Fresno State officials were presented with incentive rebate checks by Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) totaling $138,379.80 Friday as part of its Savings By Design Program to encourage energy efficient construction projects.
The rebate included $83,487 for the Jordan Agricultural Research Center that was completed in May 2016 and energy-saving, retrospective-commissioning projects for the Kremen Education building and Science II building for $43,676.40 and $11,216.40, respectively.
“As a PG&E employee, community member and father of a Fresno State student, it is very important to make the campus more energy efficient,” said Isaias Franco, PG&E customer relationship management senior account executive. “Any money we can save goes back to the students and makes this campus more energy sustainable, so we look forward to continuing to work together on future energy-saving projects.”
At the earliest stages of Jordan Agricultural Research Center planning, architects and mechanical engineers met with PG&E planners to review and select building materials and equipment such as lighting, insulation, windows and HVAC equipment that exceeded the state’s Title 24 administrative energy efficiency code.
PG&E was originally slated to award the center a rebate of about $55,000 but increased it when other building materials were factored in from the final inspection of the 30,000-square-foot building.
Compared to the state’s Title 24 minimum building materials standards, the building is expected to save over $29,000 per year and be 18 percent more energy efficient.
Fresno State is part of a California State University-PG&E investor-owned utility partnership that gives members higher rebate rates for kilowatt per hour savings compared to private institutions.
“Fresno State has had a long history of receiving PG&E incentives for creating energy-efficient buildings,” said Bob Boyd, Fresno State associate vice president for facilities management. “By working together we have aggressively reduced our annual utility costs, which provides more money to reinvest into additional energy-reducing measures.”
More information on the PG&E Savings By Design program is available by contacting Justin Witte, PG&E customer relationship manager, at j7wd@pge.com.
