Palomar College Maintenance and Operations Complex

Photo Credit: Nick Merrick © Hall+Merrick 2019

The new Palomar Community College District Maintenance and Operations Complex (CCD M&O) houses offices and workshops that were previously located in eight different structures. With a total footprint of 30,000 square feet, the project includes two buildings – one for departmental offices and one for facilities. The facilities building combines multiple departments: warehousing, grounds, mechanical/electrical/plumbing (MEP), welding, custodial, painting and maintenance, all under one roof. The project uses a unique passive design system to embrace its southern California climate, and a narrow building footprint provides year-round optimal temperatures throughout the building. Innovative design strategies, such as thermal chimneys and roof monitors, create increased natural ventilation, lower building energy consumption, and decrease mechanical infrastructure.

Design-Build Delivers Impressive Energy Savings

This Progressive Design-Build project is the second design-build project for Palomar CCD and has the potential to become the District’s first LEED Platinum/Net Zero Energy project. The complex includes 344 solar panels that will provide 105 percent of the buildings’ total energy usage. In addition to being net-zero ready, the buildings are pursuing Petal Certification under the Living Building Challenge to be the first Petal Certified community college in the world, a certification that exceeds LEED Platinum qualifications.

Design-Build Team