California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) was named the winner of the 2025 Digie Award for “Most Intelligent Higher Education Facility” at this year’s Realcomm Smart, Connected, High Performance Intelligent Buildings Conference (IBcon), held in Savannah, Georgia. The university was recognized for its innovative use of artificial intelligence (AI) at its Central Plant.
Through the use of AI, CSUDH Facilities Services has been able to improve plant efficiency by 48 percent since 2022. In addition, chller output has been increased by 30 percent since the implementation of AI. As a result, CSUDH has saved more than $240,000 annually.
The Commercial Real Estate Digital Innovation (Digie) Awards have been presented annually since 1999 and are considered among the most respected awards in the industry. The awards recognize excellence in digital innovation within the realm of commercial real estate—honoring companies, projects, and technologies that push the boundaries of smart, connected, and high-performance building systems.
“Wow, was I surprised when my name was called,” said CSUDH Director of Central Plant Operations and Strategic Energy Projects Kenny Seeton, who was on hand to accept the award. “It’s not that I thought we didn’t deserve it, but the world is a pretty big place and we had some pretty prestigious competition.
“To be honored for being the most intelligent higher education facility sets the bar pretty high. Thank you to the CSUDH leadership for letting me play in such a beautiful playground!”
