SOLAR POWER PLANT SHEDS LIGHT ON MASONIC VILLAGE
To ensure operations servicing more than 1,700 residents carry on uninterrupted, Masonic Village requires approximately 25 million kWh of electricity every year. In order to reduce its electric bill and carbon footprint, and in turn direct cost savings to enhancing resident care, Masonic Village constructed a solar power plant in 2011.
"This project is the largest Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC)-related solar project in Pennsylvania," Patrick Sampsell, chief environmental and facilities officer, said. "It is the premier project in the third leg of our four-legged energy efficiency plan, the others being conservation, efficiency and smart technology."
A $1 million solar energy program grant awarded to Elizabethtown Solar Electric Partners LLC helped cover the cost of the ground-mounted solar photovoltaic system. I Need Solar constructed the solar panels on a 5-acre plot on the Elizabethtown campus in a field behind the marketing office and Bleiler Caring Cottage, a home for adults with mild to moderate developmental disabilities. Masonic Village granted Elizabethtown Solar Electric Partners a license to operate the plant on its property and purchases the electricity generated by the plant.
"The partnership allows for the Masonic Village to participate in renewable energy in a meaningful way, enhancing and building upon our longstanding record of environmental stewardship," Sampsell said. "It also minimizes the risk and exposure that may come from attempting to operate the plant ourselves, given we have no experience with such facilities."
The first 200 kW portion of the system was operational by mid-February 2011, and the remaining 800 kW was activated the beginning of April 2011. The plant will produce approximately 1.2 million kWh of electricity per year, saving Masonic Village between $40,000 and $60,000 annually. The project was estimated to cost $4.5 million, with $3.5 million coming from investors and loans making up the portfolio of Elizabethtown Solar Electric Partners.
Since its foundation in 1910, Masonic Village has emphasized conservation. Microturbines currently generate 8 to 10 percent of the electricity for the campus. The heat created as a by-product, in turn, heats water for a portion of resident apartments and the Masonic Health Care Center, reducing the use of gas boilers. Installed in 2002 (with a sixth added in 2010) and upgraded in 2007, the turbines reduce emissions by as much as planting 1,000 acres of forest per year.
In conjunction with several local organizations, in 2008, Masonic Village restored a portion of the Conoy Creek located along its property with the assistance of a $413,000 Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Growing Greener II grant and $150,000 in self-funding. The project removed centuries of nutrient-laden sediments and restored 3,200 feet of the creek's floodplain.
Masonic Village makes great efforts to use environmentally-friendly materials and methods at all five of its campuses, including water and electricity-saving fixtures, co-generating electricity, motion detector-controlled lights and the purchase of hybrid vehicles for company use. Staff constantly evaluate new technologies, such as solar light tubes and LED replacements for standard streetlights. The Pennsylvania Cattlemen's Association recently recognized Masonic Village with an Environmental Stewardship Award for its conservation practices and commitment to protecting soil and water resources while operating a viable beef cattle and farm enterprise.
For more information, please contact:
Debra L. Davis
public relations coordinator
ddavis@masonicvillagespa.org
(717) 367-1121, ext. 33529
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