The solar array on the roof of the EMU Library was the first in Virginia to exceed 100 kilowatts in capacity. The system exceeded its performance goals for the period of January through June 2012 by 118 percent. Photo by Jon Styer.

EMU Wins Gold for Going Green at Valley Tech Awards

Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) won the “Green Award” at the Shenandoah Valley Technology Council’s Tech Nite 13 on Wednesday, May 1, 2013.

EMU President Loren Swartzendruber with the green award. (Photo courtesy Phil Tieszen)

EMU was recognized for its solar array on the roof of the Hartzler Library. At the time of installation in fall 2010, it was the largest array in the state of Virginia. It has exceeded its performance goals for the period of January through June 2012 by 118 percent and is the first in Virginia to exceed 100 kilowatts in capacity, in fall 2012.

The array provides about 2.5 percent of the energy the Harrisonburg campus and its approximately 1,500 students consume.

The 126,000 kilowatt-hours the system produces is equivalent to 1.26 million 100-watt light bulbs burning for one hour, according to Anthony Smith, an assistant professor of business at EMU and CEO of the company that owns the solar array, Secure Futures, in a story published by the Daily News Record on Sept. 6, 2012.

The Shenandoah Valley Technology Council is a nonprofit membership organization serving the greater Shenandoah Valley of Virginia by helping technology businesses in the area succeed and grow. They host Tech Nite once a year to highlight the successes of technology firms, organizations and programs in the region and the entrepreneurs, innovators, leaders and educators behind those successes, according to its website.