G&B works with Rebuild Green in the recovery effort for communities affected by the North Bay fires
http://rebuildgreenexpo.com/

Out of the devastation caused by the tragic fires in Sonoma County last October grew a demanding need to build quickly but efficiently. Recognizing this need along with the imperative to rebuild consciously and thoughtfully, a group of experts in sustainable building design banded together to form the Rebuild Green Coalition. Our Director of Sustainability, Ted Tiffany, is among the organizers for this effort. “It starts with a simple question: what can we do to help our neighbors?” said Ted, who lives in Santa Rosa.  Ted and his peers have developed many core concepts focusing on building resiliency and sustainability in order to make it easy for people to choose green.

At Guttmann & Blaevoet, our staff has aided in the recovery effort in multiple ways. Together we raised $1,000 through individual donations and G&B matched that by contributing an additional $4,000 to be distributed to the following organizations: Santa Rosa Junior College, Redwood Credit Union, Undocufund, Carlile Macy, and QKA. Many individuals also gave of their time by donating necessary items and helping with the sorting and distribution of items at a sorting center.  Most recently, through the North Bay Rebuild Green Coalition, we helped shape and deliver the free one-day event, Rebuild Green Expo held on February 23rd, 2018 to 2,000+ attendees, teaching them how to rebuild homes to meet minimum Code requirements as well as achieve all electric, Zero Net Energy (ZNE) status. You can find more information on the materials and presentations here.   

Learn more about the rebuild efforts in Santa Rosa with the series of Decoding Talks provided by Energy Code Ace in collaboration with PG&E, Gabel Associates, and Guttmann & Blaevoet. You may have missed the live training, but recordings and resource materials are available here. More education sessions will be scheduled to update everyone on fire-rebuilding efforts, incentive programs, as well as provide general assistance.

We are extremely proud of the work that Sonoma Clean Power, PG&E, and BAAQMD completed with support from our staff to develop the Incentive Program for All Electric ZNE Homes. This program offers a unique incentive of up to $17,500 per home to encourage high-performance design with heat pump technology, induction stovetops, installed solar with battery storage, and electric vehicle charging stations.

Stay tuned for more educational opportunities surrounding this effort!

 

The Case for Rebuilding Green

Ted Tiffany presented the case to replace the homes that were lost in the October NorthBay fires with all electric, decarbonized homes at the Rebuild Green Expo in Santa Rosa.   

It is imperative to rebuild these structures with a focus on resiliency and environmental responsibility.  “It’s time for a change of fuels by using clean, safe energy sources and efficient systems.  You can go beyond code with smart, well thought out design that can also be done cost-effectively,” said Ted. Learn more about Ted’s article.