>> we have done all the energy efficiency and whether recession. i cannot show a 20% reduction. >> if there is nothing more that you can do to make your house more efficient, you will not be penalized for the. >> and we have tips on line to help you. you have the estimated energy, and i can show you a photo of my house? >> is this the street you were the one that is above? >> this is from above. but this will let you get started. you can put in the information and get an idea of what you could do to save some money. and you know what you are looking for. >> we actually did this a couple of years ago with the solar map, and with the first city to

do this in the united states. we will show the roof in this case and then we will calculate the square footage. and there is a form on the side with how to get the solar contractor and then take advantage of a higher-tier incentive, where people are certified in the training programs that are trying to deal with the issue of poverty and race when it comes to environmental stewardship. these are important principles. the green-collar jobs show the issue of the environment and this is very important from my perspective. and to make certain, as my old friend has said on some occasions, we have those who have been locked out of the old, industrial economy, to the green

color economy. this technology has been built of for the financing. people may not be familiar with this but we would like for you to take advantage. what is next for the city and county? we will bring up the basic financing. what is next for the city with a county that we will say? >> in the bay area, we have alameda county. they will get started near the end of the summer. >> and what is the scale? >> i think that hopefully, san francisco will become a model and that is the goal, to be the same size and scale. i promise you, they will go

better than we do. >> how much funding is available? this was a question from twitter. is the resident -- this is the residential side? is this all a portion for the commercial or whoever does this first? >> the legislation that we have passed under the leadership of supervisor mar, we are authorized to go to $150 million of private funding. if we get to this level, we will go back and ask for other authorizations. we have not ask for anything else with commercial. >> this is -- this is more animated than normal.

i am very passionate about these ideas. the $150 million is a down payment and we may go much further. we are limited by the -- by the capacity of people to take serious opportunities to participate in this program. as quickly as people take advantage of this. then we have the opportunity to extend beyond $150 million to authorize even more resources. every dollar that we spend is creating new jobs and opportunities for people, the environmental footprint and reducing the costs of the monthly electrical bills, water and heating. one person asks, can i take green financing to help the

energy efficient windows in the unit? if you want to have a new window, this will finance the costs. you can try to get some green window. >> as long as there are more efficient. >> as long as this is helping to increase the energy efficiency of your house. >> if you want to get rid of the old water heater, the old, inefficient water heater, what you will find it if you go to the web site is that this will tell you about the solar hot water system. this is absolutely something that you can do. >> how do i know that i am eligible. there will be a credit check?

this is an interesting question. are you going to go back and look at the credit rating? >> we will not be regulating the credit check. we have the right to run this, but for the most part, this is not something that will show up on your credit history. >> if you have been paying your property taxes, and if you have been paying down your mortgage, for the last few years, -- >> this will be simple and is the property current on the debt, and is this able to sustain everything going forward? if these things are met, then you will be good to go. >> this city is 70% and i do not on my property, but i would like to be more energy-efficient and save on utility bills. but the landlord does not

understand this. what do you do in this case? >> this is something that you will have to have, you will have to own the building will work with the landlord for something that is really targeted to the property owners. we have a number of enlightened landlords in san francisco, where they understand the value of the money. many of the landlords do not pay the electric bills. the landlord will pay the water bill. and we are seeing more and more land borders -- landlords taking advantage of this program, for water heating. people can take advantage of this for the federal tax credit. the landlord can really reduce their costs on the water heating. the landlord is recognizing the value of -- the increasing value of the property and the monthly costs, and also offering these

products to the tenants. we have the green-minded population that is looking for this to be added in their property. >> and we see this in the commercial sector. we see this in the analysis and the most-desired commercial space will be space that is green. this comes from the green space and you have the lower insurance costs. this is associated with the green-related improvements. that is why we want to encourage landlords to do the right thing. we are helping them with reducing costs and also helping them by increasing the likelihood that they will rent, we just want to work with this space when it comes to the industrial issues. everyone is a winner in this

respect. how much money can i expect to save? what is the typical size? is this a $10,000 loan, of $5,000 loan? -- or is this of $5,000 loan -- a $5,000 loan. you have to make certain that people have the information. what we have seen is that there are basic energy issues. this was around $5,000 and you find $5,000 -- but this will be a little bit different for everybody and that is why you want to have the evaluation. this may be around $20,000. people are more focused on energy efficiency.

