15 Jan
“Sun Wall” Going Up At U.S. Department of Energy
I hate to say it, but it’s about time! That’s right, it’s about time our very own United States Department of Energy started heavily adopting some of the very same technologies they have been stressing as important to all of this country’s citizens!
According to recent reports, the U.S. Dept. of Energy is actually having some pretty major architectural changes in light of a winner emerging from their recent “Solar Wall” competition. The winner has been announced, and they were proud to give the award to New York architecture firm Solomon Cordwell Buenz. Their new “Sun Wall” will cover 32,000 square feet and will cover the South Elevation of the Dept. of Energy’s Washington D.C. headquarters. First off, congratulations to Solomon Cordwell Buenz, and second off, congratulations to the Department of Energy for not only adopting such awesome technology, but inspiring such a great competition in the first place.
According to the article I just read:
“As the largest building-integrated solar energy system on any US federal building, the sun wall will generate 200 kW of energy. SCB’s design also includes a solar thermal installation for hot water in addition to photovoltaic panels.”
I’m guessing the installation will be wildly expensive, but nevertheless, it’s great to see that such beautiful design can come from such beautiful technology. Gone are the days of the gigantic square solar panels on the roofs of 1970’s homes. We’re in the future now baby.
(image via Solomon Cordwell Buenz)
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