Ed Lopez: Efficiency as a Way of Life

For some time now, Ed Lopez has slowly been transforming his everyday life into a more energy efficient one. He has installed a solar panel system at his Paradise Hills home, he uses energy-saving light bulbs, and one of the two cars his family owns is an electric vehicle. 
Little by little, Lopez has actively tried to consume less energy while being more aware of the environmental impact tweaking certain habits can have. It has even turned into a type of game for him, because when he tracks and quantifies his energy consumption it’s easy for him to get carried away and try to beat last month’s record. 
But he understands that solar panels and energy efficient appliances are not an easy venture to embark on because there are economic barriers in place. 
“We know that if you live in La Jolla, for example, you can pay for solar panels, and in fact you can own a Tesla, but that is not the case for disadvantaged communities,” Lopez told La Prensa San Diego in a one-on-one interview. 
This comment is important to Lopez’s story because late last year he joined Groundwork San Diego-Chollas Creek as a board member. Groundwork San Diego is a local nonprofit whose goal is to bring social well-being to communities by regenerating and improving the physical environment that surrounds them. 
The nonprofit is able to pursue projects through grants and community-based partnerships, something Lopez has had experience with in the past when he worked as an administrator at the University of California San Diego and when he led the Sweetwater Education Foundation and served as Executive Director of the Local Initiatives Support Center. 
Lopez said the work he does always brings him back to giving to those communities that face more disadvantages. 
“What it comes down to is being smart for a community and overcoming financial barriers,” Lopez said. This is why his first project with Groundwork San Diego fits perfectly with his goals. 
Last October, the nonprofit received a $1.5 million grant from the California Energy Commission to encourage business owners, families and organizations in the Encanto neighborhood in Southeast San Diego to go solar by facilitating funding for solar projects. This grant was one of four given out statewide and it is meant to target this specific community because it is an existing disadvantaged one, where the median household income is of $57,000 and a solar project that could cost up to $15,000 may not seem like an attainable thing. 
In the month of January, Lopez said Groundwork San Diego has began doing outreach work to begin the project. Ultimately, the goal is to turn the community into the Chollas-Eco Village, a zero net energy community. 
“We will do what we can,” Lopez said to La Prensa San Diego. “Whether it is our own home or our neighborhoods, you have to start somewhere and we really do what we can. We are hoping to show that with our efforts  it can be done, and hopefully in the future there will be more efforts like this.” 
In the past, Lopez has helped build partnerships with UCSD, a campus that has transformed its assets into “aesthetically pleasing” solar projects, Lopez said. It is perhaps his experience working with this university and in civic affairs, including with the Board of Education for the San Diego Unified School District, that keep him motivated. Even in the current political climate under U.S. President Trump who is giving push back to the scientific community which could be perceived as a setback to energy-efficient movements which California has strived to move forward with. 
“There’s a tremendous opportunity to work with cities and school district to figure out how to take advantage of their physical assets to generate local and renewable energy,” Lopez said. 
At the age of 52, Lopez finds himself more motivated when there are challenges, such as federal pushback to fund environmental programs and grants, such as the one Groundwork San Diego just received. That speaks to Lopez’s character and dedication. 
“I like to identify those barriers and determine if we can have more proposed solutions,” Lopez said. “It’s easy to sleep at night when you do it like that.”