Green Building Transforms Los Angeles College Campus

When the Los Angeles Community College District embarked on a massive, 10-year, $2.22 billion modernization program two years ago, it decided to invest in a sustainable building program that concentrates on energy efficiency, recyclable and nontoxic materials. “The investment will result in life-cycle cost savings of about $20 million,” says spokesperson Lynn Corum.

Money for the modernization came from two ballet measures approved by LA voters in 2001 and 2003. It includes 48 new buildings which will be designed to qualify for LEED certification. Another 75 older buildings will be renovated to meet or exceed California’s Title 24 energy efficiency building standards. Many of the new buildings will be powered by solar energy. In total, 453 projects will be completed by the end of the decade, with most work completed by 2008.

Larry Eisenberg, executive director of Facilities Planning & Development at LACCD, said the district’s Board of Trustees has several goals in t adopting the policy: reduce energy use; include a teaching mission; and transform the marketplace.

The district will have the opportunity to teach staff and students about the sustainable elements going into the buildings as they are being constructed, tailoring programs based on what is being built on each campus. Students will be hired for assessment teams to audit and catalog the sustainable assets on each campus. Eisenberg says the community will benefit as students apply what they learn outside the classroom.

The college district hopes to set an industry standard with its procurement of equipment and furniture that utilizes recycled and reusable material. LACCD’s leadership has already served as a role model for the University of California which also adopted a sustainability policy for its campuses in late 2003.

When LACCD’s program is complete and the 48 buildings are LEED-certified by about 2010, California will have quadrupled the number of LEED buildings in the state, strengthening its lead in the nation’s sustainable building movement. Right now, 35 states have LEED buildings, most just one or two. Pennsylvania comes closest to California with 11 LEED buildings.

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FROM In Business magazine, a SustainableBusiness.com Content Partner