The Pacific Energy Center

A Unique Energy Efficiency Resource with an Award-Winning Librarian

The PEC is located at 851 Howard Street in San Francisco.

Standing in San Francisco at the corner of 4th and Howard, you’re taken in by the colorful carousel on your left, the huge Metreon complex on your right, and the grandeur of the new Moscone Center West diagonally across. Little do you know that just half a block ahead is a nationally renowned and award winning PG&E facility called the Pacific Energy Center (PEC).

Geared to facility managers, architects, engineers and design professionals, the PEC is the only resource center of its type in the world.

“We specialize in providing technical education, design tools, information and advice for creating energy efficient buildings,” said Jim Chace, PEC director. “We serve PG&E customers and employees, as well as requests from people all over the globe.”

An arm of the RAS’ customer energy management department , the PEC was created in 1991 as part of a suite of energy efficiency programs to address concerns about future electricity supply. Thirteen years later it’s more robust than ever.

Resource Library

Integral to the success of the center -- and one of its most unique features -- is the PEC’s resource library. At the core is its award-winning librarian, Marlene Vogelsang, who has been with the center from its inception.

Spend a few minutes with Vogelsang, and you’ll find her enthusiasm for sharing energy efficiency information contagious. “The collection of books, reports, journals, electronic media, and energy efficiency tools we’ve assembled over the years can’t be found anywhere else,” crows Vogelsang. “We also partner with other energy and environmentally related organizations.”

Award Winner

Marlene Vogelsang (center) is congratulated on her Professional Achievement Award by Cindy Hill (left) President of Special Libraries Association, International, and Beth Graham, (right) the San Francisco Bay Region Chapter president.

In recognition of her abiding commitment to researching information for customers both inside and outside of PG&E, Vogelsang recently received the Professional Achievement Award by the Special Libraries Association, San Francisco Bay Region Chapter. The annual award recognizes a member who has made notable and enduring contributions to the chapter and the profession. “Marlene has been a linchpin of the Bay Area professional librarians,” said Maggie O’Brien of the association. “She knows everybody in the local library community and they know her, too.”

Chace echoes the praise. “Marlene is exceptional because she doesn't just respond to clients’ requests for information, she tries to find out how they’ll use the information so that they really do get what they need.”

When she’s not researching questions in the PEC library, you can find Vogelsang speaking to Special Libraries Association annual conferences and meetings, behind the reference desk at local public libraries, or during baseball season, cheering on the Oakland A’s. Don’t mess with her, though…she holds a 2nd degree black belt and a referee rank in Taekwondo.

To learn more about the Pacific Energy Center and its resource library, visit pge.com/pec, pge.com/resourcecenter or visit the facility in person at 851 Howard Street.

 — Julie Wright, Communications