Photo courtesy of Scalo Solar Solutions LLC, Pittsburgh.
Photo courtesy of Scalo Solar Solutions LLC, Pittsburgh.
Photo courtesy of Scalo Solar Solutions LLC, Pittsburgh.
Photo courtesy of Scalo Solar Solutions LLC, Pittsburgh.
Photo courtesy of Scalo Solar Solutions LLC, Pittsburgh.
Photo courtesy of Scalo Solar Solutions LLC, Pittsburgh.
On July 20, Pittsburgh-based solar developer Scalo Solar Solutions LLC, a related company of Burns & Scalo Roofing Co. Inc., Pittsburgh, hosted a ribbon-cutting and dedication ceremony at its headquarters. The company had reason to celebrate: It was introducing its Sunscape Energy Demonstration Project, which consists of three photovoltaic (PV) technologies, five vegetative roof systems and various other energy-efficient products, including daylights and reflective roof membranes, installed on the building's roof.
Scalo Solar Solutions designs, acquires and installs solar arrays for commercial clients; however, the company also provides customers with detailed financial analysis and performance data to demonstrate solar systems are a good business investment. Sunscape's primary purpose is to demonstrate and compare the most advanced technologies for generating alternative energy and reducing costs.
"People's expectations for their roofs have changed," says Jack Scalo, chief executive officer and president of Scalo Solar Solutions. "Not only are roofs expected to be watertight, they are expected to help reduce buildings' energy costs. This was the genesis for creating Sunscape."
The demonstration project allows Scalo Solar Solutions customers to learn about and interact with various energy-efficient and sustainable technologies that can be installed on their buildings. Additionally, various university and environmental organizations, such as Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh; University of Pittsburgh; Penn State University, University Park, Pa.; Chatham University, Pittsburgh; Green Building Alliance; and 3 Rivers Clean Energy, among others, will be able to use Sunscape as a laboratory and training center.
Conception
Scalo Solar Solutions developed the idea for Sunscape in 2010.
"We wanted to create a center for rooftop innovation and sustainability," Scalo says. "We thought: 'Let's do a demonstration project that will help educate people about and showcase rooftop innovations—a place where customers can come to see a variety of sustainable technologies.' This would make it easier for us to sell solar and other energy-efficient products. We also wanted to show clients we are confident enough in solar's financial viability to spend our own money before asking them to spend theirs."
Scalo Solar Solutions was the project manager for the $1 million Sunscape installation. In June 2010, the company wrote and submitted a $500,000 grant on behalf of Burns & Scalo Roofing, the project's owner, to the Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority (PEDA). PEDA approved the grant Aug. 27, 2010, allowing Cuddy Roofing Co. Inc., a Scalo company, Pittsburgh, to begin reroofing work followed by the solar and vegetative installations.
"We weren't permitted to begin work until we received the grant, so that determined our schedule," Scalo says. "Once we received the grant, it put us on a tight timeline to complete the project. Our goal was to finish the PV installations by Dec. 31 to take advantage of the 2010 federal tax subsidies, and we achieved that goal."
Installation
The project's first phase—reroofing—began in September 2010. Perimeter warning flags were set up, and workers wore personal fall protection.
"The building was only eight years old, and it had a 15-year ballasted EPDM roof system—so we had a roof with a seven-year lifespan remaining," Scalo says. "Before installing PV panels, we needed to make the roof PV-ready with an assembly that would provide a 25-year warranty term to match the warranty term of the PV modules."
Gravel was vacuumed off the roof and recycled to a local landscaper. A roofing crew of about 10 removed the existing 40,000 square feet of 45-mil-thick EPDM membrane, which covered tapered polyisocyanurate insulation.
After tear-off was complete, the crew fully adhered a 1/4-inch-thick DensDeck cover board to the mechanically fastened insulation. Two membranes were installed, a 60-mil-thick Carlisle SynTec EPDM membrane and a white Sure-Weld® TPO membrane, to complete the PV-ready roof system.
Several additional energy-saving technologies were installed, including Carlisle SynTec Drylights,™ a Carlisle SynTec tubular skylight and a Ciralight Smart Skylight, a solar-powered GPS skylight with a moving mirror that mechanically tracks the sun and maximizes light production throughout the day. The Drylights have allowed Scalo Solar Solutions' warehouse to operate without electric lighting for most of the past year, reducing the company's electricity demand 17 percent.
Reroofing was completed in November 2010. The next phase of work included the layout, racking and installation of the three PV technologies, which were installed in five subarrays.
Sunscape includes 49.7 kilowatts (kW) of Carlisle SynTec polycrystalline solar panels. They were split into three subarrays to allow Scalo Solar Solutions to demonstrate and analyze their varied energy production. The subarrays use ballasted and attached mounting techniques. They also are tilted at different angles, one with a 30-degree tilt and two set at 15 degrees, one of which was installed over a Xero Flor Roof Garden moss and sedum vegetative roof—the first combination solar-vegetative roof of its kind, according to Scalo Solar Solutions. Its purpose is to lower the ambient temperature around the panels and increase the subarray's energy production.
