Anthem Blue Cross Replaces 554,000 Sq. Ft. of Lawn with California Friendly Landscape
April 27 2015 - 4:45PM
Business Wire
LADWP Incentive Program Helped Defray $1.1
Million Landscaping Cost
Anthem Blue Cross, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power
(LADWP) and LA City Councilmember Bob Blumenfield cut the ribbon on
12.7 acres of California friendly landscape, made possible by the
LA DWP’s incentive program, at Anthem’s Woodland Hills campus.
“As California faces this massive drought, we all need to cut
back our water use and be responsible members of our society,” said
Jim Ardell, Anthem’s vice president for corporate real estate and
chief procurement officer. “Thanks to the LADWP’s California
Friendly Landscape Incentive Program, Anthem was able to replace
nearly 10 football fields worth of grass with drought-friendly
plants.”
The entire cost of the project, which took approximately 5
months, was offset by a rebate of $1.1 million from LADWP.
Specifics of the project include:
- 12.7 Acres of lawn replaced, or 554,000
square feet
- More than 12 million gallons of water
expected to be saved per year
- Ongoing savings of $85,000 per year,
consisting of $65,000 in lower water fees and $20,000 in landscape
maintenance savings.
- More than 8,500 plants planted to
replace the grass, including:
- 178 Crape Myrtle Trees
- 88 Bottle Brush Trees
- 22 Tipu Trees
- 1,185 Caramel Creeper bushes
- 475 Sage Leaf Rockroses
- 275 Flax bushes
- 135 Tagete bushes
The new vegetation will use a drip irrigation system.
Anthem received a rebate of $2 per square foot of replaced turf.
The per square foot rebate amount varies based on the size of the
project.
On April 1, Gov. Jerry Brown issued an executive order that
California reduce water usage by 25 percent statewide. Among the
steps included in the executive order were replacing 50 million
square feet of lawns with drought-tolerant landscaping.
About Anthem Blue Cross
Anthem Blue Cross is the trade name of Blue Cross of California.
Anthem Blue Cross and Anthem Blue Cross Life and Health Insurance
Company are independent licensees of the Blue Cross Association. ®
ANTHEM is a registered trademark of Anthem Insurance Companies,
Inc. The Blue Cross names and symbols are registered marks of the
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Anthem Blue CrossDarrel Ng, 916-208-7092