Oakland Unified School District Downtown Educational Complex

The $63 million Downtown Educational Complex (DEC) spans two city blocks and includes La Escuelita Elementary School and Met West High School.

Existing structures were replaced with new state-of-the-art, highly sustainable and functional facilities.

A highly sustainable, grid neutral/Zero Net Energy (ZNE) campus was the design goal for the complex. A 575 kilowatt photovoltaic system mounted on the roof and parking shade structures helps to offset 100% of the educational electricity needs and a large portion of the administrative power needs. A 100 kW generator provides standby power in case of a utility outage. Each PV panel is monitored separately to allow for monitoring and feedback for the District to see energy consumption of individual building systems.

Daylighting for every space has been carefully designed using a combination of clerestories, skylights and light tubes. In addition to designing daylighting fenestration, controls and photovoltaic systems, Integral Group designed the electrical power distribution, lighting, fire alarm, data, voice, PA/intercom, clock and security/access systems.

The Complex includes a shared kitchen, the District's central data server room, a daycare facility, and KDOL, OUSD's public television studio.