Administrative Services Facilities Planning

“The Green Report”

Presented by: Paul Bielen

PHOTOVOLTAICS:

 We have installed about 170kW of PV panels on the roof of Lounibos with great success- and some large rebates from PG&E. We are just completing a 255KW PV system at the Public Safety Training Center in Windsor which will produce 100% of their electrical needs and will generate some surplus to sell back to the utility. Our rebate on this system will be about $740,000. We will be installing a 144KW PV system on the roof of Plover as part of the current remodel, and that should be operational in about 3-4 mos. The rebate on that system will be about $420,000.

PHOTOVOLTAICS

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Lounibos Hall

  Installed with about 170kW of roof PV panels PG&E rebates of totaling $250,000

PHOTOVOLTAICS

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Public Safety Training Center

  Installed 255kW PV system in parking lot PG&E rebate totaling $740,000

PHOTOVOLTAICS:

 We installed a 44KW PV system on the roof of the new Doyle Library and it is online now, with a readout of its production available to the public from an info kiosk in the 1st floor entry foyer. That rebate was about $136,000. We took a request to the Board Facilities Committee to begin the research on a large PV array for the roof of Haehl Pavillion, and I hope that we can do that project in the coming year or so. I would also like to look at the roof of Emeritus for a future PV array.

PHOTOVOLTAICS:

 SRJC investigated the feasibility of placing a PV array on the new parking structure but with the height limitations, the College was trying to keep its building profile as unobtrusive as possible. The College continues to explore this and other Santa Rosa Campus sites for future photovoltaic projects.

COGENERATION:

 In 1989 we installed a 240 KW cogeneration system at Quinn, and about 3 years ago we replaced it with a more updated 280 KW system. It not only supplies the hot water for heating the pools, space heating for Quinn, Tauzer, Maggini, Barnett, and Bailey, but it also supplies chilled water for air conditioning in Maggini and Bailey. As a by-product of the hot water production it has turbines in the engines which generate electricity for our grid. In addition to saving about $90,000 per year in electrical costs, we are going to receive a $168,000 rebate from PG&E for it.

COGENERATION:

LOAD SHEDDING:

 In the new Doyle Library our air conditioning system consists of a large ice maker which runs at night, making ice with low cost night time power. In the day we circulate water through the ice and back into the building to provide cooling at a fraction of the cost of a conventional A/C system. We are looking at ice making A/C systems now for several of our existing buildings. This type of load shedding is a major focus of PG&E right now since it reduces their need to build new plants. There are substantial rebates available now as well.

UNDER FLOOR DISTRIBUTION:

 In the remodeled Plover, the new Mahoney Library in Petaluma, and the large classroom/office building (Call Hall) in Petaluma we will be moving the conditioned air under a raised floor system which will allow us to cool the buildings using 65 degree air instead of the 55 degree air more typically needed in conventional A/C systems. This will save a great deal of energy and money by not having to cool the air an additional 10 degrees. It works well because the 65 degree air passes up from a register near your work station and is 33 degrees cooler than your body temperature, and so it feels very cool. Conventional A/C systems are trying to push 55 degree air down from the ceiling, through the layer of warm air that is always at the top of the room, and this is inefficient. This is a European technology that is gaining widespread acceptance in the US, and we will have the first such systems in Sonoma County.

RACE HEALTH SCIENCES BUILDING, IDEC:

 In Race we installed an A/C system that has won numerous regional and national engineering awards and is regularly used as a demonstration system by PG&E. It consists of a large attic mounted fan system which blows outside air over large grills, like your car radiator, that have street temperature water running down them. This blowing air causes evaporation, releasing heat out of the building, and provides cool air to the building. The mechanical chiller rarely has to go on except when outside temperatures exceed 90-95 degrees. The system is called an Indirect/Direct Evaporative Cooling system (IDEC), and is what we will use to cool Plover and several of the new buildings in Petaluma. PG&E figures it saves 40-50% of the energy of a conventional system.

BERTOLINI STUDENT CENTER:

 In the new student center we will be installing a Ground Source Heat Pump system using water from geothermal wells. We will drill several hundred 6” diameter wells, each about 300’ deep, in the Burbank Circle Dr. They will supply a constant 55 degree ground water as a preconditioned water source for air conditioning. The water will pass over heat exchangers to cool air, which will then be distributed through the building. Since we are typically seeking 55 degree air for A/C use, this supplies us with it for free, and if it needs additional cooling we use small heat pumps to drop the temperatures a few more degrees. This is much more efficient than trying to chill 80 or 90 degree outside air down to 55 degrees. For heating we just reverse the system- it supplies 55 degree water to the heat exchangers instead of 30 or 40 degree outside air and so heating this 55 degree air up to room temps is much more efficient.

GREEN BUILDING:

 All of our newer buildings incorporate green building technologies and materials, and as that market expands and more products are available, we will insist that they be used. The architects and engineers we use are well versed in this and know what our requirements are, from 100% recycled content in new carpets and upholstery, to counter laminates and wall coverings made from recycled wood byproducts, to vinyl flooring made from all natural linoleum components such as linseed oil, jute, and cork. Our interior finishes no longer contain any products with volatile oils that off gas allergens. Even the glues used to secure flooring, laminates, and wall coverings are water based, as are all of our floor finishing products. Our pitched roofs are concrete tile with no petroleum content and our exterior finishes are brick, plaster, and concrete. We just completed installation of interior lighting motion sensors in 9 classroom buildings which will save considerable electrical energy, and we are now completing a 2 year project to replace every boiler in the district that is over 20 years old with new, highly efficient modular boilers. We are in the process of replacing our 24 year old computerized energy management system (EMS) which controls the HVAC systems in all buildings with a new and much more efficient and effective system. As other new green products and technologies become feasible we will incorporate them.

ALTERNATIVE VEHICLES:

 In recent years we have been replacing our older fleet vehicles with electric and hybrid vehicles wherever practical. You may have noticed the large number of electric carts on campus being used by maintenance folks, the warehouse, Computing Services, and Graphics. We hope to continue buying them and have only been constrained by their fairly limited availability and light duty nature. There are only a few vendors for them that have been able to stay in business for any length of time (long term availability of parts and warranty protection is the issue here) and we have found that they are often not heavy duty enough to handle some of the loads and tasks that are needed. We continue to look at new vendors, however, and to test new products in this area. We have had great success with our first hybrid vehicle and hope to purchase more hybrids soon.

RECYCLING:

 SRJC has recycling program goals of 25% the first year, 50% after 3 years, and our achievement a couple of years ago of about 67% reduction in our waste stream. This year’s report to the state demonstrated about a 75% reduction in our waste stream, with deversions of construction waste, green waste, paper/plastic/metal, and other materials at all time highs. Our recycling program leads the state community college system and is considered a model program.

BICYCLES:

 We have just completed the installation new bike racks all over campus and now have over 600 racks in place. We also applied for, and received, a grant to buy secure bike storage units with electronic locks. Once those are in place and we can evaluate their usage and effectiveness we may purchase more. Some will be installed in the new parking structure and we plan to install conventional bike racks in the new garage as well.