Skip to main content
Start of main content

Sacramento Municipal Utility District East Campus Operations Center

How do you utilize energy to its fullest potential?

  • 361K

    Square Feet

  • $123M

    Project Value

  • $400K

    Annual Energy Saved

  • Sacramento, California

    Sacramento, California

Designing a LEED Certified Platinum facility that reduces as much carbon emissions as taking 4000 cars off the road

Every company needs a spark. For the Sacramento Municipal District (SMUD), that spark was net zero energy design. Envisioning a new operations center, SMUD leaders hoped to conserve energy use in their buildings while increasing the energy of their people. This efficient and inspiring campus is that vision realized.

Energy-efficient buildings are a balancing act between energy and people. For SMUD, our design team studied the physical building—and what people actually did inside it. We measured how they used every electrical outlet in their old offices and recommended systems and appliances that helped them reduce power use in the new spaces.

Less light can lead to a bright idea. SMUD’s East Campus Operations Center uses low-wattage lighting that shuts off when people leave a room or when natural light is substantial. Also, special window shades and louvers project daylight into the workspaces while keeping the sun’s heat out.

In optimizing the performance of the systems, our team minimized the need for large energy pulls from the grid, allowing for less photovoltaic panels throughout the campus. We also designed and built horizontal geo-exchange fields, thermal energy storage tanks, maximized natural daylighting, used light reflective concrete, radiant concrete slabs, LED lighting, solar water heater systems, and chilled beams.

Together with Turner, our team of engineers designed the award-winning the $123-million, LEED Certified Platinum project. It is home to 750 employees and provides administration, operations, maintenance, and storage space. The ECOC includes a five-story office building, cafeteria, meeting areas, training rooms, a gym, and storage for over 550 utility vehicles.

The SMUD allows for adaptation to changing needs well into the future. Even better, at the time of completion, campus energy use was 50 to 60 percent lower than required—the annual electricity savings are enough to power 334 homes, and the volume of avoided carbon dioxide emissions is equivalent to taking 4,000 cars off the road.

At a Glance

Offices
Awards
2013 Sacramento Business Journal Best Real Estate Projects
2014 DBIA Western Pacific Region Distinction Award
Excellence in Structural Engineering-Sustainable Design

Listen, show, and tell

How Stantec worked with the SMUD team to design a space that's perfect for collaboration.

Meet Our Team

Porus Sam Antia , Senior Associate, Buildings

I provide vision for the next generation of living and adaptive buildings, achieving harmony between the built environment and the natural world.
Porus Sam  Antia Senior Associate, Buildings Read More

Paul Marcillac, Principal, Community Development

My job is to create public and sustainable environments that enhance social and well-being to the communities I work in.
Paul Marcillac Principal, Community Development Read More

Patrick M. McKelvey , Senior Principal

Our purpose and goal is to create better places through thoughtful, creative, and responsive planning and design.

Christopher Wilson, Vice President, Regional Business Leader, Buildings (US West)

Leading my team to create vibrant and healthy places makes me feel like I’m contributing to the future of Sacramento, my home community.
Christopher  Wilson Vice President, Regional Business Leader, Buildings (US West) Read More

Porus Sam  Antia

Senior Associate, Buildings

Paul Marcillac

Principal, Community Development

Patrick M. McKelvey

Senior Principal

Christopher  Wilson

Vice President, Regional Business Leader, Buildings (US West)

We're better together

  • Become a client

    Partner with us today to change how tomorrow looks. You’re exactly what’s needed to help us make it happen in your community.

    Contact Us
  • Design your career

    Work with passionate people who are experts in their field. Our teams love what they do and are driven by how their work makes an impact on the communities they serve.

    Join the Team
End of main content
To top
Run Modes: s7connect,crx3,nosamplecontent,publish,crx3tar
Build Version: 2.5.0.8
Build Date: 2022-44-28 08:44:26