Heaviland Landscape Management, a commercial landscape management company serving all of San Diego County from its three locations in Vista, Miramar and South Bay, projects it will save the Palomar Tech Center 2.3 million gallons of potable water annually, through landscape design renovation and a recycled water irrigation system conversion. Additionally, the project has reduced maintenance costs while enhancing the property’s overall beauty.
In 2015, commercial property management group Covey Commercial and real estate firm Rexford Industrial solicited the help of Heaviland Landscape Management to convert the landscape into a water-conscious one through a multi-phase design/build renovation and irrigation system retrofit. The goals of the project were to reduce water required to irrigate the property's landscape and improve the property's sustainability.
Project planning began in October 2014 and both landscape renovation and recycled water conversion started during June 2015. The landscape was completed by August and the irrigation retrofit in September 2015. The 42,860-square-foot renovation project created a colorful and unique tapestry of drought-tolerant plants that greatly enhanced the overall aesthetics of the property while decreasing water usage. The plant palette included a variety of agaves, kangaroo paws, succulents, salvias and other Mediterranean climate plants. Additionally, by converting the site’s irrigation system to one that utilizes recycled water, the Palomar Tech Center is no longer using potable water to irrigate, saving a projected 1.26 million gallons of drinkable water annually. The irrigation system retrofit and plant replacement saves the commercial property a projected 2.3 million gallons of water annually.
“These irrigation system retrofits provide our client a savings on water bills as well as landscape maintenance costs, as the new landscape requires less daily care,” said Rajan Brown, Heaviland Landscape Management vice president of design, construction and sustainability. Brown designed, built and managed the Palomar Tech Center project. “Now the client has a total of 92,010 square feet of sustainable, low-water-use landscaping complete with a recycled water irrigation system.”
