Skip to content

Posts tagged ‘2015’

Dec 16

3 Comments

Snow Storm Tree Branch Clean Up in Salt Lake City

snowCrews

Posted 12/16/2015 following the record-breaking snowstorm in Salt Lake City

The heavy wet snow that fell during this week’s storm has resulted in substantial tree damage throughout the entire City. Since the storm event, City crews have been hard at work removing downed trees and tree limbs from roadways, driveways, and heavily used pedestrian areas.

At this time, Salt Lake City Urban Forestry and contracted pruning crews are transitioning into a city-wide, block by block, effort to collect the thousands of medium to large sized branches that have fallen from trees within Salt Lake City parks and in our park strips along City streets.  During these branch pickup operations, these ground crews will also be identifying broken branches (which are still hanging in trees) to be removed by subsequent aerial work crews.

The City is committed to completing this cleanup effort as quickly and safely as possible.  However, given the quantity and spread of tree damage, branch pick up operations will continue well into next week.

As additional tree branch breakage is always possible, the Salt Lake City Urban Forestry Program is urging City residents to exercise awareness and caution when they find themselves in close proximity to trees during their day to day activities.

Please contact the Salt Lake City Urban Forestry office at (801) 972-7818 with any questions regarding the cleanup effort, and to report tree limbs blocking roads or driveways.

Dec 15

SLCgreen Releases 2015 State of Sustainability Report

state of sustainability

For the first time ever, Salt Lake City Green has released a State of Sustainability Report. 2015: State of Sustainability in Salt Lake City is an overview of Salt Lake City’s hardworking Sustainability Division, which began in 2008.

The Sustainability Division (otherwise known as Salt Lake City Green, or SLCgreen) aims to preserve and improve our built and natural environments and provide people with information on sustainability issues affecting Salt Lake City. The Division of Sustainability develops goals and strategies to protect our natural resources, reduce pollution, slow climate change, and establish a path toward greater resiliency and vitality for all aspects of our community.

2015: State of Sustainability in Salt Lake City covers the core areas of the division, from air quality, climate change, energy and food to curbside recycling, garbage, compost and glass.

We’re excited to give you a look at what we’ve accomplished to date, and what we’re proud to be working on!

Explore the State of Sustainability. Download the report (PDF).

Feedback? Email us at SLCgreen@slcgov.com.

We’re excited for another fantastic year — see you in 2016!

Oct 9

Salt Lake Climate Week is Coming! October 12-16, 2015

ClimateWeek-Web-2

Salt Lake City Green is excited to announce that the first ever Climate Week is kicking off next Monday, October 12, 2015!

We’ll be posting daily blogs exploring climate change impacts in Salt Lake City, highlighting how the City is responding to climate change, and what you can do to take action at home.

Stay tuned, and we’ll see you next week!

Aug 12

Solar Farm Tour

Parawon Solar Tour (Scatec) - Aug 5, 2015Tyler Poulson (pictured) from SLCgreen traveled to Parowan, UT with a busload of other solar enthusiasts to tour Utah’s first utility scale solar project. The tour was hosted by Utah Clean Energy, EDCUtah, and the Utah Governor’s Office of Energy Development.

This project is the first of many large-scale solar installations that will occur in Utah by the end of 2016.  Additional details are included below:

• This 340,000 solar panel project is being developed by a Norwegian company (Scatec Solar), but over 80% of the onsite labor to-date and sub-contracted work is from Utah. Part of the land is being leased from an alfalfa farmer who eagerly moved his operations, and water rights, elsewhere in spacious Iron County.

• Scatec Solar has signed a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Rocky Mountain Power (RMP). The contract locks in an electricity price for RMP and its customers.

• This specific solar power plant covers 630 acres. Each row of panels will track the sun east-to-west daily to produce enough electricity for about 60,000 energy-efficient residential customers (assuming use of 3,400 kWh / year). See a panoramic view of the plant.  Generating the same amount of electricity with coal over a 25-year time frame (equal to the warranty of the panels), would require about 13,000 pounds of coal per individual panel installed.

• This 104 megawatt (DC) solar project will be fully operational in December 2015, but represents just 10% of the total new utility-scale solar development that will occur in Utah over the next 17 months. An additional 900 MW, over roughly 3,000,000 new solar panels, will be added by third-party companies. All of these arrangements are contracted through PPAs with RMP at Avoided Cost pricing, locking in a fixed rate for energy for decades.

Here is a link to a video about the tour, and more photos are available on Utah Clean Energy’s Facebook page.

Jul 27

Master Recycler Fall Session

By Josh Lipman, SLCgreen Intern

After the first successful round of training members of our community to be experts in recycling, SLCgreen and the Department of Sanitation are opening up applications for the second round of the Master Recycler training program.

Participants in the Master Recycler program take a hands on approach to learning about sustainable waste management in Salt Lake City by studying and experiencing the most up to date recycling techniques through classroom sessions and visits to the different waste management and recycling facilities in our city. Master Recyclers then can educate and engage the community, creating a network of environmentally consciousness Salt Lake City residents.

The fall Master Recycler class runs eight Thursdays from September 3rd to October 22nd. Applications are rolling and through August 28th (dates subject to change), and the class is free of charge. All community members are encouraged to register and come learn about these key systems in the city by emailing John Boulanger at john.boulanger@slcgov.com.

