City and County of San Francisco, CA
United States Mayor: London Breed-
Population 852469
-
Area 600.6km 2
-
GDP 410 TrillionUSD
-
Targets by N/A N/Aemission
The new ARRA
funded Boiler
Program expects to
reduce natural gas
usage by
approximately
399,000 Therms
during the program
cycle by incentivizing
a variety of heating
system measures
such as heating
boilers, hot water
heaters, steam traps,
air vents, pipe
insulation, radiators,
thermostats,
premium efficiency
pump motors, and
variable frequency
drives. To date 218
retrofits have been
completed. The
program is not
currently funded
beyond 2012.
- Buildings
SFPUC Power currently
has 11 solar installations
in various locations
across City government.
From the 5 Megawatt
system at Sunset
Reservoir, the largest
municipal installations in
California, to installations
on Muni stations,
libraries and the airport SFPUC has installed a
total of 6,965.5 KW on
public locations
throughout the City.
San Francisco Home
Energy Improvement
Program (SFHIP)
and SF Green Home
Assessment fund
energy efficiency
assessments and
retrofits in single
family homes and
multifamily dwelling
units.
- Buildings
The San Francisco
International Airport
(SFO) has the most
aggressive ghg reduction
plan of any airport in the
US. Tree planting is just
one of many measures
they have taken and are
taking to neutralize their
operational carbon
footprint. SFO has
planted of 2,020
trees of different
varieties around
the Airport in
recent years.
These trees are
estimated to
sequester as
much as 121
tonnes of
carbon dioxide
per year.
- Other Emissions
In order to address
the upfront cost
barriers and
stimulate local solar
market development,
the City implemented
the GoSolarSF
program in 2007.
One of few local
solar incentive
programs in the
country, GoSolarSF
encourages more
installations of solar
power in San
Francisco with
annual
appropriations of
$5M. The program
provides incentives
to residential,
business, and
non-profit
organizations as well
as additional funding
for low-income and
environmental justice
installations. As of
February 2012, the
program has
facilitated 1,680 new
solar systems (5.4
MW), created 81
green collar jobs
through the City’s
workforce
development
program, and paid
$17.2M worth of
incentives.
GreenFinanceSF,
San Francisco’s
Property Assessed
Clean Energy
(PACE) financing
program, can provide accessible,
100% financing at
attractive rates and
terms for the
installation of energy
efficiency, renewable
energy, and water
conservation
improvements in
qualifying
commercial
buildings. The San
Francisco Board of
Supervisors has
authorized $100M in
funding capacity for
the current
commercial program.
- Buildings
The Clean Taxi
ordinance was
passed in 2008 and
originally published
as Police Code
Section 1135.3. The
SFMTA re-enacted
the requirement as
Transportation Code, Division II, Sections
1106(m) (emissions
reductions) and
1114(e)(9)(A) (annual
reporting
requirement). As the
ordinance went into
effect, the SFMTA, in
coordination with the
Department of the
Environment,
encouraged
companies and
drivers to purchase
alternative fuel
vehicles by providing
a Clean Air Taxi
Grant incentive.
Grants of $2,000
provided by the Bay
Area Air Quality
Management District
(BAAQMD) and the
San Francisco
Transportation
County Authority
(SFCTA) were issued
to purchasers on a
first come-first
served basis. A total
of $518,670.29 of
grant funds was
dispersed to help
purchase 251 hybrid
vehicles. The policy
has been incredibly
successful both from
industry’s side and
from an
environmental
perspective.
Because the law did
not mandate the
purchase of any
specific vehicle, but
rather set a
performance
standard for each
cab company’s fleet,
and also offered
some funds to help
transition the first
round of new
vehicles (in the form
of the Clean Air Taxi
Grant), drivers and
companies were able to choose the
vehicles that best
match their needs
and met the
emissions
requirements overall.
As of January 2012,
the average taxi cab
emits 30 metric tons
of carbon per year
compared to an
average emission of
59 metric tons per
year in 1990, a 49
percent reduction.
