Top Owners | ENR California Owner of the Year
Project by Project, San Diego County is Raising Expectations
The Southeastern Live Well Center was named the national 2024 Project of the Year by ENR.
Photo by Haley Hill Photography
For the better part of 10 years now, the County of San Diego’s building program—along with its construction and design firm partners—has been consistently delivering highly sustainable facilities, and racking up certifications and accolades to prove it.
In fact, there is a long list of past achievements and ongoing efforts by the county that supports its selection as ENR West’s 2025 California Owner of the Year.
In 2018, for example, the county became only the nation’s second—and the first in California—to receive the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Platinum for Counties certification for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, reducing water consumption and promoting more sustainable land conservation and development, among other achievements.
That same year, the county would complete construction of its Borrego Springs public library—which in 2024 became the first public library in California to earn the Sustainable Library Certification from the Sustainable Libraries Initiative.
The $93.3-million facility, targeting LEED Platinum certification, was being turned over to the county in April.
Photo by Jim Brady, courtesy Steinberg Hart
More recently, the county’s $63.4-million Southeastern Live Well Center—completed in 2023 by PCL Construction with lead design firm Steinberg Hart—earned the Excellence in Sustainability Award from ENR California’s 2024 Regional Best Projects contest. The Live Well Center then followed that up by being named the 2024 Project of the Year in ENR’s national Best Of The Best program.
The county’s vision for the 65,000-sq-ft, net-zero energy SELWC facility was to create a social services center designed to be trauma-informed and culturally sensitive of its historically disenfranchised location. Importantly, the project’s construction had one overriding mission—the county wanted people in the community to not only receive a well-built, expertly designed facility, but for local residents and companies to benefit from its construction.
Marko Medved, director of general services with the County of San Diego, says that going into the project, community members were skeptical.
“There was a lot of initial distrust of the county,” he says. “We were going to have to be true to our word about what was going to be there in the end, and how it operated.”
Overall, he adds, the project’s design and construction proved to be “like a big trust-building exercise with the community.”
The SELWC “is a project that truly embodies what construction can and should be—a force for good in the community.”
—Cathy Orquiola, President for Western U.S., PCL Construction
In accepting the Project of the Year award at ENR’s Award of Excellence event in March, Cathy Orquiola, PCL Construction’s president for the Western U.S., emphasized the success of the community connectedness that guided the Live Well Center’s construction.
“The Southeastern Live Well Center in San Diego is a project that truly embodies what construction can and should be—a force for good in the community,” Orquiola said, adding that “the very process of building it was a community-driven effort.”
Noting the county’s “ambitious” mandate of investing 10% of the contract value into the nearby community, Orquiola said the project team exceeded the mark, delivering more than $8 million to local businesses.
Summing up the county and project team’s vision of an intentional approach to construction that builds up community, Orquiola urged contractors and designers in attendance to follow suit, saying, “Let’s continue to push the boundaries of what construction can do. Let’s keep ensuring that communities we build in also benefit from the process, not just the final product.”
The Public Health Lab’s interiors are designed to be welcoming to the public.
Photo by Jim Brady, courtesy Steinberg Hart
Changing the Approach
Ten years ago, the County of San Diego’s path to such plaudits was anything but clear, says Medved, the county’s director of general services since 2016. But change was on its way.
Actions initiated by his predecessor, Helen Robbins-Meyer, who then became the county’s chief administrative officer, would help initiate the county’s longer-term transformation.
Before Robbins-Meyer’s actions, Medved says, the county was “probably similar to a lot of other municipalities: They didn’t have a lot of tools for construction; they didn’t have any alternative delivery methods; they didn’t have very good relationships with the industry; they didn’t have a sustainability focus; and they weren’t too keen on energy yet.”
“We were going to have to be true to our word about what was going to be there in the end, and how it operated.”
—Marko Medved, Director of General Services, County of San Diego, speaking about the SELWC project
Medved, with much of his career overseeing construction programs for the Marine Corps and the Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC)—and with experience with various project delivery methods—was keen to take the assignment.
Since 2016, San Diego County has kept itself on a roll, delivering 11 net-zero energy buildings, along with 70 LEED-certified buildings—with the vast majority of those certified as Gold, says the county. Its latest project, a $93.3-million Public Health Lab, is on track to achieve LEED Platinum, according to lead design firm Steinberg Hart.
Another notable achievement since 2016 is the county’s estimated 47% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from county operations to date. The established goal is an ultimate 90% reduction by 2030.
Medved credits the success to date to one critical factor—”a lot of really good support from leadership at the county.”
San Diego County’s Borrego Springs public library was the first in the state to earn Sustainable Library Certification.
Photo courtesy the County of San Diego
County Leads the Way
As a project owner, the County of San Diego provides its construction and design partners steady support to achieving the end goals, firms say.
Calling the county “a special kind of client,” Steinberg Hart senior project architect Lina Asad says what stands out is “their structure, clarity and depth of experience—they know how to connect with the community and how to move a project through complex systems without losing sight of the public good.”
Pointing to another of Steinberg Hart’s recent projects for the county—the 21,000-sq-ft Ohio Street Probation Center, a net-zero energy facility designed to integrate probation, rehabilitative and community support services that opened in 2022—Asad praised the county’s community focus.
On that project, she says, “We engaged directly with the North Park community during their monthly meeting and, surprisingly, earned their support for a project type they had historically resisted.”
The Ohio Street Probation Center’s lobby sports high ceilings and warm colors.
Photo by Pablo Mason, courtesy the County of San Diego
Asad adds, “The county’s commitment to transparency and the creation of warm, welcoming spaces—especially in traditionally institutional programs—made a lasting impact.”
The two-story Public Health Lab, being built to Biosafety Level 3 specifications, is the most recent county project to complete construction—and likely also its most complex to date.
In functioning as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s lab for San Diego and Imperial counties, the facility will enable the county to test for infectious diseases, monitor food and water safety and test for dangerous pathogens—while also providing teaching and training opportunities for public health microbiologists and hospitals, says the county.
The San Diego office of BN Builders was in the midst of turning over the project to the county when James Awford, principal with the firm, spoke to ENR.
Describing the County of San Diego as being “highly collaborative to work with,” Awford adds, “They’re not a quiet owner. They like to know what’s going on; they’ve been very involved in all the decision-making.”
That interaction has proven especially helpful in terms of delivering the facility’s numerous components to the satisfaction of all stakeholders, Awford adds.
“There are a lot of scientists and people working in the laboratory that have opinions on what this facility is going to be at the end of the day,” he says.
The 21,000-sq-ft Ohio Street Probation Center is a net-zero energy facility designed to integrate probation, rehabilitative and community support services.
Photo by Pablo Mason, courtesy the County of San Diego
BN Builders has been building projects for the county for about 10 years, says Awford. Over that time, the county has proven itself to be “very sustainability conscious—and where it makes sense.”
While the health lab is targeting LEED Platinum—a challenge for such facilities—Awford says the county has been “very open-minded to creative solutions on how we can get them the optimum facility,” especially with prioritizing life-cycle costs over first costs.
One of the “coolest” features of the laboratory facility is its educational component, Awford says.
“They’re using some of the space to educate the local community and people who are interested in learning more about the sciences and what this facility is going to do for the public,” he says. “That part’s really cool.”
Overall, Awford sums up, “It’s been quite a group to work with to get to this point. Now that we’re turning over the facility, they seem to be extremely happy.”
For all of these efforts, ENR West names the County of San Diego its 2025 California Owner of the Year.
