The projects are the five-story Colorado Court in Santa Monica, CA and the Chicago Center for Green Technology in Chicago, Ill.
The 44-unit Colorado Court is the first affordable housing project in the US to be 100% energy neutral. BP solar modules integrated into the south-facing façade and onto the roof of the building are a major contributor to this achievement generating 21,000 kWh of energy which represents about 25% of the annual building electricity consumption.
At the Chicago Center for Green Technology, BP solar modules provide 136,055 kWh per year. The solar system is tied to the local grid thereby off-setting the building's electrical use by 20%. One of the tenants of the quasi-commercial-industrial facility is Spire Solar, BP Solar's manufacturing partner supplying its solar technology to the city of Chicago as well as the Illinois market.
BP Solar's involvement with high performance, green buildings goes back to 1982 when it supplied the solar modules for a 36,000 square foot solar array incorporated in the roof the Intercultural Center at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. Twenty years later, this system continues to provide about 40% of the buildings electricity use. A previous "Top Ten" winner incorporating BP Solar products is the Adam Joseph Lewis Center for Environmental Studies at Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio that gets most of its electricity from a solar roof despite its Northern Ohio location.
The AIA Committee on the Environment honored its annual "Top Ten Green Projects" earlier this month at a ceremony in Washington DC and will highlight them again May 9 at its annual convention and Design Expo in San Diego. The "Top Ten" award winners illustrate examples of architectural design solutions that protect and enhance the environment.
BP Solar Supplies Products To Two Of Green Design Building Award Winners
Two of this year's "Top Ten Green Projects" announced by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) include solar products made by BP Solar.