The fleet is 92
percent hybrid or
CNG vehicles. There
are 1,318 alternative
fuel vehicles out of a
total of 1,432 eligible
vehicles. The CNG
vehicles account for
89 of those and the
hybrids account for
1,229. San Francisco
currently has 1,521
taxis in service. Of
these, 89 are ramp
taxi vehicles that are
not subject to clean
air vehicle
requirements due to
the lack of good
alternative fuel
wheelchair
accessible vans
available on the
market.
- Transport
Launched in 2007,
SFGreasecycle is a
citywide effort that diverts
fats oils and greases
(FOG) away from the
sewers and turns it into
biofuel to run San
Francisco fleets.
- Waste
- Buildings
CCSF has banned
the purchase of
several
environmentally
harmful products for
City Government
including plastic
water bottles,
sytrofoam, and
plastic bags. This
year CCSF banned
the unsolicited
distribution of Yellow
Pages to San
Francisco residents.
"The
over-distribution of telephone directories
results in an
unconscionable
waste of natural
resources, and costs
the city over one
million dollars every
year to process
through the San
Francisco refuse
system The City
receives almost 1.6
million Yellow Pages
phone books each
year, although there
are about 800,000
residents. If stacked
the books equal the
height of more than
287 TransAmerica
Pyramids – nearly
eight and a half times
the height of Mount
Everest -- and create
nearly 7 million
pounds of waste
annually. San
Francisco residents
can still have Yellow
Pages delivered,
they just have to ask
for the company
directly for the
service.
- Other Emissions
Transit
improvements are
critical to the
success of the CAS
so that adequate
capacity exists to
accommodate mode
shifts and growing
ridership. Muni is
already operating
beyond capacity
during peak commuter times and
demand is expected
to increase
significantly by 2035
for the SFMTA and
the Bay Area’s transit
operators. Optimizing
and expanding the
existing system to
create new capacity
improvements in the
urban core, combine
with the TDM and
pricing strategies to
create a more
sustainable
transportation
system overall.
- Transport
The significant increase
in the PC Air emission
offsets from FY 2009 to
FY 2010 is due to the
installation of dedicated
PC Air units at 11 jet
bridges in Boarding
Areas Cand F and
activation of these units
in FY 2010. SFO has
also installed 14 PC Air
units at jet bridges in the
renovated Terminal 2 and
10 PC Air units at
Boarding Area E.
- Transport
By concentrating
new development
along existing transit
corridors, San
Francisco has
decreased GHG
emissions and
growth in vehicle
miles traveled. In
California, surveys
show that residents
who live near a
transit station take
transit to work at a
rate five times higher
than residents who
do not live near
stations. Transit
improvements
should be prioritized
and financed though
development
agreements where
new, high-density
mixed-use projects
are located. Proper
analysis of
multimodal trips
generated by
development
projects will help
determine fairshare
contributions toward
transit operations
and capital,
complete streets and
travel demand
management options for these new and
redeveloped sites.
San Francisco has
already begun
components of this
innovative TOD
strategy. Recent
project approvals
have included the
provision of transit
passes in new
development, lower
parking requirements
and higher
carsharing
provisions.
Progressive
development
agreements create
GHG reductions,
greater livability and
allow employees and
residents to practice
sustainable mobility.
- Other Emissions
In partnership with
CH2M Hill, the City
developed the San
Francisco Solar
Map, an educational
online tool that
allows users to find
the solar potential for
every rooftop in the
City and provides
information about
local solar
resources,
incentives, news,
and other helpful
information. The City added a solar water
heating calculator in
2011 and a wind
energy layer in 2012.
This online resource
has been a
significant education
and outreach tool for
our community.
The City of San
Francisco provides a
payroll expense tax
exclusion for up to
10 years to clean
technology
companies located in
the City. THe tax
credit is exclusion
from the requirement
to pay local payroll
taxes until 2020.
- Waste
- Buildings
In 2012, nearly 100
EV chargers for
public use will be
installed at more
than 20 city owned
locations, including
the Airport, Treasure
Island, the Zoo, and
city owned parking
garages throughout
San Francisco. In
addition, private land owners have
installed chargers for
public use at 20 or
more locations in the
city. A network of
approximately 50
high voltage
fast-charge stations
has received grant
funding and will be
installed in San
Francisco and the
Bay Area in the next
several years to
assist longer-range
driving. For
homeowners,
permits for installing
chargers can be
obtained in one day
for most single-family
buildings, and
Department of
Environment is
managing a statefunded
demonstration
program to install
approximately 100
chargers in San
Francisco multifamily
buildings.
