San Bernardino Valley College’s (SBVC) Technical Education Building was honored with a 2020 California Higher Education Sustainability Conference (CHESC) Best Practice Award for Overall Sustainable Design.

The 102,000 SF, all-electric building is designed to advance the capabilities of SBVC’s automotive, electrical, machine technology, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration (HVAC&R), and water technology programs. It will serve as a vital campus resource to students making advancements into fields such as electric vehicles, photovoltaics, robotics, and rapid prototyping. Throughout the building, visual links between instructional spaces serve to inspire, inform, and connect students and educators. “Sticky” spaces provide opportunities for collaboration and inspiration both within and across departments. The building is designed to be a Net Zero ready, living lab that will both provide exhibit space for automotive technology and feature innovations in regenerative design such as solar glass, phase change material, and an atmospheric water generator. To implement these innovations, the design team collaborated closely with both the San Bernardino Community College District and Southern California Edison.

CHESC highlights cutting-edge research, as well as case studies with proven successes in curriculum development, operational programs, and community partnerships. To learn more about CHESC and see the full list of award winners, visit CHESC’s website.