Solar, Storage & Decarbonization: I.CON West 2025 Highlights
Quick Takeaways:
California’s Title 24 now requires solar (and often batteries) for Certificate of Occupancy.
Industrial developers are adopting solar as a revenue strategy, not just for compliance.
Project tours showcased real-world decarbonization impact.
Solar & Battery Storage Panel
The session drew a full house as developers shared why solar is no longer just a code requirement—but a business advantage.
The panel titled "Solar and Battery Storage: How Developers Are Making Money and Avoiding Risk” was moderated by GAIA (Ryan McEvoy) alongside Hillwood (Josh Cox), Rexford (Richard Bogan), Prologis (Jacob Morgan), and Permacity Foundation (Jonathan Port). Conversations addressed compliance, common pitfalls, financing strategies, and solar requirements in California.
Ryan opened the panel with impressive stats on national and state-wide renewable energy. Then taking on an education-first approach, Ryan framed California’s current solar mandates through a “carrot and stick” lens. The “stick” is clear: without a solar system in place, many industrial projects cannot receive a Certificate of Occupancy.
But the “carrot,” he emphasized, is where smart planning creates real value — reducing battery requirements through modeling, avoiding costly redesigns, and aligning solar strategy with actual tenant usage. His perspective helped ground the discussion in both policy and practical opportunities.
Panelists shared how solar strategy is being redefined in real time by code triggers, interconnection delays, and shifting utility credit structures.
Jacob Morgan, Head of Energy & Sustainability Programs at Prologis, brought a national portfolio perspective, emphasizing the scale of Prologis’ solar efforts:
“We’ll be at a gigawatt by the end of this year… but that’s still only 4% of our roof square footage.”
He noted the growing importance of energy as a service, especially as tenants electrify fleets and HVAC. Prologis also pre-purchases long-lead electrical equipment to shorten project timelines.
Josh Cox, SVP of Hillwood Investment Properties, highlighted how entitlement flexibility has become essential as jurisdictions tighten their requirements:
“We’re required to install the solar within two years of tenant occupancy. So it allows us time to work through the interconnect agreement and right-size the system for the actual tenant.”
During the panel, Richard Bogan of Rexford described how solar ownership is changing the developer–tenant relationship:
“When we own it, we’re the power provider… we may come up with the capital to put that in there, but now we are the power provider for that tenant or for that property.”
Rexford takes a Developer as a Power Provider approach. “A REIT can now sell power to tenants and it is good income.”
“We have ESG and net-zero goals that we’re trying to achieve, and the only way to get there is to roll out solar.” For Rexford, solar is a path to meeting investor-driven sustainability needs.
For industrial owners, this shift means greater control over energy costs, new revenue streams, and the ability to offer competitive rates directly to tenants — all while meeting code and reducing utility reliance.
Battery storage came up repeatedly as a pain point. While Title 24 may require it, the panel emphasized that performance modeling — especially during the design phase — can often reduce or even eliminate that requirement entirely.
“Modeling early can save hundreds of thousands of dollars and eliminate batteries all together,” Ryan noted.
Jonathan Port, Founder of PermaCity Foundation (and Founder of PermaCity now a division of Catalyze), offered the perspective of a hands-on solar developer and inventor, known for creating SolarStrap®, a patented mounting system designed to reduce roof load and speed up installation on flat industrial roofs.
“Every building we touch, we electrify — designed to run on solar with battery backup. That starts with understanding the roof, the utility, and the permitting path before design even begins.”
He stressed that successful solar integration depends on early involvement in the development process — especially when roof structure, fire code, and interconnection timelines are involved.
Ryan pointed to the pitfalls of not planning early:
“We have a client that’s going to spend $20 million adding solar to the roof — and not connect it — because they agreed to 100% roof area.”
The panel wrapped with a shared message: Solar is no longer an “add-on” or compliance item — it’s a development decision that requires coordination early across design, finance, and construction teams.
NAIOP covered the panel in their blog → read it here.
Tour of The HUB @ Ontario International Airport
The HUB—a joint venture between Affinius Capital and McDonald Property Group—is a 4,263,000 square foot logistics park currently under construction in San Bernardino County, California.
NAIOP organized a bus tour to The HUB where Bruce McDonald introduced GAIA as a Sustainability Consultant on the project.
Our role has been to help the project reduce its embodied carbon₁ . We conducted a life cycle assessment (LCA) of Phase 1 (which is 4 buildings) compared to their standard industrial warehouses.
The purpose of an LCA is to help developers make informed decisions on selecting materials—in this case, baseline concrete assemblies vs. alternative panel systems—based on their environmental impact and costs.
