Department: Department of Motor Vehicles
Idea/Initiative: Greening The DMV
Area(s): Green California
Description: Recognizing the social and economic value of energy conservation, the Department launched an aggressive effort to showcase its greening activities throughout California. The Department is committed to the ongoing “greening” of all of facilities and daily work processes. Through implementation of a “Working Green” initiative, California DMV has created a Green Culture that encourages employees to make a positive impact on the environment. DMV’s greening campaign has included the creation of a comprehensive “Green DMV” web site, weekly e-mail distribution of a “Green Tip of The Week,” green oriented news articles, executive level e-mail messages about new initiatives, the creation of a “Green Team” comprised of representatives from each division, a Director’s award program for “Leadership in Sustainable Practices,” and noon-time events designed to encourage employee participation.
The Department has opened several, new energy-efficient field offices that have met or are striving to be recognized by the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Certification program. Offices included San Ysidro, South Sacramento, Clovis, and Hollywood. In addition, the Department has instituted an employee recycling program that encourages various methods of recycling at both work and in the home.
The Department unveiled the Computer Power Management Initiative, an in-house energy management solution that uses existing software programs, designed to aggressively move computers to a more energy efficient mode, when not in use.
DMV Facilities Green Leasing Program: The Department implemented a program to address energy inefficiencies and to implement sustainable building practices in leased facilities and future leased projects by establishing policies & procedures. The program incorporates sustainable building practices into DMV’s leases to include items such as: Water efficient fixtures, Energy efficient heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems, Cool roofs, Green Housekeeping – janitorial and pest control, Drought tolerant landscaping, and Energy efficient lighting.
Results: The DMV diverted more than 60% of the total generated waste to other uses instead of sending it to landfill. The department achieved a diversion rate of 61.5% for calendar year 2005, and 65.4% for calendar year 2006. The Department’s Computer Power Management Initiative has seen favorable results. Since the initial implementation on nearly 3,000 computers, the initiative has reduced average monthly electricity consumption by more than 86,000 kWh, reduced average monthly greenhouse gas emissions by more than 107,000 lbs and saved California taxpayers an average of more than $11,000 per month. The DMV Green Leasing Program is an excellent example of how a state agency can implement sustainable measures within their leased office portfolio. DMV leased facilities represents more than half of the total number of DMV offices statewide. And, DMV employees have enthusiastically supported our greening program and have submitted numerous suggestions for doing even more. Employee engagement demonstrates the success of this campaign.