LEED® Certification Goal Update, Spring 2014

Together with the City of San Diego (Environmental Services Department, Parks and Recreation, Public Works Facilities Division), San Diego Gas & Electric, San Diego Green Building Council and our cultural institutions, we are working diligently towards a LEED certification goal for Balboa Park.

This legacy goal, to bring 10 LEED certification projects into Balboa Park, helps communicate the amazing work already taking place in the Park and sets forth a path of innovative best practices in the future. With 2015 on the horizon, Balboa Park is working hard to make its buildings more sustainable and energy efficient for years beyond the California-Panama Exposition Centennial Celebration.

Here are some projects just to name a few:

Gauging Performance at Thee Multi-Tenant Buildings

BPCP is working with three multi-tenant buildings Casa de Balboa, Casa del Prado and House of Charm to achieve LEED certification by November this year.  The tenants within these buildings are kicking off a 3-month performance-tracking period in April, which will track various behaviors at the institutions to determine LEED certification level.  Some of the elements that will be considered are: water usage, waste diversion, employee transportation habits and sustainable purchasing.  The energy use over the past year will also be measured as part of the LEED certification process.

Driving Change: From Benchmarking to Implementation

Continual improvement and implementation of new technologies will help us reduce our footprint even more.  Thanks to the SDG&E Energy Assessment and Solutions program, nine of our buildings have signed up for free ASHRAE Level II audits. By completing these comprehensive energy analyses, our institutions will have an energy roadmap that identifies new energy projects and savings.  Learn more about past energy savings. Learn more about past energy savings. (View video)

Building an Umbrella of Sustainability Best Practices

Another way to enhance our buildings with sustainability and energy efficiency measures for the Centennial Celebration is to create a best practices guidebook available to each organization within Balboa Park. In an effort to share best practices with our members and partners, we are partnering with San Diego State University School of Hospitality and Tourism Management.  Undergraduate students will develop a sustainability guidebook that will be disseminated to all of our member institutions.  It will serve as an overview of sustainability best practices, complete with guidelines, project case studies and additional resources for successful sustainability implementation.  Learn more from our other case studies.

Promoting Behavior Change with Education and Outreach

The public and our Park colleagues continue to learn about environmental sustainability in Balboa Park in 2014.  So far we have engaged 680 participants from all over the country on our sustainability Walk-About tours in the Park.  We’d like to extend a special thank you to the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center, San Diego History Center, San Diego Model Railroad Museum, San Diego Natural History Museum, San Diego Zoo, Timken Museum and WorldBeat Center for opening their doors to Sustainability tours so far this year.  Also, thank you to the Old Globe Theater for hosting our February LEED training that focused on operations and maintenance.  These events help us spread awareness and promote the great work of our Park stakeholders.