>> and you already have people applying. >> he has a house and he says, this was built in 1917. he spends over $100,000 on the heating bill and he believes that with this program, he will be able to save $1,000 a year with this program. this is somebody who will save a lot of money. and you will see that whole range of things. this is what we want to capture. the people in the drafty victorian houses. >> i know that there are a lot of people like that. another person wants to know if the funding can be used and paid off early? can you pay down alone, completely?

>> absolutely. >> i love your answers. what about this? is the $300 -- can this go into the project? >> they are referring to the application fees. >> why are you doing this? >> there are two reasons to do this. if i did not go online i can still pay this? >> you also have -- they are trying to cover the costs. >> and there is the energy audit that is coming on? >> we can sometimes see this as a second cost. the other thing is that this becomes a little bit more serious. many of the people who apply are

not very serious about the project. this is not deductible. >> are you able to finance this? >> i do not think that you can do this at the end. >> that is the one thing that you cannot finance. >> when you have been approved, the financing is essentially reserved for you. there may be people who are on the fence about this, and we do not want to take away the advantage of the people who are serious about the program by holding up the financing. that is part of the motivation behind this. >> thank you. we are going to look at the application issue. this does not mean that i will be able to solve this. j mary j.

how long is the program going to last? this involves the energy- efficient installation, with those who are not energy efficient. >> the only thing that this will not cover is something that is not physically attached to the house. the refrigerator is not covered by the program. this is part of the property. and the program will last -- there is no time line. this is the wave of the future with financing the energy- efficient renewable programs. and there is no ending to the program. >> i do not want to get in trouble for saying something like this. she says, why is there only one? why is there only one contractor

with green financing? >> i believe that there is more than one. if you go to the list on the web site, you have to look at all of the contractors at once, -- >> there were at least 25, possibly more. this may be specific to what she was looking for. >> this is a great question. we want to make certain that we are hiring everyone to the extent possible. and that we are doing this for san francisco. can the program be used -- this is interesting. can the program be used for the new building construction? getting ready to demolish an old cottage, to build a more efficient building. this is an interesting question. the entire building is energy- efficient. is this possible?

>> you cannot build the project from scratch. >> in general, all of this except for the facade. you will have to be rebuilding the. >> you could give up -- this is about retro building -- retrofitting the old building. >> so i would take the opportunity to give out the numbers. you can get more information on greenfinancesf.org, and 1800- 803-6930. and you can go to contact@greenfinance.org. >> we have 10 minutes to go. i appreciate all of these questions.

these are critical questions. one question that deserves a good response, and you tried to respond to this. let's try to be reinforcing this. 7% seems very high. how can we get this number to go lower? we have the $5 and the federal stimulus dollars, the reduced interest rates, and the deductible. how can we get this closer -- i do not want to be a mortgage broker. >> this is very high, and this is certainly higher than many people would like. this is a great option and this is for people who do not want to have a credit check and want to see something that will go to the new property.

there are many different ways to finance the energy efficiency and the renewable energy. this is not the panacea for everyone. this is something that we are trying to identify the ways that we can bring down interest rates. we do have a sustainable program. this is the market-based, private-sector program. and if we designed this as such, we have to look at the market forces. we believe that over time, there will be additional federal programs in place that will be helping us to bring down the risk factor and the interest rates. we believe the finance providers will also be more comfortable. >> some people can go out to get the line of credit, and most of us have a line of credit taking note -- take away and have

trouble taking on any more debt in terms of the mortgage. and this will become a perfect opportunity to do the right thing. this is for all of us, more broadly. this is not necessarily for everyone. what can be done to get the word out to more homeowners in san francisco? are we doing anything else besides this? are we going out there putting up a smoke or anything? what are we doing right now? are we sending out the letters, are we doing robotic calls? >> there were some phone calls that went out to educate people about the program with the help of the supervisors.

we appreciate what we have heard from the leaders. we are doing a series of educational training centers and a list of where they have been held on the green finance web site, and the first will be at the main public library on april 20. >> and if you went there on april 20 to the civic center -- across the way at 6:00 on april 20. he will ask for -- >> if you go on april 20 to the main library, you go to the auditorium. we will have all the relevant staff that will be there. and you can ask more questions, specifically, and they will walk you through the process and they will answer any specific questions about your property.

