Healthy Air Living Means Business!
Making Healthy Air Living part of your business decisions.Carpooling and Other Alternatives to Traditional Commutes
- Alternative Transportation Handbook
- Offer Telecommuting to your employees!
- Commuting Calculators
Be On The Green Team
While our air quality is improving, the San Joaquin Valley has an extremely serious air quality problem. As a business, you can institute voluntary procedures and practices that can reduce emissions and improve air quality.
The District exceeds standards for the pollutants Ozone and Particulate Matter-2.5. Ozone is formed when oxides of nitrogen (NOx) react with volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the presence of sunlight. PM-2.5 is a very small particle that is very unhealthful.
As a business, you can take an active voluntary role in improving air quality thru green contracting and purchasing green products. There are many examples where being “green” also provides you cost savings which will help your bottom line. Check out the Business Success Stories for ideas for your company. Be part of the “solution to reduce pollution” by including green contracting and products in your business decisions.
When you search for contractors ask whether they utilize green products, such as non-VOC or low-VOC containing coatings, solvents, and cleaning solutions. When contractors utilize combustion equipment such as engines or boilers, ask whether their equipment is the lowest pollution-emitting devices. Better yet, build into your contracts language that requires the use of green practices, equipment, and products. Lastly, consider shifting your emissions during bad air days. (see Shifting Your Emissions link).
Check out the following links:- Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP): A comprehensive EPA website that assists EPA to effectively purchase “green” and can assist your company as well.
- U.S. Green Building Council: If you are preparing to construct a building or perform a major remodel, utilize a LEED contractor to build a “green” building.
- There are ways to have “green meetings”
In summary, companies can provide significant voluntary emission reductions through use of “green” contracting and “green” products. Companies who incorporate “green” practices into their daily business decisions will be part of the “pollution solution,” often times enjoy cost savings, and be able to market their operations to shareholders, environmentally conscious customers, and to their employees. It should be noted that Valley residents put a great importance on air quality and environmentally-conscious companies will be looked upon favorably by potential customers.
Shifting Emissions Can Help Clean the Air!
While our air quality is improving, the San Joaquin Valley has an extremely serious air quality problem. As a business, you can institute voluntary procedures and practices that can reduce emissions and improve air quality.
The District is in extreme non-attainment for the pollutant ozone. Ozone is formed when reacts with VOCs in the presence of sunlight. With the valley’s abundance of sunshine, ozone formation is a significant problem during the months of March thru October.
As a business, there are a number of practices you may implement to help reduce emissions that produce ozone during March thru October. Practices include:
- Delay projects such as painting that utilize products containing VOCs to November thru February
- If a project like painting can not be delayed until November; do not work on the project on days when the Ozone values are above an AQI of 120
- Delay maintenance or cleaning activities that utilize combustion equipment such as engines and boilers to November thru February
- If a project that utilizes combustion equipment can’t be delayed until November; do not work on the project on days when the Ozone values are above an air quality index (AQI) of 120
- If you have a business or a portion of your business that has the ability to select choose times when you operate combustion equipment or utilize VOC containing material, consider scheduling work so as to minimize the formation of ozone
To summarize, please include air quality impacts in your business decisions, especially when planning projects that will emit air contaminants. Try and schedule activities at times when these activities will minimize negative air quality impacts.
Cleaner Energy Sources
Business Success Stories
Paramount Farms, Northwestern Kern County- They have installed a solar energy farm. The energy provided can offset a significant amount of plant operations, saving fossil-fuel derived grid power.
- In addition, the facility operates employee van pools for its sites in Lost Hills and Kings County.
- The Lost Hills facility has a cafeteria to keep employees from commuting offsite for meals.
- The facility saves travel with teleconferencing between offices in Lost Hills and Santa Monica, and allows employee telecommuting.
- Wide variety of employee focused programs which reduce vehicle miles travelled, including, bike to work, flex work schedules, bus incentives, and onsite food service, Postal services and dry cleaning service.
- IKEA participates and encourages in carpooling and other alternative transportation with subsidies, and competitions between all of the word-wide outlets to see who can do the most.
- IKEA has a telecommuting program that allows some job classifications to work from home.
- EPA SmartWay Truck Fleet Charter Member, and award winner. IKEA requires that all contract carriers are part of the SmartWay program which seeks to cut idling, and improve mileage in order to reduce emissions.
- IKEA conducts energy use audits for its facilities, and has instituted a program of energy savings at the local plant. A project to use motion and daylight controlled lighting in conjunction with skylights saved enough energy to pay for itself in 6 months.
- IKEA is considering solar power for the facility south of Bakersfield, and geothermal power for a facility in Canada. Their goal is to be 100% renewable. They use electric forklifts.
- IKEA contracts with a catering service to keep employees on site for meals.
- IKEA educates its employees about environmental concerns and energy savings and hopes to gain a 20% savings from this activity.
- Company has a no-idling policy at every facility.
- Best Buy has significantly reduced truck trips to the bay area by utilizing a satellite distribution center and consolidation of loads. They are expanding concept to LA this year.
- Has changed lighting for efficient energy use.
- Hope to install solar in distribution center later this year and then expand to stores.
- They are in the process of installing Rentar units (type of catalyst) on off road heavy duty equipment. These units reduce emissions and increase fuel efficiency.
