PartnerUpdate

11th Largest

School District

Joins RBA

The Fairfax County VA Public

School District (FCSPD), the 11th

largest school district in the nation,

signed a partnership agreement with

Rebuild America on July 6. Fairfax

County Public Schools Assistant

Superintendent Thomas Brady and

Rebuild America National Program

Manager Daniel Sze penned the

agreement, which marks the first Rebuild

America partnership with a school district

in Virginia. The school district, which

represents over 160,000 students and 235

schools, is committed to increasing

energy efficiency and, more importantly,

to improving the quality and culture of

the academic environment.

The school district first began

addressing the complex issue of

renovating and retrofitting out-of-date

energy systems about five years ago with

focused actions on lighting. Facility

HIGHLIGHTS

REBUILD AMERICA•BUILDING AMERICA

How do you equip 19th

century military buildings with

21st century energy-efficient

technologies? This question is

one the Presidio Trust faces

daily as it conducts the largest

historic preservation project in

the country. 

Nestled between the San

Francisco Bay and the Pacific

Ocean, the Presidio of San

Francisco is a National Park

encompassing 1,480 acres of

beaches, sea cliffs, forests and

historic military structures.

These structures – remnants of the Presidio’s 200-year military history – contribute to the

Presidio’s status as a National Historic Landmark. Unfortunately, many of these buildings

have fallen into disrepair due to years of vacancy and lack of maintenance. (In fact,

these old structures had become antiquated even before the U.S. Army vacated the

Presidio, because the military did not have to comply with newer seismic and energyefficiency mandates.) The Trust is laboring to ensure the Presidio’s buildings are

compliant with safety and accessibility codes without jeopardizing their historic integrity. 

Today this mission is even more critical, as the Trust must rehabilitate these aging

treasures with one eye on California’s

energy crisis and one eye on strict

historic guidelines. 

An energy-efficient tomorrow

Historic preservation guidelines can

limit energy-efficiency measures like

installing skylights or replacing

inefficient window glazing. However, if

an organization is committed to energy

efficiency and willing to be creative, it is

possible to preserve a building’s history

and enhance its future. 

The rehabilitation of the Presidio’s Building 36 is the perfect case-in-point. Built in

1886 as a barracks for the U.S. Sixth Army, Building 36 had deteriorated considerably

after the Army left in 1994. The Trust had the opportunity to revisit the building’s

energy features in 2000, when the 22,000 square foot structure was rehabilitated for

reuse as office space. 

The Trust used the opportunity to install highly efficient lighting and specify certain

energy technologies to improve the building’s efficiency. Throughout the planning and

U.S. Department of Energy • Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy www.rebuild.org • DOE/EE-0250

July – August 2001

Continued on page 11

Continued on page 8

2 Florida Schools Share

Energy-Efficiency Ideas 

3 View from DC

4 Special Report:

California

10 Report on Annual

Conference of Mayors

Building 36 after Rebuild Presidio performed retrofits and

installed energy-efficient technologies 

Preserving History for the Future

Find out what Rebuild America is

doing in California to help

communities meet energy challenges. 

Don’t miss our special report on

California on page 4-7 in this issue.
2 U.S. Department of Energy

Florida’s ABCs of Energy Efficiency

Energy managers from several school districts in Florida

have banded together and joined Rebuild America to create

a forum for sharing information on energy use in county

schools districts in an effort to make their schools more

efficient. The group is a remarkable partnership for boosting

the energy efficiency of schools in the state. Educational

Energy Managers Association of Florida (EEMAF) is

comprised of the districts’ energy managers, facility managers

and executive directors and represents approximately twothirds of the school districts in the state.

This partnership between EEMAF and Rebuild America

provides a clearinghouse for information and resources about

energy-efficiency improvements in the state’s schools. While

Ed Cobham of the Florida Energy Office says, “Each one of

the individual school districts are doing their own thing,” he

adds that EEMAF allows them all to share resources and

information, including successes and

failures. Other schools can then “piggy

back on a state contract,” Cobham says,

avoiding similar problems and utilizing

successes.

The group was founded in 1995 by three

school districts. Robert Godfrey was the

manager at a local utility and decided to

help school districts exchange information

for improving energy efficiency. He now

acts as president of the EEMAF group and

Energy Manager for Pinellas County

School District. As the school districts

sought state money to enlarge the scope of

their mission, they realized they needed to

be a legally recognized entity, forming

what is now EEMAF. Approximately 40 of

the 67 school districts in Florida are

represented in EEMAF.

While EEMAF as a whole has not

completed specific projects, many of the

member school districts in Florida are

retrofitting their education buildings to

shave costs off utility bills and do their part

to help the environment. Those school

districts then share their experiences with

colleagues through EEMAF, benefiting the

rest of the state.

Some examples of district projects

include Hillsborough County School

District, which is conducting a massive

energy-efficiency project so large the

school district is splitting the performance

contract into thirds for the 33 schools

receiving retrofits. Hernando County, FL is

investing $10 million in energy-efficiency

retrofits, including new emission systems, lighting and water

fixtures. And the Pasco County, FL school district has invested

$1.65 million primarily in lighting retrofits, replacing

incandescent bulbs and T-12s with T-8 technology. The

investment was taken, in part, from a grant from the Florida

Energy Office, with annual energy savings of about $400,000.

A plethora of other projects are underway in Florida’s

school districts, including one in Pinellas County that might

install Vending Misers – vending machine technology that

better regulates machines by shutting down when not in use.

By bringing together the energy managers from 40 school

districts into one organization, EEMAF encourages money,

experience and expertise to pervade across member school

districts. From there, school districts’ energy managers can

take EEMAF’s resources back home.

The latest resource EEMAF is offering its members is a

management strategies section on its web

site which details Florida schools’

experiences in conducting energyefficiency exercises and building

improvements. Slated for completion this

summer, it will give school districts onestop shopping for energy investments.

School districts will be able to post their

energy-efficiency stories on the web site,

detailing renovation work, financing,

behavioral changes and business

assistance. This exchange of knowledge

allows others to eliminate mistakes.

