Monday, March 26, 2012

Rain, solar panels and lighting

I love the day after a rain in Southern California - the air is clean, crisp and clear. Here in Huntington Beach, the Central Park looks freshly washed and the birds are out chirping and foraging for worms in the soft earth. Lovely.

What does this have to do with the Library, you may ask? Well, the weather and the rain got me thinking about our solar panels and that leads me to all of our recent improvements in the library's physical plant.

Our solar panels are working and there is a new portal for the City which will allow us to view the production of the panels. Along with the solar panels, the Central Library has been undergoing a series of efficiency projects, to make all our systems more efficient, effective and green. Right now, our lighting is being retrofitted, improving the overall quality of our light while becoming more efficient and saving energy.

We have had a series of other improvements, and another project is coming up which should help us with our cooling and heating of the building. The City's Energy Projects Manager, Aaron Klemm has done amazing work for us, helping us improve our building systems to save us all time, energy and money over the long term.

We can feel good about our library here in Huntington Beach - not only is the Central Library a beautiful place, in a beautiful setting, but it is also a smart building that minimizes its impact on the environment.

2 comments:

  1. So... Can just anyone look at the production of the solar panels or is that a closely regarded secret?

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  2. The Solar Panels are owned and operated by SunEdison. They are providing the City with access to a portal where we can see how things are going. Until we are trained and can access the portal, we can't share any information on the production of the panels. But we hope to be able to provide updates and reports soon, once we do have access.

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