Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

California District’s Solar Portfolio Wins Environment + Energy Leader Award

  • By Matt Jones
  • 07/25/23

A 5.67 MW Solar Portfolio by DSD Renewables that is currently in use by the San Bernardino City Unified School District in California recently won the Top Project of the Year Award in the 2023 Environment + Energy Leader Awards program, according to a news release. The portfolio is the organization’s largest installation for a school district and is playing a crucial role in helping the district meet its goal of transitioning to 100% renewable energy across all of its facilities by 2024.

According to the news release, 14 of 16 planned sites are currently complete and operational. Once the project is finished, it will generate 9,456 MWh of clean energy per year across the district’s 16 schools. The sites already in use are providing enough solar energy to offset an average of 100 percent of those sites’ energy needs, the news release reports. The last two installations have an estimated completion date of the end of 2023.

“This portfolio brings tremendous benefit to the school district,” said SBCUSD’s Director of Facilities Planning & Development, Thomas Pace. “Thanks to the hard work from the team at DSD, this portfolio will contribute to the $60 million in savings we’ve estimated in electricity costs over the next 30 years—which we’ll be able to re-invest into upgrading classrooms and other campus facilities. It’s a really big win for the district that will provide residual benefits for all of our faculty, students, and staff.”

Site-specific challenges included designing for the region’s wind and seismic conditions; following California Division of the State Architect’s new regulations, and soil- and wind-loading characteristics’ violations of special hazard zones. Much of the work also took place during the pandemic, against the backdrop of both COVID and supply-chain issues, the news release reports.

“For our largest project for a school district, this portfolio certainly came with unique and unforeseen challenges,” said Ben Jones, DSD’s EVP of Canopy Design & Structural Engineering. “But ultimately, our dedication, flexibility, and experience allowed us to overcome those hurdles and deliver valuable, cost-effective projects to the school district that will help them reach their sustainability goals. It’s really a testament to the commitment of both our team and the district for making these projects come to life, and to be selected as an E+E Leader Top Project of the Year is truly an honor.”

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • University of Illinois Moves Forward with College Sports’ Largest Digital Scoreboard

    The University of Illinois in Champaign, Ill., recently announced a series of upgrades to Gies Memorial Stadium that will include the largest scoreboard in college sports, according to a news release.

  • Round Rock ISD Completes New Early College High School

    Round Rock ISD near Austin, Texas, recently announced that construction is complete on a new, 46,500-square-foot campus for Early College High School, according to a news release. The new facility will allow the school’s students and staff to move from portables into a permanent building and increase its enrollment to 500.

  • Illinois District Boosts Security at High-School Stadium

    Richmond-Burton Community High School in Richmond, Ill., recently announced that it has completed the redesigned entrance to its high school stadium with a new focus on school security and community engagement, according to a news release. The district partnered with Wold Architects and Engineers on the project as part of District #157’s year-long facilities master plan.

  • Photo credit: Elkus Manfredi Architects

    University of Virginia Selects Design-Build Team for New Residential Complex

    The University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Va., recently announced that it has selected a design-build team for a new upper-class residential development on campus, according to a news release. Capstone Development Partners—in partnership with Elkus Manfredi Architects and the Hoar Construction/Hourigan construction team—will move forward with the three-building, 310,000-square-foot housing facility.