Several Rebuild America Business

Partners are assisting EEMAF with its

efforts in Florida including Sempra

Energy, Johnson Controls, Trane and

Bayview Technology.

Meanwhile, Florida has become a

hotbed for energy-efficient projects. Rick

Dolan from the Small Business

Development Center at the University of

Central Florida in Orlando visited Daytona

Beach to perform energy assessments.

The Daytona Beach Partnership

Association seeks to conduct a Main Street

revitalization effort involving Angell &

Phelps Chocolate Factory, Lloyd Buick,

Harley Davidson and President Warren

Harding’s summer home. At least three

other cities and counties are considering

joining Rebuild America as well.

For more information on EEMAF,

contact Bob Godfrey at

godfreyr@pinellas.k12.fl.us or visit the

EEMAF web site at www.eemaf.org.

Jennifer Carver, Rebuild

America state program

representative for Florida, is

changing jobs within the

government office and will no

longer serve as the liaison

between DOE and Florida for

Rebuild America. Ed Cobham

will take over as the point

person in the Florida Energy

Office for Rebuild America.

During Carver’s tenure within

Florida’s Energy Office, several

Rebuild America partnerships

have taken shape – many

involving county school districts.

Carver is working in Florida’s

Department of Community

Affairs doing hazard mitigation

work and will continue to

support the collaborative efforts

of Florida and Rebuild America.
Energy efficiency and conservation play an important

role in the administration’s National Energy Policy

(NEP), released May 16. The NEP makes several

recommendations concerning the government’s role in

encouraging energy efficiency and conservation

practices across the nation, from stepping up efforts in

federal buildings, to bringing the energy efficiency

message home to Americans, to encouraging greater

fuel efficiency in transportation, including incentives for

purchasing alternatively powered vehicles.

Many of the concepts expressed in Chapter 4 of the

NEP, “Using Energy Wisely,” are in sync with Rebuild

America’s philosophy, recognizing energy efficiency as a

path to stretching our energy resources, reducing energy

shortages, decreasing reliance on energy imports, and

easing pollution. 

The National Energy Policy recognizes that the federal

government can play an important role in promoting

energy efficiency and conservation by disseminating

useful information about energy to the public, by setting

standards for more efficient products, and by taking the

lead to ensure that federal buildings become models of

energy-efficiency practices.

The NEP also recognizes some of the strides this

country has made in saving energy. Among them:

• The amount of energy used by the U.S. in relation

to its economic output has steadily declined since

the early 1970s. Since 1973, the U.S. economy has

grown nearly five times faster than energy use: 126

percent compared to 26 percent.

• The federal government has reduced its energy use

in buildings by about 30 percent from 1990 levels,

largely through the installation of energy-efficiency

technologies.

• Over the last 30 years, the energy efficiency of many

household appliances has increased. For example,

the energy efficiency of refrigerator freezers has

increased by about 70 percent during this period.

We can take pride in the fact that Rebuild America

partnerships have already completed and committed to

energy-efficiency retrofits representing nearly 715 million

square feet. These efforts will result in annual cost

savings of $222 million and energy savings of 13,705,155

MMBtus. It is rewarding to see such results as we

continue our work to build a more energy-efficient

America one community at a time. 

Daniel Sze is National Program Manager of Rebuild

America.

View From DC

By Daniel Sze

Revitalizing Concord

The City of Concord, NC is thriving again thanks in part to

its successful three-year partnership with Rebuild America.

Prior to joining the program in 1998, much of the city’s

businesses and retail had moved outside the downtown area to

shopping malls. To slow this trend, the City of Concord’s

community development staff partnered with the Downtown

Development Corporation and downtown property owners to

create Rebuild Concord which has targeted approximately

two-and-a-half city blocks for revitalization. Funding for the

initiative came from a formal Downtown Loan Pool, a group of

six local banks that contributes to a fund for property and

business owners in the municipal service district. The loan

program is a revolving fund for land and building purchases,

renovation of existing buildings and new construction. The

program received the 2000 North Carolina Main Street Award

for the best business assistance program.

Rebuild Concord leveraged a $100,000 grant from the North

Carolina Department of Commerce Energy Commission into

more than $1.7 million for investment in retrofits to 18

downtown buildings. Energy-efficient investments, such as new

roofs, interior and exterior insulation, efficient windows,

reflective roof coverings, water-saving toilets and energy-efficient

lighting helped enhance building performance.

Before Rebuild Concord, many downtown businesses had

been operable but not thriving. For example, there were only

two downtown restaurants, with one hidden in the back of a

building. Today, nine restaurants are prospering – one in a

building boasting a new, energy-efficient cooling system and a

roof installed with the help of Rebuild America. 

To date, over 200,000 square feet have been retrofitted

resulting in an annual energy savings of more than $100,000.

“The Rebuild America program has increased economic

viability by improving the condition of real estate and reducing

the cost of doing business,” says Connie Kincaid of the

Concord Downtown Development Corporation. “Downtown

Concord is better positioned to attract new businesses and

U.S. Department of Energy 3

Union Street, Concord, NC – the heart of Rebuild America’s and Main Street’s

revitalization efforts.

Continued on page 9
4 U.S. Department of Energy

In East Palo Alto, CA, small businesses and schools are

learning through Rebuild America that boosting energy

efficiency means lower utility bills, making it easier for

businesses and schools to thrive.

Small businesses and area schools are feeling the weight of

California’s high energy prices and low energy supplies, and

improving energy efficiency will help a city that has been

saddled with low-income levels and a high unemployment

rate. Investment in energy-aware behavior and retrofits will

inject vitality into East Palo Alto.

And Rebuild America is leading the charge to do just that.

A key element of Rebuild East Palo Alto is a business-tobusiness mentoring program that focuses on community

redevelopment and economic revitalization through education

and information sharing. Because many local stores and

Students, teachers and administrators alike are benefiting

from lessons learned in energy efficiency. The West Contra

Costa (WCC) Unified School District Partnership joined

Rebuild America and Rebuild America Business Partners

Pacific Gas & Electric Company and Philips Lighting to

host an Energy Treasure Hunt in the district located in West

Contra Costa County, CA, north of Berkeley. The

partnership is comprehensive and varied, including three

cities, the local utility, the California Energy Commission,

and numerous RBA Business Partners.

