Full description
The new Community First Credit Union branch now known as
Magnify Credit Union, will be a carbon-neutral, net zero energy
building (ZEB), a first commercial building like it in the state of
Florida. Some of the energy conserving measures taken while
building were increased wall and roof insulation, state-of-the-art
insulated glass, large overhangs and sun shades, roofing material
with a high solar reflectance, double-roof design for passive
cooling, high efficiency HVAC system design and equipment, and
automatically dimming fluorescent and compact fluorescent
lighting reduce the building’s energy demand 40% below average
requirements of similar commercial structures.
Among one of the most important green, energy conserving
measures done was the 60.25 kW roof-mounted photovoltaic
(PV) array that, Solar-Ray, Inc. designed and was installed by
DanBar Electrical. The system designed by Solar-Ray will use the
solar panels to convert the sun’s light into electricity to power the
building.
It will be the largest non-residential system in Lakeland Electric’s
service area. The system is designed to produce 85,717 kWh per
year, roughly 17% more than the building’s estimated energy
requirements, qualifying this Community First Credit Union
branch as both a Source ZEB and Emissions (carbon) ZEB, as
defined by the U.S. Department of Energy. According to the DOE’s
database that only lists seven in the country, this will be the first
ZEB in the state of Florida.