Solar comes to The Ashley Gables Buckhead
Gables Residential is known for its luxury apartment complexes, but what should also come to mind is the emphasis it places on sustainable development and management of its residential buildings. Gables addresses energy efficiency, water conservation, indoor air quality, recycling, renewable material product selection, and other green building focus areas in its developments. Most of Gables’ communities have either already achieved or are currently pursuing a variety of green building certifications, such as LEED, National Green Building Standard, EarthCraft, and Fitwel.
Just recently, the Ashley Gables Buckhead has upped its sustainability efforts by installing solar panels and an energy storage battery system on its property. The solar array powers the rooftop Skyline Terrace and dog park at the residential complex. The solar photovoltaic (PV) canopy over the dog park is designed to generate energy and provide shade and shelter from the elements. This 28.80kW solar array will produce an estimated 42,300 kWh of electricity to power not only the dog park, but also the Sky Lounge and all other roof top amenities. Supported by Tesla Powerwall 2 batteries for energy storage, the system will store and provide the electricity needed to continue to power these amenities through the night. When the system produces more energy than what’s needed or can be stored, it will be distributed to electrify other common areas in the building.
We are excited to celebrate Gables’ commitment to sustainability through the integration of solar panels to power its spaces. Having rooftop PV panels along with battery storage generates electricity without emitting greenhouse gasses or air pollution, avoids the losses of grid transmission by producing energy at the site of consumption, and can help offset peak demand charges which occur when energy costs are highest on the grid. The kilowatt value of Gables’ solar canopy is estimated to offset annual electricity expenses by approximately $6,000, based on $0.14 per kWh. The clean energy produced by the solar PV systems is estimated to save 29.9 metric tons of CO2 annually. To put these numbers in perspective, this is equivalent to the CO2 emissions that result from 69.3 barrels of oil consumed or the GHG emissions from 6.4 passenger vehicles driven for one year!