The partnership, led by Vince Kilmartin and Gary

Freschi, started from the beginning, first benchmarking 

over 65 schools in the district. This initial step has enabled

the West Contra Costa School District to leverage four free

energy audits from the state to do a total of eight energy

audits of school buildings. The school district is currently

managing a $150 million bond for elementary schools and is

working with Rebuild America to fund energy-efficiency

improvements using bond funds. 

The district is also looking for means to upgrade schools

businesses are now competing with large chain stores,

Rebuild East Palo Alto hopes to teach local small businesses

how to save money through energy efficiency – all the while

preserving natural resources and environmental conditions.

With help from Pacific Gas & Electric, this partnership

will conduct a business-to-business mentoring program. East

Palo Alto small business owners can sit down with other

successful owners from around the country to share energyefficiency experiences. In one instance, says Cyane

Dandridge – a key organizer of the partnership along with

project leads Richardo Noguera and Jeff Williams and lead

for the mentoring program – a dry cleaner shared an energyefficient experience with a group of East Palo Alto owners.

Albany Cleaners in East Palo Alto would display in the

not currently covered under the bond, and is working with

RBA Business Partners to completely retrofit two classrooms

to demonstrate technologies they will use at Pinole Middle

School. The Business Partners will install efficient windows,

lamps, ballasts, lighting fixtures and controls, waterless

urinals, a Smart breaker box, and HVAC equipment. The

school district has partnered with the City of Pinole to help

cover costs, and in turn will reinvest the saving from the

project into school programs. The city is also looking into a

whole school retrofit, based on the technologies installed in

the demo classrooms. The Massachusetts Institute of

Technology will monitor the middle school to verify savings

from the demonstration.

In addition to the demonstration classroom, the Energy

Treasure Hunt provided a facilities training workshop to

facilities staff from WCC and 20 other surrounding districts.

The event drew over 75 participants and addressed energyefficiency technologies and financing solutions for schools

energy-efficiency and provided managers with free energy

audits. The Energy Treasure Hunt also held a custodial

Energy-Efficiency Big News in East Palo Alto

West Contra Costa Hunts Energy Treasures 

Team members gather after Energy Treasure Hunt in California

Continued on page 10

Business Partners who contributed to the West

Contra Costa School District project include:

Advanced Transformer

Cutler Hammer

Finelight

Lennox

Metal Optics

Novar

Novitas

Phillips

Traco

Waterless

Wattstopper

Earth Protection Services

SPECIAL REPORT: CALIFORNIA

Continued on page 5
U.S. Department of Energy 5

In economically depressed parts of Northern California, a

unique partnership has sprouted into life across nine Bay

Area counties hoping to drive down energy costs and

improve the quality of life for the area’s lower income

population.

The Non-Profit Housing Association (NPH) of Northern

California, lead organization of the NPH Sustainable

Development Working Group partnership, officially joined

the U.S. Department of Energy’s Rebuild America program in

June 2001. The partnership seeks to bring together

developers, architects, finance companies and housing

authorities to boost energy efficiency in Northern California,

including counties near the San Francisco Bay such as Santa

Cruz and Sacramento. NPH is a 500-plus member

organization dedicated to improving low-income housing in

Northern California.

The goal of the partnership, says RBA Program

Representative Cyane Dandridge, is to assist low-income

housing agencies in providing energy-efficiency education

and training, as well as to find the resources necessary or

channel existing resources for integrating energy efficiency

into new developments and retrofitting residential buildings.

In these areas of California that are plagued with high

unemployment and low wages, NPH hopes to provide

energy-efficient living with trimmed energy bills.

The partnership will focus initially on peer and expert

training, particularly on accessing information on energyefficiency building techniques, materials, and technologies.

Doug Shoemaker of Non-Profit Housing Association says

that local governments’ “role with the partnership is mixed,

with local government agencies serving as active members of

the association and the state mostly listening to the

partnership as ideas are developed. The local electric

company Pacific Gas & Electric is “part of the effort,” but is

not a member of the partnership, Shoemaker says.

There are two issues the partnership seeks to remedy,

Dandridge says: “Help direct or redirect resources that do not

exist to the sector;” and provide “the basic service of

information Rebuild-style to the partners on how they can

retrofit, what the technologies are, how to train staff, etc.”

Much of the partnership’s work will be done through

regular meetings of the NPH partnership. It has some

ambitious goals for improving energy-efficiency in Northern

California. NPH hopes to get 25 percent of their partners to

use energy-efficient products in existing buildings, and 50

percent of their partners to put in energy-efficient materials

and technology and to train staff on energy efficiency in new

buildings – gunning for a 25 to 40 percent cut in energy use.

This movement comes at a time when the state of

California is being ravaged with high energy prices. The

energy crunch coupled with these high energy prices is

hitting low-income families the hardest, forcing them to pay

for utility bills they simply can’t afford. In a recent meeting

with PG&E, “disconnects” were found between PG&E’s

existing resources and non-profit housing communities. An

example of these disconnects is the unusually high utility

bills that accompany small low-income apartments in the

area.

And this is where the NPH Sustainable Development

Working Group partnership comes into play. One report on

the issue says that one-half of all low-income renters and

three-quarters of all very low-income renters spend over half

of their paychecks for housing.

A Source of Shade in the California Sun

SPECIAL REPORT: CALIFORNIA

storefront how much money the store’s energy investments

were saving the customers in reduced prices, essentially

using the energy savings as advertisement. The more money

the store saved on energy costs, the more customers would

patronize the cleaners. East Palo Alto businesses not only

learned how to save money through efficiency, they also

learned new businesses tactics to help them survive in a

more competitive environment.

The feedback was tremendous, Dandridge says. The

partnership got a lot of comments from business owners

saying, “I hadn’t thought of it that way.”