₁ Embodied carbon is a measurement of greenhouse gas emissions, expressed in CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent), generated during the entire lifecycle of building materials, from raw material extraction, manufacturing, and transportation to construction, maintenance, and eventual demolition. These emissions are “locked in place” once construction is completed. Global Warming Potential (GWP) is used to quantify the climate impact of these emissions over time, making embodied carbon a key factor in assessing the overall sustainability of a building.
“Situated directly across from Ontario International Airport (ONT) in San Bernardino County, the project is notable for its scope, location, timeline, and complexity.
It will also be one of the first large-scale developments in Southern California to incorporate an innovative carbon-reduction system for the slab, tilt wall panels, and paving as part of Affinius Capital’s strategic plan for achieving its environmental sustainability goals through concrete decarbonization methods.
Multiple strategies for incorporating concrete decarbonization, sustainable elements, and achieving LEED Gold certification for this industrial development were identified.
The carbon reduction of emissions volume resulting from this project, as compared to a conventional concrete design for industrial projects, will achieve 35% less embodied carbon from a conventional concrete design or approximately 44,000 tons less embodied carbon released into the atmosphere across the entire HUB development.”
Source: Inland Empire Business Journal (https://iebizjournal.com/affinius-capital-and-mcdonald-property-group-execute-pre-lease-with-otto-cap-at-the-hub-ontario-international-airport)
GAIA and Air Control Systems on the terrace lounge
Wrapping up the event on the 70th floor
Tour of Speedway Commerce Center
The tour continued to Speedway Commerce Center, Hillwood’s 6.6 million square foot industrial development in Fontana, California — a city within the Inland Empire, one of the most active and strategic logistics hubs in the U.S.
The 7-building campus is targeting LEED Gold certification. GAIA has supported Hillwood since the entitlement phase, providing LEED consulting, energy modeling, and commissioning services to ensure code compliance, efficient building design and operations, and alignment with Hillwood’s sustainability initiatives.
NAIOP I.CON West attendees touring one of Speedway Commerce Center’s warehouses.
“We’re focused on a big project and we said, hey, let's delegate that out to a professional. So GAIA helped us put together an RFP to find a solar developer for our project.” Josh of Hillwood said during the panel.
He explained how they approached solar financing for the site:
The PPA arrangement works well for Speedway Commerce Center. There’s no up-front cost to Hillwood. There’s no maintenance cost. We now have a revenue stream that we didn’t have before. And we can pass savings off to our tenant from an electricity perspective… so a PPA structure is working really well for us.”
This structure allowed Hillwood to meet compliance without taking on long-term operational responsibilities, while still offering value to tenants and unlocking a new revenue stream.
Boat Tour: Port of LA
Another NAIOP group took a boat around the Port of LA, the busiest container port in the U.S., which is actively pursuing zero-emission goals. Note: It was very very clean!
The Port of LA dominates global trade with record-breaking cargo volumes, sustainability initiatives, and economic impact.
7,500 acres (4,300 land/3,200 water) with 43 miles of waterfront
25 cargo terminals, 84 cranes, and 122 miles of rail
The Port of LA handles 17% of all U.S. containerized trade (31% combined with Long Beach)
Top imports are from China/Hong Kong ($120B), Japan, and Vietnam; exports include recyclables and agricultural goods
Supports 1.4 million U.S. jobs and 486,000 jobs in Southern California
Generates $333B in cargo value annually
Jonathan Port of Permacity Foundation talked on the panel about how large-scale rooftop solar can deliver financial and environmental value when supported by long-term utility agreements.
“One of the jobs we built was 2 million square feet, completely covered in solar — 16.5 megawatts — down near the Port of L.A. And it probably added about 3 percent to the value of the building.”
The project is called AltaSea, a nonprofit marine research and innovation campus located at Berth 58–60 of the Port of LA.
The site is at the forefront of the blue economy and carbon capture technology, showcasing how industrial infrastructure can support clean energy and climate solutions.
• Features on-site solar panels supporting operations across the waterfront campus
• Hosts a carbon capture barge demonstration, exploring how ocean-based systems can remove CO₂ from the atmosphere and from the water
• Anchors a collaborative hub of researchers, startups, and industry partners focused on scalable climate technology
INDUSTRY INSIGHTS
“There is a pre-tariff rush as importers front-loaded shipments ahead of anticipated tariffs on goods from China, Mexico, and Canada based on some of the conversations l've had and another driver of increased port activity has been the east coast labour disruptions.”
— Sunny Benning, Senior Analyst, Real Estate Investments at Investment Management Corporation of Ontario (IMCO)
