IBEW-NECA officials renovated a 30-year-old office building in San Leandro, turning it into a model Zero Net Energy (ZNE) facility and electrical training center. The building combines energy efficiency techniques and clean renewable energy technologies like solar to cut energy usage by 75% and reduce the carbon footprint by 175 tons. All the energy used in ZNE buildings like this one is produced on site, and the buildings produce as much or more energy than they consume.

The ZNE building has 14 training rooms and a lecture room that seats several hundred people. Several sound and communications contractors contributed to the building’s AV installations, control systems, and overall building integration (see team list). The building reduces lighting, heating/HVAC and plug load consumption significantly and employs renewable technologies such as solar panels and wind turbines to further reduce the energy load.