In addition to the mentoring, the program conducts audits

and helps owners implement projects using a turn-key

approach. Rebuild East Palo Alto will also help train a local

contractor, Ed Moss, to complete the retrofit work. Moss,

who teaches at a local community college, will in turn teach

his students what he learns, and allow them to use his

general contractor’s license to continue his work. The

partnership’s goal is to have 10 businesses retrofitted by the

end of this year. “A year ago they might not have committed,”

Dandridge says. But due to the energy crunch plaguing the

state – which is especially hard on low-income areas – small

businesses are clamoring for inclusion in the partnership.

Rebuild East Palo Alto also targets schools in the city. The

program will model the West Contra Costa School District’s

energy-efficiency efforts. By the end of the summer, Rebuild

America Business Partners will have retrofitted two

classrooms for energy efficiency with skylights, windows,

lighting equipment, controls and heating equipment.

The influx of information and resource sharing aims to

uplift East Palo Alto, making energy efficiency one of the

cornerstones of the city’s economic revitalization.

For more information on Rebuild East Palo Alto, contact

Cyane Dandridge at cyane@cyane.com.

Continued on page 10

Energy-Efficiency in East Palo Alto continued
ENERGY CHAMPION PROFILE

6 U.S. Department of Energy

Rebuild America program

representative for California Cyane

Dandridge learned about energyefficient building technology from

elite universities on the East Coast

and Europe and took that knowledge

west, where for the past five years

she has put it to use constructing

Rebuild America partnerships

throughout the state. As of late,

Dandridge has helped organize new partnerships in Northern

California, East Palo Alto and the Central San Joaquin Valley

that aim to reduce energy costs for thousands of low-income

residents, schools and local small businesses – but she has

been involved in the energy arena for much longer than that.

Currently, as executive director and president of Strategic

Energy Innovations (SEI), Dandridge also coordinates and

creates Rebuild America’s peer exchange program. SEI is a

non-profit organization Dandridge created in late 1997, after

running one of the first Rebuild America partnerships since

1995, ReEnergize East Bay – a San Francisco Bay area

partnership.

While the head of ReEnergize East Bay, U.S. Department 

of Energy Seattle Regional Office representative Paul Johnson

asked her to develop a peer exchange program for the Seattle

region. Like all of Dandridge’s other work, it was a success,

leading to the establishment of five other peer exchange

program meetings. Dandridge continues to develop peer

exchange programs for the DOE that take place all across 

the country.

“I have found Cyane to be bright, highly creative – yet

SPECIAL REPORT: CALIFORNIA

Los Angeles school districts have figured out how to

reduce energy costs in their schools by over $12,000 a year

without a single technology upgrade. Rebuild America has

partnered with districts in the region and with the Alliance

to Save Energy’s Green Schools Program and Southern

California Edison to initiate some motivational education

programs designed to teach children and adults that their

behavior can greatly affect energy consumption in schools

and at home. San Gabriel Valley School Districts that are

participating include the Hacienda La Puenta Unified

School District (USD) in City of Industry, Basset USD in

La Puenta, Charter Oak USD in Covina and the East San

Gabriel Valley Regional Occupational

Program/Technical Center. 

Through this program students, teachers and facility

managers work together to identify areas in which energy

is wasted and identify energy-saving tactics including

turning off computers and lights when not in use, creating

newsletters detailing energy-efficient techniques and

integrating energy awareness into the academic curriculum.

Energy professionals also teach students how to perform

energy audits so that they can make recommendations for

potential retrofits. 

“These schools are a model for what other schools can

do to save energy – even before making energy-efficiency

investments in schools,” says Merilee Harrigan, senior

program manager for the Alliance’s Green Schools. “What 

is even better is that these students will take the lessons of

efficiency home, so their families save money and energy 

as well.”

The success of this program is indicated in dollars saved

across the districts. Ten schools have reported $51,000 in

energy savings cumulatively in a seven-month period,

cutting electricity waste by 18 percent with no financial

Los Angeles School

Districts Use the Best

Resource for EnergyEfficiency

investment. To find out more about the Green Schools

program, contact Merilee Harrigan at mharrigan@ase.org.

In addition to the education program, Rebuild America

Program Representative Cyane Dandridge is helping the

districts implement energy projects. A facilities training

workshop was held in June, with 15 districts in attendance.

There will be demonstration classrooms in two districts,

involving the same Business Partners that participated in the

Energy Treasure Hunt, with additional daylighting

manufacturers MyLite and Prudential Lighting. Fixtures

manufacturers include Finelight, Prudential and Holophane.

Rebuild America is also working with the districts to get energy

audits and low-interest loans through the state.

“...These students will take the lessons 

of efficiency home, so their families save

money and energy as well.”

– Merilee Harrigan

Continued on page 7

Cyane Dandridge
Former Mill Town Gets an Energy Face Lift

SPECIAL REPORT: CALIFORNIA

U.S. Department of Energy 7

Continued on page 9

practical – and a pleasure to work with,” Johnson says.

“Because of her skills, creativity and contacts, we see her as

our ‘go to’ person when we want to develop a significant

Rebuild opportunity in our region – particularly in California.”

Early in her career, Dandridge worked as a carpenter and

builder, having built a solar house in 1983-1984. That was the

start of a life that would take her to some rather prestigious

universities. She wrote her graduate school thesis for the

University of Bordeaux, France on “Energy Efficiency in Office

Equipment.” That led to a master’s candidacy at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where she

received a Master’s of Science degree in building technology.

Her thesis for MIT was on “Energy Efficiency in Office

Technology.”

After graduating from MIT in 1994, Dandridge did a quick

stint with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),

working on EPA’s ENERGYSTAR® energy-efficiency labeling

program where she crafted, organized and promoted six 

new ENERGYSTAR® labeling divisions for EPA in only eight

months. This work earned her an Employee Recognition 

Award from the EPA.

Then it was time to join up with Rebuild America.

