Jewish Community News

News: February 2008

Local Jewish institutions fight global warming

In recognition of the threat of global warming, many Jewish institutions across Silicon Valley are participating in an Energy Challenge, to fulfill the mitzvah of tikkun olam— repairing the world.

Several institutions have pledged to have a PG&E audit of their building, and by next Chanukah, implement some improvement in their energy use. These institutions also are pledging to serve as role models for individuals, in hopes that other will follow this direction.

Drew Barkley, executive director of Temple Beth-El in Aptos was the first to report on their progress. “Here at Temple Beth El in Aptos we’ve had our energy walk through/audit with Jim Wasserman, the Santa Cruz PG&E representative. Joining me in the walk through was our head custodian and the chair of our Building and Grounds Committee.
    We learned a lot about energy usage, from light bulbs to vending machines to ballasts and on and on. We learned that the new energy efficient CFL bulbs don’t work well with a dimmer. We talked about timers, motion lighting and solar sensors.
    PG&E referred us to another organization called Rite Lights who specialize in energy saving through light management. They sent their representative out and we did a second walk through.
    All in all it was an interesting experience that fomented new ideas and initiatives for our staff. We learned that our vending machines cost us as much as $10 a month in energy usage. We learned that the fountain in a our meditation garden is expensive to run. So we changed the timing on it to only run it during peak hours. We’re all turning out the lights more often when we leave our offices or meeting rooms.”

To find out more about the Energy Challenge, contact JCRC Executive Director Diane Fisher atdiane@jvalley.org.