Generating Renewable Energy
At Mass Audubon, we believe that the development of green, renewable energy sources will be an important factor in reducing carbon emissions and mitigating the destructive effects of climate change.
At all of our sanctuaries with nature centers, we generate electricity by using photovoltaic arrays, which harness energy from the sun. These arrays are both helping us to reduce our carbon footprint and serve as demonstration models for visitors.
Highlights of our efforts include:
- Producing more than 374,000 Kilowatt-Hours (kWh) of electricity per year from our photovoltaic arrays.
- Photovoltaic arrays at 20 locations. These 40 photovoltaic arrays produce more than one-third of Mass Audubon's annual electricity needs. View energy graphs for some of these arrays >
- Solar thermal (water heated directly by sunlight) for domestic hot water at staff residences at three sanctuaries.
- Solar thermal domestic hot water heating for the shower house at Camp Wildwood, as well as the campground shower house, dormitories, and nature center at Wellfleet Bay.
- One geothermal heating/cooling system at Boston Nature Center’s George Robert White Education Center. The building has no furnace or air conditioning equipment; all heating and cooling is provided by the geothermal system, which uses water drawn from deep wells to heat and cool the building.
Solar Energy at Mass Audubon's Headquarters
A ground-mounted 24.85 kW photovoltaic (PV) array was installed at Mass Audubon's headquarters in Lincoln during the fall of 2017. The array, located in the field in front of Gordon Hall, began recording energy performance data in November 2017.
The chart below shows the energy production from the array. Mouseover the graph or click on any day for more detail. Choose a different date range with the buttons at the top right of the graph.