Mayor appoints Green Task Force

In an effort to keep up with state laws concerning reducing carbon footprints and help inform residents of the need for and benefits of sustainable and green technology, La Cañada Flintridge Mayor Laura Olhasso last month initiated the city’s new Green Task Force.

The task force — made up of the city’s Director of Community Development Robert Stanley; Patrick Clarke, city planner; and a handful of local residents appointed by Olhasso — began meeting last month and will have its third meeting today (Thursday).

At the first meetings, the task force created a mission statement and heard from representatives of Southern California Edison about ways residents and business owners can make their homes more efficient and reduce energy use, Stanley said.

The next few meetings will include segments with local water and gas companies to help improve those areas of consumer use, he said.

“There are a lot of state laws coming about and we’re trying to be ready for them,” Stanley said, adding that information compiled by the Green Task Force will be formulated on a future website, so it can be readily available for local residents and business people.

“The mayor hopes to get information that we can get out to the people to show how they can voluntarily improve and lower energy and water use. We’ll be kind of a one-stop place,” Stanley said.

Among the list of local business people, developers, community leaders and homeowners appointed to the task force is Bryan C. Jackson, 53, a La Cañada resident and attorney with Allen Matkins, a real estate law firm in Los Angeles.

Jackson is editor of the Green Building Update, an Internet newsletter; a construction lawyer; and, he also lectures once a week to cities and governmental bodies across the state, and teaches a course to graduate students at the University of Southern California on the benefits of green technology.

“It’s pretty much my passion, and when the mayor asked me, I was happy to volunteer for the task force,” Jackson said, adding that although many people look at green technology from a scientific standpoint and concern for the environment and greenhouse effect, he also sees it from an economic viewpoint.

“It makes economic sense for our cities, homeowners and residents of buildings to go green. There’s a huge savings in operational costs, it increases productivity and makes for a more pleasant place to work,” he said, citing educational studies that have shown students get higher test scores and teachers and students have fewer absences in buildings that are environmentally friendly.

“There’s a huge productivity leap for those inhabiting green buildings,” Jackson said.

The cost of “going green” also has dropped in recent years, so much so that it has become economically smart to do so, according to Jackson.

“Early on there would be only one company that produced windows, and that may have been clear across the country. But, now there are hundreds of competing companies within a 500-mile radius, which makes it cost about the same, if the contractors and architects work together early on and plan ahead to produce a green building,” he said.

Ultimately, the cost of operating an energy efficient green building also makes the extra planning beneficial, he said, adding, “It’s almost a no-brainer for homeowners to go green.”

Clarke said that La Cañada’s Green Task Force hopes to have a website up and running within the next few months offering residents links to many of the options available for going green.

“There are a lot of helpful ideas floating around out there,” Clarke said.