Gasser spin-off preaches green
New nonprofit helping cities, organizations use less energy

Saturday, February 21, 2009

By KEVIN COURTNEY
Napa Valley Register Staff Writer

Want to save the environment and save money too? Then Sustainable Napa County wants to talk to you.

This new nonprofit, a spin-off of the Gasser Foundation, is already working behind the scenes in getting cities to adopt tougher building standards.

Largely because of the group’s lobbying, the Napa City Council recently adopted one of the most ambitious sets of energy conservation standards in California for large commercial projects.

In recent times, Sustainable Napa County paid for energy audits of 10 local nonprofit agencies, coming up with recommendations to cut utility bills so the savings can go to providing client services.

As part of its public education mission, the organization held workshops to teach homeowners and bankers how to deal with the complexities of solar power financing. More education sessions to help cities and the building industry accept new codes promoting “high performance” buildings are planned.

Society is in flux, said Jeri Gill, Sustainable Napa County’s CEO. People are wanting to conserve energy and save the planet. Sustainable Napa County intends to be the resource agency to help guide them.

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