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# Russians visit SM to learn ‘cutting edge’ technology
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/russians-visit-sm-to-learn-cutting-edge-technology/
- Published: 2003-10-07T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T03:02:08.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Government & Politics, Pier, #archive-import

*By Daily Press staff*

A team of Russian engineers met with City Hall officials on Monday to learn new ways to be energy efficient.

The team from Vladivostok, Russia, and Irvine-based CTG Energetics, Inc. — a consulting engineers firm — are working on a project that includes installing a solar thermal hot water heater in a foster care facility in the Russian Far Eastern port city. The effort is part of a larger plan to promote alternative energy use throughout that part of Russia.

Craig Perkins, City Hall’s director of environmental and public works, described to the Russians energy efficiency programs undertaken by the City of Santa Monica that may help the Russians in their future projects.

Santa Monica has been on the forefront of renewable and efficient energy programs in the past several years. A few years ago, the City Council adopted a strategic energy plan that mandates city facilities be as energy efficient as possible. One project City Hall has recently completed is a new apartment building at Fifth Street and Colorado Avenue that relies on solar energy through panels installed on the roof, Perkins said. City facilities like the Civic Center, the Santa Monica Airport and the Santa Monica Pier also utilize solar energy panels.

City Hall also has created “green” requirements which mandate new construction be more efficient than state standards. New facilities planned like the Big Blue Bus headquarters and the new Main Library will be held to those standards. The city also is reaching out to residents and businesses to encourage them to use energy efficient practices through rebate programs, Perkins said.

The Russian visitors are meeting this week with their U.S. partners in Irvine and will huddle in California and Florida with solar researchers, manufacturers and installers. The group also will tour the National Fuel Cell Research Center at UC Irvine.

Launched in January, the 12-month project aims to encourage the Vladivostok city government to expand its use of renewable energy in municipal facilities.

The centerpiece of the program is a five-year plan for outfitting 15 of the city’s social welfare facilities with solar energy systems. The project team also is creating a manual to help cities throughout the Russian Far East design and implement their own energy efficiency programs.

“We have high hopes the project will demonstrate to the municipal government in Vladivostok the potential for renewable energy,” said CTG Energetics vice president Tom Lunneberg, P.E.

> “We have high hopes the project will demonstrate to the municipal government in Vladivostok the potential for renewable energy.” — — TOM LUNNEBERG, P.E. Vice president, CTG Energetics

The joint team includes representatives of two Vladivostok-based organizations: the MIR International Cooperation Fund, and the Laboratory of Non-Traditional Energetics, which is part of the Institute of Marine Technology Problems, a unit of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The project is sponsored by the Foundation for Russian American Economic Co-operation, a non-profit group based in Seattle, with funds from the U.S. Agency for International Development.

“Many of the ideas CTG has developed in the U.S. for promoting energy efficiency can be adapted to the Vladivostok situation,” said project engineer Alexandr Volkov of the Laboratory of Non- Traditional Energetics, known for its work in alternative energy systems.

A consulting engineering company specializing in energy efficiency and sus-tainability, CTG Energetics has provided advice to cities throughout the U.S., including recent work for the cities of Santa Monica, San Diego and Irvine.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 7, 2003.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/100703.pdf?ref=smdp.com)