The City of Encinitas CA is once again on the cutting edge of green technology and energy conservation.  A new “Ice Technology” cooling system has been installed in the Encinitas Civic Center that will reduce demand on the energy grid while saving the city utility costs.

For their innovation, the City of Encinitas has been awarded the international 2009 Renewable Energy Project of the Year by the Association of Energy Engineers. The project also won the San Diego Excellence in Energy Award from the California Center for Sustainable Energy.

It sounds far-fetched, but apparently the new hybrid system will cool the Civic Center by making ice at night during low-cost and low-demand energy use periods.  The ice will then be used to cool the facility during higher energy demand periods during the day.  The cost of this $3.5 million dollar project, which includes 501 solar electric panels, was partially offset by rebates and incentives.  Hopefully, the money was well spent.