IID Presents Inspector’s Choice Award to Development Design & Engineering 

(El Centro) During yesterday’s regularly scheduled Imperial Irrigation District (IID) Board of Directors meeting, IID presented Tom DuBose and partners Carlos Corrales and Gordon Olson from Development Design & Engineering, Inc. (DDE) the utility’s Inspector’s Choice Award for incorporating energy efficiency measures in the company’s recently constructed office building.  

The new DDE building, located at 1065 State Street in El Centro, outperforms California’s stringent title 24 standards by more than 30 percent.

Throughout the course of a year, this building will use 35,000 kilowatt-hours less than a similarly sized building constructed without energy efficiency measures.   

“We looked at the long-term benefits of building green and knew it was the right thing to do,” stated the co-owner of DDE, Tom DuBose. “We wanted this building to be an example of what can be done when you put your mind towards being more efficient.”  

DuBose, Corrales and Olson decided to go green after attending a Building Industry Association meeting that promoted IID’s California Green Builder program.  The program targets energy efficiency in new residential construction.  

“After the presentation, I approached IID to see if they had any programs for commercial buildings. Besides having a rebate program, they also offered a design team that was able to sit down with us and give us a game plan for going green,” added DuBose.    

Some of the unique energy efficient features of the new DDE building include:  

Heating / Cooling: economizers and high efficiency 15 SEER (Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio) heat pumps that exceed California Energy Code requirements by almost 14 percent  

Lighting: occupancy sensors were used in all high-use lighting fixtures in addition to energy efficient fluorescent lights and electronic ballasts 

Roof Design: implementation of a Cool Roof design, which reduces solar heat gain by using a combination of reflective surfaces, insulation, and radiant barriers. These features contribute to a major decrease in the cooling load requirements of the building, especially during the summer 

Building Exterior: minimal use of west facing glass significantly decreases the cooling needs of the building 

Building Interior: the use of additional insulation, tinted glass, minimal window-to-wall area ratios and concrete walls with furred wood framing play a part in the overall efficiency of the building  

Other earth-friendly design techniques include pre-wiring the carport area with photovoltaic hook-ups and the use of carpet manufactured from recycled materials.  

“Utilities across the nation, including IID are turning to energy efficiency as a way to manage costs,” said program manager Phil Falkenstein. “Programs like this and the California Green Builder program not only reduce demand for electricity, but they also allow us to implement energy efficiency when it is most cost-effective; at the design-and-build phase of construction.”  

For more information about IID’s residential or commercial energy efficiency programs, customers are encouraged to visit www.iid.com or contact the utility’s Public Programs office at 1-800-303-7756. 

Photo: Left to Right, Gary Ambach IID Superintendant of Demand-Side Management, Tom Dubose Development Design & Engineering, John Pierre Menvielle IID Board of Directors President, Phil Falkenstein NCEEP Program Manager.  

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