SACRAMENTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--State and Consumer Services Agency Secretary Rosario Marin and Department of General Services (DGS) Director Will Bush announced today the beginning of construction on a new Central Plant that serves the heating and cooling needs of the State Capitol and 22 other State-owned buildings in downtown Sacramento’s Capitol Area.
In keeping with Governor Schwarzenegger’s 2004 Executive Order that directed the “greening” of State buildings, the new Central Plant will be built to achieve the Leadership in Energy Efficiency and Environmental Design (LEED®) Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.
“Four years ago the Governor challenged us to demonstrate leadership in energy efficiency and environmental responsibility in state buildings,” said Secretary Marin. “This new Central Plant will do just that and help reduce the impact state facilities have on climate change.”
Originally built in 1968 at 625 Q Street, the existing Central Plant produces the steam, chilled water, and control air for more than 5.5 million square feet of State-owned office space serving approximately 20,000 employees. In the nearly 40 years since it was built, the current facility has nearly reached its operating capacity as construction of new State buildings in the Capitol area has increased nearly 24 percent.
The new Central Plant will incorporate the latest technological advances to help the State reduce its energy costs and greatly reduce the amount of water needed within the plant. The new facility will have cooling towers for extracting heat from the buildings, eliminating the need to use well water to extract the heat from the buildings and the need to discharge the same water into the Sacramento River. The plant will also feature a 140 ft. tall, 4.25 million gallon, thermal energy storage tank. With the tank in place, DGS will be able to produce reserves of chilled water during off-peak energy demand times. Overall, the more technologically advanced new Central Plant will use only 1/10th of the water needed by the existing Plant. Solar panels will also be installed on the new facility to power the energy needs of the office space within the plant.
“Each day State workers across downtown Sacramento expect one simple thing – to stay cool when it is hot and warm when it is cold and the new Central Plant will allow DGS to continue to make this happen each day,” said DGS Director Will Bush. “What is even more important is that the new Plant will allow us to do this while saving energy, conserving water, and protecting the environment.”
The new Central Plant is being designed and constructed by the Design/Builder, Skanska USA Building, Inc., with local Sacramento firm, Nacht and Lewis Architects, San Francisco’s Flack and Kurtz, plus Lawson Mechanical and Redwood City Electric and a host of other designers and subcontractors working with the State and its major consultants, Capitol Engineering Consultants, Inc. and Lionakis Beaumont Design Group, and Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc. The $181 million project is expected to take 30 months and will include the recycling of much of the demolition material from the old Central Plant.
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