Measure H Energy & Sustainability
Photovoltaic Project
This project will provide 90% of all the electricity used by Petaluma Campus and 35% of all the electricity used at the Santa Rosa Campus. It will reduce the District’s greenhouse gas emissions by 7% and save over $800,000.00 in annual utility costs.
In Shone Farm, the project is providing 90% of all electricity use. Old panels from Plover Hall have been reused and saving over $25,000.00 in annual utility costs.
SCJCD LED Lighting Upgrade
2000 new LED lights have been installed, improving light quality and classroom environment while savings around $50,000.00 in annually utility costs. Once all buildings are complete, expected annual utility savings will be $300,000.00.
SCJCD Sub-metering Project
Electricity & gas sub-meters have been installed throughout Public Safety Training Center and Petaluma Campus with Santa Rosa Campus in design. This is best practice for data analytics and building management to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions and building maintenance. It additionally allows for verification of energy saving projects and will allow the District to participate in whole building rebates.
Geothermal Plant Project
Ground temperatures are a constant 55° all year no matter what the weathers like. Inserting a series of small pipes into the ground allows heat to be transferred to and from buildings. In this process heat is not created, it is transported therefore no fuel is burned. Over 300 400ft vertical geothermal bores have been installed in Bailey Field to efficiently heat and cool Burbank Theatre, Garcia Hall, Analy Hall and Forsyth Hall.
This project also includes connecting Pioneer Hall to the existing Bertolini Geothermal Field which has extra capacity and connection to future central plant thereby providing redundancy and resiliency to campus infrastructure. Annual utility cost savings of $120,000.00 are expected. Geothermal Plant Project will prevent the college from installing chiller and boiler per building thereby having an estimated payback of 9 years.
Construction is complete on a 330 geothermal exchange field for heating and cooling campus buildings efficiently without fossil fuels. More than 300 400-foot vertical geothermal bores have been installed in Floyd P. Bailey Field to efficiently heat and cool the Luther Burbank Auditorium, A.M. Garcia Hall, Analy Hall and Norton Forsyth Hall. This project also includes connecting Pioneer Hall to the existing Bertolini geothermal field. An important add to this project this year was the connection to the new Quinn Central Plant which will recycle reclaimed water from the various campus ground water wells.
The following are also complete:
- Installation of 10 buildings with LED Lighting and advance lighting controls 1.2 MW, 2 MWh of battery energy storage system
- Advance submetering installation at Public Safety Training Center and Petaluma Campus
- Electrical submetering of Santa Rosa Campus
Quinn Central Plant Project
Currently under construction, this project will provide high efficiency heating and cooling to numerous campus buildings and the future 50-meter pool. It will replace the old Cogeneration Plant which burnt down in 2015, providing heating and cooling to Bailey Hall, Maggini Hall, Future STEM Building, Barnett Hall, Tauzer Hall and Quinn Swim Center. The central plant uses specialized Heat Recovery Chillers which allows the college to use electricity very efficiently to heat buildings and pools thereby reducing natural gas usage to only the coldest of days. The plant is also being showcased as a living lab for students and staff to view and understand how central plants work and the engineering behind it. Annual utility cost savings of $150,000.00 are expected. Central Plant Project will prevent the college from installing chiller and boiler per building thereby having an estimated payback of 9 years. Additionally this project helps mitigate the college’s risk to rising electricity & natural gas costs.
District-Wide Water Bottle Filling Stations Installation
Installation of water bottle filling stations throughout the district in order to provide students, faculty, and staff with access to clean filtered water and reduce plastic water bottle usage and associate health risks is underway.
Campus as a Living Lab Educational Signage
The project to provide educational signage around campus showcasing sustainability projects to provide passive learning to college community and showcase facilities as a tool in campus education is in planning stages.
Measure H Infrastructure
Petaluma Campus Monitoring Based Commissioning Project
HVAC controls at Petaluma Campus will be replaced and other energy conservation measures will be installed to improve campus maintenance and reduce energy usage. This project will increase building occupant comfort through working heating and cooling systems.
Maggini & Call Controls Upgrade and Energy Project
HVAC controls at Maggini and Call Hall on Santa Rosa Campus will be replaced and other energy conservation measures will be installed to improve campus maintenance and reduce energy usage. This project will increase building occupant comfort through working heating and cooling systems.
EV Charge Station Phase 1 Installation
10 new Electric Vehicle Charge Stations across Petaluma Campus, Santa Rosa Campus, Public Safety Training Center and Shone Farm have been installed. The District was able to work with the Kasia Band of Pomo Indians on grant funding to further reduce the costs of EV charge stations installation.
Water Reclamation project
Currently under construction, this project will capture over six million gallons of nuisance water a year for non-potable use around the campus.
SRJC is embarking on creating a Climate Action Plan to further build on its sustainability successes and help guide future capital planning and facilities operations.
This project will capture close to 6 million gallons of nuisance water a year annually in a 50,000 gallon cistern to reuse for irrigation and toilet flushing around campus. It is expected to reduce utility cost around $90,000.00 annually. The project will help the college reduce water consumption by close to 20% and provide campus resiliency with extra clean water onsite and attachment for water trucks and fire trucks.
Grants
SRJC Living Learning Landscape Project
This is design of 8 fire smart sustainable landscapes for residential buildings. District houses are being used as demonstration sites. Plan sets are open source and available for fire rebuild showcasing, fire smart practices and sustainable landscapes that reduce water and carbon emissions. SRJC landscape program classes are integrating the landscapes into their curriculum to provide re-world examples for students.
SRJC Micro-grid Demonstration Project
This project is under construction and is funded by a $5 million grant from the California Energy Commission (CEC). The grant funds the creation of battery storage designed to collect the energy created by the solar canopies on campus. The project includes advance microgrid control, electrical submetering, smart building load management and advance Battery Energy Storage Systems. This combination of solar power and battery storage will allow the school’s essential buildings to operate independently of the local energy grid in case of emergency and can help restore power after an event, increasing community resiliency and promoting clean energy.
As a result of the microgrid project, SRJC received an Energy Demand award at the California Higher Education Sustainability Conference (CHESC) in July 2019. This award recognized SRJC’s “Zero Net Energy, Electrification, to Microgrid Design” project, which aims to make the college’s energy usage equivalent to that which is created through on-site renewable energy by 2030. The college is working towards this goal on its Santa Rosa campus by moving towards entirely electric buildings integrated with the 100% renewable microgrid.
The SRJC Urban Microgrid Project has been showcased in presentations across California and the country. Construction will be complete in July 2021.
This project is about leveraging the PV project. The SRJC micro-grid projects adds smart buildings controls and additional battery storage technology to turn the Santa Rosa Campus into the first of a kind Microgrid demonstration project. This project will allow the campus to separate from PG&E in cases of emergencies and run on solar and battery storage alone. Additionally, the project will showcase the future of smart grid integration by showing how Microgrids will allow the state to accomplish its goal of 100% renewable energy by 2040.
Emeritus Zero Net Energy Retrofit Pilot Program
Emeritus Classroom Building is a pilot program with PG&E to transform it into Zero net Energy Building. The program will show how to transform a typical community college building from the 1970’s into a zero net energy building and help pay for the incremental cost of reaching Zero Net Energy. Zero Net Energy means producing as much energy as is used over a yearly period.
Total Rebates
PG&E, City of Santa Rosa, California Public Utility Commission,
$1,052,835.35
Total Grants
California Energy Commission, BAAQMD, PG&E, Kasia Band of Pomo Indians
$5,391,075.00
