SAN JOSE PLANTS ITS ROOTS IN GREEN MEETINGS AND TRAVEL

SAN JOSE, CA - San Jose, voted in 2009 as the greenest of 12 cities by Green Tech Media, is grounding itself in the wide world of responsible travel and meetings. Going beyond the standard programs, initiatives all throughout San Jose are forcefully changing the way business is done. From hotels, to the Convention Center, to City organizations and Mineta International Airport -- all are making strides to ensure that San Jose puts its best carbon footprint forward. The vision is to make this kind of environmental responsibility the standard so visitors can "stay to play!" for years to come. Initiatives include:

Green Hotels

One of the few hotels in Northern California to utilize an Ozone Laundry Plan, Hotel Valencia on Santana Row debuted this program in 2008 to save water, gas and electricity, as the cycles run a shorter time and use cold water to conserve. Also unique to Hotel Valencia is a Heatsvr, a liquid pool blanket technology that reduces temperature and saves 15-40 percent of natural gas usage for the pool and spa. Low flow toilets and shower heads along with biodegradable key cards, no use of Styrofoam products and electronic mailings all contribute to keeping one of the most popular hotels in San Jose seeing green. Calculated by energystar.com, within 5 months the hotel reduced its carbon footprint by 47,739.57 pounds. The Executive Chef of their signature restaurant, Citrus, sources fresh ingredients on local farmers and fishermen to decrease emissions associated with shipping. Organic wines are also offered at Citrus, as well as the hotel's Vbar. 

The "Green Team" at Dolce Hayes Mansion monitors environmental practices and maintaining new standards sustainability. The 'Green Team' also researches and coordinates property and staff involvement in local environmental projects or programs. In addition, Hayes Mansion provides biodegradable food to-go containers, uses local and sustainable food and beverage products and energy efficient appliances and lights bulbs.

The San Jose City Council recently recognized the Hilton San Jose has a Green Business. The staff uses energy saving printers, faxes etc, sensored lighting and offers a linen re-use program to each guest. Cups, lids and straws are made from 100 percent U.S. grown corn, also known as PLA plastic. Use of PLA plastic saves 10 gallons of gasoline for every case of 20 oz cups.

The Clarion Hotel in San Jose saves approximately $15,000 a year with a PG&E initiative that provides air conditioning motion sensors to save energy and water conservation systems for their sprinklers, showers and faucets. They use a paperless reporting program and a guest linen program, where guests can reuse their own towels and sheets.

The DoubleTree Hotel partners with many green organizations, including the Arbor Day Foundation, to plant new trees in the area. They are proud members of the California Green Lodging Program and the Green Meeting Industry Council. The hotel is a member of the Earthcare program, which allows a 100-guestroom hotel to save 72,000 gallons of water through linen and towel reuse. Eco-friendly materials are used for renovations and remodels, and energy efficient appliances are purchased. Staff also focuses on avoiding printing brochures and correspondence whenever possible.

The San Jose Marriott stands out by offering a "Green Meeting Planner Package” that includes environmentally friendly meeting room writing pads. For every 4 pads consumed, the equivalent of one mature tree is saved, 733 gallons of water are saved, 144 pounds of air emissions and 29 pounds of solid waste is reduced. Marriott San Jose also uses ‘Green Works' cleaners, Brita filters, corn starch drinking cups that are 100 percent recyclable and is building toward linen-less tables in all meeting spaces for 2009.  The hotel also recently launched a beta test partnership with the Clorox Company utilizing their environmentally friendly "Green Works” product line for cleaning guest rooms.

Initiated by Fairmont San Jose and adopted by all the Fairmont hotels across the state, this San Jose hotel offers complimentary parking to the overnight guests who drive Hybrid cars. The Fairmont San Jose also implements several green programs pioneered by Fairmont headquarters, such as the Green Partnership Program— a comprehensive commitment to minimizing hotels' impact on the planet, accompanied by a guidebook on sustainable best practices in the lodging industry. The program emphasizes sustainable and responsible practices such as recycling, kitchen-waste diversion, retrofitting energy-efficient lighting, conducting community-outreach programs and buying green power. The Fairmont's Eco-Meet program helps meeting planners by providing a meeting structure that encourages maximum waste diversion and environmental awareness for conference delegates.