The entire operation has switched to green technology, including:
- They have had solar energy for 5 years
- They retrofitted all their refrigeration units for energy efficiency
- Changed all lighting to energy efficient
- Latest technology truck fleet
- Changing truck tires to most efficient type
- Have two trucks with particulate filters and have applied for more
- All his sales staff drive hybrid vehicles
- The refinery is planning a large expansion project. At this time gas-oil produced at the plant is trucked to plants in Long Beach for refining into fuel. The expansion would allow this material to be refined on site, and save shipping the gas-oil out of the valley and the fuel into the valley. This will result in the elimination of thousands of truck trips per year; and estimated 75% of the trucked in fuels will be manufactured locally.
- As part of the expansion project the facility will spend $5MM locally for environmental projects, and will donate another $1MM for local environmental projects.
- They have pledged to plant 1000 trees to offset emissions from the new plant, and have installed high-efficiency lighting, in the office, and long-life, low-leaking valves throughout the facility.
- The facility has utilized a high-efficiency control technique on the burners for the heaters and boilers. This equipment not only allows the facility to more effectively meet emission requirements, but saves a significant amount of fuel as well.
- They have installed enough solar panels at their water treatment plant to run the facility, and are looking into other opportunities to install solar power units.
- They are placing 6 inches of gravel on about 60 miles of roads this year to reduce dust.
- They are working on a newsletter to their customers and are willing to include Healthy Air Living information and other air pollution information that we share with them.
- Purchasing hybrid fleet vehicles
- Implementing new fuel efficient processes in their plant
- Using digester to produce methane fuel at their distillery
- Green contracting with trucking companies
- Educational seminars for growers and displays of new technology to reduce farm emissions
- Provide growers a paper tray recycling program as an alternative to burning
- Encouraging Carpooling
- Foster Farms is testing a filter for refrigerated trucks, additional they are trying biodiesel (B20 and B20, B20 seems to work better).
- In Livingston they have the company restaurant they can walk to.
- They are looking into solar panels at their chicken houses to run the operations.
- Facility has fuel additives that have been used successfully in bus fleet trials to increase mileage and decrease NOx and PM10. Las Palmas is working on state certification for the product and has tested it in fleets worldwide.
- They are about to implement a van pool to serve tenants employees at IKEA and Tejon Industrial Complex.
- They designed TIC buildings with efficient interior lighting and cool roofs to save energy.
- They are committed to solar power depending on securing a firm tenant for one of the largest warehouses in the TIC.
- They are exploring other ways to reduce truck traffic into and out of the valley.
- They are trying to get bus service to their site and provide a bus schedule to all employees.
- They have undergone a lighting retrofit program to reduce energy consumption.
- They shut down portions or their operations during peak electrical demands periods.
- They have a solar project that is providing power to the plant to replace boiler used in the cooking of their chips.
- They do power conversation with lighting and other internal process.
- They are establishing a rideshare/carpooling program at the site.
- They have participated in the ERIP program
- They have added 66 particulate filters, and installed 11 engine repower retrofits
- Of their 300 trucks, 100 are 1993 or older that they would like to replace.
- On their ranching operations they have replaced several old diesel pump engines with the help of Moyer funds.
- They are replacing their maintenance trucks (1/2 ton and ¾ ton) with smaller more fuel-efficient models. The saving in fuels covers most of the cost of the new vehicles.
- All trucks use light rims and tires are properly inflated.
- They have a policy book that out lines a number of issues that reduce pollution
- Trucks leave full
- Manage trucks so that as they pull in there is no waiting and no backlog of trucks blocking traffic.
- All trucks are leased which keeps their fleet new.
- TID is in the process of taking waste gas from the City of Turlock’s wastewater treatment plant (currently sent to a flare), cleaning the gas stream and using the gas to operate a 1.2 MW fuel cell
- Additionally, the utility runs a number of energy efficiency programs and incentive programs for its customers.
- CSUB encourages student use of busses by subsidizing bus passes, and by sponsoring an Alternative Transportation Day. They are exploring ways to get more people involved such as incentivizing alternative transportation with gift drawings.
- CSUB offers many internet classes, and has dining facilities, postage facilities, and provides daycare for students and staff.
- Facility has developed a program to maximize the efficiency of the heat put into the ground for heavy-oil production.
- Facility has a solar power facility near Fellows.
- Facility operates van-pools to outlying field areas.
- Facility uses high-efficiency lighting in its offices, has a gym on site, provides lunch service, mailroom, 9/80 schedule, bicycle storage, and operates a fleet of small economy or hybrid as fleet vehicles.
- Chevron participates in the San Joaquin Valley Clean Air Program, and is the major sponsor of Valley Clean Air Now which pays for smog checks and repairs for older vehicles.
- Facility uses high-efficiency lighting in its offices, has a gym on site, provides lunch service, ATM, 9/80 schedule, and operates 2 van pools from office.
- Aera has engaged in energy studies to minimize energy use in field and in office.
- AERA has invited the District to participate in their Health and Safety Fair on 5/21/08.
- Facility is in the process of ISO 14001 certification. Company has set as a goal reduction in gas, water, and electricity usage of 5%/ton of product per year. These changes come from a resource conservation team and are funded by the parent company. Improvements or ideas to date include reflective paint, solar power, high-efficiency condensers, compressors, and lighting.
- Facility is planning on a cafeteria (in addition to all the ice cream you can eat).
- Dreyers utilizes video-conferencing and telecommuting to cut down on travel, and encourages walking, bicycling, and carpooling to work.
- Company has installed a five acre solar power generation field.
- Changed all lighting to energy efficient fixtures
- Installed skylights
