In building design, projects are out of the solar system
Source: The San Diego Union - Tribune; Nov 4, 2001; Roger M. Showley

Sunny San Diego is a dark spot when it comes to tapping the sun's energy for electrical power.

While many homeowners are interested in going solar, many public agencies involved in large-scale projects are not.

Some high-profile buildings, such as the just-completed $116 million expansion of the San Diego Convention Center, include not one square inch
of photovoltaic cells, or PVs, to feed the region's power grid.

Another project, the Padres ballpark downtown, also will not feature PV systems. Mayor Dick Murphy said there are so many other problems
with getting the $225 million ballpark built that "wrangling" about adding solar power systems is not presently a priority.

And the San Diego Unified School District, having received voter approval in 1998 for $1.51 billion worth of new construction funds, has made no
commitment to incorporate solar-power systems into the designs of new schools.

But Alison Pernell, project manager of the Local Government Commission's SPIRE program -- that stands for "stimulating public sector
implementation of renewable energy" -- is not discouraged.

"San Diego seems to be the most PV-ripe market in the state," she said.

There's the climate, plus the high cost of energy and coming growth that will require more energy sources.

To be sure, headway is being made here on the solar front -- but much of the innovation is coming from the private sector, even though solar
energy is supported by government-sponsored incentive programs.

Home Depot has chosen San Diego as a pilot market for a PV sales program and two builders, Pardee and Shea, are offering PVs at local
new-home projects. In Scripps Ranch, Shea is building the largest new-home community in the United States offering solar systems.

"Those are all things we don't see happening at that scale anywhere else in the state," Pernell said.

To sweeten the pot, the state covers up to 50 percent of the costs of certain PV systems. But to budget-minded bureaucrats, there still remains a
premium to be paid for the other 50 percent.

"Agencies are very first-cost driven," said Chuck Angel, SDG&E's point man for energy conservation and renewable energy resources. "The
extra cost can be 5 or 6 percent but it pays itself back many times over. Many agencies are not used to looking at life-cycle costing."

Don Telford, executive vice president of the San Diego Convention Center Corp., said many energy-saving features were incorporated into the
center's expansion, completed in September. The facility doubled in size but energy use is up only about 35 percent.

During the design phase, he said, the cost of the PVs could not be justified by the potential savings in energy consumption.

"Today, I'm sure it would be analyzed further, but it's doubtful whether they would ultimately be used," he said.

Officials with the Padres and San Diego Regional Energy Office said they discussed last year the use of PVs on the new downtown ballpark.
But design issues came up and the extra costs could not be incorporated into an increasingly iffy budget.

"At this time I think it's a terrific idea," said Padres spokesman Erik Judson. "But we're dealing with so many other constraints."

Amid a climate of energy conservation, widespread educational efforts are under way to teach schoolchildren how to save energy. But that
instruction does not extend far into the buildings the children learn in.

The San Diego school district has only installed a couple of demonstration PV systems and new schools are not being planned with PVs in mind.

"To date, I'd have to say there is no one that's championing it," said district architect Jim Watts.

He said the 1998 bonds do not have extra funds to include PV systems and equal savings are available through other conservation measures.

But recent events may prompt public officials to change their minds.

The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks are being cited by some PV advocates as a reason to decentralize power systems, so that PV- powered facilities
could continue functioning even if generating plants and transmission lines were disabled.

Still, the situation remains spotty, at best, with agencies deciding on a case-by-case basis whether solar makes sense.

For example, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is spending $60 million annually on renewable energy systems. A 400- kilowatt
PV system was installed on the Los Angeles Convention Center and a nearby garage.

"Our plan is to install solar panels on 35 city facilities every year for the next five years," said department spokesman Walter Zeisl.

San Francisco voters will go the polls Tuesday to vote on a $100 million revenue bond measure for 40 megawatts of power from PV systems and
wind turbines and to install other energy conservation technologies on city facilities. Promoters hope the effort will prompt a PV manufacturer to
build a factory in the city, as well as cut down on public electricity bills.

One high-profile San Diego project that is getting a second look for solarization is the proposed $145 million new main library, to be built near the
ballpark site. Project architect Rob Quigley said he is analyzing the cost and benefit of adapting the domed structure to include PVs or
incorporating PV panels into the building's south- facing sunshades.

"We know in the long-term -- the main library will be here 80 to 100 years -- it would be cost effective," Quigley said. "The question is, is there
extra money for first-costs to handle a sustainable agenda?"

On some smaller projects, the use of solar energy is moving ahead.

The new $2.5 million, 5,633-square-foot county library in Cardiff- by-the-Sea now under construction will have some PVs on its roof, said
architect Manuel Oncina. And architect Alison M. Whitelaw said it would only cost about $100,000 to add PVs to the North University City
branch she is designing.

"PVs have been around longer than the energy crisis," Whitelaw said, "and they've become more economically viable. But they're still not an easy
sell."

The city has five relatively small PV projects in the works and the county has eight others in the offing.

But a general commitment to solar power has yet to become public policy. Even such a simple, low-cost step as asking architects to design
buildings with solar as an optional add-on has not been been adopted.

Some officials say they are holding off until they see the recommendations in a regional energy infrastructure study due early next year.

The Navy is not waiting for new studies. Prompted by the Pentagon's concern for potential energy shortages here, a $7 million, 750-kilowatt
system -- reportedly, the largest of its kind nationally -- will be installed next year over a parking lot at North Island Naval Air Station. Half the
81,000-square-foot installation is being financed with rate-payer funds administered by the local energy office. The other half is coming from
special Defense Department accounts.

"Any time we can make a PV system work as far as being cost effective, we will use it," said Lt. Cmdr. Wade Wilhelm. However, he said, there
is no general directive to plan for PVs on all Navy projects.

There's even a reluctance to eliminate permit fees for solar systems. The county took such a step and recommended the area's 18 cities follow
suit.

When the subject came up before a City Council committee last month, development services director Tina Christiansen said the state should
make up the lost permit revenues, estimated at $100,000 for 2,000 installations annually.

But Councilman Jim Madaffer said that if no subsidies are available, the city should just absorb the loss. The ballpark, main library, branch
libraries and all other city facilities should include solar power systems, no matter how small, he said.

"I think definitely we need to walk the walk and that's to put on PVs in all facilities," he said. "Using renewable resources like PV on city
buildings is just plain smart."