Long Beach Unified School District rounds out their long term sustainability plan with a 19-site solar canopy system
By adding solar canopies at 19 of their schools, the Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) in Southern California took a significant step towards achieving its sustainability goals. In the first year of operation, the canopies offset the CO2 equivalent of approximately six million pounds of coal burned. The systems also help reduce the urban heat island (UHI) effect endemic to urban areas like those in the LBUSD district. They minimize summertime peak energy demand, air-conditioning costs, air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
The third largest school district in California, LBUSD educates 81,000 students in 84 public schools. In 2014, during the first phase of the district’s sustainability initiative, arrays were constructed at three high schools for a combined total capacity of over 2.2 MW. These 19 additional solar arrays generate a total of 4.5 MW, significantly increasing the district’s ability to operate in an economically and environmentally sustainable manner.
“Clean energy is an essential part of our district-wide sustainability efforts. Our partnership with Standard Solar will help reduce our carbon footprint while saving the district millions of dollars over the 25-year agreement,” said LBUSD Business Services Administrator Alan Reising.
Standard Solar partnered with EMCOR Services Mesa Energy Systems to develop the systems and financed and serves as their long-term owner-operator. “Standard Solar applauds the Long Beach Unified School District for taking this important step to reduce its impact on the environment,” said Michael Streams, Chief Development Officer at Standard Solar. “Adding these projects to our ownership portfolio directly supports our efforts to increase our deployed capital in the West.”
