Cerritos Science Building bags energy and sustainability award for retro-commissioning project

Cerritos College, a public community college in Norwalk, was recently awarded the California Community Colleges Board of Governors 2017 Energy and Sustainability Award for a retro-commissioning project that allowed its Science Building to save the campus $25,000 in annual energy costs.

The project included installation of more reliable control sequences on air handlers to improve energy efficiency. Total cost of installation was $577,000, $350,000 of which was subsidized by the government under The California Clean Energy Jobs Act (Proposition 39). Investor Owned Utility rebates covered $46,000 of the project cost while $181,000 was taken from district funds.

Cerritos’ retro-commissioning project was finished in about eight days. Since its completion, the Science Building saves an estimated 62,000 kW hours and 6,900 thm every year.

In a statement released Nov. 17, the institution described itself as an “environmental leader” with a board of trustees that push for eco-friendly policies promoting sustainability and conscious-decision making.

“This award is a testament to our strong commitment to developing a campus that is energy efficient and sustainable, in order to minimize our environmental impact, save operation and maintenance costs, and ensure a safe and quality learning environment for our students,” said Zurich Lewis, president of the Cerritos College Board of Trustees.

For water conservation efforts that saved the campus 30 million gallons annually, Cerritos College also won in Green Technology Magazine’s Green Community College Leadership Awards in 2014.