Higher Ed Goes Green
Solar power panels are placed atop a parking lot at East Los Angeles College in Monterey Park. The photovoltaic farm is expected to last at least 40 years and is currently producing about 45% of the colleges energy, or 1.9 million kilowatts annually for a yearly savings of $270,000. (Karen Tapia-Andersen / Los Angeles Times)
Raoul Wood project manager from Chevron looks over the solar panels atop a parking structure at East Los Angeles College. The Los Angeles Community College District, which includes East Los Angeles, is undergoing one of the largest green building efforts in the countrys public sector, with more than 40 buildings planned and all facilities set to employ renewable energy. (Karen Tapia-Andersen / Los Angeles Times)
Students walk from the parking lot at East Los Angeles College, where solar power panels are suspended over 530 spaces, opposite a baseball field carpeted in Sprinturf artificial grass to save water. (Karen Tapia-Andersen / Los Angeles Times)
The 5,952 solar panels that will generate up to 45% of the East Los Angeles Colleges energy are part of a nationwide effort by colleges and universities to build green. Experts who follow building trends agree that in the past decade, as fears of global warming grew and examples of eco-innovation spread online, campus greening has morphed from a fad into mainstream phenomenon. (Karen Tapia-Andersen / Los Angeles Times)
