(Credit: Continuum)Continuum Partners, a Denver-based real estate developer, has announced a 1.45 megawatt (MW) community solar subscription with renewable energy provider Pivot Energy. The agreement will offset 100% of the electricity usage at one of Continuum’s mixed-use commercial properties with locally-produced, clean energy, and will reduce electricity costs for eight of the building’s tenants.
System costs and lack of viable rooftop space are often among the greatest barriers to solar adoption. This subscription will allow Continuum to offer its commercial tenants the benefits of low-cost, renewable energy without having to install a single solar panel on the property.
Clearway Community Solar describes solar subscriptions as “a subscription plan to an offsite solar farm, or solar garden, that allows homeowners, renters, small businesses, religious organizations, and other nonprofits to support clean, renewable solar energy without the need to purchase a solar array or install rooftop panels on their property.”
Continuum has explored a range of green building development strategies since its founding 25 years ago. It made national headlines in 2004 for its development of Belmar, a mixed-use property that incorporated recycled building materials, onsite wind energy, and a 1.7 MW solar system, the largest commercial rooftop array in the western United States at the time of construction. This community solar subscription will offset over 1,800 tons of CO2 annually.
In addition to the project’s sustainability benefits, the community solar subscription will provide roughly $390,000 in lifetime electricity savings to its commercial tenants. The property, which includes a hotel, offices, shops, and an underground parking garage, is located south of Union Station on 16th and Wewatta in downtown Denver.
A separate solar subscription that Pivot Energy started in Colorado was with the Pueblo Zoo, in which the zoo purchased solar power that offset electricity with clean energy, reduced its carbon footprint, and lowered its energy costs.
The Pueblo Zoo committed to subscribe to a community solar garden, developed by Pivot Energy, which provided the non-profit organization with 200 kW of solar capacity. The solar subscription was estimated to save the Pueblo Zoo more than $350,000 in electricity expenses over the duration of the agreement.
