Benefits
The $24 million parking structure was below California’s Title 24 Energy Code Requirements by an astounding 80 percent resulting in nearly $120,000 in energy incentives from local utility company Southern California Edison®. The CSUF engineering team developed and submitted the lighting plan that uses only 20 percent of what is permitted for a normal parking structure of this size – an admirable achievement due in large part to the 414 energy-saving Cree LED luminaires.
According to CSUF’s office of Design and Construction, the new environmentally-friendly structure includes several sustainable and state-of-the-art features. Solar panels will be added to the roof of the structure with electricity generated from the solar panels feeding into the campus’ power grid. The landscaping around the structure consists of low water, drought resistant, local plants. The structure is also equipped with a bioswale, designed to direct excess water into plants for more efficient storm drainage, which will reduce the need for irrigation.
The university conducted extensive real-world research to select the best LED luminaires for roadway and pathway areas surrounding the parking structure. Narrowing the selection down to four manufacturers, the CSUF engineering team installed two fixtures from each company at a campus parking lot. A judging committee was formed with representatives from campus parking, safety, physical plant, and the chancellor’s office to evaluate the products using a strict set of criteria and a weighted scoring procedure developed by Kind.