MEDIA ADVISORY: California Air Resources Board to break ground for world-class lab, headquarters in Riverside

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) breaks ground Friday, October 27, on its new state-of-the-art Southern California headquarters. The 380,000-square-foot building, designed to accommodate a staff of 460, will house one of the largest and most advanced vehicle emissions testing and research facilities in the world.

The new structure, designed to test the next generation of vehicles, continues a more than 50-year legacy of CARB testing labs where the state’s clean-air agency set ‘groundbreaking’ pollution standards for cars and trucks, and uncovered unprecedented diesel engine cheating violations by Volkswagen.

Dozens of state, local and federal officials will join an audience of hundreds for the groundbreaking, organized with support from the City of Riverside, County of Riverside, Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce, and UC Riverside.

WHO: Mary Nichols, CARB Chair; Rep. Mark Takano; Rep. Ken Calvert; Rep. Mark DeSaulnier; State Sen. Richard Roth; Assemblymember Jose Medina; John Tavaglione, Riverside County Supervisor; Rusty Bailey, City of Riverside Mayor; UC Riverside Chancellor Kim A. Wilcox.

WHAT: Ground breaking ceremony for new state-of-the-art research facility and Southern California headquarters for the California Air Resources Board.

WHEN: Event commences at 10 a.m. Friday, October 27, and is expected to last one hour. It will be followed by a luncheon reception at the Riverside Convention Center, 3637 Fifth Street, Riverside, CA 92501.

WHERE: 4001 Iowa Avenue, Riverside, CA 92507 (The site is located on the westerly side of Iowa Avenue, between University Avenue and Martin Luther King Boulevard.)

VISUALS: Onsite portable solar power generation / Ceremonial shoveling of dirt to break ground.

About the New CARB SoCal Headquarters

The headquarters, expected to accommodate 460 employees, will be certified LEED Platinum (the highest level of energy efficiency), and will be the single largest net-zero energy structure in the nation, in terms of square footage and load. (That means it will produce as much energy as it uses.) Solar panels affixed to roofs, walls and over the parking area will supply at least 3.5 megawatts of electricity, and adjacent parking will include at least 120 charging stations for electric vehicles.

A live webcast will be available from the City of Riverside’s YouTube or Facebook accounts.

CARB is the lead agency in California for cleaning up the air and fighting climate change to attain and maintain health-based air quality standards. Its mission is to promote and protect public health, welfare, and ecological resources through the effective reduction of air and climate pollutants while recognizing and considering effects on the economy.