The Wyndham San Jose uses energy efficient lighting, linen re-use, low flow toilets, laundry ozone system and recycling programs.

Eco-Friendly Restaurants

Bella Mia in downtown San Jose, is a Certified Green Business and participates in  Pacific Gas & Electric's (PG&E) ‘Save Energy Program', which uses local, seasonal products, energy efficient lighting and recycles all possible products.
Manresa is the showcase for the inventive cuisine of Executive Chef David Kinch. Influenced by French and modern Catalan cooking, Chef Kinch finds inspiration from American ingenuity and the vast bounty that California has to offer. Manresa's biodynamic vegetables are grown exclusively for Manresa at Cynthia Sandberg's Love Apple Farm in the nearby Santa Cruz Mountains and harvested in the morning for the evening menu. Love Apple Farm originally became known for growing 100 varieties of heirloom tomatoes each year but the farm is now the exclusive kitchen garden for this restaurant. Join Manresa for the ultimate farm-to-table experience.
Village California Bistro and Wine Bar features California inspired cuisine focusing on the bounty of artisan quality seasonal ingredients right here in their backyard from the Wine Country to the Central Valley and the Pacific waters surrounding the Northern California coast and Monterey Bay. Emphasizing freshness, quality of ingredients and classic cooking techniques our chef, Thomas Ricci, creates ever changing seasonal menus.
Sustainable Wineries
The Viticulture Association of the Santa Cruz Mountains supports sustainable winegrape growing and has worked to promote sustainable practices in the region's vineyards.  They have brought the programs of the Sustainable Winegrape Growers Alliance to the region, including the Self-Assessment, Energy Efficiency and Ecosystem Management workshops.  The meeting programs stress best vineyard and sustainable practices, including cover crops, erosion control, canopy management and more.
The Association uses the Code of Sustainable Winegrowing Practices as a guide to describe the value of sustainability in wineries. Since the first sustainable workshops in 2004, the region has seen an increase in the adoption of sustainable vineyard practices. Some have adopted alternative energy such as solar and biodiesel.  Several vineyards grow organically, and one is certified organic by the California Certified Organic Farmers.
Only 25 minutes from Palo Alto or San Jose or 50 minutes from San Francisco, Cooper-Garrod Vineyard is a family owned and operated 28-acre estate vineyard and winery.
Located above the village of Saratoga on the unirrigated hillsides in the eastern Santa Cruz Mountains, this winery uses solar power photovoltaic systems to independently convert the sun's light into electricity. The winery Web site is linked to a live Web site by Akeena Solar that monitors of the 17 kilowatt solar array located at the winery that proves one aspect of their efforts toward sustainability.

Located in the quaint town of Felton, California and founded in 1941, Hallcrest Vineyards is also home to The Organic Wine Works.  As the first certified organic winery in the nation, The Organic Wine Works produces award winning USDA/CCOF Certified Organic Wines with no added sulfites.  For over twenty years, owner and winemaker John Schumacher has been a strong advocate of sustainable, organic growing techniques, employing them within the vineyard managed by Hallcrest as well as working with local, organic grape growers to provide conscientious consumers with affordable, high quality organic wines.   
As of August 2007, Kathryn Kennedy Estate Vineyard has officially stepped up sustainability to the next level and achieved Certified Organic status.  Rigorous standards of certification will be maintained by California Certified Organic Farmers based in Santa Cruz CA. Over the last 10 years, President and winegrower Marty Mathis has began to transition the vineyard's practices toward a sustainable vineyard regime with a holistic approach. This procedure includes pesticide avoidance and weed killer, maintaining soil health with farm composting on site, energy reduction from electric and biodiesel transportation for around the land lot as well as a recycling policy for all possible materials.
La Honda Winery in Redwood City sustainably farms over twenty distinct vineyard properties throughout the Santa Cruz Mountains in order to assure natural soil and vine health. No heavy equipment ever enters La Honda's steeply-sloped mountain vineyards. Weather stations operate on solar power. All green waste is composted and recycled. Winemaker Ken Wornick applies his affinity for the earth as a geologist, along with a deep appreciation for what grows and flourishes in the soil, which has led to the creation of world-class wines with character and personality winning top honors in many highly respected wine competitions. Wine Enthusiast magazine recently commented on La Honda's Santa Cruz Mountain ‘Lonehawk' Cabernet " saying this wine "shows the ability of the coastal Santa Cruz Mountains to ripen Cabernet Sauvignon to perfection.”
Regan Estate Vineyards subscribes to the concept and practice of sustainability through working in harmony with nature and integrating three main concepts: environmental sustainability,where the staff seeks to minimize the impact on nature so as to help sustain a healthy environment for future generation; economic sustainability, where operations are part of a fiscally responsible business; and sstriving to treat our employees and community with respect to promote socially equitable business practices. These all make every effort to have a minimal impact on the air, water and soil of the environment.

