Program helps businesses make–and pay for–energy saving improvements.

SF Business Times | April 8-14, 2011
By Jennifer Roberts

A new program called Oakland Shines is providing business owners and managers in downtown Oakland with major new incentives to upgrade their facilities with advanced building technologies designed to save energy, boost profits, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

"This program is absolutely fantastic," said Elie Khoury, General Manager of Oakland Marriott City Center. Khoury is considering taking advantage of the Oakland Shines program to install a new energy management system that would reduce energy use throughout the hotel's 476 guest rooms and 89,000 square feet of convention space.

"Anything you can do to try and save energy is the right thing to do," Khoury said. But he noted that without incentives, an energy management system for a large hotel could run as high as $300,000 to $400,000. Companies often don't undertake major energy efficiency retrofits because they don't have the capital, he said. "Oakland Shines can really help a big convention hotel to get the system in place and offset much of its cost."

Khoury anticipates that the Oakland Marriott will receive "a huge rebate" thanks to Oakland Shines.

Start-to-Finish Assistance and Rebates

Funded by a $5 million, two-year stimulus grant from the California Energy Commission, Oakland Shines offers free start-to-finish technical assistance and cash rebates to help businesses defray the cost of installing energy-efficient lighting, refrigeration products and heating, cooling, and ventilation system improvements.

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To learn more about Oakland Shines, visit www.oaklandshines.com. For more information about scheduling an energy audit of your business, contact Oakland Shines at (877) 304-6133.