Chaffey College has received a 2019 California Community Colleges Board of Governors Energy and Sustainability Award for its solar carport project.
Chaffey was one of a dozen state community colleges honored this month in Sacramento for sustainability initiatives that save tax payers more than $2 million annually.
Chaffey College Superintendent/President Henry Shannon considered the award an honor.
“Our duty to our community is to be fiscally and environmentally responsible,” Shannon said. “Our solar project not only accomplishes both, but it also serves as a teaching tool and a model for our students to follow in their own lives.”
Associate Superintendent of Administrative Services Melanie Siddiqi accepted the award at the Board of Governors meeting on Jan. 14 on behalf of the district.
“We consider sustainability a top priority at Chaffey College,” Siddiqi said. “In addition to our solar carports, we’ve installed new electric vehicle charging ports on our campuses in the last year, and have reduced CO2 emissions by about 1,000 kilograms so far.”
Chaffey College’s solar carports – located at all three campuses – provide enough energy to meet 90 percent of the college’s energy needs and will save the district $28.2 million in energy costs over the life of the project. The solar carport project is the largest of its kind at a California community college.
It is the latest in numerous honors the project has received, including the “Editor’s Choice Award” from Solar Builder Magazine in 2018.
The Board of Governors awards were established in 2012 to honor leaders and exemplary energy and sustainability efforts at the California Community Colleges.
