Building Blocks for Sustainable and Healthy Communities Initiative

Volunteer and Sponsorship Opportunities Available

For more information contact:

Kevin Varner – kevin@usgbc-ie.org

Michael Peel – mpeel@uncommongood.org

Southern California Gas Company Grant

The Southern California Gas Company recently awarded the U.S. Green Building Council-Inland Empire Chapter a $25,000 grant in partnership with Uncommon Good for its Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities program. The  project focuses on the following objective: Facilitate, implement and support community efforts to build healthy sustainable neighborhoods while integrating job, education and training opportunities in emerging fields and the innovative areas of community development and building science.

Sustainable Communities Program Goals

The far reaching goal of the program is to create green development zones throughout the Inland Empire region.  The “zones” would concentrate investments in green affordable housing, energy efficiency, renewable energy, green jobs training and creation, and urban agriculture in distressed communities. In developing the vision we will have extensive community planning and input involving neighborhood residents and leaders.  The plan would also include neighborhood beautification programs that would include basic repairs and upgrades to homes within the “zones”.

This will provide a model of urban sustainability that not only provides green and energy efficiency upgrades to homes for low to moderate income families but creates a living laboratory of green neighborhoods that will offer workforce training, much needed jobs, places for study and education as well as proving and spurring market forces within the community at large going beyond sustainability.

The initiative will strive to empower communities by providing the resources, opportunities and knowledge as well as facilitating key partnerships developing community control of their resources and linking the sustainability movement to economic justice by employing low-income participants and developing healthy neighborhoods. This initial program will help to build a grassroots constituency for further implementation and additional green investment which will lead to a commitment to sustainability and neighborhood pride promoting a cleaner and healthier community.

Key Components:

1. Quality of life enhancing jobs, training and experience.
2. Advanced job training and education creating career pathways.
3. Energy Efficiency and renewables.
4. Community gardens and urban agriculture.
5. Community outreach and education on green homes and sustainable communities.
6. Homeowner and community involvement and leadership.
7. Complete streets.
8. Economically stable neighborhoods.
9. Walk-ability and parks.
10. Create “Living laboratories of sustainable practices that can be replicated.

First Phase – Energy Efficiency and Job Training

The first phase concentrates on a 4 to 8 month goal to train and place low-income unemployed or underemployed individuals using learned skills in internships and job shadowing programs on at least ten projects receiving additional experience and training. Ten low income qualified households will receive cost free energy assessments and Tier 1 upgrades or better for their homes to lower their energy bills and create more comfortable and healthy living spaces, bettering indoor air quality and a lowering of their carbon footprint.

Initially, projects will focus on the Tier 1 upgrades for each home which includes incandescent lamp replacement, programmable thermostats, low-flow faucets and shower heads, weather stripping, window caulking, attic-hatch insulation, high-hat trim replacement, pipe insulation, duct sealing, HVAC equipment tune-ups as well as basic repairs.  Funds will also provide stipends for the Green Energy Team (GET) workers supported by Uncommon Good to work on these projectsas well as fund project overhead costs for oversight and implementation. Advanced on-the-job training will come from each individual project and will enable mentoring opportunities for additional underemployed workers and interested community members.

Energy Efficiency and Healthy Homes Education

We will also create educational opportunities and community awareness for the program, which will be provided by the partners through press releases, announcements, social media, demonstration projects with community service opportunities, a short film volunteer project and workshops to provide an arena to discuss energy efficiency, encourage program participation, and for residents to ask questions.

Sustainability Community Planning

During this phase we will implement the planning process for the green development zones engaging and targeting potential participants and communities. Rancho Cucamonga’s Northtown, one of the oldest and poorest neighborhoods in the City with an antiquated housing stock, will be part of the initial phase.

Current Status of Sustainability Program

The first house to be served through this grant is being planned right now for a February work implementation in partnership with a local Riverside energy efficiency contractor and in connection with an existing low-income home being planned for solar installation. This first project in February will help create the model for the rest of homes under this grant and for future grants and allow for a structured pragmatic work plan to be solidified in order to incorporate other contractors, partners, and community volunteers as expansion occurs.

More details to come.

Contact Kevin Varner at kevin@usgbc-ie.org or Michael Peel at mpeel@uncommongood.org for more information.