Medina Electric Cooperative District Office

2011     Dilley, Texas

The new district office in Dilley for the Medina Electric Cooperative, Inc. (MEC) is a 19,225 square foot project consisting of three separate buildings, outdoor storage, and a sustainable technologies demonstration garden consisting of a water harvesting system, wind turbine, and photovoltaic display.  The three buildings include an office / training room, warehouse / lineman area, and truck barn.

The Dilley office sets new building standards for future district office construction.  Separating the office, warehouse, and truck barn into three buildings allows for natural lighting in offices, better air quality, and ease of future expansion.  The interstitial space between the office and warehouse was made into a garden space for employees to enjoy and hold events.

In order to showcase the water and energy conservation measures that could be incorporated into MEC members' homes, a demonstration garden was designed at the front of the complex.  The Dilley office incorporates a solar hot water system, a water harvesting system, a wind turbine, and photovoltaic display.  The project also incorporates natural lighting measures to reduce the dependence on artificial lighting.  There was also a concentrated effort to obtain materials with recycled content and local manufacturing.