Current Climate Smart Initiatives
Updated: 9/6/22
Ref.
No.
Project Title Project Description Lead Department
1 Parking and
Transportation
Demand
Management
Policy
This policy will remove parking minimum requirements
citywide and implement transportation demand management requirements to expand transportation options in and near new development. Framework approved by Council on
6/14/22.
Planning, Building, and Code
Enforcement (PBCE)/
Department of Transportation
(DOT)
2 Building Reach
Code Update -
Administrative
Update reach code for new construction to reflect 2022 CA Building Code updates and align with natural gas
infrastructure prohibition ordinance.
PBCE/ Environmental
Services (ESD)
3 Building Reach
Code
Evaluation
Evaluate the following for a reach code or related policy update: electric vehicle (EV) charging requirements for multifamily properties, embodied carbon, and climate-friendly roof space design standards.
PBCE/ ESD
4 Move San José The Move San José plan will lay out a set of strategies to bring the bold transportation goals of Envision 2040 San José General Plan and Climate Smart San José to life. The Plan is developing projects and policies that make progress on goals like increased walking, biking, and transit use, decreased auto dependence, increased safety, and making our streets
designed around people, not cars.
The City is also advancing targeted plans to improve mobility throughout San José, including through Urban Village and associated Transportation Improvement Plans; pedestrian safety plans like Walk Safe San José; and complete street and safety redesign efforts (e.g., Vision Zero and transit priority corridors like King and Monterey Roads).
DOT
5 Delivering Zero
Emissions
The DZEC grant was awarded to San José in June 2021 to
support work towards reducing GHG emissions from urban
DOT
Attachment A
Communities
(DZEC)
Initiatives
freight. Work under the grant includes the analysis of
commercial freight GHG emissions data, an analysis of
strategies the City could use to address urban freight
emissions, working with an Equity Task Force, and
conducting informational interviews with commercial freight companies. The grant has been extended for another year to support further community engagement work and
development of a pilot.
6 Transit First
Policy
A policy to prioritize speeding transit on city streets and in land use plans.
DOT
7 E-carshare Pilot DOT staff is working with a number of community organizations to develop a grant proposal for an e-carsharing program.
DOT
8 Electric Vehicle
Service
Equipment
(EVSE)
Installations
DOT staff is working with San Jose Clean Energy (SCJE) and other departments to identify priority sites for EV charger installations. Staff anticipates grant funding may be available to support such installations in the fall. The chargers would serve area residents, City staff and fleet vehicles, and possibly an e-carshare program.
DOT
9 California
Electric Vehicle
Infrastructure
Project
The California Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Project
(CALeVIP) is a $14 million rebate program for Level 2 and Direct Current Fast Charging infrastructure co-funded by SJCE and the California Energy Commission and
administered by the Center for Sustainable Energy. CALeVIP launched in December 2020 and as of March 2022, 52 Level 2 and 11 Direct Current Fast Chargers funded by the program are operational. Projects are to be completed through 2023.
Community Energy
Department (CED)
10 Direct Current
Fast Charging
Hubs Pilot
SJCE is evaluating the financial feasibility for a Direct Current Fast Charging Hubs pilot program to increase access to affordable and reliable EV charging in low-income and disadvantaged communities.
CED
11 Energy
Efficiency
Programs
SJCE secured $5.1 million from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to offer two energy efficiency programs over three years, beginning September 2022. The first
program offers discounts on energy efficient electric
appliances, including refrigerators, washers, and dryers, and free energy saving devices to moderate-income single-family households as well as single-family households located in disadvantaged communities. The second program will
incentivize energy-efficient upgrades to heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC), refrigeration, and hot water distribution systems for small commercial buildings,
including schools. SJCE aims to serve 350 residential
customers, 100 businesses, and three schools annually. The City allocated $500,000 in federal relief funds to expand access to the residential program.
CED
12 Solar Access
(Disadvantaged
CommunitiesGreen Tariff
Program)
Solar Access is an SJCE program that offers low-income
customers living in disadvantaged communities a 20 percent bill discount and 100 percent solar energy from a solar facility in Northern California. Customers can receive the discount as long as they meet the eligibility requirements. The program is entirely funded by the CPUC. The program is fully subscribed but interested customers may still apply to be added to a waitlist.
CED
13 Integrated
Resource Plan
In late 2022, SJCE will submit an Integrated Resource Plan to the California Public Utilities Commission. It is a long-term utility plan to ensure SJCE procures energy resources to meet load needs and achieve the City’s climate goals.
