Officials Celebrate Opening of Zero Net Energy Center
Elected officials and union leaders celebrated the grand opening today of the Zero Net Energy Center in San Leandro, which they said is the nation's first commercial building retrofit to achieve zero net energy.
The 46,000-square-foot former industrial facility on Catalina Street west of Interstate Highway 880 has been transformed into a training center for apprentice and journey-level electricians in Alameda County.
The center is sponsored by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 595 and the Northern California Chapter of the National Electrical Contractors Association.
Byron Benton, a union training director, said while there are 20 zero net centers in the U.S., the San Leandro center is the only one that's a retrofit of an existing building.
Benton said that's significant because new buildings make up only about one percent of the country's building stock, so existing buildings need to be retrofitted in order for there to be a major impact on energy use.
To achieve zero net energy, in which it will use only as much energy as it creates, the building utilizes state-of-the-art technologies such as solar panels and wind turbines and an energy efficient building design.
State Senate Majority Leader Ellen Corbett, D-San Leandro, said the center "sets the standard for the world" in terms of training people for the careers of the future.
Corbett said the building also is a model for energy efficiency, as reductions in its carbon footprint will save an estimated 175 tons of carbon dioxide emissions a year.
Corbett said the center "offers the East Bay something to boast about to the state and the nation."
San Leandro Mayor Stephen Cassidy said, "The future is being created here today in San Leandro."
Cassidy said the center is "a model of sustainable economic development for the world to follow."
Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, said the center will "support working families and build a more promising future."
Lee said the center will create "environmentally sound jobs" and help create energy efficiency and renewable energy.
Gov. Jerry Brown also spoke at the event, which was attended by more than 500 people.
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