Stanford University
PAE-24: Sustainability Policy Advocacy

SANTA CLARA COUNTY GREEN BUILDING ORDINANCE: In 2010, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors approved a "Green Building Ordinance" for unincorporated Santa Clara County (a second phase of the the 2008 ordinance of the same name, which only addressed single-family homes). Stanford lies in unincorporated Santa Clara county and is the source of most non-residential and multi-family new construction in this area. Building on its track record of environmental stewardship with respect to water use and sustainable design and construction, Stanford worked actively with the county to develop alternate means compliance paths for the ordinance. Alternate means allow inclusion of innovative practices and methods that go beyond either CAL Green or LEED to be included in demonstration of building performance equivalent with the county ordinance. For more information on Stanford's specific involvement, please review the following documents from Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors agendas and open meetings: http://www.sccgov.org/keyboard/attachments/BOS%20Agenda/2010/September%2014,%202010/203157289/KeyboardTransmittalWeb203207753.PDF http://www.sccgov.org/keyboard/attachments/BOS%20Agenda/2010/September%2014,%202010/203157289/TMPKeyboard203208997.pdf THE WOODS INSTITUTE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT: The Woods Institute is playing an important role in helping leaders from the public and private sectors address sustainability challenges through a series of dialogues and workshops focused on key public policy issues. As a trusted and neutral source of research and information, Woods brings business, government and NGO leaders together with experts from Stanford and other academic institutions to create practical solutions to the world's most pressing environmental challenges. In addition, these dialogues create a two-way flow of information to help inform Stanford's environmental research. For specific information and details related to each "uncommon dialogue" please visit: http://woods.stanford.edu/uncommon-dialogues.php In addition to the "uncommon dialogues" there are other examples of Woods Institute events that have informed policy: • Disseminated the results of Senior Fellow Jon Krosnick’s global warming survey of Florida residents to Florida Senator Bill Nelson (Sept. 28, 2010). • Organized faculty meetings for Kevin Rennert, staffer on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee (Oct. 14, 2010). • Advised Jon Krosnick on presenting lectures in states where he conducted public opinion surveys on climate change (October-November 2010). • Assisted in in planning, production of materials and developing website for Woods Institute Ocean Salon, held November 30, 2011. • Coordinated with staff from the Stanford Center for Sustainable Development and Global Competitiveness to include Woods Institute branding during Co-Director Buzz Thompson’s presentation at the Stanford-IDG China CEO Forum (Dec. 3, 2010). • Coordinated with staff from Sustainable Silicon Valley to include sessions featuring senior fellows Craig Criddle, Jeff Koseff and Buzz Thompson at the Water, Energy, Smart Technology (WEST) Summit (Dec. 6, 2010). • Advised Higgins-Magid Faculty Fellow Jenna Davis on communication and outreach strategies for informing policymakers about her team’s water, health and development research (Dec. 13, 2010). • Facilitated participation of New Mexico Senator Jeff Bingaman, chairman of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and Jeff Byron, California Energy Commissioner, on keynote remarks at the Grid Integration of Renewables Workshop sponsored by the TomKat Center for Sustainable Energy (Jan. 13, 2011). The communications program also produced a new Energy and Environment Affiliates Program brochure that was distributed at the workshop. • Managed hosting of California Rangelands Uncommon Dialogue, May 13-14, 2011, including facilitated participation of key stakeholders and producing dialogue summary. • Advised and assisted Center for Ocean Solutions staff on engaging coastal policy makers on their policy brief on combating ocean acidification in coastal communities (May 26, 2011).