BINGHAMTON — On Sept. 7, area dignitaries gathered to celebrate the first clean-energy project financed through Broome County’s new Energize NY Commercial PACE financing program. Community members and local leaders commemorated the installation of sustainable upgrades at the historic Art Mission & Theater at 61 Prospect Ave. with a special “utility-bill-ribbon” cutting. The event was […]
BINGHAMTON — On Sept. 7, area dignitaries gathered to celebrate the first clean-energy project financed through Broome County’s new Energize NY Commercial PACE financing program.
Community members and local leaders commemorated the installation of sustainable upgrades at the historic Art Mission & Theater at 61 Prospect Ave. with a special “utility-bill-ribbon” cutting.
The event was hosted by Broome County, the Greater Binghamton Chamber of Commerce, Southern Tier Solar Works, and the Binghamton Regional Sustainability Coalition, according to a news release issued by the project partners.
The historic 1840s-built, mixed-use Art Building includes three floors of live/work loft units above the Art Mission & Theater located on the first floor, and artist studios on the lower level.
The new solar-panel array is a 5.9kW wall-mounted solar installation, expected to produce 7,135 kWh each year, which will power the building’s common areas, hallway heaters, signage, elevator, and a new electric-vehicle charging station installed next to the theater.
The new solar panels are positioned to maximize the angle of the sun throughout the year and provide shade to the building during the summer. The Art Mission Theater solar panels were installed by ETM Solar Works of Endicott.
“We are an environmentally conscious building — a billboard for our sustainability initiatives. This is a practical clean energy solution to long-term energy costs. To see this modern technology working on a historic building is very exciting,” Maggie Martin, the Art Mission’s founder and one of the owners of the building, said in the release.
Jason Garnar, Broome County Executive, said the Art Mission is “setting the stage for many nonprofits throughout the county that will benefit by making energy improvements and saving money.”
The project is the first in the Southern Tier to receive PACE-financing, the release states. Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (Commercial PACE) financing is new to Broome County — launched last March — and allows commercial and nonprofit organizations that own residential or commercial buildings to access long-term (5-20 year), low-interest capital for renewable energy and/or energy-efficiency improvements.
“We applaud the owners of the Art Building, home of the Art Mission & Theater, for their leadership in deploying their solar-EV charging system,” Southern Tier Solar Works Program Manager Adam Flint said.
