Attachment 3: Work Plan
Description of the Project:
West Basin Municipal Water District (West Basin) has designed the Cash for Kitchens (C4K) Program (“Program”, or “C4K”) to meet the environmental objectives of both the Department of Water Resources’ (DWR) 2016 Water-Energy Grant Program and West Basin’s water conservation goals. The C4K Program is an integrated water and energy efficiency program for institutional food service facilities. The food service sector, as well as commercial and institutional kitchen use, places large demands on both water and energy utilities, and the industry’s equipment is often old (inefficient) and/or is used inefficiently by employees. The proposed Program would expand West Basin’s existing C4K Program into a full-fledged Direct-Install (DI) program for Air-Cooled Ice Machines, Pre-Rinse Spray Valves, and Plumbing Flow Restrictors (faucets), from the current program’s iteration, which first began in 2009 as an education and outreach program to address the inefficient use of water in food service facilities.
West Basin has structured this Program to specifically target institutional facilities with food service and/or kitchen operations on-site, including hospitals, schools, community centers, government buildings, and others that would benefit from increasing the efficiency of their existing equipment and also from the financial assistance offered through the direct installation of devices and the education provided through this Program.
The Program will begin with West Basin hiring a qualified vendor through a competitive bidding process who will be responsible for conducting program outreach, kitchen surveys, and water and energy efficient device installations. West Basin, its partners, and the hired vendor will work together to target institutional kitchen facilities with water-using devices and/or appliances within the West Basin service area. After developing a targeting list and an outreach strategy, the South Bay Environmental Services Center (SBESC) and the hired vendor, both, will schedule and conduct kitchen surveys at these sites, where the surveyor/auditor will note all water-using appliances and devices in the facility, faucet flow rates, appliance water and energy consumption rates, visible leaks, and interview and observe the staff regarding their water and energy use practices in the kitchen.
For those surveys conducted by SBESC, they will provide the facility manager with a summary report detailing their recommendations for devices to be retrofitted (Pre-Rinse Spray Valves, Faucet Flow Restrictors, and/or Ice Machines), and any appliance rebates that the site may be eligible for from Metropolitan Water District, Southern California Gas Company (SCG), and Southern California Edison (SCE), depending on their energy provider. With the facility manager’s written approval, SBESC will schedule an installation date for the vendor to return to the site to install the devices prescribed.
For those surveys conducted by the vendor, the surveyor will also provide the facility manager with a summary report of their recommendations for fixing leaks, operational changes, device installations, and available rebate applications for water and energy-using appliances. With the facility manager’s written approval, the vendor will install any Pre-Rinse Spray Valves and/or Faucet Flow Restrictors immediately, while still on-site. If the facility qualifies for a free, air-cooled ice machine through the program, the vendor will schedule a day to return and install that device.
Both types of surveys, SBESC-conducted and vendor-conducted, will provide the site with educational materials for staff and visitors to spread water and energy conservation messaging. Educational materials include: Educational Poster, with tips on water-wise practices for kitchen staff; coloring placemat and crayons for children, complete with water education themes and games; “Water Served on Request” table toppers and window clings; and rebate assistance, including follow up calls from the SBESC to assist with any rebate applications that the site wishes to pursue.
With the focus on reducing Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, West Basin has developed a program that will provide multiple benefits to institutional facilities in the service area; the program reduces GHG emissions by 6,570 metric tons of carbon dioxide, spreads conservation and water efficiency messaging to 225 institutional facilities, and conserves over 34,000 megawatt hours of energy, 1,128,000 therms, and 646 acre-feet of water over the Program lifetime.
This Program will provide institutional kitchen facilities within West Basin’s service area with the following:
· A kitchen water use survey/audit;
· The direct installation of water and energy efficiency devices, including 150 air cooled ice machines, 1,000 faucet flow restrictors, and 400 pre-rinse spray valves;
· Rebate information and application assistance, specifically focused on achieving at least 20 successful rebates for connectionless food steamers;
· Educational materials for kitchen staff and public visitors; and
· Customer assistance support.
