SACRAMENTO - Fred Aguiar, Chair of Governor Schwarzenegger's Green Action Team, celebrated Earth Day today by reminding Californians of the important work the State of California must do to conserve resources and protect the environment.

“Through his Green Building Initiative, Governor Schwarzenegger has set ambitious goals for reducing the State's use of electricity from the grid and improving the efficiency of state buildings,” said Aguiar, the Secretary of the State and Consumer Services Agency. “By changing the way the State does business, we can conserve resources and save money.”

The Governor's Green Building Initiative is an effort to improve the performance of State buildings by implementing new technologies and new approaches to design, construction and operations. The ultimate goal is to consume 20 percent less electricity per square foot from the grid by 2015.

As part of the initiative, the State is embracing the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards set by the U.S. Green Building Council. The State is reviewing 108 major planned construction projects and will seek to achieve LEED “Silver” certification for as many of the projects as feasible.

As the agency that oversees, among other things, the management of state assets, the State and Consumer Services Agency (SCSA) is playing a leading role in bringing this goal to fruition. Working with the Department of General Services, which manages state real estate operations, SCSA is working to ensure that the Governor's policy goals are translated into practice.

The Department of General Services is taking a number of steps to modernize the State's energy management efforts, including developing a plan to curtail energy use in energy emergencies and new mechanisms for adding solar power to existing State buildings.

“Being good stewards of the Earth's resources is one of our most important responsibilities,” said DGS Director Ron Joseph. “By promoting efficiency and innovation, we can make better use of the resources we have today and conserve them for the future.”

More information on Governor Schwarzenegger's Green Building Initiative is available at http://www.sustainability.dgs.ca.gov.