San Diego Museum of Art

San Diego, CA

The San Diego Museum of Art (SDMA) is the largest and oldest art museum in the San Diego region, presenting a world-class encyclopedic collection of more than 25,000 works, spanning antiquity to the contemporary era. Founded in 1926, the museum occupies a Spanish Colonial Revival building in Balboa Park and welcomes more than 300,000 visitors annually. As the museum plans a major expansion, sustainability has emerged as a defining commitment to its next chapter.

A 2026 FCI Scoping Grant will support a strategic study assessing building electrification, passive design, rooftop solar, and battery storage potential to inform the museum's planned 167,100-square-foot expansion. With a goal of avoiding embodied-carbon emissions during construction and ensuring zero-emissions operations on completion, the study will provide a rigorous sustainability roadmap integrated directly into the design process. Previously, a 2022 FCI Implementation Grant increased energy efficiency by upgrading lighting in Gallery 20 to LEDs.