The Los Angeles Business Council released the results of its study on the feasibility of installing solar panels on the city’s multifamily buildings to help meet California’s proposed law seeking 33% renewable energy by 2020, of which 70% would have to be generated from in-state resources. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has also called for one gigawatt of solar development in the city, including a feed-in-tariff (FiT) program.
The study reveals that the city has tremendous capacity for multifamily housing to contribute to a broad solar program, and that a significant portion of that rooftop capacity comes from buildings in economically depressed neighborhoods. Solar installations could therefore be used to create jobs, lower utility costs, and improve conditions for residents in these neighborhood.
The city’s total number of potential multifamily sites is in excess of 100,000, with the potential to handle solar installations capable of generating 1,411 MW (one megawatt of solar capacity should offset the energy needs of 100 homes), with 59 to 130 MW generated in each of Los Angeles’s 15 council districts. The study indicates that the sites best suited for this type of development are those capable of generating around 50kW, and there are enough of those sites to potentially generate 300 MW.
The study recommends the city institute a 300 MW program, which could offer a pay rate of 24 to 26 cents per kWh, enough to attract a significant number of interested property owners. The rate could be in direct payments, or in the case of a FiT, via a combination of payments and rebates. A 300 MW program would also directly and indirectly generate 4,500 jobs, as well as lower utility costs for many Angelinos, allowing them to live in a more affordable and sustainable environment. An additional benefit: a 300 MW program would reduce 6.7 million tons equivalent CO2 by replacing coal and 4.1 million tons equivalent by replacing natural gas—akin to taking 69,000 to 112,000 cars off the road.
Can a case be made for a similar program in your city?
Related Stories
| Apr 18, 2011
Greening and Upgrading Today’s Vertical Transport Systems
Earn 1.0 AIA/CES HSW/SD learning units by studying this article and passing the online exam.
| Apr 14, 2011
U.S. embassies on a mission to green the world's buildings
The U.S. is putting greater emphasis on greening its worldwide portfolio of embassies. The U.S. State Department-affiliated League of Green Embassies already has 70 U.S. embassies undergoing efforts to reduce their environmental impact, and the organization plans to increase that number to more than 100 by the end of the year.
| Apr 14, 2011
How AEC Professionals Choose Windows and Doors
Window and door systems need to perform. Respondents to our annual window and door survey overwhelmingly reported that performance, weather resistance, durability, and quality were key reasons a particular window or door was specified.
| Apr 14, 2011
USGBC debuts LEED for Healthcare
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) introduces its latest green building rating system, LEED for Healthcare. The rating system guides the design and construction of both new buildings and major renovations of existing buildings, and can be applied to inpatient, outpatient and licensed long-term care facilities, medical offices, assisted living facilities and medical education and research centers.
| Apr 13, 2011
National Roofing Contractors Association revises R-value of polyisocyanurate (ISO) insulation
NRCA has updated their R-value recommendation for polyisocyanurate roof insulation with the publication of the 2011 The NRCA Roofing Manual: Membrane Roof Systems.
| Apr 13, 2011
Professor Edward Glaeser, PhD, on how cities are mankind’s greatest invention
Edward Glaeser, PhD, the Fred and Eleanor Glimp Professor of Economics at Harvard University and director of the Taubman Center for State and Local Government and the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston, as well as the author of Triumph of the City: How Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Healthier, and Happier, on how cities are mankind’s greatest invention.
| Apr 13, 2011
Southern Illinois park pavilion earns LEED Platinum
Erin’s Pavilion, a welcome and visitors center at the 80-acre Edwin Watts Southwind Park in Springfield, Ill., earned LEED Platinum. The new 16,000-sf facility, a joint project between local firm Walton and Associates Architects and the sustainability consulting firm Vertegy, based in St. Louis, serves as a community center and special needs education center, and is named for Erin Elzea, who struggled with disabilities during her life.
| Apr 13, 2011
Virginia hospital’s prescription for green construction: LEED Gold
Rockingham Memorial Hospital in Harrisonburg, Va., is the commonwealth’s first inpatient healthcare facility to earn LEED Gold. The 630,000-sf facility was designed by Earl Swensson Associates, with commissioning consultant SSRCx, both of Nashville.
| Apr 13, 2011
Office interaction was the critical element to Boston buildout
Margulies Perruzzi Architects, Boston, designed the new 11,460-sf offices for consultant Interaction Associates and its nonprofit sister organization, The Interaction Institute for Social Change, inside an old warehouse near Boston’s Seaport Center.
| Apr 13, 2011
Expanded Museum of the Moving Image provides a treat for the eyes
The expansion and renovation of the Museum of the Moving Image in the Astoria section of Queens, N.Y., involved a complete redesign of its first floor and the construction of a three-story 47,000-sf addition.
