The Community Foundation for the Alleghenies congratulates a grantee from its Penelec Sustainable Energy Fund on their recent award recognition. The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford received one of 22 Governor’s Awards for Environmental Excellence for a rooftop solar array on the George B. Duke Engineering and Information Technologies Building.
This project was funded in part by support from the MetropolitanEdison/Pennsylvania Electric Company Sustainable Energy Fund, which is managed by Berks County Community Foundation and the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies respectively. Since its inception in 2000, this fund has awarded more than $33.9 million to sustainable energy projects in the area served by the Met-Ed and Penelec service territories in Pennsylvania.
The Metropolitan Edison/Pennsylvania Electric Company Sustainable Energy Fund granted $230,000 to support the installation of a 100 kilowatt-plus solar array on the rooftop of the George B. Duke Engineering and Information Technologies Building. This project was selected for grant funding after a request for proposals throughout the entire Met Ed and Penelec service territories to support clean energy in a “signature green building project.”
“Pitt-Bradford is committed to environmental and economic sustainability as well as providing leadership and service to our local and regional communities,” said Richard Esch, president of Pitt-Bradford. “This project not only generates energy to help supplement the power needs of the Duke Building, it also provides an educational tool for our campus and the community about the importance of sustainability and renewable energy.”
Award applications were evaluated for their degree of environmental protection, innovation, partnership, economic impact, consideration of climate change, sustainability, and environmental justice, as well as outcomes achieved.
This solar array was installed and working in March 2023 and to date has generated over 60 megawatt hours of green electricity for Pitt-Bradford. In addition, the solar array is the largest rooftop solar array in the University of Pittsburgh system, and it provides over 40% of the Duke Building’s electricity.
More details on the project are available here.
By Emily Smedley, Berks County Community Foundation
