Gunner and Andros Investments built this two-story, 64,000-square-foot office building in 1975. The building was designed prior to California’s adoption of energy standards in 1978, when energy was inexpensive and energy conservation was not the highest priority for building design.

In 1999 the University of California negotiated a long-term lease for the building with Gunner and Andros. The original HVAC system was designed prior to the development of personal computers and did not have adequate cooling capacity for the new tenants. The HVAC equipment was well beyond its theoretical useful life of fifteen years and was costing $25,000 a year for repairs. The University of California evaluated and accepted an option to replace the HVAC and lighting systems and install a computerized building management system.

Although the new tenants are occupying the building as much as forty percent more hours per day, and although PG&E nearly doubled the cost of gas during the first year of operation, first-year energy costs averaged only $0.116 per square foot per month. PG&E estimates that the energy costs of modern office buildings range between $0.10 and $0.21 per square foot per month while older buildings can cost $0.33.

Total energy consumption in BTU’s for the UC Center dropped by over twenty-seven percent for a one-year savings of $33,285. In addition, the tenant avoided $25,000 in annual repair costs and received a PG&E rebate of $4,115. This building was awarded the prestigious Energy Star Rating.