NASA’s Stennis Space Center has been awarded a highly competitive U.S. Department of Energy grant to transform its main administration building into a facility that produces as much renewable energy as it uses.
Following an Oct. 29 announcement, NASA Stennis, located near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, will receive $1.95 million through the Assisting Federal Facilities with Energy Conservation Technologies (AFFECT) Program. The grant will fund installation of a four-acre solar panel array onsite that can generate up to 1 megawatt of electricity.
“This is a flagship project for our NASA center,” said NASA Stennis Director John Bailey. “It will provide renewable energy to help reduce our carbon footprint, contributing to NASA’s agencywide goal of zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.”
The AFFECT Program awards grants to help the federal government achieve its goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by all federal buildings by 2045. More than $1 billion in funding proposals was requested by federal agencies for the second, and final, phase of the initiative. A total of $149.87 million subsequently was awarded for 67 energy conservation and clean energy projects at federal facilities across 28 U.S. states and territories and in six international locations. NASA Stennis is the only agency in Mississippi to receive funding.
The site’s solar panel array will build on an $1.65 million energy conservation project already underway at the south Mississippi site to improve energy efficiency. The solar-generated electricity can be used in a number of ways, from powering facility lighting to running computers. The array also will connect to the electrical grid to allow any excess energy to be utilized elsewhere onsite.
“This solar panel addition will further enhance our energy efficiency,” said NASA Stennis Sustainability Team Lead Alvin Askew. “By locating the solar photovoltaic array by the Emergency Operations Center, it also has potential future benefits in providing backup power to that facility during outages.”
The NASA Stennis proposal was one of several submitted by NASA centers for agency consideration. Following an agency review process, NASA submitted multiple projects to the Department of Energy for grant consideration.
“This was a very competitive process, and I am proud of the NASA Stennis Sustainability Team,” NASA Stennis Center Operations Director Michael Tubbs said. “The team’s hard work in recent years and its commitment to continuous improvement in onsite energy conversation laid the groundwork to qualify for this grant. Mr. Askew, in particular, continues to be a leader in creative thinking, helping us meet agency sustainability goals.”
The NASA Stennis administration building was constructed in 2008 as a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-certified, all-electric facility and currently has net-zero emissions.
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