CDCR Honored for Green Efforts

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — In October, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) accepted the Cool Planet Award from the Los Angeles-based environmental nonprofit Climate Registry and Rosemead, Calif.-based electrical company Southern California Edison (SCE).

The CDCR was specifically honored for its various solar energy, lighting, recycling and construction projects, which have reduced department-wide energy use by 13 percent since 2003, water use by 1.6 billion gallons annually compared to 2010 levels and greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 55,000 metric tons between 2010 and 2014. These achievements exceeded California’s short-term environmental goals, and the CDCR is currently ahead of schedule to meet more stringent goals by 2020.

“We believe we have a responsibility to be a leader among state agencies for environmental stewardship and are proud of our partnership with SCE and others on projects that are reducing pollution, saving energy and also saving taxpayers millions of dollars in the process,” said CDCR Secretary Jeff Beard in a statement. “The incentive and rebate programs available through SCE have helped us to finance the projects and to implement them on an accelerated time scale.”

Since 2006, the CDCR has constructed solar arrays at 12 prisons that together generate more than 33.6 megawatts, enough to power at least 7,300 homes. The solar arrays will save taxpayers more than $75 million in electricity costs over the next 20 years. The department has also completed 84 energy-efficiency projects since 2008, which have trimmed energy costs by an estimated $6.7 million annually.

Additionally, in the past five years, the department has constructed or renovated 18 buildings to U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) Gold or Silver LEED-NC certification standards, and another four buildings to Gold or Silver LEED-CI/EB certification. Various drought management and water conservation projects, including installation of low-flow technology and other water restrictions in prisons, have also reduced water use throughout the department by 25 percent or 1.5 billion gallons per year since 2013.

The CDCR’s overall reduction in 2014 greenhouse gas emissions also garnered applause from the Cool Planet Award committee. The 12 percent reduction since 2010 is greater than the 10 percent goal for 2015 set for all state agencies by California Governor Jerry Brown, and is ahead of schedule to reduce emissions by 20 percent by 2020.

“The state of California has shown tremendous political leadership and conviction on climate change over the years and the need to take action is as urgent as ever,” said David Rosenheim, executive director of the Climate Registry, during a presentation of the Cool Planet awards in Los Angeles.

This article was originally published in the November/December issue of Correctional News.