Building, Planning, & Engineering

• Building & Planning
  Forms and Handouts

• Green Building &
  Your Project

• Green Building:
  Did You Know?

• Carol's Green Feature

• Town Requirements
  for Selling Property

• Public Works

• Building Permit FAQs

• Planning FAQs

• The Town of Portola Valley charges a flat rate of $50 for photovoltaic system building permit applications.
  
• The California Energy Commission offers rebate incentives for photovoltaic installations.
  
• The average household could cut a third of its current energy bill by switching to energy-efficient appliance, equipment, and lighting, which use less energy than standard products.
  
  
• Inside your home, bathroom facilities claim 75% of the water used.
  
• Ultra-low flow toilets use only 1.6 gallons of water per flush, while older toilets use between 3.5 and 7 gallons per flush.
  
• Low-flow showerheads deliver 2.5 gallons of water per minute or less, while older showerheads use 5 to 7 gallons per minute.
  
  
• The earth’s original forest cover is disappearing at a rate of 2.3 acres per second; more than 42 million acres annually.
• Certified lumber comes from forest growers that have been voluntarily certified to meet the principles of sustainable forest management under the Forest Stewardship Council. To date, about 3.5 million acres of forest in the United States have been certified.
  
  
• Most paints release volatile organic compounds (VOC’s), a major indoor air pollutant, into the home. Once outside, VOC’s react with other pollutants and produce ground-level ozone that affects human health.
• No/low VOC paint is available from most major manufacturers and they are applied in the same way as traditional paint. No/low VOC products are generally manufactured without mercury or mercury compounds, or pigments of lead, cadmium, chromium, or their oxides.