- Transport
All methane produced on
site at the Ocean Beach
Waste Water Treatment
Plan is used to generate
electricity and hot water.
The hot water is used to
keep the digesters
heated. In all, the
combined energy output
accounts for 33% of the
treatment plant's power
needs.
- Waste
San Francisco is
known for touting
innovative cuisine
and healthy
lifestyles. On April
6th 2010 city by the
bay raised the bar in
both arenas by
becoming the first
Meatless Monday
city! The resolution
passed by San
Francisco’s Board of
Supervisors ensures
that residents will
gain greater access
to healthy, meatless
options while
learning about the
connection between
what they eat, their
health and
sustainability. San
Francisco is also
working with Green
Cities California to
promote climate
friendly food choices
and, since the late
1990's has
sponsored and
promoted farmers
markets in
neighborhoods with
poor access to fresh
produce. Emissions from the
consumption of
food and
beverages by San
Franciscans were
estimated using an
EIO-LCA to be
4,530,000 MTCO2
in 2008. Switching
to an alternative
from red meat (one
of the most carbon
intensive foods)
one day a week
would result in a
significant
emissions
reduction.
- Other Emissions
The SFPUC’s 10-year
CIP is budgeted to spend
$15 million on energy
efficiency programs for
municipal facilities.
Energy efficiency is a
green resource and by
reducing facility energy
use, City departments reduce their greenhouse
gas emissions. The
SFPUC is the City’s lead
agency reducing
municipal electricity and
natural gas use and has
specialized energy
efficiency services
available to provide
energy efficiency
planning, design and
construction assistance
to departments interested
in reducing facility
electricity, steam and
natural gas use.
SFPUC’s Energy
Efficiency Services (EES)
can provide City
departments with a
comprehensive suite of
energy efficiency
technical services
including energy audit,
design and construction
management and
administration.
- Buildings
- Buildings
The Business Council on Climate Change (BC3) is a public-private partnership between local government and the business community that works to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in San Francisco through collaboration and direct action.
We provide a platform for business-to-government collaboration on projects that help San Francisco meet its climate goals, such as increasing electric vehicle adoption, providing private sector feedback on proposed actions under the climate action plan, and facilitating the creation of a green tenant toolkit to enhance landlord-tenant engagement on sustainability. We serve the San Francisco Bay Area business community, the City and County of San Francisco, and beyond (reducing emissions locally provides global benefits). In June of 2005, the City and County of San Francisco hosted United Nations World Environment Day (WED). At this event, Mayor Gavin Newsom signed on to the UN Global Compact Cities Pilot Program. The program's fundamental aim is to improve the quality of urban life through the effective use of local cross-sector partnerships between business, government and civil society. San Francisco is one of 14 cities participating globally.
- Other Emissions
Every City and County of SF Department
is required by Board of
Supervisor Mandate to
complete a Climate
Action Plan every year.
This process allows all
sustainability information
and requirements to be
captured under a
cohesive program and
reported through a single
document while also
enabling the
Departments to track
their carbon footprints on
an ongoing basis. This is
an unfunded mandate. The project is lead by the
Climate Team at the
Department of
Environment and
includes program staff
from Zero Waste, Green
Purchasing, Clean Air,
SFPUC Water and
Power, Central Shops,
Real Estate and
Department of
Technology.
- Other Emissions
The Department of
Environment implements
the City’s landmark
Commuter Benefits
Ordinance requiring
businesses with 20 or
more employees to offer
their employees a
commuter benefit for
transit and vanpooling as allowed by federal tax
law, and also administers
the City’s pre-tax
commuter benefits
program for city
employees. One type of
commuter program that
employers can offer
employees, and which
the City offers its
employees, is the ability
to use pre-tax money to
pay for transit and
vanpool expenses.
