Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas) an award-winning Energy Resource Center (ERC), a model of energy-efficient, environmentally friendly technologies, celebrates its 20th anniversary. The ERC is a 44,572 square-foot building and was designed in part by recycling the original 1957 building 20 years ago and adding cutting-edge materials and technologies.
It is the first building in California to receive Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) “green building” recognition and one of only two buildings in the state to be awarded Platinum Level LEED by the U.S. Green Building Council. Through the years, the ERC has hosted more than 20,000 events, including seminars, demonstrations and consulting services, attended by more than 650,000 people to help businesses, schools, government and community officials find the most cost-effective and energy-efficient solutions to their energy needs.
The ERC uses 40.7 percent less water than other commercial buildings its size (outdoors) and 38.3 percent less water (indoors). It also uses 51.39 percent less energy than the national average of a building its size, and 60 percent of its employees use energy-efficient transportation including bikes, low emission vehicles and carpooling.
The ERC includes a 10,000-square-foot main exhibit hall capable of accommodating more 700 people. A dozen specialty rooms are available for meetings, workshops, demonstrations and presentations to the public. The ERC also provides technical assistance, computerized equipment simulations, and air quality and environmental permitting assistance.
The 20th Anniversary event will feature presentations from SoCalGas employees, government and community officials and business representatives. Demonstrations at the event will include: Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) commercial trucks and other natural gas vehicles (NGV); an NGV fueling station; sustainable landscape tour; rooftop solar thermal demonstration; food service equipment lab demonstration; combustion burner demonstration; water heating demonstration, displays, historical photos and more.
“SoCalGas has deep roots in the communities we serve, and I’m very proud to celebrate the 20th anniversary of this landmark building,” said Bret Lane, chief operating officer of SoCalGas.
“Over the last 22-plus years, our energy-efficiency programs – like the ones our customers learn about at the ERC – have helped our customers save the equivalent of taking more than 500,000 cars off the road. The ERC also has a strong future. Natural gas not only heats our homes, cooks our food and helps heat our water, it also fuels our businesses. It also gives California an affordable path to a cleaner, healthier future through providing clean, inexpensive fuel for heavy duty trucks, buses, and rail and port operations.”