{"id":39860,"date":"2018-10-02T14:05:41","date_gmt":"2018-10-02T18:05:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=39860"},"modified":"2018-10-03T15:47:51","modified_gmt":"2018-10-03T19:47:51","slug":"student-initiative-to-leave-our-mark-culminates-in-solar-barn-raising-at-emu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2018\/student-initiative-to-leave-our-mark-culminates-in-solar-barn-raising-at-emu\/","title":{"rendered":"Student initiative to \u2018leave our mark\u2019 culminates in \u2018solar barn raising\u2019 at EMU"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A year-long student-initiated effort at Eastern Mennonite University became a physical reality in a matter of days last week and will increase the university\u2019s solar energy capacity by 65 percent.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dubbed a \u201csolar barn raising\u201d by organizers, the event enlisted about 70 students and volunteers to install 120 solar panels on the University Commons roof plus 66 panels atop Roselawn. Their combined 65.2 kilowatts are in addition to the 104.3-kilowatt solar array installed on the roof of EMU\u2019s Sadie Hartzler Library in 2010.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The new solar arrays are expected to be in full operation by mid-October.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><aside class=\"highlight highlight-right\"><a href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2018\/09\/solar-in-a-day\/\">Read more about the \u201csolar barn raising\u201d in the Daily News-Record.<\/a><\/aside><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIt\u2019s a way to leave our mark on campus while also making it more sustainable,\u201d said Miriam Beck, co-leader of the student group Earthkeepers, which did fundraising and coordinated volunteers for the project. \u201cWe\u2019re just here for a few years, but this project is going to be here for a long time. Students care a lot about sustainability.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With support from Secure Futures Solar, guidance from Green Hill Solar and Beck Builders of Virginia, and electrical work by Mid Valley Electric, students assembled and placed mounting brackets to which the panels were then attached. The arrays are primarily ballasted \u2013 held in place with concrete block weights \u2013 which does not require penetration of roof surfaces. <\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_39862\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-39862\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-39862 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2018\/10\/20180922-Solar-Installation-028-1000px-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2018\/10\/20180922-Solar-Installation-028-1000px-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2018\/10\/20180922-Solar-Installation-028-1000px-768x575.jpg 768w, https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2018\/10\/20180922-Solar-Installation-028-1000px.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-39862\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The new solar arrays are expected to be in full operation by mid-October.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The installation required removing old gravel ballast from the rooftops, which students worked on for several days leading up to the Saturday \u201cbarn raising.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI have classes in Roselawn, and we\u2019ve been hearing all of the grating, moving noises,\u201d said junior Clara Weybright, president of EMU\u2019s Sustainable Food Initiative club and all smiles Saturday morning. \u201cThis is really great.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ruth Reimer-Berg, also a junior, carried concrete blocks for the installation across the University Commons roof.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI\u2019m really excited, because sustainability is really important,\u201d she said. And the grueling work? \u201cIt\u2019s something that we can take with us. When we go out into the world, we can find these sort of projects and help out. We\u2019ve already done it once, so we can do it again.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Earthkeepers co-leader Andy King had compiled a music playlist for the day of songs such as Queen\u2019s signature \u201cWe Are the Champions of the World.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_39864\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-39864\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-39864 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2018\/10\/20180922-Solar-Installation-067-1000px-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2018\/10\/20180922-Solar-Installation-067-1000px-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2018\/10\/20180922-Solar-Installation-067-1000px-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2018\/10\/20180922-Solar-Installation-067-1000px.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-39864\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Wade Banks (left), Addison Hawpe and Tessa Waidelich were among the 70 students and volunteers who helped install the new solar panels.\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s a way to leave our mark on campus while also making it more sustainable,\u201d said Miriam Beck, co-leader of the student group Earthkeepers, which did fundraising and coordinated volunteers for the project.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThis was sort of a grassroots movement led by the students, so if you want something done on campus, just work together and talk to your administration to get things finished,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s really empowering for the students.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All told, the project budget was approximately $120,000. Student-led crowdfunding brought in <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/crowdfunding\/solar-project-2018\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">more than $13,000 last year<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2013 funds that were matched by two donors \u2013 and Siemens contributed $15,000 to the the project as a sustainability education contribution. Secure Futures, which owns the arrays in a customer self-generation agreement, also provided additional funding, including $5,000 from a 2016 U.S. Department of Energy Sunshot grant awarded Secure Futures and Mennonite Central Committee (MCC). That grant for nonprofits also helped fund \u201csolar barn raisings\u201d at Gift and Thrift in Harrisonburg, the MCC Material Resource Center in Ephrata, Pennsylvania, and Daniels Run Peace Church in Fairfax, Virginia.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A current student-led crowdfunding campaign, inspired by the solar project, is seeking $8,000 for an <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/crowdfunding\/concession-stand-2018\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">off-grid, sustainable concession stand<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> at EMU\u2019s turf field and illustrates the ongoing passion for sustainability on campus, said <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/faculty-staff\/?show=bph378\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Braydon Hoover<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, director of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/giving\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">development<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and annual giving. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Secure Futures technical manager Andrew Yoder, a 2016 alumnus now enrolled in EMU\u2019s MBA program, said the barn raising concept and use of volunteers isn\u2019t something that can happen everywhere. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIt\u2019s a community of people who are committed to the same goal,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s something pretty unique about the Mennonite community that\u2019s able to come together \u2013 and EMU provides a great structure for that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A year-long student-initiated effort at Eastern Mennonite University became a physical reality in a matter of days last week and will increase the university\u2019s solar energy capacity by 65 percent. <a href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2018\/student-initiative-to-leave-our-mark-culminates-in-solar-barn-raising-at-emu\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"more-link\">... read more <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">about Student initiative to \u2018leave our mark\u2019 culminates in \u2018solar barn raising\u2019 at EMU<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":265,"featured_media":39863,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14715,17562,5708],"tags":[13574],"feature":[17423,17426,17241,17422],"class_list":["post-39860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-life","category-digest","category-sustainability","tag-braydon-hoover","feature-featured-undergrad","feature-myemu-feature","feature-news-feature","feature-news-landing-page-main-feature"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - 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