Employees can save up
to 40% on commuting
expenses by using
pre-tax money. This is a
significant inducement for
people to change their
habits away from
commuting in singleoccupancy
cars. The
Commuter Benefits
Ordinance has been in
effect since 2009 but the
Department of
Environment has been
was promoting the
commuter benefits
program to employers
even before then. The
pre-tax commuter
benefits program has
been available to city
employees since 1999. In
the first three years of
implementation, the
number of employers
who have submitted
compliance forms for the
San Francisco Commuter
Benefits Ordinance has
increased by
approximately 1,000 per
year, with 3,659
employers submitting
compliance forms in
2011. In addition, 4,744
City employees
participated in the City’s
pre-tax commuter
benefits program in 2011.
- Transport
The single biggest
emission reduction
in our set of
climate actions will
come from the
implementation of
the San Francisco
Mayors 100%
Renewable
Electricity Goal
which aims to have
the City producing
and sourcing
100% of its
electricity from
clean resources in
the next two
decades. Currently all municipal
government
operations
including Muni and
all City buildings
run on clean
hydroelectric
power from Hetch
Hetchy Resevoir.
The impact of
moving the whole
community to
carbon free
electricity is an
anticipated
reduction of
800,000-1,500,000
MTCO2. CCSF has made
significant progress
in reducing its
carbon footprint
particularly because
of the work it has
done with
community,
corporate and state
partners to clean up
its local power
generation. Going
forward there are
two mechanisms
being considered to
deliver 100% clean
power. They are : 1)
CleanPower SF, a program under
Community Choice
Aggregation where
the SFPUC would
provide at a
competitive price to
PG&E clean power
option to public
customers or 2) A
green power
program from PG&E
where public
customers could
chose to pay for
greener electricity.
San Francisco is
pursuing a goal of
zero waste to lanfill
by 2020, with the
primary stategy of
maximum source
separation of
recyclables and
compostables for
highest and best
use. San Francisco’s
leads the nation with
a 78% diversion from
landfill, documented
for 2009. This
represents an annual
reduction of disposal
to landfill from over
850,000 tons in 2000
to under 450,000
tons in 2010, due
primarily to the
increasing amount of
material being
recycled and
composted that has
increased to 1.6
million tons per year,
a near doubling from
2000 to 2010. To
help move toward
the cities zero waste
goal, in 2009 the
Board of Supervisors
passed the
Mandatory Recycling
and Composting
Ordinance. This required organic
collection be
provided to all
residences,
apartment buildings,
commercial
businesses, city
facilities and public
events. This has had
a noticeable impact
in increasing
diversion, for
example the amount
of comopstables
collected for
composting
increased from 400
Tons Per Day(TPD)
prior to 600 TPD in 2
years since the
passage of the
mandatory
ordinance.
- Waste
The SF Energy
Watch program is a
joint operation paid
for by PG&E and
implemented by San
Francisco
Department of
Environment. that
helps businesses
and multifamily
buildings lower their
energy bills by
offering: free site
assessments,
rebates for new
energy-efficient
equipment, and
installation services. Current efficiency
actions are not in
themselves
expected to yield
any net reductions.
However, they are
expected to
significantly reduce
growth in projected
demand. Overall
electricity demand
is expected to
increase ~0.8%/yr
based on a recent
2009 California
Energy Demand
forecast report
from the California
Energy
Commission
(CEC). This is
driven primarily by
population growth
(~0.8%/yr) and
increasing market
penetration of
electric vehicles.
The SF Energy
Watch program
and the retrofitting
piece of the
Existing
Commercial
Building
Benchmarking
program and other
energy efficiency
are projected to
help reduce annual
usage 0.5 GWh by
2050.
- Buildings
Executive Directive
06-02, Biodiesel for
Municipal Fleets. The
City’s Biofuels Program
began with the Mayor’s
Biodiesel Executive
Directive issued in 2006.
This directive requiring
the municipal fleet to use
of biodiesel blends of
B20 or higher. A Citywide
Biofuels Strategic Plan is
currently being prepared
that is intended to
expand the scope of this
effort to include all
biofuels the City could
potentially utilize, with
the intent of making the
City as close as possible
to being self-sufficient in
its use of locally sourced,
renewable biofuels for all
its transportation fuel,
other than electric
powered vehicles by
2020.
- Transport
In the 20th Century
U.S. transportation
engineers primarily designed roadways
to allow cars to move
quickly and easily.
