Bart Villa visit

A few weeks ago, Patrick, one of OED's program managers, took a visit to Bart Villa Apartments in Bloomington, as the organization was a recipient of grant funds from our Solar Thermal Grant program.

These units were built in the 1960s.  The boiler system was installed at the same time and was obviously inefficient, using excessive amounts of natural gas each month.  Bart Villa's solar thermal system, which was funded by this program, is backed up by a high efficiency boiler.  The new system provides hot water to nineteen apartments in the complex.  Energy from the sun is fed into the complex's 360 gallon water system.  Up to 70% of the hot water load for this unit of apartments is provided by the new system.  It is estimated that the complex will save 120 tons of fossil fuel emissions and at least $4,000 in the first year alone.

Bart Villa Apartments received a 2010 Solar Thermal Grant, which is a part of the State Energy Program (SEP).  SEP is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and administered through the Indiana Office of Energy Development.

OED's Bloomingfoods Visit

The next time you're in Bloomington, make sure to swing by Bloomingfoods to take a look around.  Bloomingfoods is a repeat grant recipient of OED's.  Last year, they installed a 4.4 kW photovoltaic solar array, and this year, they used a Solar Thermal Grant from OED to install a solar thermal drain-back system for heating the store's domestic water supply.  (These are at separate locations, by the way.)

Five solar panels were installed in a location on the roof of the store ensure no obstruction to sunlight access, again maximizing efficiency.  With 60-70% of the hot water load for the grocery store being provided by this drain-back system, it is expected that there will be a $1,400 saved in the first year alone.

Due to its freezing and overheating prevention, the drain-back system was a great choice for replacing Bloomingfoods's older, 100-gallon commercial water heater.  Hot water is needed for in-store cleaning, food production, and other services throughout the store.  Whether or not they know it, this system is a great help and asset for the 8,300 member owners and the 1,000+ people who walk in the door!

Many thanks to the great folks at Bloomingfoods for a job well done.  We look forward to seeing what else is in store in the future!

Bloomingfoods was a 2010 recipient of a Solar Thermal Grant from the Indiana Office of Energy Development.  This program is funded through the State Energy Program by the U.S. Department of Energy.