Dandridge assumed the reins of ReEnergize East Bay in 1995

and established herself and as one of Rebuild America’s key

players. SEI and Dandridge have worked closely with the

California Energy Commission as the contact for Rebuild

America partnerships statewide. Her work even extends to the

islands of Hawaii, where she helped establish and run the

Rebuild Hawaii Consortium. She is also actively involved in

Rebuild America’s ENERGYSMART® Schools campaign in Hawaii.

Her latest honor is a nomination for the 2001 Chevron

Conservation Award – an annual award from the petroleum

company for outstanding work in the field of environmental

and energy conservation.

been the galvanizing force to stimulate local economic

activity. It persuaded the mill owner to turn ownership of

the mill over to the town and developed a master plan for

redevelopment of the site. The board also, with guidance

from Cyane Dandridge, looked beyond the site to the

community at large, creating a design for the town’s main

street area and jumpstarting environmental enhancement

efforts.

NFCDC’s momentum continues, with many valuable

projects in the planning stages or in progress. Already the

board has obtained grants for site clean up, established a

recycled lumber business on the property, begun the

process of building essential infrastructure on the site and

started on plans to market the mill site to businesses and

industries. Derelict buildings are being torn down with the

assistance of welfare-to-work recipients who aid in deconstruction and set aside useable material for recycling.

While Rebuild North Fork is the only rural partnership in

California, it benefits greatly from other partnerships across

the state. Currently, the partnership is exploring ways in

which the mill site can use innovative energy technologies

in its upcoming redevelopment process. The renovation of

the mill can potentially be a model for economic

development efforts in other mill towns. In addition to the

mill revitalization, the future partnership plans include:

• identifying innovative energy technologies that could be

appropriate for the site

The newly created Rebuild North Fork partnership in the

San Joaquin Valley of Central California is energizing the former

mill town, infusing innovative energy practices into its

progressive economic development plan. Until 1994, a lumber

mill generated the town’s economy, but when the government

made changes to forest management regulations, the mill

closed, leaving North Fork’s future uncertain. 

To combat this uncertainty and to secure North Fork’s

economic stability, The North Fork Community Development

Council (NFCDC) was formed to represent various interest

groups and organizations in North Fork. The organization has

This old lumber mill is once again the center of economic prosperity for

North Fork, CA

Rebuild North Fork’s Nerve Center: the administration building for the

North Fork Comunity Development Council.

Energy Champian Profile continued
Former Mill Town Gets an Energy Face Lift

SPECIAL REPORT: CALIFORNIA

U.S. Department of Energy 7

Continued on page 9

practical – and a pleasure to work with,” Johnson says.

“Because of her skills, creativity and contacts, we see her as

our ‘go to’ person when we want to develop a significant

Rebuild opportunity in our region – particularly in California.”

Early in her career, Dandridge worked as a carpenter and

builder, having built a solar house in 1983-1984. That was the

start of a life that would take her to some rather prestigious

universities. She wrote her graduate school thesis for the

University of Bordeaux, France on “Energy Efficiency in Office

Equipment.” That led to a master’s candidacy at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where she

received a Master’s of Science degree in building technology.

Her thesis for MIT was on “Energy Efficiency in Office

Technology.”

After graduating from MIT in 1994, Dandridge did a quick

stint with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),

working on EPA’s ENERGYSTAR® energy-efficiency labeling

program where she crafted, organized and promoted six 

new ENERGYSTAR® labeling divisions for EPA in only eight

months. This work earned her an Employee Recognition 

Award from the EPA.

Then it was time to join up with Rebuild America.

Dandridge assumed the reins of ReEnergize East Bay in 1995

and established herself and as one of Rebuild America’s key

players. SEI and Dandridge have worked closely with the

California Energy Commission as the contact for Rebuild

America partnerships statewide. Her work even extends to the

islands of Hawaii, where she helped establish and run the

Rebuild Hawaii Consortium. She is also actively involved in

Rebuild America’s ENERGYSMART® Schools campaign in Hawaii.

Her latest honor is a nomination for the 2001 Chevron

Conservation Award – an annual award from the petroleum

company for outstanding work in the field of environmental

and energy conservation.

been the galvanizing force to stimulate local economic

activity. It persuaded the mill owner to turn ownership of

the mill over to the town and developed a master plan for

redevelopment of the site. The board also, with guidance

from Cyane Dandridge, looked beyond the site to the

community at large, creating a design for the town’s main

street area and jumpstarting environmental enhancement

efforts.

NFCDC’s momentum continues, with many valuable

projects in the planning stages or in progress. Already the

board has obtained grants for site clean up, established a

recycled lumber business on the property, begun the

process of building essential infrastructure on the site and

started on plans to market the mill site to businesses and

industries. Derelict buildings are being torn down with the

assistance of welfare-to-work recipients who aid in deconstruction and set aside useable material for recycling.

While Rebuild North Fork is the only rural partnership in

California, it benefits greatly from other partnerships across

the state. Currently, the partnership is exploring ways in

which the mill site can use innovative energy technologies

in its upcoming redevelopment process. The renovation of

the mill can potentially be a model for economic

development efforts in other mill towns. In addition to the

mill revitalization, the future partnership plans include:

• identifying innovative energy technologies that could be

appropriate for the site

The newly created Rebuild North Fork partnership in the

San Joaquin Valley of Central California is energizing the former

mill town, infusing innovative energy practices into its

progressive economic development plan. Until 1994, a lumber

mill generated the town’s economy, but when the government

made changes to forest management regulations, the mill

closed, leaving North Fork’s future uncertain. 

To combat this uncertainty and to secure North Fork’s

economic stability, The North Fork Community Development

Council (NFCDC) was formed to represent various interest

groups and organizations in North Fork. The organization has

This old lumber mill is once again the center of economic prosperity for

North Fork, CA

Rebuild North Fork’s Nerve Center: the administration building for the

North Fork Comunity Development Council.

Energy Champian Profile continued
operators learned that simply

changing the lighting system not only

saved money but significantly

improved the classroom environment. 

“A number of schools throughout

the county are slated for renovations

and will act as the test-bed for new

fixtures and energy-efficient solutions

across the school district,” said Brady.

