State and Local Climate and Energy Program
Santa Ynez Chumash Community Energy Efficiency, Conservation, and Renewable Energy Project
Santa Ynez, California
Federal Funding: $500,000
Project Timeline: February 2011 – January 2014
Project Summary
Job Training and Building Energy Performance Improvements in a Tribal Community
The Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians is launching the Chumash Community Energy Efficiency, Conservation, and Renewable Energy Project in order to create jobs while reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, energy consumption, and associated costs throughout the Tribal community and beyond. To achieve these benefits the Tribe will develop a job training program that will subsidize building performance assessments, energy efficiency retrofits, and solar installations on residential, commercial, and government buildings. In addition, this project will involve extensive outreach to educate community members about energy efficiency, conservation, and renewable energy opportunities and inform non-community members about the Chumash community program and its benefits.
The project has six major components that will be administered by the Santa Ynez Chumash Environmental Office (SYCEO):
- community education and outreach,
- job opportunities and training,
- implementation of building energy performance measures,
- data collection and analysis,
- information sharing and community recognition, and
- project administration and reporting.
The first component of the project seeks to educate Chumash community members about the opportunities and benefits of energy conservation, building performance assessments, energy efficiency retrofits, and renewable energy. SYCEO will reach community members through a variety of avenues, including workshops, meetings, mailings, web pages, emails, and the community magazine. For the second component of the project, the SYCEO will provide information on building energy management training and employment opportunities for community members and arrange formal trainings and an apprenticeship program to give 30 to 60 trainees paid job experience with professional contractors and certification experts.
With a trained workforce, the project will incentivize and implement building performance assessments, energy efficiency retrofits, and rooftop solar installations for approximately 25 tribal homes and 4 commercial buildings. The program will subsidize the labor costs of apprentices and their trainers and the building performance assessments will also be offered for free or at a minimal cost. The SYCEO will continuously collect and analyze data throughout the project to measure progress, disseminate the information to the community, and share project successes with other small and tribal communities. The fifth component of the project involves sharing the success with other communities, and disseminating project information and guidance to other small and tribal communities locally, regionally, and nationally. Lastly, the project will undergo regular project evaluation and project leaders will highlight areas where improvements are required.
Overall, the project is projected to create a trained workforce, increase energy efficiency and renewable energy installations in the community, and result in greenhouse gas emission reductions of approximately 93 metric tons per year. By tracking results and sharing experiences with other tribes, the Chumash Community project will spread the benefits to other small and historically disadvantaged communities.
Community Characteristics
| Population: | 4,300 |
|---|---|
| Area: | 7.8 square miles |
| Government Type: | Tribal |
| Community Type: | Rural |
| Median Household Income: | $98,135 |
Program Results/Estimated Results
| Expected GHG Reductions: | 88 metric tons CO2e annually |
|---|---|
| Expected Residential Retrofits: | 25 buildings |
| Expected Commercial Retrofits: | 4 buildings |
| Expected Job Trainees: | 30-60 people |
