The LEED Platinum, net-zero-ready campus police substation at Miramar College, a unit of the San Diego Community College District, designed by Harley Ellis Devereaux, with adjacent parking structure, designed by International Parking Design. The $17.8 million project features a solar chimney in the police station that activates natural ventilation.

Colleges and universities are among the most active players in the green building game, to the point where LEED Gold and even LEED Platinum are becoming de rigueur on campus. Recently, several academic institutions have moved to the head of the class with net-zero energy projects.

Take the new campus police substation at San Diego Miramar College, designed by Harley Ellis Devereaux. The 5,108-sf facility earned LEED Platinum and has been designed to net-zero energy readiness. That promise will be fulfilled when PVs are added to the adjacent four-story, 828-space parking garage (by International Parking Design. McCarthy Building Cos. was the GC on the entire $17.9 million complex.

A solar chimney in the substation tower creates an airflow that pulls cool ocean air through the interior. The HVAC system automatically shuts down when the operable windows are open. A terracotta rainscreen and vegetated roof shield the building from solar heat gain.  READ FULL ARTICLE