SAN JOSE, Calif. — Mount Diablo Unified School District and SunPower Corp. announced that SunPower was awarded a 30-year contract to design, install and maintain solar power systems at 51 of the district’s schools. Combined, the systems will generate 11.2 megawatts of energy and will save the school district $192 million over the life of the contract, which is the largest such contract to ever be issues in the United States.
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Photovoltaic startup Skyline Solar announced was awarded a $1.58 million contract to install two solar power systems for the U.S. Department of Defense as part of the agency’s program to test new energy technologies.
The Mountain View, Calif.-based firm will experiment with moving and redeploying the two systems, which will generate 450-megawatt hours of electricity each year. They will be installed at Edwards Air Force Base in California and at Fort Bliss in Texas.
PORTLAND, Ore. — Plans are in the works for a new $360 million Kaiser Permanent hospital complex that will meet some of the worlds strictest environmental standards. Health care system officials predict the Kaiser Westside Medical Center in Tanasbourne — between Beaverton and Hillsboro — will qualify for LEED Gold status, making it one of just 36 health care facilities in the world to reach that designation.
While LEED-certified buildings are becoming common, achieving LEED certification in the medical building world has thus far been uncommon.
OAKLAND, Calif. — NextEra Energy Resources has agreed replace thousands of wind turbines in California’s Altamont Pass as part of a settlement with state lawmakers and environmental groups, according to the California attorney general’s office. The replacement aims to reduce the number of golden eagles, red-tailed hawks and other birds killed by the turbine blades.
SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y. — Enxco Development Corp. has begun construction on the Suffolk Solar Carport Project to build carports with solar modules on top at seven parking sites throughout Suffolk County. Mercury Solar Systems, a Long Island-based solar contractor, will install the modules.
The carports will generate up to 17 megawatts of electricity through 60,000 solar modules, which will be sold to the Long Island Power Authority through a 20-year power purchase agreement with Enxco.
MINNEAPOLIS — Daikin and McQuay announced yesterday that it has earned LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council for its Applied Development Center located at the company’s headquarters in Plymouth, Minn.
The 49,000-square-foot research center is the world’s most advanced facility for HVAC research and development, according to McQuay. The Daikin McQuay Applied Development Center was designed and built by Mortenson Construction, Hammel, Green and Abrahamson Architects and Engineers, Hunt Electric and Eaton Mechanical.
PHOENIX — Arizona Public Service Co. has signed contracts with SunEdison for the construction of two photovoltaic power plants near Yuma and Prescott, Arizona. The plants, which ownership of SunEdison will turn over to APS at completion, will produce a combined 37 megawatts of energy.