Additionally, crew members installed 51.4 kW of Solyndra, a self-ballasted solar technology that produces power from direct sunlight as well as indirect light reflected off the TPO roof membrane's white surface. When it snows, the system's unique glass tube design reportedly allows light snow to fall between the PV tubes, maintaining energy production during winter months.
The third PV technology installed was a 4.7-kW UNI-SOLAR thin-film system, which consists of flexible PV laminate adhered directly to a sacrificial sheet of roof membrane that was heat-welded to the primary membrane.
After the solar modules were installed, electricians were subcontracted to wire the system's electric components. The electricians followed a roof protection plan during work to ensure the roof system's integrity would not be compromised.
Additionally, the electricians and Cuddy Roofing crew members installed two inverter towers on the rooftop. The towers take direct current from the solar panels and change it into alternating current. The alternating current energy is used by the facility or may be sent back into the grid, spinning Scalo Solar Solutions' electric meter backward. This process is called net metering and permits excess power generated in any given month to be credited to the customer's bill at its full retail value.
Crew members completed the PV installations Dec. 31, 2010.
The project's next phase included installation of the vegetative roof systems, which took place during the spring of 2011. A five-person crew installed five vegetative roof systems.
"The moss and sedum matting installed under the polycrystalline subarray comprise two vegetative roof systems," says TJ Willetts, Scalo Solar Solutions' director of marketing. "The moss system is under the panels, and the sedum matting system is laid around the subarray's perimeter. The moss was installed by embedding moss material into special matting, and the sedum matting comes in rolls and was installed similar to sod."
In addition to the moss and sedum matting, three Carlisle SynTec ultra-extensive roof gardens were installed.
"To add to the roof's aesthetics, one of our vegetative roof systems was built up and contoured with expanded polystyrene foam blocks before the growing medium, drip irrigation and sedum squares were installed," Willetts says. "We also have a vegetative roof system that uses modular trays, which give building owners flexibility and ease of installation."
The vegetative roof system installations were completed in late April.
Additionally, areas of the rooftop have been left open, leaving space to install future technologies.
"This truly is a demonstration project—it's becoming a beta test site for future projects," Scalo says. "We already have plans to install another unique solar technology and a plastic racking system, as well as other skylight systems."
Benefits
The completed Sunscape project already is providing numerous environmental benefits, and Scalo Solar Solutions predicts those benefits will continue and expand.
According to the company, the project will reduce carbon dioxide pollution by 5 million pounds during its life; provide 38.5 percent reduced energy costs from PV and 17 percent reduced energy costs from skylights annually; and reduce stormwater runoff by 1 million gallons during the next 20 years.
The project also is generating more business for the company and providing various economic benefits to the community in the form of jobs and taxes paid.
"It's like being the only car dealer with a showroom in the mid-Atlantic," Scalo says. "We have a convenient way to educate people in our training room, and then we can take them up to the roof and show them everything. We do an average of two tours per day and sometimes up to four. It's dramatically changed the way we do business."
According to Scalo Solar Solutions, as a result of the project, the company has generated leads for 15 megawatts of prospective solar installations, which the company projects will result in more than $60 million in potential sales during the next five years. The project also is anticipated to generate more than 300 new job opportunities and more than $6 million in sales and income tax revenues.
"I never anticipated solar would position our roofing company to sell more roofs," Scalo says. "The demonstration project distinguishes us from our competition by allowing us to sell solar first; the solar drives the deal, and the roof system follows. We're negotiating more and upselling roofing by making roofs PV-ready and increasing the warranty term. We're selling a better, stronger, longer-lasting roof system. Basically, our increased solar business has really helped improve the core roofing business of our company."
And once the project has been operational for a full year, it will begin to fulfill its educational purpose.
"Data coming out of the system will be coordinated by an advisory team of about 15 members who will help us correlate and disseminate the information to the public," Scalo says. "This project is meant to be an educational installation to perfect sustainability for future generations."
A contribution
Sunscape is complete and has made its public debut, and those involved with the project are extremely pleased with the final result. Following completion, the project was approved as a pilot project for RoofPoint, a roofing-specific version of green building rating systems developed by the Center for Environmental Innovation in Roofing.
"This roof was transformed into a comprehensive rooftop laboratory for sustainable technologies," Willetts says. "Combining so many advanced sustainable technologies was challenging, but it is rewarding to be able to contribute to our industry by providing valuable research data that will be studied by universities and the roofing industry to help commercialize rooftop sustainability and renewable energy."
Ashley St. John is Professional Roofing's associate editor.
Project name: Sunscape Energy Demonstration Project
Project location: Pittsburgh
Project duration: September 2010-April 2011
Roof system types: Photovoltaic, vegetative, EPDM and TPO
Roofing contractor: Cuddy Roofing Co. Inc., a Scalo company, Pittsburgh
Material manufacturers: Carlisle SynTec Inc., Carlisle, Pa.; Ciralight Global Inc., Corona, Calif.; Solyndra LLC, Fremont, Calif.; United Solar Ovonic LLC, Auburn Hills, Mich.; and Xero Flor America LLC, Durham, N.C.
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