CED
14 Building
Electrification
Upgrade
Accelerator
Program
Request for Proposals issued in May 2022 for residential services to: 1) support evaluation, financing, and
implementation of building electrification upgrades; 2) support contractor training and workforce development; and 3) targeted support for disadvantaged communities. Award pending.
ESD
15 Zero Emissions
Neighborhood
(ZEN) Pilot
Climate Smart has been developing the ZEN program concept with the support of the Climate Challenge. The ZEN is
intended to bring a suite of Climate Smart building, mobility, and water improvements to households in a pilot
neighborhood. The neighborhood will be selected based on equity data indicators, input from local community-based organizations, and interest from residents. The ZEN pilot design will be co-created with the participating households and is expected to be completed in mid-2022.
ESD
16 GoGreen Teams Pilot to facilitate resident leaders in the engagement of their team through a series of meetings leading to climate and resiliency actions, with progress tracking on the City’s Climate Smart Challenge platform.
ESD
17 Climate Smart
Challenge
Staff continue to promote the City’s Climate Smart Challenge platform, which currently has 861 users. Participants have completed more than 1,000 climate actions that have resulted in over $45,000 saved, 150 tons of CO2 reduced, and 169,000 gallons of water saved. Staff is issuing a Request for
Proposals (RFP) for the Climate Smart Challenge platform with award estimated in September 2022.
ESD
18 Climate Smart
San Jose Plan
Update
Update Climate Smart to include carbon neutrality goal, cost analysis, and new Elements.
ESD
19 Climate
Commission
Council directed staff to return to Council with
recommendations on establishing a Climate Commission, to be merged with CED’s existing commission, for
consideration of funding as part of the FY23-24 budget
process.
CED/ ESD
20 New Climate
Smart Zero
Waste Element
(ZWE)
The ZWE will address GHG emissions from the solid waste sector. It will assess and reevaluate the prioritization of the City’s zero waste strategies and address related critical issues regarding recycling markets, changing waste regulations, ESD
domestic reuse potential, local infrastructure related to waste, and landfill capacity.
21 New Climate
Smart Natural
and Working
Lands (NWL)
Element
In a partnership with and with matching funding from the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority (OSA), the City drafted an NWL Element which lays out new Climate Smart NWL indicators, metrics, and progress milestones. The report was finalized and will be posted online. The Element will be presented for City Council consideration, along with the ZWE, to incorporate into the Climate Smart plan.
ESD
22 Advanced
Metering
Infrastructure
(AMI)
Deployment
AMI will allow residents and commercial businesses to view water usage data in nearly real-time, increasing potable water usage awareness and leak detection efficiency. San Jose Municipal Water will complete is in the final stages of completing a pilot of three AMI technologies and will
develop a full implementation plan to deploy AMI to more than 26,000 service connections. San Jose Water Company, which services approximately 80 percent of the city, will conduct a phased AMI deployment during the next few years.
ESD
23 Integrated
Water
Infrastructure
Program (IWIP)
Increasing recycled water use is a goal within Climate Smart San Jose. The objective of the IWIP is to integrate existing water infrastructure to create a cohesive distribution system conveying stormwater, non-potable groundwater, and
recycled water to maximize underutilized assets and increase the non-potable water supply. South Bay Water Recycling and San Jose Municipal Water will complete an expanded
pilot project in 2022 to assess the efficacy of bioretention ponds to expand recycled water applications by improving recycled water quality and to diversify San Jose’s water resources portfolio.
ESD
24 Energy and
Water Building
Performance
Approved in December 2018, the BPO requires property
owners of large commercial and multi-family properties
20,000 square feet in size and above to benchmark these properties’ energy and water use and report this to the City ESD
Ordinance
(BPO)
annually using the U.S. EPA ENERGYSTAR Portfolio
Manager® platform. On a rolling five-year cycle, starting in 2023, buildings will also have to complete one of two
“Beyond Benchmarking Pathways,” through which they will have to either 1) demonstrate high performance or
performance improvement; or 2) complete an audit, building re-tuning, or targeted efficiency actions with the goal of improving their performance. In 2021, Staff began sharing energy and water data with buildings via customized
scorecards.
25 1 Day/ 1 Action Art/ social media campaign to engage and inspire our community to take climate action (details forthcoming!) Office of Economic
Development and Cultural
Affairs