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A 60-acre solar farm next to the College of the Desert in Palm Springs, Calif., along with a number of sustainable building features, are projected to help the campus produce more energy than it uses. The two-year community college with about 3,400 full-time students is partnering with Southern California Edison on the solar farm project.
Perforated metal panels will be used on the facades of new buildings to allow gentle breezes to naturally cool the buildings. Other sustainable design features will include façades that minimize heat gain, shading and daylighting techniques, energy-efficient mechanical systems, and native landscaping. Renewable energy production will be a major focus of the curriculum, and the school’s expansion will include new labs for solar panel and wind turbine engineering.
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