October 11, 2002
IRVINE, Calif., Oct. 11,August XX, 2002-The University of California, Irvine will receive more than $278,000 in incentives from Southern California Edison (SCE) for installing energy-efficient equipment in two new teaching and administration facilities.
The university received design assistance from SCE and funding through a California Public Utilities Commission-sponsored program called "Savings By Design" that is available to all nonresidential SCE customers.
"Savings By Design incentives encourage builders to design high-performance, nonresidential structures," said Janith Johnson, manager of SCE's new construction services department. "When UC Irvine decided to build these new facilities, Edison was able to identify energy efficiency strategies that would provide significant cash incentives and reduce operating costs."
By incorporating energy-efficient systems into their new facilities, UC Irvine will save an estimated 4.22-million kilowatt-hours per year, or approximately $409,830, according to SCE estimates.
The 96,742-square-foot Natural Sciences Laboratory and 64,042-square-foot Sprague Hall used Savings By Design's "whole building" approach to determine the most cost-effective ways to save energy. Whole building design addresses the overall performance of a facility optimizing interactions between energy-saving systems. When buildings are designed to maximize the use of natural light, for example, less interior lighting is needed during parts of the day, reducing both lighting and cooling costs.
The Savings By Design program also provides incentives to encourage building designers to incorporate the whole-building approach into their planning. The UC Irvine design team, headed by Bechard Long & Associates of San Diego, will receive about $80,000 in incentives from SCE for the university project.
SCE customers are encouraged to contact the utility for incentive information before building new facilities or renovating existing buildings. For information on the Savings By Design program, call (800) 338-8502 or visit www.savingsbydesign.com.
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An Edison International company, Southern California Edison is one of the nation's largest electric utilities, serving a population of more than 12 million via 4.3 million customer accounts in a 50,000-square-mile service area within central, coastal and Southern California. For more information on the California electricity market, see www.sce.com.
