Together, National CORE and SoCalGas® are Doing Their Part!

In 2016, National CORE launched its “Doing Our Part” initiative, implementing water conservation, sustainability, and energy efficiency measures throughout its portfolio to reduce operating costs for the organization and to reduce utility costs for its residents. A partnership with Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas), that began at that time, has allowed National CORE over the years, to implement the latest energy efficiency products and systems (valued at more than $1.5 million) throughout its portfolio at no cost to the organization or to the thousands of residents it serves.

SoCalGas has become an integral part of National CORE’s conservation efforts. “National CORE is proud of the work we are doing around sustainability,” stated Dan Lorraine, Senior Vice President of Property Management. “It is important for to us to work with organizations, such as SoCalGas, who share our commitment to protect the environment and our mission to transform lives and communities.” With their help, National CORE has been able to receive funding from the Energy Savings Assistance Program (ESA), the Multifamily Energy Efficiency Rebates (MFEER), the On-Demand Efficiency Program, the Energy Smart Program, and the California Solar Initiative (CSI). Please visit socalgas.com/for-your-business for more info on these programs.

In September 2019, SoCalGas completed a project that provided energy-efficiency upgrades to 384 apartment units and the installation of 29 high-efficiency boilers at the affordable housing community of Mountainside in Rancho Cucamonga. The upgrades are part of SoCalGas’s Energy Savings Assistance (ESA) Program’s Common Area Measures (CAM) initiative.

“It’s rewarding to see the bottom-line savings National CORE has achieved across its affordable portfolio after participating in numerous SoCalGas energy efficiency programs,’ said Jeff Walker, Vice President of Customer Solutions at SoCalGas. “Our partnership with National CORE is a terrific example of how portfolio owners and utilities can collaborate together in achieving deep energy savings across a large affordable portfolio. Perhaps most importantly, together we have been able to provide a wide variety of energy efficiency upgrades which help ensure affordable energy bills for countless National CORE residents, promoting energy efficiency, affordability and curbing climate emissions.’

SoCalGas remains a leader in researching and developing new technologies that improve energy efficiency and protect the environment. Between 2015 and 2019, SoCalGas energy efficiency programs delivered more than 204 million therms in energy savings, enough natural gas usage for 125,000 households a year, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) by over 1,000,000 metric tons, the equivalent of removing more than 230,000 cars from the road annually. These advances have also helped save SoCalGas customers nearly $225 million in utility bill costs.

The team at SoCalGas works very closely with National CORE, helping to navigate the complexities of funding, overseeing all installation of products and systems, and ensuring the maintenance staff is trained on all new equipment. SoCalGas continues to be a leader in implementing energy efficiency and low-income programs that provide assistance to customers and protect the environment. “They truly have been an amazing partner,” stated Lorraine. “On top of everything else they do to support National CORE efforts; they offer training and job opportunities to our residents.”