Not by code. The Board of Governors Climate Action and Sustainability Framework sets systemwide targets of 75% below baseline emissions by 2030 and 100% below baseline by 2035. The framework’s own language is advisory, districts and colleges are encouraged to strive toward those goals, so it reads as a systemwide commitment rather than a statutory requirement.

The building code is a different matter. Any new campus building has to meet Title 24, Part 6 and CALGreen, and compliance is checked at plan review. The practical result is much the same: the next building on campus has an energy budget it has to hit.

Two things. The 2025 California Energy Code took effect, applying to permit applications filed on or after that date. And the CALGreen whole-building life cycle assessment threshold dropped for school buildings under DSA authority, from 100,000 sq. ft. to 50,000 sq. ft.

The second change is the one most likely to catch a project out. A 60,000 sq. ft. classroom building that sat outside the embodied-carbon requirement in 2025 is inside it now.

The Division of the State Architect. DSA is the state plan review and approval authority for California community college construction, and the enforcement authority for CALGreen on public school and community college projects.

Projects do not go to the local city or county building department for initial approval. The local authority issues the permit after DSA has approved the plans.

It can, when the system meets the qualification requirements set out in Joint Appendix JA11.

Two things are worth separating. The Solar Access Roof Area calculation, SARA, is limited to the roof and to newly constructed structures on the site such as carports. Facades and walls are not part of SARA. A facade-mounted or building-integrated system can still be used to meet the required PV capacity, as long as it fully satisfies JA11’s requirements, which cover orientation, shading, solar access verification and monitoring.

The performance path, which models actual tilt, azimuth and shading, is generally the more practical route for a facade system. We confirmed this directly with the California Energy Commission’s Title 24 Energy Code Hotline. Structural support and attachment requirements under Title 24, Part 2 apply regardless of where the system is mounted.

Building-integrated photovoltaics means the generating element is the building envelope itself, rather than something added to it. Solstex is the rear-ventilated, pressure-equalized rainscreen. It carries the same concealed Unity attachment as our other facade systems, over the same substructure.

A rack-mounted array sits on top of a wall that already had to be built and paid for. A BIPV facade replaces that cladding, so one surface does two jobs.

Vertically oriented panels produce about 70 to 80% of the power produced by fixed-tilt ground or roof mounted systems. Orientation matters more than it does on a roof. A south-facing wall performs best, southeast and southwest come in at about 95% of south, east and west at about 80%, and north at about 30%.

Solstex generates up to 16.5 W per sq. ft. at peak. Actual output depends on site, orientation, glazing and array size. Full specifications are in our resources library.

Because roof area runs out. On a multi-storey campus building the roof is a single floorplate, while the facade is that floorplate’s perimeter multiplied by every storey above grade. The roof is also where the mechanical equipment goes.

A campus working toward net zero energy has to find generation somewhere on site. The facade is surface the building already needs to clad, detail and pay for. Putting it to work adds capacity without competing for roof space or ground area.

Solstex can earn up to five LEED credits. That matters on a community college project because the Board of Governors framework sets LEED Gold or higher as a 2030 target for new buildings and major renovations, and LEED Platinum or equivalent by 2035.

If you are weighing a specific campus project, our team can walk through orientation, array size and expected output with you.