Although a cost share is not required, West Basin has included funding (both cash and in-kind) from itself and several partners that will provide for a larger, more comprehensive project that will increase the impacts of reducing GHGs, conserving energy and potable water supplies.
Project Maps
The following map shows West Basin’s service area boundary, which will also serve as the Program’s location. As shown on the map, the Program has already assisted over 300 facilities since 2008.
Map 1 – West Basin Service Area and Previous Participation in the Cash for Kitchens Program, 2008 – 2015
The following map was developed by West Basin as a preliminary list of institutional kitchen facilities to be targeted by this Program. Over 260 sites were identified as part of this initial targeting effort.
Institutional Facilities Map 1 – Kitchen Facilities Targeted by the Proposed Program
Project Proponent and Project Partners
West Basin will be the project proponent who will receive the funding through the grant. West Basin will hire a qualified vendor through a competitive bidding process to implement the Program. West Basin will pay the vendor and invoice DWR through the required quarterly reports.
West Basin will be utilizing its partnership with the SBESC to conduct surveys, schedule direct installations with the qualified vendor, assist with maintaining the program participation databases, and provide phone assistance in both English and Spanish in order to guide and assist people with finding and completing the various utility rebate forms. An agreement is already in place between West Basin and SBESC, and is discussed further in Attachment 1.
West Basin is a member agency of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD), and will include conservation funding allocated through the member agency allocation (MAA) towards the C4K program. MWD will provide cost-share funds toward water and energy efficient equipment being utilized in this program, specifically the Flow Restrictors ($5/unit) and Air-Cooled Ice Machines ($1,000/unit). West Basin will also access MWD’s rebate database in order to track the number of additional connectionless food steamer rebates ($425/compartment rebated through MWD) applied for, and received, by participants in the C4K program. An agreement is already in place between West Basin and MWD, and is discussed further in Attachment 1.
SBESC surveyors and the hired vendor surveyors will all be trained and knowledgeable on available energy rebates from either SoCalGas Company or SoCal Edison (depending on the energy provider for the facility) for water and energy efficient appliance used in the kitchen facility. The surveyors, and specifically SBESC, will be instrumental in assisting the institutional facilities to apply for these energy rebates in order to further increase efficiency at the site above and beyond the device installations and educational materials provided by the C4K program.
The Program’s partnerships are illustrated on the chart on the next page.
WORK PLAN TASKS
Task 1: Direct Project Administration and Reporting: ($21,748)
West Basin will directly manage this Program and provide the reports, invoices and other deliverables, as required by DWR’s funding agreement. West Basin’s Water Resources Analyst will manage and implement the Program along with support from West Basin’s Sr. Water Efficiency Specialist. West Basin staff members will track their labor hours to administer this Program and include it with the reports as part of its in-kind contribution.
West Basin also has knowledge and experience with the Labor Compliance Program. West Basin will include and implement all the requirements and submit the required forms to the appropriate agencies, as required.
West Basin will monitor the Program and provide task updates through the quarterly reporting. West Basin has developed quarterly goals that it will monitor and conduct quarterly meetings with its vendor to ensure that the vendor is meeting the goals of the Program.
As part of the final report, West Basin will provide a summary report to DWR including all final closing documents required.
Deliverables: Invoices, quarterly and final reports
Task 2: Easement(s): ($0)
This is not a construction project; therefore no easements are needed.
Deliverables: N/A
Task 3: Project Evaluation / Design / Engineering: ($0)
This Program is not a construction project and therefore does not require the typical plans and specifications.
Deliverable: N/A
Task 4: Environmental Documentation: ($0)
This is not a construction project; therefore no environmental documentation is needed.
Deliverables: N/A
Task 5: Permitting: ($0)
This is not a construction project; therefore no permits are required.