Salt Lake Master Recycler Fall Flyer

Jul 13

Salt Lake City Announces Project Skyline Challenge Award Winners

ProjectSkyline 400

Today, Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker, Kathleen Hogan, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency for the U.S. Department of Energy, and Matthew Dalbey, Director of the Office of Sustainable Communities for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, joined City leaders and building owners in honoring the winners of the Project Skyline Mayor’s Challenge 2015 Awards. Project Skyline, a multi-year challenge to reduce building energy use in buildings across the city, was launched in May 2014. The goal is to challenge building owners across Salt Lake City to proactively meet – and exceed – the air quality and energy-saving targets of the Sustainable Salt Lake – Plan 2015 by 15 percent by 2020. Throughout its first year, Project Skyline has been overwhelmingly successful, hosting educational and networking workshops, providing resources for evaluating the building’s energy use, and helping establish energy-saving goals for each business involved.

At the 2015 Project Skyline Awards Luncheon, five winners were recognized for their leadership in Challenge efforts over the past year.

This year, the Energy Innovator Award goes to Basic Research. Basic Research has improved the efficiency of their 230,000-square-foot facility by improving the lighting, HVAC systems, and installing the largest privately owned solar photovoltaic project in the state of Utah. By making these improvements, Basic Research has improved their ENERGY STAR score from 10 to 99.

The Sustained Excellence Award goes to Fidelity Investments. Across the country, Fidelity Investments is working to obtain LEED certification in 65 percent of their buildings and their location on 49 N 400 W is no exception. The building falls under LEED Silver certification, and recently, they added LED lighting and lighting controls and photovoltaic panels to improve the building’s ENERGYSTAR score to 96.

The McGillis School, a private co-ed school located on the Northeast bench of the Salt Lake Valley, has earned the Most-Improved EnergyStar Score Award. In 2014, the school reported an ENERYSTAR score of 97, which marks a 17 point improvement from 2013.

The Energy Efficiency Leadership Award goes to Newmark Grubb ACRES. Throughout the past year, Newmark Grubb ACRES has helped tremendously attending and presenting at multiple workshops. Company leadership also participates on BOMA Utah’s Energy and Sustainability committee and helped launch the BOMA Utah Kilowatt Crackdown. Additionally, the company is working on energy efficiency in several of its properties and are continuing to improve their ENERGYSTAR scores.

Lastly, the Benchmarking Champion Award goes to the Salt Lake City School District. Since 2009, the Salt Lake City School District has begun benchmarking to monitor energy consumption in over 40 buildings. Not only are 72 percent of the district’s schools benchmarked, but they are also certified ENERGY STAR buildings. They have seen an an 18 percent improvement in ENERGY STAR scores in all of their buildings.

Congratulations to these businesses.  For more information on Project Skyline and the Mayor’s Challenge, visit our website.

 

Jun 9

Downtown Farmers Market Opens this Saturday!

By SLCgreen Intern Nicole Muehle

The Downtown Salt Lake City Farmers Market begins this Saturday, June 13th at Pioneer Park and will continue through the end of the summer. This year the market will be offering everything from canning classes to musical performances from local artists. See the full list of market events happening this summer!

IMG_1418

Attending the Downtown Farmers Market is a great way to eat sustainably and get to know the local vendors. Spring and early summer crops include greens, strawberries, herbs, and spinach. There will also be baked goods, jams, and spreads.

Downtown Salt Lake City Farmers Market

Saturdays: 8:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. (June 13th-October 24th)

Tuesdays: 4:00 p.m.-Dusk (August 4th-October 20th)

Located at Pioneer Park, 300 S. 300 W.

Apr 15

Become an Entrepreneur: Join the 2015 Startup Incubator

Startup Incubator Poster

HOW TO APPLY

Step 1: Complete The Application.
Step 2:  Fill out a MOKR document, and email it to:  sustainablestartups@gmail.com 
What is a MOKR document you ask?  Get directions and see an example.

The next cohort starts June 2015

THE WHAT

  • 12 week cohort style program. Through weekly morning meetings, participants learn the Lean Startup framework and receive mentorship from their peers.
  • Program utilizes Steven Blank’s “How to Build a Startup” course.
  • Participants learn the MOKR and Management Report structure based on Quatere’s Foundry program. This reporting and management system increases efficiency, effectiveness and accountability.
  • Participants learn to incorporate triple bottom-line values into their business models, and build startups that have real, lasting impact on their communities.

THE WHO

  • Anyone from any background is welcome to apply. You don’t need a business degree, loads of experience, or fancy software skills to be a great entrepreneur. All you need is an idea, coachability, drive and a willingness to get out of your element and ask the right questions.
  • For-profit, non-profit and hybrid concepts are all welcome to apply. We give no preference to industry, take no equity and give no funding. Our incubator is about supporting and educating driven people wanting to change the world through entrepreneurship.
  • Our incubator focuses on proving concepts and validating business models. Participants are welcome to work on multiple concepts simultaneously and iterate as they learn throughout the program.

THE WHY

  • Salt Lake needs more entrepreneurs working to solve substantive community problems. Create the change you want to see.
  • Learn the lean startup framework, and prove your concept with minimal resources and budget.
  • Become more effective in your work, learn how to prioritize and get things done.
  • Entrepreneurship can be lonely. Join a network of fellow entrepreneurs, get support, and become more accountable to yourself and others.

Mar 17

Downtown Farmers Market Vendor Information and Involvement Opportunities!

downtownfarmersmarket
Would you like to be a vendor at the Downtown Salt Lake City Farmers Market? Are you a farmer or grower within 250 miles of Salt Lake City? Do you hand-make artwork or crafts? Are you a local musician? A non-profit organization? A volunteer? A sponsor?

For details about the application process and the link to apply, visit the Downtown Farmers Market application page.

The application period ends April 3rd. Secure your involvement in something sustainable, local, and beautiful today!

« Older Entries