Green Business Resources
Green Business Certification:
The City of Albany is partner to the Alameda County Green Business Program, and has a number of certified green businesses. Click here to see existing Green Businesses in Albany.
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Established in 1996, the California Green Business Program is a network of local programs run by cities and counties throughout California, allied in promoting a green economy through partnerships with small to medium size businesses. Alameda County and the City of Albany are active partners in this statewide program.
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Businesses receive advice and technical assistance from the Green Business Program coordinators and their public agency during the certification process. Many businesses discover financial benefits from improving their water and energy efficiency.
Furthermore, Certified Green Businesses receive marketing benefits, including a Green Business logo to place in your window and on your website, a listing on the Green Business Online Directory, and promotional events and media coverage to get your business recognized.
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To become a Certified Green Business you must demonstrate that you take action to conserve resources and prevent pollution in your facility and your operations. This includes things like recycling, using nontoxic products, and reducing packaging.
Visit the “How Do I Get Certified?” section of the California Green Business Network Alameda County website and click "Let's Get Started" button at the bottom of the page.
Programs and Resources:
There are many programs and resources for Albany businesses looking to make efforts toward being more sustainable.
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Save money on your next energy upgrade project with BayREN Business. Incentives are available for energy efficient HVAC, refrigeration, LED lighting, water heating, envelope improvements, and more. By participating in this program, you can reduce energy consumption, enhance air quality, and improve the comfort of your business
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Businesses can receive funds to reduce climate pollution through clean transportation, waste prevention, clean air initiatives, and more. To find a program’s current funding availability and timeline, please follow the listed program links.
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The GoGreen Business Energy Financing program helps California’s small businesses and nonprofits access attractive financing for energy efficiency retrofits.
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PG&E offers 0% interest loans for replacing old and worn-out equipment with more energy-efficient models
Given a loan repayment amount that is in line with the monthly energy savings from your upgrade. Your energy bill shouldn't increase due to your equipment investment. Once your loan is paid off, you will see savings on your bill.
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A Program Representative will provide eligible customers access to program services and serve as their point of contact throughout the duration of their participation. Services may include facility assessment, energy efficiency educational information, and program-installed upgrades that are provided at no-cost or reduced-cost to participating customers.
Simplified Savings Program will provide meaningful stepping-stones on the journey towards increased energy efficiency, reduced utility bill costs, as well as potential impacts related to non-energy benefits such as improved health, comfort and safety.
Savings Program
Check your business's eligibility
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StopWaste is a public agency that provides free assistance to Alameda County businesses and institutions to help lower operating costs, increase efficiency and protect the environment through recycling, waste prevention and resource efficiency improvements.
Greening Your Restaurant:
Albany restaurants have a range of opportunities to reduce costs and waste with sustainable practices.
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The City of Albany would like the input of its food service businesses in order to evaluate the viability of potential programs, educational campaigns, outreach strategies, and policies intended to minimize the use of single-use plastics and adopt more sustainable foodware options. This is an anonymous survey. To provide your input, please complete the Foodware Outreach Survey.
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Disposable foodware makes up roughly 60 metric tons of waster peryear in Albany, and contributes to harmful carbon emissions. By using reusable foodware, restaurants can save $3,000 to $22,000 annually.
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Compostable Plastics can only break down in specialized industrialfacilities which are not feasible in Albany. They also contaminate the organic compost stream, causing sorting difficulties and health concerns from microplastics.
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ReThink Disposable: A technical assistance program to help food business operators reduce waste and cut costs by minimizing disposable packaging items.
Foodservice Packaging Institute: Provides an operator toolkit to assist restaurants on recycling, composting and food recovery. The toolkit includes instructions on performing a waste audit as well as education on outreach and program marketing.
StopWaste: Offers waste prevention grants to businesses including Reusable Foodware Infrastructure Grants.