Amazing Green Building, Questionable BIPV Solar Install

It’s definitely BIPV, and the goals of the architects behind this building seem pure, but the trees kind of defeat the purpose of actual energy production.

Eric Wesoff September 06, 2011

Eric Wesoff

Editor-at-Large
Greentech Media

Eric Wesoff is Editor-at-Large at Greentech Media. Prior to joining GTM, Eric Wesoff founded Sage Marketing Partners in 2000 to provide sales and marketing-consulting services to venture-capital firms and their portfolio companies in the alternative energy and telecommunications sectors. Mr. Wesoff has become a well-known, respected authority and speaker in these fields.

His expertise covers solar power, fuel cells, biofuels and advanced batteries. His strengths are in market research and analysis, business development and due diligence for investors. He frequently consults for energy startups and Silicon Valley's premier venture capitalists.

Building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) is a polarizing subject.

The idea of solar on a west-facing vertical wall might seem less than efficient, and it's certainly not optimal, but this study from altPower indicates the energy and carbon benefits associated with that type of orientation. AltPower has done some of the more interesting BIPV designs in the U.S.

So it might be safe to say that there's good BIPV and not-so-good BIPV. And the BIPV at 502 Colorado Ave, Santa Monica, California is not so good. At least not with the pair of palm trees located in front of the panels. (See the picture below.) Tor Valenza a.k.a. "Solar Fred" brought this one to our attention.

The vast majority of solar installers are hard-working, honest, green-hearted individuals who want to spread the good word about solar power. We feature their fine work every week in Greentech Media's solar coverage.

And the structure in question is an ambitiously green build. So despite its questionable solar energy production -- it's still a noble and positive effort.

The building -- an affordable housing development called Colorado Court -- was meant to be a demonstration building of sustainable energy supply and meant to be 100 percent energy independent. There is an astonishingly long list of design considerations that went into this building, including:

Passive solar design strategies
Locating and orienting the building to control solar cooling loads
Shaping and orienting the building for exposure to prevailing winds
Shaping the building to induce buoyancy for natural ventilation
Designing windows to maximize daylighting
Shading south facing windows and minimizing west-facing glazing
Designing windows to maximize natural ventilation
Shaping and planning the interior to enhance daylight and natural air flow distribution.
Natural gas powered turbine/heat recovery system that will generate the base electrical load and hot water demands for the building
Indoor and outdoor motion sensors for lighting
R-21 insulation throughout the building (recycled blown-in cellulose in 2x6 framing, R-30 insulation in the roof
Integration of the water heating, space heating, and cogeneration waste heat systems
Compact, energy-efficient, non-CFC refrigerators
Permeable gravel alley and underground stormwater retention system will retain 95% of the site’s stormwater runoff (and 100% of the entire block’s alley runoff) to allow its gradual absorption into the groundwater