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Welcome to Green Wilshire Center District & Wilshire Center/Koreatown Cool District Program

Let’s Go Green!


If you live or work here it is time to calculate your carbon footprint; join your fellow citizens today in learning your CO2 emissions score. Find out how to save money with energy conservation efforts, and much more. The Wilshire Center District is committed to conservation of energy as a means of creating a sustainable environment for our future. The District will reach its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction target only when every individual does his/her part to save energy, reduce waste and drive less. Join us in making a difference in our community.

The Wilshire Center District initiated the first Cool District in North America. On July 19, 2007, the Wilshire Center Business Improvement District’s Board of Directors made the pledge to reduce the district’s greenhouse gas, GHG, emissions by at least 2% per year over the next 40 years (an 80% reduction below the 2010 baseline). 

Current Status of the Cool District Program for Our Community

We have completed the Pilot Projects for the building retrofits and in addition have completed a report with examples of available financing term sheets, a discussion of the financial and business model, and recommendations for this program, see report. ARUP engineering firm conducted 33 existing building audits from a cross section of buildings in the area.

Benchmarking: total carbon emissions from the power used by buildings in the area are 273,725 Tones/year. Per the 33 audits, if all energy efficiency measures were implemented with a 3-yr payback there would be 15% reduction in ‘building power’ which means a 41,778 tones carbon emission reductions/year. The 33 audits represents 6,300,000 sq. footage of building area, $1,172,000 payback energy cost savings per year, 7,417,200 kWh electric savings, 100,000 gal net gas savings per year, and 2,634,490 gal water savings per year.

Our Cool District free energy assessment concept has gone City-wide. The Energy Upgrade Los Angeles Commercial Building Performance Initiative is a grant funded program which offers a suite of no-cost resources and support services to assist property owners/managers in carrying out holistic, cost-effective energy efficiency projects. This program provides more access to free energy assessments and free investment grade audits along with project financing support; for more information go to www.lacommercialbpp.com.

The Carbon Master Plan, which is on our website, has been completed. We have started the Carbon Master Plan Phase 2, which begins to address the different elements of the plan. Contact for the plan is Christine SE Magar of Greenform (cmagar@greenform.net).

Students at SCI-Arc and at USC have expanded elements of the Plan with concept designs for bike sharing and a watershed program for the area. The bike sharing plan is on our web site. We have worked with MTA’s Bike Metro group, http://www.metro.net/around/bikes/bikes-metro/, on bike sharing and MTA now seems close to implementing a bike sharing program this year. The elements of the watershed program are part of the Carbon Master Plan phase 2.

Our current plans are to work with the building owners to begin implementing the energy audits. We are working with the Los Angeles Business Council as member of the CLEAN LA Solar Coalition (http://www.labusinesscouncil.org/sustainability) to find additional tools and resources for our building owners with the focus on developing the solar program with DWP. We are working with the LA County Bicycle Coalition for a 4th Street Neighborhood Greenway, already designated by the City of LA as a “Bike-Friendly Street”; for information go to www.la-bike.org.

A low carbon vision for the District in 2050


The District will be a place where residents and workers can rely on public transit, walking and biking. Cars would run on electricity supplied by solar, wind power, and other renewable energy. Individuals and businesses will have reduced their carbon footprint (CO2) by 80 percent. New and existing buildings will have achieved net zero energy consumption through increased energy efficiency and a shift to renewable energy sources. No waste will be sent to landfills, but will be converted to energy. And most of the food eaten in the district will be produced organically and within a few hundred miles.

Learn more about AB 32 and California's Road Map to a Clean Energy Future, visit: www.arb.ca.gov/cc/cleanenergy/cleanenergy.htm

Wilshire Center/Koreantown Green News
   

We had a successful Green Block Party on October 16th on S. Normandie between 7th and 8th Streets, which encouraged people who live and work here to develop more green practices. We discussed the Carbon Master Plan with the aid of a questionnaire. Special thanks to Jamison Services for providing parking at this event.   The Wilshire Center BID, with help from KYCC, CRA/LA, WCKNC, DOT, PACE, Sierra Club, Eco-Village, ARB, LADWP and many others planted 4 trees, FEED 400 families breakfast and lunch (for free), UNITED ALL ETHNIC GROUPS of the area to work and play together, provided free (musical) entertainment, distributed environmentally friendly information, picked up trash, cleaned graffiti, gave kids FREE face painting, got to know our neighbors better, talked about how we're going improve our communities (not just talk, we DID) and MUCH more.  The event was a huge success, thank you to everyone who participated.

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