“We believe the quality of our

buildings affect student performance,

so it follows that a better environment

lends itself to better student

achievement.” 

This isolated attempt to save energy

encouraged the school board to

create a task force to research ways

to revamp energy systems districtwide. This research yielded a new

relationship with Rebuild America and

EnergySmart Schools. Currently,

FCPSD is in the initial phase of hiring

consultants to perform energy audits

in all of the schools. These

consultants rank schools based on the

efficiency of all their energy

components; upgrades have already

begun at schools wasting the most

energy. The district is managing a

$200 million government issued

bond, 70 percent of which will be

used to renovate public schools.

For more information, contact

William Mutscheller, assistant director

of maintenance services at Fairfax

County Public Schools at

wmutsche@sideburn. fcps.k12.va.us.

Continued from page 1

11th Largest School District Joins RBA

Developing high performance

buildings of any kind is a dedicated

process, as Rebuild Little Rock, AR is

proving through its comprehensive

energy-efficiency upgrades to its

educational buildings. In the coming

years, the school district in the Arkansas

capital will evolve into a model of

energy efficiency. The total investment

will be approximately $11 million in the

next few years, eliminating temporary

classrooms, providing increased comfort

to the students and faculty of Little Rock

and decreasing the need for building

maintenance. Energy savings are a

natural result of the many

improvements.

In four years, the Little Rock School

District (LRSD) will have revamped area

schools lighting, heating, ventilation and

air conditioning units, window

replacements and lighting replacements

in area schools. This Rebuild America

partnership has also implemented Active

Physics, an innovative educational tool

that brings energy-efficiency lessons into

the classroom. LRSD was the first district

in the nation to implement this tool

systemically for all ninth grade students

– an effort that impacts nearly 1,500

students each year.

According to Doug Eaton, facilities

manager, the LRSD has over 30

architecture contracts in the works,

investing over $5 million in lighting

retrofits for indoor and outdoor fixtures,

which will result in major energy savings

with paybacks ranging from two to 12

years. Heating, ventilation and air

conditioning retrofits will total over $6

million, leading to additional energy

savings and improved air quality in the

school district buildings. The retrofits

will comply with fresh air standards for

enclosed spaces. The projects will be

done in three stages, with a new

elementary school as part of the work.

Savings of at least $500,000 per year are

anticipated, and the improvements are

expected to eliminate temporary

classrooms, improve comfort levels and

significantly reduce maintenance.

Luke Elliott, Rebuild Arkansas

program representative, says that historic

Central High School is a key structure

for LRSD, receiving $9 million to $10

million of renovation work, with much

of that money being spent on

comprehensive energy-efficiency

improvements..

Other Rebuild Little Rock activities

include the conversion of the Lee School

into an energy-efficient Neighborhood

Resource Center which saves up to

$26,000 annually in energy costs. The

30,000 square-foot building houses a

“miniature” City Hall, a police substation

and other community services.

The recently completed Stephen’s

School in Little Rock, a combined school

and community center, contains many

energy saving measures as well. Rebuild

Little Rock is also conducting a study to

use geothermal energy – a blossoming

sustainable energy source – to supply

energy to several city buildings that are

located near the river. This project

would use water from the Arkansas

River as the heat exchange medium

thereby reducing the cost of drilling

wells or laying horizontal pipe.

Installing energy-efficient infrastructure

in area schools while at the same time

teaching city’s students about energy use

will reinforce Little Rock’s dedication to

energy efficiency, making Little Rock a

model city for Rebuild America.

For more information on Rebuild Little

Rock, contact Luke Elliott at

lelliott@mvtel.net.

Officials in Little Rock, AR hope that

historic Central High School is the

quintessence of Rebuild America’s

efforts to upgrade K-12 schools around

the country.

Little Rock Rolls

into Energy

Savings

8 U.S. Department of Energy

Thomas Brady and Dan Sze sign partnership

agreement
U.S. Department of Energy 9

• designing a sustainable/restorative charette at the mill site

• identifying appropriate grants and funding for project

implementation

• working with Rebuild America consultants, graduate

students, interns and other resources to finalize energy

designs

• reaching out to innovative energy companies to use North

Fork’s mill site as a model showcase for new products 

and systems.

Rebuild North Fork anticipates a highly productive

partnership with Rebuild America, and is confident that these

plans will be fully implemented by the Fall of 2003. Perhaps

Rebuild North Fork representatives explained the partnership’s

scope best in their own energy vision statement, “...We can

create more than energy self-sufficiency; we can be an energy

generator for the surrounding community. Energy generation

will be integrated with our existing goal of preserving the

clean, beautiful environment that surrounds us.” 

For additional information, contact Cyane Dandridge at

cyane@cyane.com.

Continued from page 7

Former Mill Town Gets an Energy Face Lift

Representatives from five San Antonio Independent

School Districts (ISD) met with U.S. Department of

Energy (DOE) and Environmental Protection Agency

(EPA) representatives for a workshop on EnergySmart

Schools and energy-efficient building practices on 

May 23. 

Interest in the session ran high with Customer Service

Representative Mike Myers and Dr. John Bryant and

Bahman Yazdani from Texas A&M University’s Energy

Systems Laboratory. The three addressed Rebuild

America activities in Texas, energy-efficiency strategies for

schools and Texas state programs. Jack Werner from

the Climate Institute offered a brief review of DOE and

EPA programs and Neil Zobler, president of Catayst

Financial, described EPA’s EnergyStar Buildings Program

and funding strategies. 

Rebuild America participated along with representatives

from the McKinney ISD near Dallas and the Austin ISD,

both of which have built schools that are energy efficient

and use environmental approaches that reduce costs for

life cycle operations and maintenance. 

With hundreds of millions of dollars in school bonds

available for new construction and retrofitting older

facilities in Texas, Solar San Antonio used this

opportunity to publicize success stories on new and

improved construction techniques for independent school

districts. Financing of energy-efficient structures was also

addressed, along with the benefits of an improved,

healthy environment. The presenters also illustrated that

the lowered energy costs associated with efficient

building practices ensures that these types of energy

applications pay for themselves in reduced energy

expenditures over the long term.

