During the best part of ten years, the San Diego County buildings program -with its partners of the construction and design firm -has constantly delivered highly sustainable facilities and have accumulated certifications and recognitions to prove it.
In fact, there is a long list of past successes and county efforts that support its selection as the owner of the California Year of 2025 by Enr West.
In 2018, for example, the county became only the second of the nation – and the first in California – to receive the Platinum Leed from the United States Green Buildings for County Certification to cut off greenhouse gas emissions, reduce water consumption and promote more sustainable land conservation and development, among other successes.
That same year, the county would complete the construction of its Borrego Springs Public Library, which in 2024 became the first public library in California to obtain the certification of the Sustainable Library of the Sustainable Libraries initiative.
The installation of $ 93.3 million, aimed at the Leed Platinum certification, was delivered to the county in April.
Photo of Jim Brady, courtesy Steinberg Hart
More recently, the Well Live Center for the Southeastern Live of $ 63.4 million from the county, completed by PCL Construction by 2023, with the Design signing of Lead Steinberg Hart, won the excellence in sustainability of the regional competition of best projects of California 2024. Live Well Center followed after being appointed project from 2024 to the best of the National Enr program.
The county vision for the 65,000 -square -foot net selwc energy created a social services center designed to be informed by trauma and culturally sensitive of its historically disassociated location. It is important to emphasize that the construction of the project had a key mission: the county wanted the community people not only to receive a well -built installation, expertly designed, but the local residents and companies benefit from their construction.
Marko Medved, director of General Services with San Diego County, says that in the project, members of the community were skeptical.
“There was a lot of initial distrust of the county,” he says. “We should be true to our word about what was in the end and its operation.”
Generally, he adds, the design and construction of the project turned out to be “a great deal of confidence creation with the community”.
The SELWC “is a project that really embodies what can be and should be the construction: a force for the good in the community.”
—Cathy Orquiola, President of the United States West, PCL Construction
By accepting the project of the year project for the AR Prize Award in March, Cathy Orquiola, President of PCL Construction, for the United States, emphasized the success of the connection of the community that guided the construction of the Live Well Center.
“The Southeastern Live Well Center in San Diego is a project that really embodies the construction and a force for the good in the community,” said Orquiola, who added that “the very process of building it was a community-based effort.”
Looking at the “ambitious” mandate of the county to invest 10% of the value of the contract in the nearby community, Orquiola said that the project team passed the brand, with more than $ 8 million in local companies.
In summary the vision of the County and the project team on an intentional approach to the construction that the community builds, Orquiola urged the contractors and designers attending the same, saying: “ We continue to pressure the limits of what the construction can do.We continue to assure that the communities we build also benefit from the process, not only of the final product. ”
The interiors of the Public Health Lab are designed to be welcoming for the public.
Photo of Jim Brady, courtesy Steinberg Hart
Change the approach
Ten years ago, the path of San Diego County to these plades was clear, according to Medved, the director of General Services of the County since 2016. But the change was underway.
The actions begun by its predecessor, Helen Robbins-Meyer, who at the time became the administrative manager of the county, would help initiate the long-term transformation of the county.
Before Robbins-Meyer’s actions, Medved says, the county was “probably similar to many other municipalities: they did not have many tools for construction; they still did not have any alternative delivery method; they had no very good relationships with the industry; they did not have a sustainability approach; and they did not have much energy in energy.”
“We should be true to our word about what was in the end and its operation.”
—Marko Medved, Director of General Services, San Diego County, talking about the SELWC project
Medved, with much of his career that oversees the construction programs for the Marine Corps and the Command of Engineering Systems of the Naval Installations (NAVFAC), and with experience with various methods of delivery of projects, was interested in doing the task.
Since 2016, San Diego County has remained in a roll, providing 11 net energy buildings of zero, along with 70 Leed certified buildings, with the vast majority of certificates as gold, according to the county. His latest project, a $ 93.3 million public health laboratory, is on his way to Leed Platinum, according to the main design firm Steinberg Hart.
Another notable achievement since 2016 is the reduction of 47% of the county of greenhouse gas emissions of the county operations so far. The set goal is a final reduction of 90% by 2030.
Medved proves success to a critical factor: “Very very good support of leadership in the county.”
The Borrego Springs Public Library in San Diego County was the first in the state to obtain a certification of sustainable libraries.
Photo courtesy the county of San Diego
The county leads the way
As the project owner, San Diego County provides its constant support and design partners to achieve the final goals, according to companies.
Call in the county “a special type of client”, the architect of Steinberg Hart’s senior projects, Lina Asad, says what stands out is “its structure, clarity and depth of experience; they know how to connect with the community and how to move a project through complex systems without losing the eyes of the public good”.
Pointing out another of the recent projects of Steinberg Hart for the County – the Ohio 21,000 square meter test center, a clean energy installation of zero designed to integrate proof of proof of probation, rehabilitators and community support that opened in 2022 – since he praised the focus of the county community.
In this project, he says, “we went directly to the North Park community during the monthly meeting and, surprisingly, we gained their support for a type of project they had historically resisted.”
The lobby of the lobby of the Ohio Street Sports Sports and warm colors.
Photo by Pablo Mason, courtesy of San Diego County
ASAD adds, “the county’s commitment to transparency and the creation of warm and welcoming spaces, especially in traditionally institutional programs, had a lasting impact.”
The two -storey public health laboratory, built with Biosafety Level 3 specifications, is the most recent regional project to complete construction, and probably also the most complex so far.
In the operation of the control and control centers of disease and the prevention laboratory for the regions of San Diego and Imperial, the installation will allow the County to try infectious diseases, supervise food and water safety and the test of dangerous pathogens, while also providing teaching and training opportunities for microbiologists and public health hospitals.
The Bn Builders de San Diego office was in the middle of running the project in the county when James Awford, director with the firm, spoke to Enr.
Describing San Diego County as “highly collaborative to work,” adds Awford, “they are not a quiet owner. They like to know what’s happening; they have been very involved in all decision -making.”
This interaction has been particularly proven useful in delivering the numerous components of the installation to the satisfaction of all interested parties, adds Awford.
“There are many scientists and people who work in the laboratory who have opinions on what this installation will be at the end of the day,” he says.
The Ohio Street Ohio Street Probation Center is a clean energy installation designed to integrate proof, rehabilitation and community support services.
Photo by Pablo Mason, courtesy of San Diego County
Bn Builders has been building projects for the county for about 10 years, according to Awford. During this time, the county has been shown to be “conscious of sustainability, and where it makes sense.”
While the health laboratory is aimed at Leed Platinum-a challenge for these facilities-Awford says that the county has been “very open to creative solutions on how we can obtain the optimal installation”, especially with the prioritization of the costs of the life cycle of the first costs.
One of the “most interesting” features of the laboratory installation is its educational component, according to Awford.
“They use part of the space to educate the local community and those who are interested in learning more about science and what this installation will do for the public,” he says. “This part is very pretty.”
In general, Awford summarizes, “it has been a group to work to get to this point. Now that we are going around the installation, they seem to be very happy.”
For all these efforts, Enr West names the county of San Diego, its owner in 2025 in California.
