23. October 2007 by Ana Connell.

City of Burbank has an excellent page on their website, under conservation, that lists over 50 energy saving tips!

Many of these tips are common sense and you may be using them already, but there are some you may not have considered, such as:

• Make sure the seals in the oven fit properly.
• Do not use fireplaces while your central heating system in on.

• Use reversible ceiling fans to push warm air downwards and keep rooms warmer.
• Match water heater size to your needs and set the temperature at 120°-140°

• Cover wall-mounted air conditioners with plastic film or an airtight cover.
• Check with your pool supply advisor for recommendations on how long to run your pool pump daily. Don’t run it any longer than necessary.
• Don’t block microwave vents.
• Keep lids on pots when cooking. While baking, do not open the oven; consider using the light instead.

For the complete list, check out Burbank Water and Power!

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23. October 2007 by Ana Connell.

Congratulations to City of Burbank for winning a clean air award from the South Coast Air Quality Management District(AQMD).

Thanks to Burbank’s environmentally friendly policies they joined with other Southern California cities to form the Five Cities Hydrogen Program in 2006. The other cities that participate in the program are Ontario, Riverside, Santa Ana and Santa Monica. The AQMD has promoted this demonstration program in order promote public awareness of both the efficiency of hydrogen fuel technology and to show how safe the technology is for transportation use.

Given the population growth that will be coming to Southern California over the next 10-20 years it is imperative that we develop and utilize energy efficient, zero emission technologies. Part of the problem is that while these technologies have been around for some time, they are not getting the support they need to go mainstream. It starts with individuals and small cities that want to make a difference. Please contact your government representatives and let them know that you want these types of viable technologies to get the support and funding they deserve!

The City has a “green” fleet that includes 14 buses, 35 heavy-duty trucks and 40 passenger cars for city use. The hydrogen fleet includes 5 toyota priuses that were converted for hydrogen gas and the cars can go for 80 miles per fill of hydrogen!

For more information, please visit the links provided in this article!

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23. October 2007 by Ana Connell.

Burbank City Council meets weekly at 6pm in the Council Chambers at Burbank City Hall. There are a couple of interesting items on the agenda tonight that are noteworthy.

Items of Note:

Parking Requirement Changes

The council will consider changing the amount of parking spaces required for multifamily residential projects. This item is especially interesting when you look at the amount of people that park around multifamily projects. The current Municipal Code requires 1 guest parking space for every 5 family residential units……yes, you read that correctly!

The current proposal requires 1 guest space per every 4 residential units and no less than 2 guest spaces overall. The council may consider this change for all or only certain projects.

My view may be a bit myopic, but even this change, although helpful, seems inadequate. Given the amount of cars usually parked around multifamily units it would seem that either you are trying to discourage people from inviting guests or that you really believe only 1 in 4 or 5 units will have a guest over at any given moment. The reality seems to be, especially on the weekends, that multifamily unit dwellers do invite friends to come visit and that the current requirements are woefully inadequate.

Please share your thoughts on this issue.

Housing Subcommittee

The council is reviewing whether to set up a subcommittee on housing. It’s role would be to provide general oversight of the housing element update to the General Plan. This could be a great vehicle for residents to provide their input and ideas.

Don’t forget that you can watch the City Council meetings live on Charter Communications Channel 6 or online at City of Burbank’s website.

Have a great week!

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