Leewood Realty

Leewood Realty owns and operates the energy-efficient Leewood Building in the Newark Street Industrial Park. The park specializes in helping businesses go green with an environmentally friendly office space.

Challenge

Leewood Realty’s mission has always been to take care of the environment, and they have worked over the years to create the greenest possible environment for the building’s tenants. Earlier efficiency upgrades included a new reflective roof, infared warehouse heaters, motion sensor warehouse lighting, replacement of all larger windows, low-flow bathroom fixtures and more. Leewood already had enough solar on their roof to power the energy needs of the building itself, but owner Peter Schwarz wanted to take it further.

Solution

Leewood Realty partnered with Solect Energy to install enough solar on the roof to supply nearby Northern Essex Community College with reduced-cost electricity through a net metering purchase agreement.

Results

$12,500 yearly savings on electricity costs

NECC is purchasing discounted solar energy, saving more than $250,000 over the course of the 20-year agreement. NECC purchases 300,000 kilowatt hours per year, offsetting approximately 500,000 pounds of CO2 each year and 10,065,000 pounds over 20 years, helping NECC towards its goal towards achieving climate neutrality. In addition, Schwarz said he wanted to share his excitement with a younger generation of students who might want to consider careers in the solar energy industry, so he created a solar classroom atop the Leewood roof. Leewood also provides NECC students and staff rooftop tours of the solar system each year, and is contributing a $2,000 annual scholarship for the next 20 years for green courses for NECC students. As part of the project, Leewood is also able to take advantage of state and federal tax and financial incentives, including SRECs.