Solar Water Heating Basics for Homeowners
An educational workshop promoting the Solar Water Heating Pilot Program

Date: 9/19/2007
Time: 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Location: CCSE
8690 Balboa Avenue
San Diego, CA 92123
Organizer/Sponsored by: California Center for Sustainable Energy

The California Center of Sustainable Energy (CCSE) is hosting a free workshop to educate homeowners about the economic and environmental benefits associated with solar water heating.

The Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) recently awarded CCSE $1.5 million to provide incentives to licensed contractors and homeowners to help reduce the costs and promote the installation of clean, renewable solar water heating systems. Homeowners can receive up to $1500 in incentives for the installation of a qualifying solar water heater through the new program. Federal tax credits are also available.

In California, over forty percent of the natural gas used to heat water could be saved through the use of clean, renewable solar water heating systems. Solar water heating helps reduce gas and electric consumption, avoids combustion-related emissions, and reduces the need for new fossil fuel infrastructures (power plants).

The life cycle cost of using a Solar Water Heating system is lower than using gas and electricity at current prices, and in many cases the performance and quality warranties of Solar Water Heating systems exceed the guarantees of other household appliances.

This workshop will provide information on the different solar water heating technologies and their appropriate applications.

Solar Water Heating Pilot Program Manager Annie Henderson and CCSE Energy Engineer Skip Fralick will conduct the session.

This event is for homeowners only; no contractors or vendors, please. For details and to register for this event, please visit: www.swh.energycenter.org.

Free dinner will be served. Hoping to see you there!

Come join us at the Rancho at Los Penasquitos Canyon Preserve. Meet us at the Ranch House at 10am for some relaxed time outside to visit the grounds, including a covered raised garden bed and young citrus grove, or come at 11am for a tour of the historic structures. And if you're really adventurous, you can take the 6-mile round trip hike to the waterfall and back afterwards. Here's a blurb from their website:

San Diego County's first Mexican land grant includes an 1823 adobe ranch house constructed by the Commandante of the San Diego Presidio. In 1846, Rancho los Penasquitos was the first place of rest for General Stephen Watts Kearny and his Army of the West after the Battle of San Pasqual. Enlarged in 1862 as the gracious home of a celebrated Yankee river boat captain and his wife, the niece of California's last Mexican governor, Pio Pico, the building and site comprise a National Historic and Archaeological District. The beautiful canyon locale within a 3700-acre open space preserve offers hiking, biking and equestrian trails.

Call Julie at 619-549-2971 the day of the event for more information or to find our exact location. Cell phone reception in the canyon, however, can be spotty.

Green Investing: Fighting Climate Change with Your Investments

This wednesday, Blue Summit Financial is offering a free Green Investing & Climate Change workshop taking place in La Jolla. Blue Summit will share the latest information on green investing and as always, please feel free to forward this invitation to anyone you feel may be interested in attending.

Smart investors and financial institutions are now capitalizing on the opportunities in solar, biofuels, wind and other alternative energy technologies. Many of the largest investment organizations in the world have endorsed Responsible Investing Principles. Are you protecting your investments from the risks of climate change? Are you taking advantage of the opportunities?

Find out the resources you need to ensure your money is being invested in companies, products, and projects that responsibly address climate change and other sustainability challenges. Additionally, learn why considering sustainability issues when making investment decisions doesn't mean lower returns on your investments--indeed, there is evidence that it can actually enhance them.

Blue Summit Financial Group is San Diego?s premier financial services firm specializing in Sustainable and Socially Responsible Investments (SRI) since 1994.

When: Wednesday, August 22nd

Time: 6:30 - 7:45pm

Where: La Jolla Public Library, 7555 Draper Avenue La Jolla, CA 92037

Please call Justin Martello if you have any questions.

Justin Martello
Financial Advisor
Blue Summit Financial Group, Inc.
619.698.4330 office
619.698.0430 fax

For those of use who have not yet seen Sicko, the new documentary by Michael Moore, lets watch it!

When: Friday August 10th
Time: 720pm
Where: Horton Plaza UA
Price: $10 for adults

Lets meet outside of the movie theatre at 7pm.
See you there!

Michael Moore makes a special brand of horror film: some comedy and stunts, some pathos and tragedy, and a big public issue that leaves us babbling pros and cons.

?Sicko? is his new ... documentary? Well, ?docuMooretary.? Not since Hitchcock has a director so personalized his genre.

Horton Plaza is located at off of 5th Ave downtown:
475 Horton Plaza
San Diego, 92101

Learn the story of our food supply. Taste the huge difference between locally grown hierloom tomato's and the standard cardboard flavored variety (those bred to ship well, grown with pesticides and shipped thousands of miles). This will be a free mouths-on workshop (as opposed to hands-on :). Will be held from 12-1pm.

This will be at City Hall which is the outdoor plaza between the City Administration Building and the Civic Center Plaza from 12-1pm. We're hoping to expose a wide range of people to the phenomenon of local versus conventionally grown foods.

How can you spend your food dollars in a way that builds a sustainable future for San Diego?
San Diego has the second-highest number of small farms in the entire US and yet, very little local produce is used in our restaurants or sold in our markets. Instead, our produce is shipped away, while the average store-bought fruit or vegetable has traveled over 1500 miles to our plate!
During this week of action, people across the country are choosing to eat locally and think critically about their food choices. "Eat in" refers to using local food, cooking food yourself instead of eating fast food, and "Act Out" means speaking up and taking action to change our food system and promote local food!

Sponsored by San Diego FoodNotLawns (http://sdfoodnotlawns.com ).