Overlooking Monterey Bay sits Silver Mountain, a winery and vineyard that prides itself on addressing a fundamental concern for the environment and being a proponent of sustainable and organic practices for viticulture and other food sources.
Only organically approved and naturally occurring substances in all vineyard applications are employed, which means that no chemical herbicides, insecticides, fungicides or synthetic fertilizers are used in the vineyard. While implementing these methods are costly and labor intensive, organic farming produces fresher fruit and healthier vines than traditional methods using man-made chemicals. The result is award-winning wine with more intensity and stronger flavors than its counterparts.

Vine Hill Winery, surrounded by majestic redwoods and overlooking the Monterey Bay, employs all organic, biodynamic and sustainable methods that foster a union with nature. Some of their practices include conservation tillage, cover cropping, on-farm composting, deficit irrigation, input analysis, biodiesel, biodynamic preparations and minimal natural inputs. Vine Hill is in the process of becoming a partner with ReCORK Amorim, which set up a cork recycling program that collects used corks from wineries and restaurants.  

Environmentally Friendly Attractions

Last October, The Tech Museum of Innovation and Team San Jose partnered with SunPower to plan the installation of solar panels on the roof of neighboring Parkside Hall. Once the panels are in place, they will provide at least 10 percent of energy needed by The Tech and will avoid approximately 200 million pounds of carbon dioxide annually associated with conventional power generation. Both companies are excited about leading by example to show how affordable, clean and reliable solar power is today.

The Tech Museum also welcomed a new, permanent exhibit last September called ‘Green By Design'. This exhibit act as a reminder about how Silicon Valley houses some of the most advanced environmental initiatives and advocates in the U.S. Inside ‘Green By Design' is where the guests can design and race a hybrid car in an arcade-like racing game, try out harnessing wind and water power with self-made turbines and experiment with designing a solar concentrator. This innovative display shows visitors the importance of learning about renewable energy sources and new technologies and solutions being developed to meet our growing energy needs. The space sets out to challenge and inspire the next generation of inventors and engineers to come up with intelligent green designs.

The Retro Dome, featuring musical theater and retro film, is committed to responsible entertainment. They recently replaced all chairs with recycled abandoned theater seats, and use eco-friendly paints, woods, and other building materials for maintenance. They shop with vendors that support green mills. Rather than use traditional playbills which ultimately end up in the garbage, they use a screen to project the information and have the content available in the lobby and on their website. They have large recycling bins throughout the lobby and work with food service vendors who use recyclable trays, bags and cups as much as possible.

Responsible Meetings

Team San Jose is working diligently to reduce the impact on the environment. Recycling ranges from paper products, to carpeting, and food waste, and as a result of these efforts their waste diversion rate was 61 percent in 2009. What cannot be recycled, like furniture, scrap metal and foam boards, are donated to non-profit organizations for repurposing, such as the Resource Area for Teaching (RAFT) and local schools. The company is working to become a Certified Green Business by Santa Clara County and is a member of PG&E's ‘Climate Smart Program' to create a climate neutral footprint. 

Team San Jose uses electrically powered service carts around the Convention Center and Cultural Facilities and they set the thermostat at 68 degrees for heating and 78 degrees for cooling to maximize energy conservation. An energy efficient LED marquee was installed for advertising. Local vendors within 150 miles are used for the freshest ingredients for the available organic meals. Since May 2008, the Convention & Visitor's Bureau and Team San Jose have one of the few West Coast centers that have the ability to compost all products that are provided through the Convention Center and Cultural Facilities for an additional fee. Team San Jose also offers products that are recyclable or compostable, such as plates, cups, silverware, napkins and box lunch containers.

