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Many people don’t have any idea how much energy it takes to operate and maintain a public park. After all, isn’t a park simply a green oasis for plants, animals, and other wildlife? What need do parks have for electricity?
As it turns out, quite a few.
Allegheny County oversees the operation of nine beautiful public parks. And while Allegheny County has long been a regional leader in sustainability, rising energy costs in recent years became an impetus for the County to find additional ways to reduce operational costs for taxpayers, as well as their environmental footprint.
Furthermore, with the federal government offering a 30 percent tax credit to organizations that transition to renewable energy, with a direct pay option for municipalities and nonprofits, transitioning some of the County’s parks to solar power was a no-brainer. And with some of Allegheny County’s parks located in “energy communities” (sites with a history of industrial pollution or fossil-fuel dependence), the County saw that they could possibly even qualify for an additional 10 percent credit.
Net Zero Project Fast Facts
Number of County Parks: 9
Parks Relying on Solar: 2 (White Oak Park & Deer Lake Park)
Previous Power Source: Fuel Oil
Federal Funding: Direct-Pay Tax Credits for Nonprofits under the Inflation Reduction Act
Cost: $2.8 million
Tax Credit: $900,000
Local Companies Involved: 5 (HDR Inc., EIS Solar, Pugliano Construction, TSB Electric, SSM Industries)
“We have a large operational footprint, and if there is an opportunity for us to save money while improving quality of life for Allegheny County residents, communities, and wildlife, as well as optimize how we use our land, we’re going to try it,” said Brittany Prischak, the Director of Allegheny County's Department of Sustainability.
Enter Allegheny County’s recently completed Net Zero Parks project. “Net Zero” refers to completely eliminating or offsetting any carbon or greenhouse emissions from these parks. This exciting project is located in two of the County’s nine parks – White Oak Park in White Oak, and Deer Lakes Park in Tarentum. Each park welcomes about one million visitors a year.
The projects began back in 2018, when the County conducted an assessment of its parks to determine which were the most feasible to go net zero. They found that since the heating and cooling systems in White Oak and Deer Lakes had been operating on fuel oil, their energy costs had been most prone to spike during tighter markets. And since these parks didn't have natural gas infrastructure already installed as the other parks did, a transition to electric – and eventually, solar – was more easily facilitated in them.
“If there is an opportunity to save money while improving quality of life...we’re going to try it.”
So where in these outdoor parks would energy actually be needed? Well, White Oak Park offers indoor facilities with restrooms and beautiful rental spaces – like Angora House, often used for weddings – that all require electricity, including for heating and cooling. White Oak also offers a barn that is often rented to the community for exercise classes or children’s activities, as well as a maintenance facility and lighting located throughout the park.
As for Deer Lakes, this location offers a spray water park that consumes quite a bit of electricity during the summer from near-constant operation. Deer Lakes also offers an observatory, currently rented out to another organization, whose energy would also need to be offset in order for the park to be considered net zero.
In fact, Allegheny County’s Department of Sustainability determined that White Oak Park would need to generate about 156,000 kilowatt hours a year to offset its energy usage, and that Deer Lakes would need about 180,000 kilowatt hours a year. Altogether, this equates to the amount of electricity it would take to power 28 homes.
As this was no small feat, Allegheny County enlisted the help of many companies local to the Pittsburgh region to plan and build the parks’ solar power systems. To begin, the County hired HDR Inc., a local consulting firm, to design the solar arrays to meet the vast energy needs of the parks and their visitors, as well as to incorporate energy efficiency measures, like new mechanical systems for heating and cooling and LED lighting. Then they hired EIS Solar to help supply the solar components that were needed, including the panels themselves and the inverters.
In 2022, when the County actually broke ground, they worked with a Pittsburgh general construction company called Pugliano Construction to build out the solar systems, as well as TSB Electric, who connected the solar to the power grid. Yet another local company, SSM Industries, then helped support the replacement of the heating and cooling systems that were being electrified.
The construction took a total of four years, and since the tax credit guidelines required the workers to be paid prevailing wage, the projects created many well-paying, family-sustaining local jobs in the process, making a significant contribution to Allegheny County’s economy.
Paying for these highly skilled local workers ended up paying off for Allegheny County, as well, for the final result was transformational. In White Oak Park, an enormous solar canopy structure over the parking lot at Chestnut Playground now produces more than enough energy to power the entire park. And, as a bonus, the canopy also offers a cool, shady place for visitors to park their cars in the hot summer weather.
In Deer Lakes, a large ground-mounted solar system near the park’s maintenance facility and a smaller rooftop array on the pumphouse of Spray Park are visible to visitors and even offer energy education opportunities. They also offer more than enough energy to power the park’s needs.
From start to finish, Allegheny County invested a total of about $2.8 million in these projects, and received about $900,000 back from federal solar tax incentives – a significant savings for taxpayers.
And as monthly electric bills continue to rise for the typical energy consumer, Allegheny County’s investment will return dividends to the County and taxpayers in the future. Because after the upfront cost of solar equipment and installation are paid for, the energy provided by the sun is free.