Solar San Antonio, a Rebuild America partner, is an

energy advocacy and resource center, established in 1999.

Its organizational goals are to increase the awareness and

application of renewable and alternative energy choices

throughout the region.

Other participants included representatives from the

Northside ISD, Southside ISD, Edgewood ISD, Harlandale

ISD and the Northeast ISD, all in Texas. 

The meeting was hosted by the Northside Independent

School District and sponsored by Solar San Antonio, City

Public Service, ENERGYSTAR® Buildings, Rebuild America

and Rebuild Texas and the University of Texas at Austin.

For more information, contact Mike Myers at

mt4myers@aol.com.

Texas School Districts

Learn of Improved

Efficiency Techniques

expand existing businesses. Rebuild America enabled us to

do that.” 

Rebuild Concord has several projects and plans to continue

its success as additional funding becomes available. Barber

Scotia College, a college in the downtown area, is slated for a

$7 million retrofit project while eight historic commercial

buildings have also been identified for energy retrofits. 

For more information on the City of Concord, contact John

Price at pricej@cj.concord.nc.us or Connie Kincaid at

ckincaidcddc@aol.com.

Hotel Concord on Union Street – one of Rebuild Concord’s several

completed retrofits 

Continued from page 3

Revitalizing Concord
10 U.S. Department of Energy

U.S. Mayors Learn

about Rebuild

America

Mayors from around the country had an opportunity

to learn about Rebuild America at the U.S. Conference

of Mayors annual meeting in Detroit, MI June 22-26. 

The Department of Energy presented four case

studies to the mayoral conference: Rebuild

Henderson, NV; Rebuild Boston; and Rebuild Erie

County and Buffalo, NY. These model cities have

saved their local governments millions of dollars in

annual energy savings, with Rebuild Boston and

Rebuild Erie County and Buffalo – formerly Rebuild

Niagara Frontier – winning Energy Champion Awards

in 2001.

Rebuild Boston is one of the most acclaimed

partnerships, winning double honors at the Energy

Champion Awards. Rebuild Boston links energy

efficiency and public health, through one of its key

partners, the Boston Housing Authority. Rebuild

Henderson targets construction of a new City Hall

wing, two recreation centers, a fire station and a police

substation, and other building retrofits. Rebuild

Niagara Frontier won the Energy Champion Award 

for local governments in assisting local groups to apply

for financing through the New York Energy Research 

and Development Authority and other external 

funding sources.

At the Conference of Mayors Energy Summit in

Chicago in June, much of the talk centered on the

energy shortages and high electricity prices that have

plagued cities and consumers in the past year,

especially in the West. Rebuild America was presented

as a unique opportunity for local and state

governments to actively lower utility bills while

spurring economic development in neighborhood

communities, small businesses and schools.

For master-metered low-income rental properties, rate hikes have

already increased costs anywhere from 10 to 20 percent. Affordable

housing developers are assuming that electric utility costs will

increase by 100 percent and gas by 150 percent in next year’s

budget cycle. For cases where the tenant pays for utility costs, a

utility allowance kicks in; this utility allowance is paid by the

housing owner, and recently went up by 200 percent.

Consequently, a typical 50-60 unit development in which the tenant

pays their utilities will now have to function with $50,000-60,000

less per year in operating revenue. While efficiency can decrease

costs to either the tenant or the housing owner, the decrease in

operating revenue makes it even harder for affordable housing

owners to pay for projects.

Through this partnership, the group, working in conjunction with

Rebuild America, can help identify resources to assist NPH members

in investing in energy-efficient technology and practices with the

ultimate goal of reducing the energy use of the buildings. The

group is also developing a program to provide detailed technical

assistance to members, like energy audits and project management

assistance. 

And like other Rebuild America partnerships, NPH is committed

to sharing their information. Knowledge on energy-efficient

retrofitting and providing business partners who are eager to work

with partnerships in installing new energy technology, as well as

training individuals in the community on how to save energy, are

the central features of the NPH partnership.

Shoemaker says that spreading the word about the partnership

might stimulate private and local government investment in energyefficient projects because of the difficulty low-income housing

groups have faced in getting needed funds.

For more information, contact Dong Shoemaker at

dshoemaker@nonprofithousing.org.

training workshop where 200 custodians from WCC learned about

steps they could take to decrease energy costs in the district.

West Contra Costa is also working with Glen Kizer of the

Foundation for Environmental Education and the 1500 Days:

Central Ohio Partnership to install a 1 kilowatt photovoltaic

system at De Anza High School. With help from Kizer, the district

will incur no costs for the system. They plan to tie it to learning

activities in the fall.

If the project continues to succeed as it has thus far, Rebuild

America hopes to use West Contra Costa as a model for school

districts across California. Districts in San Diego, Los Angeles and

the Central Valley have initiated efficiency programs in their schools.

For more information on the project, contact Vince Kilmartin at

vkilmartin@wccusd.kiz.ca.us

Continued from page 4

West Contra Costa USD Hosts Energy Treasure Hunt

Continued from page 5

A Source of Shade in the California Sun
U.S. Department of Energy 11

construction phases, the Trust emphasized energy efficiency

and responsible design. After rehabilitation, the building

featured:

• highly efficient T-8 fluorescent lamps

• LED exit signs at all exits

• compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs)

• occupancy sensors for interior lighting

• photo sensors for exterior lighting

Some of the retrofits were easier than others, says Trust

Project Coordinator Kelvin Lee. For instance, the Trust had to

weigh several factors when specifying and installing Building

36’s lighting fixtures. “The challenge was finding a modern

fixture capable of efficient lighting that was appropriate to the

historic character of the building,” said Lee. The Trust

eventually used simple “schoolhouse” fixtures in the building,

which could accommodate CFLs without conflicting with the

building’s original design. 

Today the building houses a combination of nonprofit and

for-profit organizations, including a breast cancer foundation, a

web design firm, and a service-based resource for at-risk youth. 

