TAZEWELL Va. – After five years, the goal of making the Four Seasons YMCA in Tazewell more energy stainable has finally come to fruition.
With the help of Solar Workgroup of Southwest Virginia, a ribbon cutting and community event was held to celebrate the accomplishment of installing solar panels to help YMCA start running on clean energy while saving money at the same time.
The YMCA board of directors made the decision to partner with Secure Solar Futures to start the construction of 884 panels in an empty lot next to the building.
The north facing array of panels supplies 487 kilowatts of power and now offsets 97 percent of energy the YMCA uses.
Shawn Durham, CEO of the Four Seasons YMCA says this decision to switch to clean energy opened the door for many other opportunities to help make the YMCA more sustainable for the future.
“I think really it was a couple of things,“ said Durham. ”Not only do it for the energy saving cost to a small rural YMCA that’s going to struggle with the increase in energy cost, but also just the opportunity. A lot of things just had happened to fall in place that made this possible.
The YMCA will also have a “Growing Together Community Garden” operated by Appalachian Sustainable Development that will also utilize the solar panels to grow fruits and vegetables and offer educational opportunities to students.
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