Specialty

The new High Prairie Campus (HPC) Northern Lakes College (NLC) post-secondary facility was designed to achieve LEED® Silver certification and boasts an array of sustainable features, including an extensive underground geothermal installation, as well as LED lighting and controls. The College worked diligently to secure funding to enable the new facility to become fully NetZero (energy), which was achieved through the installation of a large photovoltaic (PV) system.

The ~475kW DC PV system consists of 1,048 separate 455W solar collectors/panels installed as two separate rooftop arrays, as well as three separate ground-mounted arrays, including one covering a large portion of the western parking lot area. The completed system is anticipated to produce ~540MWh of electricity, which not only helps the facility to achieve NetZero (energy) status based on its current electrical consumption, but also based on future increased consumption should a number of electric vehicle (EV) chargers be installed on site.

Acting as Prime Consultant, SMP completed the design and construction management for the project.