San Antonio Express-News
by David Hendricks
|
11/14/02
Thursday |
Business 01E |
|
Column |
Metro |
A local movement is under way that will make
business opportunities mushroom.
The Metropolitan Partnership for Energy is
not a secret. Yet more than eight months after the publicly backed MPE office
started promoting the idea of green, energy -efficient building practices, the
effort has attracted little notice.
"Underwhelming" was the one word
Solar San Antonio board chairman Bill Sinkin used to describe the private
industry response to MPE.
"With $1 billion in school construction
coming, school board administrators should ask architects and engineers to give
them prices on renewable and sustainable energy features," Sinkin
said. "The architects and engineers are not telling clients about these,
and corporations (that are constructing buildings) don't want to hear about
it."
MPE was established to help this area meet the
goals of Senate Bill 5, also known as the Texas Emissions Reduction Act, that
asks local governments to reduce energy consumption by 5 percent a year for
five years starting in 2002.
No other city in Texas has tackled that mandate
as eagerly as the San Antonio metropolitan area of Bexar, Guadalupe, Wilson and
Comal counties.
MPE's backers are the city of San Antonio,
Bexar County, the Alamo Area Council of Governments, City Public Service, San
Antonio Water System, VIA Metropolitan Transit, Greater Bexar County Council of
Cities and Solar San Antonio.
CPS perhaps has covered the most ground in
MPE's first year with the opening of its solar-paneled, rainwater-collecting
and energy -efficient North Side Customer Service Center. It also has
purchased wind-generated electricity, said CPS Senior Vice President Nadine
Knaus, and has upcoming fuel cell pilot projects.
The city is not far behind. It bought
electric-gasoline hybrid autos for its fleet and bicycles for use by city
staffers, mayoral assistant Leilah Powell said.
MPE plans an Energy Week/Texas Recycles
and Energy Fair on Nov. 18-21, a Funding Green Buildings Workshop on
Dec. 6 and Texas A&M San Antonio Building Code Workshops on Jan. 21-23.
Details on those events may be found at
www.mp4e.info.
MPE also plans an awards program for energy savers
starting in 2003, a regional energy plan and an energy symposium,
Executive Director Linda Stone said.
"We've come a long way," Bexar County
Judge Nelson Wolff said.
The effort, though, will not go very far
without the private sector joining with the same spirit. Opportunities aren't
just for architects, engineers and home construction companies. Vehicle fleets
and construction material vendors also will benefit, as will owners of
commercial buildings through reduced operating costs.
An economic development opportunity arises from
the MPE effort, too. One of the most energy -conscious companies in the world
is Toyota Motor Corp. Part of its site-selection process for a new North
America plant is a place where energy efficiency is pursued formally and
systematically.
Toyota has been informed about the existence of
MPE, Powell said.
Did I say there would be opportunities?