited wildlife habitat within the City and preserve an open space
and recreational resource.
- In
1997 the San Jose/Santa Clara Water Pollution Control Plant treated
over 50 billion gallons (139 mgd) of wastewater, and removed over
94 million pounds of solids (258,600 lb/day) and 88 million pounds
of BOD (257,000 lb/day).
- By
the close of fiscal year 96/97, the City's water efficiency programs
had achieved the flow reduction goal of 15 mgd from the 1986 conservation
plan and 1991 Action Plan. More than 5 mgd of this reduction was completed
during the last three years of that period and occurred during a time
of tremendous regional growth. Water use rates continue to remain
below baseline levels in 1987.
- The
Recycle Plus program met all of the California AB 939 requirements
in 1995 and is currently well on its way to meeting the 2000 goal
of 50%. In 1996 recycling was at 44% for the City as a whole.
- The
new Recycle-At-Work program has resulted in a reduction of garbage
service needs by half at City Hall and the Police Administration Building,
thereby reducing the amount of garbage sent to the landfill by 60
cubic yards per week
- The
City';s policy to purchase recycled products saves the city $10,000
a year just from recycling of laser-printer toner cartridges. Each
ton of recycled paper saves 4,200 kWh of electricity, 17 trees, and
7,000 gallons of water. On a yearly basis, by purchasing recycled
paper the city avoids the emission of 6,300 lbs. of CO2,
10,500 lbs. NoX, and 24,360 lbs. SO2.
- A
municipal cost avoidance of approximately $3 plus million per year
in utility expenditures occurs as a result of the projects completed
since the initiation of the energy efficiency projects. Annual bill
savings of approximately $315,000 by General Services have been accomplished
in existing facilities by conserving 3.5 million kWh and 300,000 therms
of natural gas per year.
- The
Traffic Signal Management Project is estimated to reduce vehicle operating
costs by $25 million annually. This effectively reduces the estimated
fuel usage by 7.5 million gallons, resulting in a reduction in the
emission of carbon monoxide (1,700 tons/year), hydrocarbons (115 tons/year),
and nitrous oxide (130 tons/year). The estimated reduction in stops
and delays is estimated at 16 percent.
Future
Opportunities
Making
continued progress towards sustainability will require a systematic
evaluation of whether our actions and strategies are adequate and whether
they are having the desired effect. The opportunities exist to engage
the community in a dialogue about our progress to date, an evaluation
of our policies and programs, and the identification of next steps in
the process. Preliminary meetings within the community have resulted
in the identification of next steps on the path toward sustainability
for San Jose. Those next steps include the establishment of a community
process that would identify issues, develop goals and establish priorities.
San Jose residents were also interested in the establishment of methods
and tools, such as Sustainability indicators, that would measure the
performance of the community as a whole in achieving its goals and targets.
Promoting
A Community Dialogue on Sustainability for San Jose
Involving
the community in the analysis of development and related service issues
is essential to the optimal solution of problems. Municipal investments
are more likely to succeed and win public support if they are responsive
to the articulated needs, concerns, and preferences of the communities.
City strategies can also benefit from the knowledge and resources that
local residents and institutions can themselves contribute to solving
problems. At the same time, the process of issue analysis can be used
to educate stakeholders about technical conditions and constraints for
service delivery, such as ecosystem carrying capacities or financial
constraints.
Establishing
Sustainable Indicators
The
well being of a community or nation can be measured in many ways. Traditional
measurements often analyze a single issue by itself, such as the number
of new jobs in a particular community. New measurements called "Indicators
of Sustainability" are designed to provide information for understanding
and enhancing the relationships between the economic, energy use, environmental,
and social elements inherent in long-term sustainability.
Indicators
serve as valuable tools for profiling local energy consumption patterns
as a sustainability benchmark. Communities such as Seattle, San Francisco,
and Toronto are using indicators to gather and evaluate information
on both current energy use and future alternatives for the residential,
commercial, industrial and transportation sectors. This information
is vital in planning for and managing the energy resources that will
support sustainable development.
The
role of an indicator is to make complex systems understandable or perceptible.
An effective indicator or set of indicators helps a community determine
where it is, where it is going, and how far it is from chosen goals.
Indicators of Sustainability examine a community's long-term viability
based on the degree to which its economic, environmental, and social
systems are efficient and integrated.
