Solar Panels Key To Motor Parkway Plaza's LEED Gold

Hauppauge business owners gave a primer on how the sun will help turn Motor Parkway Plaza into Long Island's first Gold LEED certified buildings. 

Building owners, construction and engineers gave a panel presentation to Hauppauge Industrial Association's Green Industries Committee on the new Motor Parkway Plaza, scheduled to open for business this month, and the special features incorporated within its design. An application  submitted for a Gold Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification is pending approval. 

"We didn't make any conscious decision to go for Gold, Standard, Silver or Platinum certification. We just tried to incorporate as many green, pro-active, environmentally friendly aspects as we could," said Jack Kulka, head of Kulka Construction and founder of the HIA-LI. 

The 36,000-square-foot shopping center has been build on land purchased by the its owner, United Realty, more than 40 years ago. Various corporations were interested in the land, and projects have come and gone, but it decidedly went green. 

Gary Schacker, principal at United Realty, explained it is a mixed-use building consisting of two wings retail storefront and one wing for office use on 3.5 acre near the intersection of Motor Parkway and the Long Island Expressway. Tenants who signed rental agreements include FedEx, Subway, Dunkin Donuts, Exit 55 Liuqors, Ideal Image and several other including a restaurant and bank branch to come. 

In the construction of the property, a team of 20 architects, engineers and construction workers re-used all materials and built in numerous new technologies. 

"There was not one piece of material removed from the site that did not return to it, including the original Motor Parkway Plaza," Jimmy Carchietta, the founder and CEO of The Cotocon Group, who oversaw the LEED design of the building. 

Carchietta said dirt and sand removed during construction was sent to a concrete land to be incorporated in the concrete used in the building of the plaza. Energy saving fixtures and low flush toilets and fixtures were used throughout the facility. 

The technology that stole the spotlight was Solyndra, a new high tech solar photovoltaic  system, that lines the roof of the Motor Parkway Plaza in a presentation given by Jonathan Lane of Quad State Solar.  

Solyndra is a solar photovoltaic system that lies flat against the roof of a building, Lane explained, that captures sunlight from 360 degrees using an innovative cylindrical bar design. He said the shape of the design provides numerous benefits including easier flat installation as wind updrafts can move through it, snow slides off it and the fact it works with bright color roofs, capturing reflected light. 

The system can provide the shopping center with up to 75 Kilowatts of electricity, but that's just a beginning.

"We have the ability to double that if necessary, as we are only using one of the roof sections," Kulka said. 

The unit cost approximately $415,000 total, but much of the developers cost was recovered through grants received from LIPA, New York state, and the federal government. Once those grants are subtracted from the cost, the Solyndra system is expected to pay for itself in approximately 2.5  years, Lane said. 

In addition to the upfront cost savings, any extra electricity generated by Solyndra that is not used by the shopping center will be sold back to LIPA, turning back the plaza's electrical meter and providing future savings. 

A tour of the Motor Parkway Plaza was delayed Monday due to inclement weather, that would have made the rooftop slick, but has been rescheduled for HIA-LI members in the future. 

See Jonathon Lane's PDF of his presentation, as well as upcoming video in which he explains how Solyndra works.