Mineta San Jose International Airport Leads Environmental Conservation

Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC) continues to lead the nation's airports regarding environmental conservation and sustainability, especially with the near completion of its comprehensive modernization program.

The new Terminal B and Terminal B Concourse that will be fully opened in June 2010 have been designed and built to achieve at least the LEED Certified rating, and with an excellent possibility of achieving LEED Silver rating later this year by following sustainability principles for construction and materials.  The new buildings include dual plumbing systems so that recycled water can be used for non-potable purposes, and the Airport invested more than $2 million to extend the recycled water distribution system that can serve other airport tenants and buildings and landscape irrigation systems.

The new terminal buildings also make generous use of natural light to reduce electrical demand, along with "smart” heating, cooling and ventilation systems that are more responsive and more efficient to save energy and provide customer comfort.

The new consolidated rental car center located across the street from Terminal B, will help reduce traffic, emissions, and congestion on airport roadways by co-locating all rental services in one convenient structure.  On the roof of the new rental car center is a one-megawatt solar power array that will provide at least 20 percent of the electrical needs of the new structure

The Airport converted its entire 34-bus shuttle fleet from diesel to compressed natural gas (CNG), which reduces the emissions by nearly 100 tons annually compared to 2001 levels. The CNG fueling station for the shuttle buses has also been open to the public since 2003, which both supports lower emissions and provides lower-cost alternative fuel for taxi fleets and privately-owned vehicles.

An Airport incentive program with mini-grants for taxis and shuttle buses has resulted in the conversion to more than 100 clean-fuel taxis and door-to-door shuttles that now account for one-third of all taxi trips at the Airport. The new terminal facilities have also resulted in the conversion of diesel ground service equipment to electrical equipment that reduces emissions, and all jet bridges now provide waiting aircraft with "pre-conditioned air” from the terminal, thereby reducing the need for aircraft engines to idle while at boarding gates.

The Airport's rate of solid waste recycling has increased from 9 percent in 2007 to 79 percent in 2009 as a result of off-site sorting and recovery by the City's materials recovery contractor.  This includes solid waste from the Airport's terminal operations, shops and restaurants, and aircraft.

Over the past 25 years SJC has invested approximately $170 million to mitigate noise in neighborhoods near the airport.

City of San Jose's Green Vision

On October 30, 2007, the San Jose City Council adopted Green Vision, a fifteen-year plan to transform San Jose into a world center of clean technology innovation, promote cutting-edge sustainable practices, and demonstrate that the goals of economic growth, environmental stewardship and fiscal responsibility are inextricably linked. 

San Jose is leading the world in solar technology, alternative fuels, new transportation systems, efficient lighting and energy monitoring systems innovation. San Jose successfully pioneered many commonplace environmental activities, from curbside recycling to its urban growth boundary. The City of San Jose will advance its Green Vision with the following goals set for the next 15 years:

4Creating 25,000 Clean Tech jobs as the World Center of Clean Tech Innovation
4Receive 100 percent of our electrical power from renewable sources
4Build or retrofit 50 million square feet of green buildings
4Divert 100 percent of the waste from our landfill and convert it to energy
4Ensure 100 percent of public fleet vehicles run on alternative fuels
Since 2001, San Jose government has significantly reduced its energy consumption by 200 million kilowatt hours through institution of basic efficiency efforts, resulting in an estimated savings of $20 million. They've set a goal of reducing their per capita energy consumption by half in the next 15 years and to convert to using 100 percent renewable electrical power. For more information, visit www.sanjoseca.gov/greenvision.
About Team San Jose (TSJ)
Team San Jose, Inc. is a management company for the San Jose Convention Center and multiple theaters in Downtown San Jose including the San Jose Civic, Parkside Hall, Center for the Performing Arts, California Theatre and Montgomery Theater. Team San Jose is a unique customer service model where the company acts as the San Jose Convention and Visitors Bureau and works in partnership with local hoteliers, organized labor, local arts leadership and business community to provide a one team approach to all event planning needs. For more information on things to see and do, call 1-800-SANJOSE or visit www.sanjose.org.

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Updated June 7, 2010