Long Beach City College Unveils Solar-Powered Parking Structure

Lighting, elevator systems draw juice from fifth-level panels.

Mayor Bob Foster led a delegation of college officials Tuesday in the dedication of a $27 million parking structure that provides more than 900 spaces for students.

Foster, LBCC President Eloy Ortiz Oakley, LBCC Board President Tom Clark, Daniel Sullivan of Sullivan Solar Power, and members of the Long Beach City College community came together Tuesday to dedicate and open a new 295,485-square-foot parking structure that features over 900 new parking spaces for students. The $27 million project was built with Measure E facilities bond money approved by the voters in 2008.

"I am proud to help dedicate such an important project for Long Beach City College and the City of Long Beach," said Foster. "This structure is now the second largest solar project in Long Beach, and will become a sustainable model for other public and private projects in the city."

The structure's lighting and elevator systems are 100-percent solar powered, along with a few adjacent buildings, according to campus spokesman Chi-Chung Keung.

Anchored on the southwest corner of Carson Street and Clark Avenue, the structure is the second largest solar powered system in the city, after the Convention Center. Built with sustainable materials, the solar power will provide an estimated 451 kilowatts of power, Keung said. It does not feature charging stations for electrical cars.

"This parking structure is something that I and our Board of Trustees promised our students and community when I became President," said Oakley.

"It will greatly relieve some of the parking pressures that exist on campus and in the surrounding neighborhoods."

The building is five stories, with the solar panels on the fifth level, according to Keung. The garage provides drivers with updated counts on the number of spaces vacant at each level.

SOURCE: http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_17728464?nclick_check=1