Sustainable rehabilitation

Energy-efficient lighting is just one part of environmental

sustainability, which is a guiding principle for the Presidio

Trust. The Building 36 project enabled the Trust to showcase

other sustainable practices such as using low-VOC (volatile

organic compound) paint, installing recycled carpet, and using

highly renewable, natural products like wheatboard cabinets

and bamboo flooring. As in all rehabilitation projects at the

Presidio, low-flow plumbing fixtures were installed, and the

drought-tolerant landscaping was designed for the eventual use

of reclaimed water. 

Building 36 also boasts the Bay Area’s second non-hydraulic

elevator, considered environmentally friendly because it

eliminates a hydraulic system’s need for highly toxic fluids. 

Monitoring energy

One of the most important new technologies in Building 36

is its Energy Management System (EMS). This system allows

the building’s tenants to monitor their energy consumption,

helping them to spot inefficiencies and target conservation

efforts toward peak demand cycles. 

The Trust has installed Energy Management Systems in over

45 buildings in the Park. The Presidio Alliance, the Trust’s

Rebuild Presidio partner, has provided invaluable outreach

support for the effort. Now the Alliance and the Trust are

working together to educate tenants on the systems’ uses. The

Alliance is currently in the process of enhancing EMS

capabilities by making real-time consumption information

available to tenants online. 

For more information contact, Danielle Blank at

dblank@presidiotrust.gov.

Vital statistics

Lives in Portland, OR

with fiancé Johannah

Harkness. Has two

daughters, ages 23 and 29

and two grandchildren, 18

months and seven years. 

Current role with Rebuild America

Developer and Administrator of the awardwinning Rebuild New Mexico partnership. He is

the executive director of the Center for Energy

Efficiency, a nonprofit organization, and serves on

the board of directors of several other non-profits,

including the Energy Services Coalition. 

Most rewarding aspect of your work

“My work with Rebuild has allowed me to

address with a market solution some of our most

pressing environmental and economic problems.

And it has allowed me enormous freedom to

exercise my creativity in developing new ideas 

and new ways to make the program even 

more effective.”

What do you do in you spare time

“My interests have always been wide-ranging,

from music (I performed professionally for several

years and even now rarely travel without a guitar)

to painting water colors, writing, auto mechanics,

boat-building and reading. I love to sail and 

have done so since the age of four, mostly on 

the icy waters of the Casco Bay, just north of 

Portland, Maine.

These divergent interests have led me to pursue

an equally wide range of entrepreneurial vocations

– such as a restauranteur, yoga teacher, math

teacher, art dealer, advertising executive and real

estate developer as an owner-builder. The most

rewarding, however, has been my work with

Rebuild America. For many years I have had a

deep interest in education and the sustainability of

our environmental, economic and social systems –

an interest increasingly driven by concern about 

what the world may hold for my two daughters

and two grandsons.”

Snap Shot

Peter Alexnader

Continued from page 1

Preserving History for the Future
Rebuild America is a

network of partnerships –

focused on communities –

that save money by saving

energy. These voluntary partnerships choose to

improve the quality of life in their communities

through energy efficiency. Rebuild America

supports them with customized assistance

backed by technical and business experts and

resources.

Published bimonthly by the U.S. Department

of Energy to report on Rebuild America

activities, Partner Update now incorporates

news from Building America and High

Performance Buildings, energy-efficiency

initiatives of the Office of Building Technology,

State and Community Programs.

REBUILD AMERICA 

Office of Building Technology, 

State and Community Programs

U.S. Department of Energy

1000 Independence Avenue, SW

Washington, DC 20585-0121

Address Correction Requested

Check Us Out: www.rebuild.org or 1-800-DOE-3732

Upcoming Events

High

Performance

BUILDINGS

New Partnerships

Cumberland Housing Authority, MD

NPH Sustainable Development Working Group, CA

Twin Falls School District #411, ID

Eastern Madera County, CA

Rebuild North Fork, CA

September

16 NASEO 2001 Annual Meeting, Portland, ME.

(Eastland Park Hotel) Contact Melanie Minesinger

at 703-299-880 ext. 14 or visit

http://www.naseo.org/events/annual/default.htm

23-26 International City/County Management

Association (ICMA) Annual Conference, Salt

Lake City, UT. Visit http://www.icma.org.

24-26 “Conservation or Crisis: A Northwest Choice,”

sponsored by Bonneville Power

Administration (BPA) Energy Efficiency,

Portland, OR. (Doubletree Hotel). Visit

http://www.bpa.gov/ Energy/N/news/crisis/shtm.

28-30 Texas Renewable Energy Roundup Green

Living and Sustainability Fair, Fredricksburg, TX.

Information as it becomes available will be posted

on http://www.renewableenergyroundup.com.

October

7-10 NAHRO 2001 National Conference and

Exhibition “Connecting People and

Places:Building Communities,” Nashville, TN.

For information visit http://www.nahro.org/

conferences/index.htm.

24-27 Excellence in Building 2001 Conference and

Exhibition, Orlando, FL (Rosen Center Hotel).

For information visit

http://www.eeba.org/conference/ default.htm.

To submit news or story ideas, contact: 

Maureen O’Brien, 202-466-7391, or email

mobrien@pcgpr.com

On May 31, Rebuild America executed a Strategic Partners Agreement with Public

Technologies, Inc. (PTI) and its affiliate organizations at PTI’s headquarters in

Washington, DC. The participating organizations share a common goal of working

to improve communities through energy efficiency. Signing ceremony participants,

from left: National League of Cities Executive Director Donald Borout; National

Association of Counties Executive Director Larry Naake; International City/County

Management Association Executive Director William H. Hansell Jr.; Austin Energy

Services Vice President Roger Duncan; U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Deputy

Assistant Secretary Mark Ginsberg; PTI President Dr. Costis Torgas; PTI Energy

Program Director Sharron Brown; DOE Deputy Office Director Mark Bailey; and

Rebuild America National Program Manager Daniel Sze.

NEW! Marketing and Comunications Rebuild

America Help Line 202-466-7868