About Sustainable Silicon Valley


About SSV: ems \| board & staff \| future plans

About SSV Sustainable Silicon Valley (SSV) is a multi-stakeholder collaborative initiative to produce significant environmental improvement and resource conservation in Silicon Valley through the development and implementation of a regional environmental management system (EMS). Sustainable Silicon Valley began in 2001 as a collaboration between: Business, led by the Silicon Valley Leadership Group (SVLG) Government, led by California Environmental Protection Agency and political leaders - letter from Senator Feinstein Non-governmental organizations, led by the Silicon Valley Environmental Partnership (SVEP) Representatives from these organizations formed a team to develop a project plan and introduce it to a wider group of participants. Participants were invited from the entire Silicon Valley region, including Santa Clara and San Mateo, Northern Santa Cruz, and Southern Alameda counties. These participants identified 35 key environmental pressures, the top six being: Use of energy from non-renewable sources measured by CO2 emissions Use of fresh water Urban sprawl Habitat development and fragmentation Use of non-renewable raw materials Discharges of toxic chemicals to the air Of the six highest priority environmental pressures, SSV's first focus is on reducing CO2 emissions. SSV's regional goal is to reduce CO2 emissions in the Silicon Valley to 20% below their 1990 levels by the year 2010. This compares to the Kyoto Protocol's goal of a 5% reduction over the same period, and to Governor Schwarzenegger's recent call for California to reduce emissions to 2000 levels by 2010, to 1990 levels by 2020, and to 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. SSV's 20% reduction target was announced publicly in April 2003, and a first group of organizations and companies (SSV Partners) officially pledged to join SSV in March 2004 to work toward reaching this ambitious goal. SSV provides educational forums for the public and technical assistance to member organizations and serves as a clearinghouse to share best practices through ongoing meetings and events. Participants are also publicly recognized and applauded for their accomplishments. SSV was designed to move beyond the traditional command-and-control model of environmental regulation to one of collaboration and partnership. By focusing on the desired outcome, rather than compliance-driven standards, participants can choose the methods to reach that outcome that makes the most sense financially and technologically for each of them. Environmental benefits come from these outcomes, not the means used to achieve them.
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The SSV project aims to achieve its mission through the development and implementation of a regional environmental management system (EMS). An EMS is a systematic approach to environmental management, which uses a “plan - do – check - adjust” loop to address environmental issues of concern. Environmental impacts are evaluated, after which objectives with timelines are established and prioritized. An EMS calls for a process of continual improvement. Results are monitored and reviewed regularly to determine effectiveness and the need for system adjustments. The Silicon Valley Environmental Index published by SVEP provides the baseline against which to measure progress in many different areas of environmental quality.
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Sustainable Silicon Valley is considering its next environmental issue and how to address it. The top regional environmental pressures identified in 2005 are being re-evaluated with stakeholder input.
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SSV BOARD Jim Crowley, Chair Planning Unit Manager, Water Supply Sustainability Planning Unit Santa Clara Valley Water District Bruce Paton, Vice Chair Chair, Silicon Valley Environmental Partnership Professor, San Francisco State University Margaret Bruce, SSV Secretary Program Manager, Office of Sustainability, City of San Jose Peter Melhus, SSV Treasurer Chair Emeritus for Silicon Valley Environmental Partnership Instructor of San Jose State University Scott Green Chief of Staff for Councilmember Judy Chirco City of San Jose David Kaneda Principal Integrated Design Associates Hon. Julia Miller Former Mayor City of Sunnyvale Jennifer Shepherd Principal Canyon Snow Consulting Kristina Skierka Director, Cleantech and Green Products Practice Bite Communications Jennifer Smith Grubb President Emeritus Sustainable Silicon Valley Frank Teng Program Manager, Energy & Sustainability Jones Lang LaSalle at Yahoo SSV Team Rick Row Executive Director Sally Tomlinson Executive Vice President Judy Baker, MarketPoint Accounting Kent Haake CO2 Reporting Tool Design Mike Kahn, Kahncious Multimedia Website Manager; Photographer Faye Rachford Project Manager Katia Reeves Volunteer Coordinator Brad Rock, DLA Piper, LLC General Counsel Joe Rois Report Editor Scott Springborn Event Coordinator SSV Advisory Council Jack Broadbent Executive Officer/Air Pollution Control Officer Bay Area Air Quality Management District Jeff Byron Commissioner California Energy Commission Ralph Cavanagh Senior Attorney and Energy Program Director Natural Resources Defense Council Carl Guardino CEO Silicon Valley Leadership Group Winston Hickox Special Advisor to Chief Investment Officer California Public Employee Retirement System Hon. Jerry Hill Supervisor County of San Mateo Paul Holland General Partner Foundation Capital Art Jensen General Manager Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency Bruce Klafter Senior Director, Environmental Health and Safety Applied Materials Hon. Liz Kniss Supervisor Chair of the County of Santa Clara Board of Supervisors Hon. Linda J. LeZotte Former Councilmember, City of San Jose Attorney, Berliner Cohen Nancy Noe Senior Manager, Government Affairs Johnson & Johnson Companies Robert Parkhurst ClimateSmart Manager Pacific Gas & Electric Company Wendy Pulling Environmental Affairs Director Pacific Gas & Electric Company Keith Smith Sustainability Program Manager (retired) California Environmental Protection Agency Dr. Robert Stephens Secretariat, Best Practices Network United Nations Environmental Program Dr. James Sweeney Director, Precourt Institute for Energy Efficiency Professor, Management Science and Engineering Stanford University Stan Williams, Principal Stan Williams Consulting

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About SSV

SSV BOARD