Bellevue College awarded $605,000 in Department of Commerce funding

Bellevue College recently received a $410,000 grant from the Washington State Department of Commerce Energy Efficiency and Solar Grants program to construct an 83KW solar photo-voltaic array on the roof of the R building on the main Bellevue campus. The DOC also awarded the college an additional $195,000 for campuswide energy efficiency upgrades.

The new solar array will be a large addition to an existing 7KW system and could generate enough electricity to power up to 70 percent of the building electric load on a sunny summer afternoon or an estimated 85,737 KwH per year.

These awards come on top of $2 million in grant funding awarded to Bellevue College in the last two grant cycles from the DOC for energy efficiency projects including campuswide lighting and water retrofits, HVAC controls, campus equipment replacements or repairs, energy meters for all buildings and the Building Dashboard, a system allowing visitors to see real-time data on energy use on campus by building.

The grants awarded to Bellevue College are part of the first conferred under the DOCs 2013-2015 Energy Efficiency and Solar Grants program. The agency announced grant awards to five higher education institutions, 27 local governments and four state agencies in March 2014.

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Bellevue College awarded $605,000 in Department of Commerce funding