Integrated
Waste Management Opportunities
Waste
management technologies have developed rapidly during the ';90's. Lead
by European initiatives with the world';s most stringent waste reduction
programs, technologies now exist to drastically improve the City's input
to waste disposal sites.
Waste
Processing
The
collection of solid waste tends to be the dominant portion of waste
management program costs. Complex waste sorting schemes require specialized
collection equipment and more time on the street for that equipment.
In many locations, minimal source separation combined with material
processing is achieving the best combination of low program cost and
high diversion rate. San Jose's residential waste collection program
is in the position to take advantage of this by separating its waste
collection and waste processing contracts. Waste collection contracts
can be used to define the most efficient and lowest cost material sorting
specification that perfectly integrate with its contracted processing
capacity.
ESD/IWM
is reviewing a system of fee collection that creates economic incentives
for haulers to take advantage of processing. Under this concept, loads
of material taken to a recovery processing/recovery facility would receive
a discount on City fees owed based on the recovery rate of the processor.
Such a system has the potential to continuously increase the level of
material diversion from the economic incentives available to haulers
and processors. This only occurs when there is an open market for processing
capacity. This open market is currently not in place and may require
direct action by the City to create it.
The
movement toward developing adequate waste processing capacity must be
addressed as part of the City's master plan. As land development continues
in San Jose, there are fewer and fewer sites left that are appropriate
for processor siting. The City will need to move soon to secure locations
for future development of processing capacity. Failing to do so may
ultimately leave the City in a position of having to export waste materials
to other locations for processing or disposal. Dependence on such outside
sources of vital services does not support the City's sustainability.
Working
with the Bay Area Alliance for Sustainable Development
The
President's Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD) was established
in June 1993 to develop a national strategy for meeting the needs of
the present without compromising the opportunities of future generations.
Council members included leaders from government, business, environmental,
civil rights, labor and Native American organizations. For three years,
the Council held public meetings at locations around the country, including
here in the Bay area. Several of San Jose';s Council members were able
to make presentations to the Council at the bay area meeting.
One
of the implementation recommendations from the President';s Council
(PCSD) is to assist in the development of regional councils as a way
to strengthen communities and enhance their role in decisions about
environment, equity, natural resources and economic progress.
The
Bay Area Alliance for Sustainable Development (Alliance) is a multi-stakeholder
coalition which will develop and implement an action plan that will
lead to a more sustainable Bay Area in the future, a Bay area where
the economy continues to prosper, where environmental quality is improved
and where citizens have the opportunity to share in the benefits of
a quality environment and prosperous economy.
The
Alliance has a leadership team representing the business, environmental,
governmental and social equity sectors. The Alliance believes it may
serve as a model for other communities throughout the nation because
of the economic, social and environmental diversity of the Bay Area,
and recognizes that its success will depend on unprecedented levels
of inter-sectoral and inter-jurisdictional cooperation and collaboration.
Green
Building Opportunities
Green
building programs are designed to promote building practices that
minimize the negative environmental impacts associated with construction.
They also seek to reduce the operational impacts associated with a building's
continued consumption of resources. Green building programs address:
energy, water conservation, building materials, indoor air quality,
solid waste management and site impacts. Green building programs strive
to develop and implement a comprehensive view of design and construction
practices and assess their overall environmental impacts. This requires
an integrated design approach where there is communication between all
those involved in the process.
There
are many Green Building Programs across the country that seek to minimize
the environmental impacts and make buildings as efficient as possible.
They have been started by local governments, Home Builders' Associations
and Utilities, and other non-profit organizations.
The
City of San Jose - Environmental Services Department will be holding
a "Green Building Dialogue" on July 2, 1998. We anticipate
up to twenty to thirty key stakeholders concerned with building issues
to be invited to this dialogue.
The
workshop would give participants the opportunity to determine if there
is any further interest in developing a Green Building Program within
the Silicon Valley area, to identify any opportunities to incorporate
green building techniques and materials within proposed buildings and
developments, and to identify additional information opportunities such
as the establishment of an area "green building network" or
coordinating a green building trade show/fair to provide more information
to area builders, developers and educators.
Summary
San
Jose has begun on the path to become a Sustainable City. This report
provides a broad overview of how the City of San Jose is moving down
the path towards sustainability. Embarking on the path toward sustainability
has taken, and will continue to take the commitment of our elected officials,
staff innovation and dedication, ongoing evaluation and research, community
partnerships and public education and involvement.
