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RENEWABLE ENERGY

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SDCCD's Green Building Policy requires that 10% of a project’s total energy is generated from renewable resources, such as solar energy and thermal energy.

Innovative energy-generating applications:

  • A one million gallon thermal energy storage tank at the central plant at Miramar College helps balance energy demand between peak and low-use times, saving more than 760,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year and $190,000 in annual energy costs.  This system will have paid for itself within nine years; over 30 years it will generate an estimated $13 million in savings.
  • A solar pool heater for the Ned Baumer Aquatics Center is on track to save more than 31,500 therms of natural gas per year, resulting in an annual cost savings of $27,700 or $1.9 million over 30 years.
Data from the California Center for Sustainable Energy show that the San Diego Community College District is one of the top producers of renewable energy among all education entities in SDG&E territory. Of the 7.718 megawatts (MW) installed or pending installation under the California Solar Initiative, SDCCD constitutes 2.367 MW of the total. Combined, installations across the District represent the generation of 4,876,129 kilowatt hours (kWh) of renewable energy each year. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, this is the equivalent of:
  • Saving more than 3,500 metric tons of CO2 emissions each year
  • Recycling 1,200 tons of waste instead of sending it to a landfill
  • Heating 235 homes for a year
Solar installations are now in place on buildings and parking structures throughout the District.
 
Solar installations include:
Electric vehicle charging stations are in parking structures throughout the District to support renewable energy initiatives: 
  • Installation of 16 new charging stations for electric vehicles throughout the District, part of ECOtality’s n​ationwide Electric Vehicle (EV) Project deploying electric vehicles and charge infrastructure in 18 major cities. 
  • The use of Smart Metering digital devices that measure electricity and energy usage multiple times per day, providing timely and meaningful information about when and where energy consumption is at its highest. This can help faculty and staff better monitor energy usage and implement energy-saving techniques.
  
expand CAMPUS : District Headquarters ‎(1)
expand CAMPUS : San Diego City College ‎(3)
expand CAMPUS : San Diego Continuing Education ‎(2)
expand CAMPUS : San Diego Mesa College ‎(3)
expand CAMPUS : San Diego Miramar College ‎(1)