Today, redesigning
streets to address
the needs of all users
is widely accepted.
Designing streets
that accommodate
people’s needs, as
San Francisco is
doing with efforts like
the Better Streets
Plan, Walk First, the
Bicycle Plan and the
Transit Effectiveness
Project (TEP),
creates pleasant
urban environments
for all users: people
in stores, on
sidewalks, bicycles,
transit and in cars. In
lieu of the past focus
on wide
thoroughfares with
abundant parking,
the Complete Streets
Strategy creates the
city’s multimodal
connective network.
Dedicated transit
lanes, cycle tracks,
and landscaping
facilitate the
sustainable mode
split goal
Landscaping
sidewalks and
medians also
develops the urban
forest, a recognized
carbon sink for the
city.
- Transport
There are now approximately 166 schools (including San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) Child
Development Centers and private pre-schools) in San Francisco that compost with the Food to Flowers!
program. Since the start of the grant in July 2011, SF Environment has started new lunchroom composting
programs and recycling programs at 9 schools, improved existing programs through assemblies, student
trainings, lunchroom check-ins, and/or waste assessments at 85 schools, and has educated 783 teachers and
13,428 students about how composting and recycling help schools significantly reduce their Altamont Landfillbound
waste, conserve resources, and create healthy topsoil.
- Waste
SF Environment will work with non-governmental organizations to implement Climate Resilient SF, a grassroots outreach campaign on climate change and adaptation. It will work with its existing networks and build on its work on the Community Climate Action Strategy, as well as its work on the City’s urban forest, 100% renewable energy, and urban agricultural plans.
Read More Read Less- Human health
Executive Directive
09-03 on Healthy and
Sustainable Food
mandates that "All
departments having
jurisdiction over property
will conduct an audit of
their land suitable for or
actively used for food
producing gardens or
other agricultural
purposes and prepare a
report with the findings to
my office and a copy to
the Office of Food
Systems within 180 days
of signing this directive”.
In 2007 the Mayor of
San Francisco
launched the
SFCarbon Fund. The
program was piloted
with the aiport and
its first project was a
waste based biofuel
fueling station in the
south eastern part of
the city. After several
years the pilot at
SFO was
discontinued for lack
of participation and it
was determined that
small scale project
development for
verified emissions
reductions (VERs)
by the City was not
feasible/appropriate.
The San Francisco
Carbon Fund is now
in transition and is
under consideration
to be made into a
urban green fund to
increase the planting
and care of urban
forest and green
spaces. While
carbon reductions
from trees are
comparatively small,
the complete
package of
ecosystem services
including carbon
sequestration and
storage, storm water
mitigation, and heat
resistance make the
urban forest a key
part of the City's
Climate Action
Strategy.
Diversifying local
water sources with
recycled water is a
critical part of San
Francisco's long
term water supply
plan. The Westside
Recycled Water
Project is part of the
San Francisco Public
Utilities
Commission’s Local
Water Supply
Program, which is
working to produce a
reliable and
sustainable local
water supply through a combination of
additional
groundwater usage,
more conservation,
and increased water
reuse. The project
would include a new
recycled water
treatment plant that
would provide 2
million gallons per
day of advanced
level treated water
for non-potable
purposes (e.g.
non-drinking uses
such as irrigation and
toilet flushing) to a
variety of customers
on the west side of
San Francisco.
These customers
include Golden Gate
Park, Lincoln Park
and the Lincoln Park
Golf Course, the
Presidio Golf Course
and the California
Academy of
Sciences.
The Department of
Environment, the
Recreation and
Parks Department,
the Department of
Public Health and
the Public Libraries
have all worked
closely with
community
organizations to create new urban
farms. From
Alemany farm in
south San Francisco
to Hayes Valley farm
on the site of an old
freeway exit ramp in
a now thriving Civic
Center
neighborhood, to
small gardens on
Park lands and
Library grounds the
public farms are
flourishing! On the
private side in 2011
the San Francisco
Board of Supervisors
made a change to
planning and zoning
codes allowing
commercial sale of
neighborhood scale
and large scale
urban agriculture
products.
Mayor London BreedCity and County of San Francisco, CA, United States
