GREEN PROGRESS:
Los Angeles Community College District Continues to
'LEED™ with Green' with its Sustainable Construction Program—Largest of its Kind in the Nation

Program is saving energy and resources at nine colleges, funded in part by the voter-approved $2.2 billion Proposition A/AA Bond program

The Los Angeles Community College District's (LACCD) $2.2 billion Proposition A/AA bond construction program is rapidly making “GREEN PROGRESS,” as new buildings go up and renovations are completed.  The largest publicly-funded green building program in the nation is accomplishing its goal—to prepare LACCD students for modern jobs in the Los Angeles economy and beyond. 

“Building green isn’t just a slogan at the District—it’s reality," said Georgia L. Mercer, president of the LACCD Board of Trustees.  "We are leading the way in green building for higher education institutions in California as we progress towards our end goal of integrating sustainability practices with education."

Green projects are sprouting throughout the District’s nine colleges, including a plan to take all nine “off the grid,” and save millions of dollars by installing solar power panels and other renewable energy sources to generate its own electricity.  These savings will be used to maintain and operate many of the new and renovated buildings that the Prop. A/AA program is providing.

Specific projects at four campuses include:

Los Angeles Valley College's recently completed $6.6 million Maintenance and Operations (M&O) building is one example of how LACCD is integrating renewable energy projects at its colleges. The M&O building has rooftop solar panels in addition to various other 'green' design elements to decrease energy dependence and water consumption. The M&O building is also equipped with skylights to allow maximum infiltration of daylight; a Building Automation System also ensures everything is controlled to the utmost efficiency.

At East Los Angeles College in Monterey Park, a 1.2 megawatt PV system is currently being designed to provide enough power to meet the campus' daytime energy needs. Proposition A/AA bond proceeds, rebates, incentives and federal tax credits will help fund the entire PV system.

Los Angeles Mission College's new $20 million, tri-level parking structure will also include energy-producing panels on the top level of the structure to generate enough electricity to supplement the campus' energy needs.

Construction is also underway at Los Angeles Harbor College for its new LEED™-certified Facilities and Operations building. The structure will house the largest single building PV system in the District, generating enough electricity for the entire college with the surplus fed back to the campus. Installation of solar panels at all nine colleges, including two of the District's satellite campuses, are scheduled for completion in 2008

Additionally, LACCD will install fuel cells, thermal storage and other types of alternative energy technologies with the main goal to generate enough energy to meet the day and evening needs of the colleges. This will enable all campuses to attain "climate neutrality" and consequently "energy independence."

Other future possibilities for green projects for the LACCD include installing sufficient alternative energy capacity to allow excess solar generated electricity (or another form of alternative power) to produce hydrogen gas through the electrolysis of water. As a result, the hydrogen gas would be used to power fuel cells producing sufficient electricity to fully cover the evening electrical needs of each college.

The Los Angeles Community College District is one of the largest community college districts in the country, educating more than 188,000 students each year at its nine colleges. The District's continued leadership in its adoption of sustainable building practices has been recognized by various leading organizations including the California Registry, USGBC - Los Angeles Chapter, Global Green USA, and Flex Your Power. For more information on the District's building green program, please visit www.PropositionA.org.