From ‘sporks’ to ‘spudware,’ counties going green
Until recently, San Mateo County, Calif. jail inmates were blowing through 3,000 disposable plastic spoons per day — used once then off to the landfill.
But that was before “Capt. Spork” took command of the enterprise known as the Maguire Men’s Correctional Facility. Spork, actually Capt. John Quinlan, introduced reusable, recyclable combination spoon-forks — sporks — to the jail. He’s picked up other green monikers along the way, such as Capt. Carbon and Capt. Green.
San Mateo is among the latest crop of counties that are stepping up their environmental efforts. Churchill County, Nev. is adding solar panels to a recreational building in hopes of meeting all of the facility’s energy needs. In Harris County, Texas, a new tax abatement program is providing incentives for developers to construct LEED-certified “green” buildings.
In Quinlan’s jail, even some of the most hard-nosed inmates are taking notice. Ken Watson, 37, a convicted murderer, told the San Mateo County Times, “…[A] lot of people say they’ll want to go green, and the jail isn’t just putting out a bunch of rhetoric. They did it.”
In an interview with County News, Quinlan said: “What we’re teaching them is a little civic responsibility in protecting the environment, and some of them find it a really cool thing to do.”
Sporks are 14 times more expensive than plastic spoons — 14 cents a piece versus a penny each, but Quinlan said the payoff comes over time. He figures that in two weeks of use, the costs balance out.
Quinlan also introduced “spudware” to the jail for staff meals — biodegradable utensils made from potato starch and soybean oil. Other environmental efforts at the jail include switching to green cleaning products, and recycling pallets and packaging from deliveries, which used to be discarded. The recycling proceeds now go into an inmate welfare fund that helps pay for rehabilitation programs.
Going green in a jail does have some challenges, Quinlan said; inmates can turn anything into a weapon. That’s why their sporks are checked twice a day, morning and evening; they must wash and reuse them each day.
The jail also began composting food waste this year — 340 cubic yards in the first month — which brought another potential security threat. The compost bins are large enough for a man to hide in. That’s why the bins are probed with long sticks before they’re carted off, which is done only after inmate counts have been completed.
A rancher, as well as the jail’s major domo, Quinlan brought his personal respect for the environment to the job. “I’m very friendly to the earth because I need it to be friendly back to me,” he said.
Nevada county greenlights more green power
Churchill County, Nev., population 26,000, is located in northern Nevada approximately one hour east of Reno and bills itself as “a leading producer of green energy.”
Among its current efforts, the county is adding solar panels to a recreation and swimming pool complex, which had already been using solar collectors to heat water for the pool, according to County Manager Brad Goetsch.
Phase One would add 10 megawatts (mw) of generating capacity to the facility, followed by another 30 mw, which “will bring that building pretty close to … [energy] self-sufficiency,” Goetsch said. The county also plans to add 30 mw of solar generation to its water processing plant to help run its pumps.
The solar installation at the recreation complex is expected to pay for itself in eight to 13 years. The panels have a 25-year warranty, Goetsch said; “so if we can get a payoff in approximately 10 years, that gives us 15 years or longer of free energy, basically, from that project.”
Phase One is projected to cost about $110,000, but the county will receive a roughly 50 percent rebate from the local electric utility, Sierra Pacific’s SolarGenerations unit.
Goetsch said savings like those allow the county to address other priorities, such as paving roads and building infrastructure — “and the things that people need instead of paying for energy.”
He’d like to see the green energy program grow to the point that the county could develop its own energy credit management capability. Instead of receiving credits or rebates, the county could pay the full up-front costs of its projects and market its green credits to other cities in the Southwest that haven’t been able to meet their goals to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Harris County’s new incentives for building green
Harris County may be best known outside Texas as the home of Houston. But the county is also making a name for itself with a new environmental program to encourage green buildings.
The county is offering a partial tax abatement for up to 10 years for new commercial buildings that obtain certification under the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) program.
“If there’s a company that’s considering a green building development…, this is basically an incentive to tilt their decision in favor of going green,” said Nancy Powell, economic development director in the county’s Community Services Department.
The program applies in unincorporated areas of the county, which includes 34 municipalities. To qualify, the minimum increase in a building’s value due to its green features and LEED certification must be at least $100,000.
LEED certifies buildings at four levels: basic, silver, gold and platinum. Under the county’s program, a developer’s total investment must be $10 million for basic, $4 million for silver, $2 million for gold and $1 million for platinum.
The tax abatement begins once the building has been completed and LEED certification has been obtained.
To date, one application is being processed, Powell said — for a $6 million medical office building going for gold certification. Another is pending.
She said the program was the outgrowth of a strategic planning process involving the county’s municipalities. Among the goals that emerged were strengthening the county’s tax abatement program and inducing green building. The idea to combine the two came from Powell’s boss, David Turkel, director, Community Services.
NACo’s Green Government Initiative
To find out what other counties are doing, check out NACo’s searchable online database of county green programs, policies, plans, staff descriptions and more at www.naco.org/greencounties. To add information about your county, submit it by e-mail to Kelly Zonderwyk at kzonderwyk@naco.org.
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