{"id":4351,"date":"2021-02-04T14:54:31","date_gmt":"2021-02-04T22:54:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.palomar.edu\/news\/?p=4351"},"modified":"2025-07-10T14:07:48","modified_gmt":"2025-07-10T21:07:48","slug":"palomar-earns-sdge-energy-award-for-net-zero-mo-building","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.palomar.edu\/news\/palomar-earns-sdge-energy-award-for-net-zero-mo-building\/","title":{"rendered":"Palomar Earns SDG&E Energy Award for Net-Zero M&O Building"},"content":{"rendered":"

The utility named Palomar College for its annual Excellence in Energy Leadership Award, following the first year of operations in a highly-efficient new building complex at the San Marcos campus.<\/p>\n

SAN MARCOS \u2014 Palomar College has won an Excellence in Energy Leadership Award from San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) for its Maintenance & Operations (M&O) building, a \u201cnet-zero\u201d project that opened in April 2019.<\/p>\n

M&O has received national recognition since its grand opening for a variety of \u201cpassive\u201d design features<\/a> that reduce the need for heating and cooling, while utilizing daylight throughout to reduce artificial lighting. Combined with an 180 KW solar array, the design makes the facility one of the region\u2019s most energy-efficient new projects.<\/p>\n

\u201cPalomar College is committed to being a leader in sustainability within our region, and we are thrilled to receive this award for our team\u2019s dedicated work on the M&O building,\u201d said Interim Superintendent\/President Dr. Jack Kahn. \u201cWe are also grateful to SDG&E, which has been a great partner in Palomar\u2019s pursuit of sustainability.\u201d<\/p>\n

[youtube https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Sm9bMVbZ5_s]<\/p>\n

In addition to the SDG&E recognition, M&O has been named a national \u201cBest of the Best\u201d in Green Design<\/a> by Engineering News-Record (ENR) Magazine, and in 2019 it received the San Diego Architectural Foundation\u2019s highest honor, the Malone Grand Orchid<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe design features of the building make it extremely energy-efficient, and then we added solar panels, so the building is now actually net-positive\u2014meaning that, over the last year, it\u2019s produced more electricity than it\u2019s consumed,\u201d said Dennis Astl, Manager of Construction and Facilities Planning at Palomar. \u201cThe energy-saving design was a great first step to minimize how much solar we had to put on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Palomar was one of six organizations recognized by SDG&E in its recently announced \u201cEnergy Showcase 2020<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThese winners \u2026 (have) demonstrated that investing in clean and innovative technologies not only help the environment but also benefit the bottom line,\u201d said Tashonda Taylor, SDG&E\u2019s vice president of customer operations. \u201cUltimately, their efforts help our region move closer to meeting California\u2019s ambitious climate goals and in turn, create a sustainable future.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The utility named Palomar College for its annual Excellence in Energy Leadership Award, following the first year of operations in a highly-efficient new building complex at the San Marcos campus. SAN MARCOS \u2014 Palomar College has won an Excellence in Energy Leadership Award from San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) for its Maintenance & Operations… \u00a0Continue Reading: Palomar Earns SDG&E Energy Award for Net-Zero M&O Building<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10413,"featured_media":3045,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19,9,23,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-carousel","category-features","category-home","category-slider"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPalomar Earns SDG&E Energy Award for Net-Zero M&O Building - Palomar News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.palomar.edu\/news\/palomar-earns-sdge-energy-award-for-net-zero-mo-building\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Palomar Earns SDG&E Energy Award for Net-Zero M&O Building - Palomar News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The utility named Palomar College for its annual Excellence in Energy Leadership Award, following the first year of operations in a highly-efficient new building complex at the San Marcos campus. 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