This Week’s Question

Has solar over the parking areas been thought about? It would help our organization to improve energy usage, and the covered parking could aid snow removal, etc., for our facilities team.

Thank you for the suggestion, which I’ve shared with our facilities leaders. We have evaluated our campus for potential solar panel installations. Most of the main campus parking lots are narrow and surrounded by tall buildings and wooded areas, creating significant shading that would substantially reduce solar generation and limit the project's cost-effectiveness.

John Lombardi, director of facilities engineering and sustainability and chair of our sustainability working group, tells us that on the lower campus, Lot 3 presents a potential opportunity; however, planned reconstruction of the Medical Examiner Office building is expected to affect the parking lot layout and traffic flow. The Cell and Genome Sciences Building at 400 Farmington Road also appears to be a viable location for a solar array, and the Connecticut Green Bank is currently evaluating the site as part of a cost-benefit analysis.

John also reports, solar carports typically cost 20% to 60% more than rooftop solar installations due to the added expense of structural steel canopies, foundations, drainage systems, and engineering requirements. They also do not provide complete parking coverage, as access lanes must be maintained for firefighting apparatus, snow removal equipment, and other maintenance operations.

One other note regarding sustainability, we did recently sign a 20-year power purchase agreement for 6.175 megawatts worth of fuel cells to be placed on the hill next to Garage 1 by the Outpatient Pavilion. Once the fuel cells are operational, we estimate they will save us $40 million to $60 million in utility costs over the 20-year contract term. We hope to have this system up and running by sometime in 2028.

As you can see, we do have our eye on sustainability, and some exciting things are ahead. Thank you for your question.

 

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