if you want to do this kind of project, is this eligible. we will see this at the richmond library on may 18. we have the sunset branch library. and the bay view library on the 15th. you can also ask, there are local contractors and installers if you already have these conversations. and you can call 3011 -- 311. >> we will try to answer any of the closing questions. >> as long as all the honors of the property sign-on and they are on board for the financing, they will work for tic. >> and if you can just get a

little bit more information regarding the interest -- >> very quickly, the interest is generally tax-deductible. you can get some tax a vice -- but this means that effectively, the interest rates will be lower, like a home equity line of credit. one thing that people do not think about is that these are fixed rates and we will try to get them as low as we can. this can go up or this can go down. you may have 5 or 6% on the home equity, but this is fixed for the entire life. and if you are worried about inflation, and the debt crisis in this country, with $13 billion in debt. you have a very low and very

competitive interest rates. in the closing couple of minutes, is there anything that we did not talk about or that we did not get to and you think that these are important to further the cause of letting people know about this? are there any final words were closing comments about this? >> one of the most important things that has come up that i want to talk about, one thing that you are focused on, one of the things that is so exciting about this is the additional rebates of the government. they want to help you save money on greenhouse gas emissions, but there is a 27% unemployment rate in and this is even higher in california. you have the opportunity to get these people back to work. and if you look at the numbers in san francisco, you have

people talking about several hundred jobs. this is so nominal. hopefully, this will degrade as the questions come in and they will focus on people have use of this themselves. this is a good thing. >> thank you very much. other any final words or more of information? -- are there any final words or more a information? >> this is -- or you can go to greenfinancesf.org. we are happy to walk people through the program. we are excited to be launching the program today and we think that this is a very exciting way to help people take on the action to be empowered to take improvements to their building that are not only going to reduce the costs and increase the comfort of their homes.

and the helpfulness of their building. not just the homes, but also their place to work. we are very excited about watching this program today. >> these, i will close by saying, i am asking rhetorical questions. thank you, both, for your leadership and thank you for the inventoring spirit. this was carry trade it and you took some risks but you produced results. and those results were not the direct results in the east bay and berkeley. this was the inspiration. i think that this pick up on the idea and this is trying to scale of things on another level. i would like to congratulate you on this and i thank you for starting the process through. we have been talking about this

for a number of years. we gave you the baton and you have done a great job with the board of supervisors. thank you, eric mar and dufty. every member of the board of supervisors for their support. and the promotion of this program. we are only as good as the ability to promote this program. we should get people back with -- in this case, with hammers and nails, making the future that is more sustainable, hammering home the importance of sustainability, not as an abstract idea but something that we can literally bring to our houses. focus on the water conservation, which is a critical issue. the not only think about the light bulbs, think about being

more creative in terms of these proposals and programs that you'll be able to design, and give the idea to generate even more energy efficiency, by going to the web sites and going through the questions and learning more about the different ways to save money, and save the environment. i will end with this. i will understand what believe is one of the most critical things that we can do. we have a fleet of electric vehicles. the most important thing is to make ubiquity with the infrastructure, would have to charge those vehicles. and that means bringing those electric charging stations to your houses. this is my announcement for these vehicles. if you have a car that is depending on oil, that has been driving around for many years, look into getting one of these

electric vehicles. and bring that charger to your house to take advantage of the financing so that you will not have to worry about the costs that are associated with this. as gas is around $25 per gallon, you will be smiling as you drive past the gas stations. you are focused on trading electricity on the rooftop, and getting to your charging station where you do not have to worry about the price of gasoline. who would have thought about $4 a few years ago? let's think green and act greent green. thank you for being part of this video. we appreciate your attention and your time, and we hope you will learn more by calling us or going to our website. thank you all very much.

governor welcome to culturewire. on march 18 the san francisco arts commission hosted the 2010 mayor's artwork. the mayor's arts award was established to honor an individual artist with a lifetime of outstanding achievement in the art and civic life. this year's award is to none

other than carlos santana. before the award ceremony, the director of cultural affairs had a chance to sit down with carlos to ask him a few questions. >> once a year, mayor gavin newsom gets to select one distinguished individual to receive the mayor's arts award. in 2010,á(át that distinguished individual was none other than the legendary musician carlos santana. carlos, it is so great for the city to be able to recognize you. given all of your accomplishments already, from the awards, all of the other distinctions you have received, what does it mean for you to get the mayor's part award?