Cummings Properties completes solar power system at Cummings Center

Cummings Properties has completed its final planned solar array at Cummings Center. The award-winning office and technology park now features four very large solar installations, with 5,295 panels generating more than 1.5 megawatts of power. Built over the past two years on support structures above the campus' four parking garages, the solar arrays help power 50% of the common area electrical load for Cummings Center's 7 buildings and 2 million s/f. In two of the parking garages, solar energy also powers electric car chargers that were installed in partnership with Meridian Associates, a sustainability, land surveying, and civil engineering firm based at Cummings Center. The clean source of the power helps make the vehicles charged at these stations truly green. All of Cummings Properties' solar arrays were designed, purchased, and constructed in-house. Solectria Renewables, based in Lawrence, Mass., manufactured Cummings Center's 19 solar inverters, which convert the solar panels' DC power to usable AC power. Dennis Clarke, president and CEO of Cummings Properties, said, "These solar projects demonstrate our firm's commitment to supporting the goals of the Commonwealth's Green Communities Act and to promoting sustainability for commercial real estate in Massachusetts." Cummings Properties has a long history of sustainable business practices, including building renovation and reuse; energy-saving design, construction, and property maintenance; utilization of recycled materials and equipment; and reduction of waste through recycling programs. In addition, 10 of the Woburn-based firm's buildings, including three at Cummings Center, have earned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's prestigious ENERGY STAR certification, signifying the achievement of strict energy performance levels. While the solar installation at Cummings Center is the company's largest, Cummings Properties has also installed solar arrays at TradeCenter 128 and 8 Cabot Rd. in Woburn. Its next solar project, planned for 2014, will be located at the firm's most recently acquired property—50 Dunham Rd. in Beverly.