Deliverables: N/A
Task 6: Proposal Monitoring Plan: ($10,000)
West Basin’s Program Manager will prepare a Proposal Monitoring Plan, track all site visits, surveys completed, devices installed, and rebates applied for by participating sites as part of the Proposal Monitoring Plan. Additionally, West Basin will obtain pre- and post-installation water use for each facility. Additional information on the Proposal Monitoring Plan is provided in Attachment 6.
Deliverable: Proposal Monitoring Plan
Task 7: Project Construction / Implementation: ($529,250)
Subtask 7A: Finalize Contract with Project Vendor
West Basin will competitively bid the Program to a qualified vendor to assist West Basin with implementing the Program. West Basin will manage and oversee all aspects of the Program and be responsible for obtaining the required data from the Program vendor for the required state reports.
Subtask 7B: Develop Marketing Materials
West Basin will work closely with the selected vendor and partners to develop the marketing materials for the Program. The marketing materials will be appealing and motivating, and will include the partnership logos of all the agencies, including DWR. West Basin will also work through existing partnerships with the Malibu Area Conservation Coalition (MACC), Metropolitan Water District’s Water Use Efficiency (WUE) coordinators’ monthly meetings, and also the South Bay Cities Council of Governments’ (SBCCOG) monthly partner meetings.
Subtask 7C: Customer Targeting and Enrollment
Customers will be targeted and initially contacted for a C4K survey based on meeting the following criteria: (1) the site is considered an “institutional entity” as defined in Appendix B of the DWR 2016 Water Energy Guidelines & PSP, “[…] any water-using establishment dedicated to public service. This could be higher education institutions, schools, courts, churches, hospitals, homeless or transitional housing facilities, senior centers, food banks or kitchens that serve low-income communities, government facilities, and nonprofit research institutions.”; (2) the site is within the West Basin service area boundaries; and (3) the facility has a kitchen or food preparation area with water-using devices such as faucets, rinse stations, ovens, and/or ice machines. West Basin has conducted initial research to estimate the type and quantity of these facilities within the service area, but will coordinate with both the SBESC and the selected vendor to expand upon this initial search effort. The maps on the following pages illustrate many potential sites that West Basin has researched and will be contacted by both the SBESC and the selected vendor to confirm facilities’ eligibility, explain the Program components, and to schedule a survey:
C4K Targeted Institutional Facilities Map 1 – Civic Centers
C4K Targeted Institutional Facilities Map 2 – Fire Stations
C4K Targeted Institutional Facilities Map 3 – Health Care Facilities
C4K Targeted Institutional Facilities Map 4 – Law Enforcement Facilities
C4K Targeted Institutional Facilities Map 5 – Educational Facilities
With the coordination and assistance of the West Basin Program Manager, the SBESC and the Project vendor will outreach to qualifying institutional facilities and assist them with enrolling for a survey and explain the Program components to them. Using a shared database to track customer contacts and surveys scheduled, SBESC and the vendor will provide the data to West Basin for reporting and monitoring purposes throughout the grant life. All facilities that participate in the kitchen survey (and subsequent device installations) will be required to complete a participant agreement form, which will outline the requirements and responsibilities of the facility, and consent to West Basin monitoring their water consumption for a period of time before and after the Program measures are implemented.
Subtask 7D: Site Surveys and Device Measures
The vendor will develop detailed survey forms that will capture all the required survey information to quantify the potential for water and energy savings at the sites targeted by the Program. The vendor will be knowledgeable about all device fixtures associated with this Program. West Basin will have its vendor trained on the various rebate forms from SCE, SCG and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD). As a customer service feature of this Program, West Basin’s vendor will assist those facilities that need assistance in completing and submitting the rebate forms to the various project partner agencies.
The surveyor will have knowledge and information on the EnergyStar and WaterSense devices and rebates. A certain number of the surveyors will also be fluent in both English and Spanish in order to enhance outreach efforts to the bilingual and non-English-speakers’ communities within West Basin’s service area. This will allow the Program benefits to be communicated more effectively to increase the participation levels to achieve the benefits described herein.