SUSTAINABILITY

 

The South Orange County Community College District has a longstanding commitment to sustainability. In April 2009 the Board of Trustees implemented the District Sustainability Policy (BP 3006, AR 3006)  to, “continue the legacy of leadership in sustainability in all areas of the colleges.” 

 

Sustainability is not something that can be achieved and deemed complete. It’s a continuous commitment to be good stewards of resources we have now so that future generations have a healthful and bountiful world.

 

In November 2009 the staff provided the Board of Trustees with a presentation on the sustainability efforts to date.

 

In November 2015, the staff presented the Board of Trustees with a presentation on “Alternative Energy Strategies and Reclaimed Water Use”.

 

In November 2017 the District published our Sustainability and Energy Plan. This document is consistent with the California Community Colleges Board of Governors Energy and Sustainability Policy and formalizes our framework and performance goals on all of our campuses. 

 

In February 2020 the District will publish our Integrated Energy Management Plan that will provide a clear roadmap to achieving the set goals – both near and long term – for all aspects of operations in the District.

 

Scale

• The District has 73 buildings which total over 1.2 million square feet
• The District occupies over 300 Acres on 3 campuses 

 

Consumption

• The District consumes over 11.2 Million kWh of Electricity per year
• The District generates nearly 1800 Tons of Waste per year
• The District consumes about 105 million gallons of water per year

 

Conservation

• Energy Improvement Measures and Proposition 39 Improvements – LED lighting, lighting controls, Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) controls         
• Cogeneration Plant at Saddleback College – this saves 3.0 million kWh of electricity annually with an operational savings of $450,000
• District recycles over 900 tons of waste per year
• Saddleback College Sciences Building – LEED Gold Certified
• Irvine Valley College Life Science Building  - LEED Gold Certified
• Irvine Valley College Liberal Arts Building – LEED Gold Equivalent
• ATEP IDEA Building – LEED Gold Equivalent
• Reduced turf areas & drought tolerant landscaping
• 81 million gallons of the 105 million gallons of water consumed, is recycled irrigation water