40-Acre Los Angeles Urban Community to be powered by Bloom Energy Servers

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

The Alhambra, a reimagined 40-acre mixed-use urban community located in the City of Alhambra, will be powered by fuel cells provided by Bloom Energy, which is headquartered in Silicon Valley.

The sleek fuel cells will generate clean, reliable electricity, on-site at The Alhambra campus with lower CO2 emissions than the local electrical grid, and with virtually no particulate emissions that cause smog and respiratory diseases.

The Bloom Energy Servers were selected by The Alhambra’s developer, The Ratkovich Company (TRC), a premier Los Angeles real estate development firm, as part of its ongoing strategy to transform the 40-acre former C F Braun engineering campus, located five miles east of downtown Los Angeles.

The Alhambra campus is a LEED Gold certified, mixed-use health-and-wellness-focused community, home to major tenants such as County of Los Angeles, USC Keck School of Medicine, and Eastern Los Angeles Regional Center (ELARC).

The new Bloom Energy Servers – the fourth generation of the company’s technology – will generate up to 1 MW of power for the campus with expansion capabilities as the campus grows, meeting approximately 75% of its total demand. The installation is part of an eco-friendly campus design, which has earned The Alhambra an Energy Star score of 91.

According to the US Energy Information Administration, about 39% of total U.S. energy is consumed by the residential and commercial sectors. Higher efficiency electricity generation not only helps lower costs to tenants at The Alhambra, it also reduces CO2 emissions and pollution.

Bloom Energy Servers have the highest electrical efficiency of any commercial electric power system. They generate electricity without combustion, and therefore without smog emissions that cause respiratory diseases. Removing these pollutants from the air fosters TRC’s commitment to improving the health and wellbeing of its local community, and of air quality in Los Angeles overall.

The Bloom Energy Servers use virtually no water in normal operation, an important consideration in drought-prone California. By comparison, power plants supplying electricity to the California grid consume 150 million gallons of water more per megawatt of electricity than Bloom Energy Servers per year.

“We’re seeing an increasing interest and demand for workplaces and communities that are powered by clean, reliable energy,” said KR Sridhar, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Bloom Energy. “We’re proud to support The Ratkovich Company’s efforts to reduce their carbon footprint and improve local air quality.”

Since acquiring and redeveloping The Alhambra in 1999, TRC has demonstrated its ongoing commitment to providing tenants and the local community with a healthy, creative, environmentally conscious campus that ties into its mission to improve the overall quality of urban life. This vision has resonated with tenants, resulting in high retention and major expansions by long-term occupants such as USC Keck School of Medicine, County of Los Angeles, and Eastern Los Angeles Regional Center. TRC is also signing leases with new tenants such as California State University, Los Angeles, who are attracted to The Alhambra’s ample green spaces and central courtyard for socializing.

“Back in 2010, we were among the first to deploy this extraordinary technology,” said Wayne Ratkovich, President/CEO of TRC. “Thanks to Bloom Energy Servers, our electric bills have been lowered significantly, as well as our carbon footprint. Now that we’re meeting approximately 75% of our total energy demand and have achieved an Energy Star score of 91, we hope to inspire other communities to reduce their reliance on the grid.”

About The Ratkovich Company

The Ratkovich Company (TRC) is a Los Angeles development company that engages in both new projects and the imaginative reuse of existing buildings. TRC has completed, or has under development, over 18 million square feet of commercial space in Los Angeles County, including San Pedro Public Market, a $150 million development on the L.A Waterfront scheduled to begin construction in 2019; The Bloc, a 1.8 million square foot, mixed-use property at the heart of downtown Los Angeles; The Alhambra, a 40-acre mixed-use urban community in the city of Alhambra; and The Hercules Campus at Playa Vista, a landmark property including the hangar where Howard Hughes’ legendary Spruce Goose was built, and now home to Google/YouTube and 72andSunny. TRC has won numerous awards for its restoration of Los Angeles landmarks including the Art Deco Wiltern Theatre and adjacent Pellissier building; the iconic 31-story 5900 Wilshire on Miracle Mile, and the Chapman Market. The James Oviatt and Fine Arts buildings were both awarded national landmark status after successful renovations by TRC. For more information, visit http://www.ratkovich.com