When you hear the word “farm”, the city of Los Angeles probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind.  However, a recent move by L.A. city leaders has opened up 12,000 acres of prime real estate in the City of the Angels.  Where exactly is all of this land?  It’s on rooftops all over L.A.  The development will be one of the largest solar panel farms on the planet.

The project, known as Clean L.A. Solar, is led by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Solar.  It has been made possible by a feed-in-tariff agreement led by a coalition of 30 environmental and non-profit groups.  These include the CLEAN Coalition, Tree People, the Sierra Club, the American Lung Association, and the L.A. Conservation Corps.

A feed-in-tariff (FiT) agreement is a mechanism for encouraging the growth of alternative energy sources.  Under its provisions, both individuals and companies are paid for generating electricity through sustainable means.  Usual terms include guaranteed grid access, energy purchase prices tied to production costs, and long-term contracts between the city and developers.

Under such a plan, anyone who can install a panel on their rooftop will be able to participate in the new solar panel farms.  This holds the promise of bringing much-needed funds to the poorer areas of Los Angeles, as they are the ones with the greatest potential for solar power creation.

The feed-in-tariff model was first proposed in the US by President Carter ‘s administration, as part of the National Energy Act (NEA) signed into law in 1978.  One of its provisions requires utilities to purchase power from qualified producers who use alternative methods to create energy.

Currently, over 50 nations across the globe have active feed-in-tariff agreements.  Though they fell out of favor in the 1980s and 90s, they have enjoyed a surge in popularity in recent years, driven largely by the high costs of petroleum.

The Los Angeles plan calls for the installation of enough panels to generate 150 megawatts of electricity within the next four years.  By 2020, the goal is to reach the full 600 megawatts granted by the FiT.  This is in conjunction with a California state mandate.  It requires utility companies to generate at least 33% of their energy from renewable sources by the same year.

“The 12,000-plus acres of rooftop space available for solar could generate as much as 5.5 gigawatts of power for Los Angeles,” said Los Angeles Business Council chairman Jacob Lipa.  He also said, “while getting to a 600 megawatt FiT only takes advantage of a fraction of the total capacity in the city, it’s a great start to encourage investment.”

The initiative will be a boost to the area’s economy.  A study conducted by UCLA predicts that 18,000 green jobs could result from the plan, as well as revenues from as much as $2 billion in investments.  In addition, businesses will enjoy a reduction in their operating costs and a boost in their revenues, both from their efforts to generate power.

The top 10 rooftops for these solar panel farms in each district have already been chosen, according to Adam Jacobson of the L.A. Business Council, who is enthusiastic about the project.  “We’re the first large city to implement a solar program,” he said.  Los Angeles is the single largest municipal utility in the United States.

It’s clear that sustainable energy and building development are the ways of the future.  However, to successfully integrate them into your own business model, you’ll need input from experts in the subjects.  That’s where we can help.  Our consultants can guide and support you through every phase of adopting eco-friendly products, procedures, and technology.  Contact us today.

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Los Angeles is becoming greener by the day, and one sign of that is the growing presence of photovoltaic panels across the city.  So, if you’re considering using the sun to help provide your energy needs, then we congratulate you on being both thrifty and environmentally conscious.  As solar panel inspection experts, we also recommend that you let our building code consultants make sure that your project’s plans meets all applicable building and fire codes.  L.A.’s regulations regarding solar power installations are reasonable, but also rather stringent.  Here are just some of the many things the city will expect to see on your plans:

• The building’s footprint and north reference point
• The locations of all on-site structures
• The street address of the building
• All access points from the street to the buildings
• The locations of the solar arrays
• The locations of all disconnects
• The locations of all required signage
• The locations of all required access pathways
• The locations of all required markings, warning signs, and labels

The city will also need elevation views of the buildings on your property.  They will need to show the following:

• Placement of the arrays
• Ridgelines for the roof
• Eave lines
• All equipment on the roof
• Skylights, roof hatches, vent lines, and all other objects present on the roof

In addition, you should provide photographs of the area where the array is to be placed.  This will assist city officials in evaluating the feasibility of your plans.

Regulations Regarding Labels, Warning Signs, and Marking

City codes are detailed in their requirements for all signage, as it will be referenced by emergency responders in the event of a fire on the premises.  Here’s a list of some of the things they will be looking for:

1. Markings inside the main service disconnect.  These must be placed on the exterior cover if the main service disconnect can be operated with the service panel closed.
2. For commercial buildings, the marking must be adjacent to the main service disconnect.  It must be clearly visible from the point where the lever is operated.
3. The verbiage on the markings must read CAUTION: SOLAR ELECTRIC CONNECTED.
4. It must be white lettering on a red background.  All letters must be capitals and be a minimum height of 3/8 of an inch.  The font used must be Arial or something similar, and the letters cannot be in bold.
5. The material used for the markings must be reflective and weather resistant.

For DC conduits, enclosures, raceways, DC combiners, junction boxes, and cable assemblies, the following is required of all markings:

1. They must be placed every 10 feet.
2. The verbiage must read CAUTION: SOLAR CIRCUIT.
3. Markings will also be required at turns, above and below penetrations, and on all DC combiners and junction boxes.

Regulations Regarding Access Pathways and Smoke Ventilation

For one and two family dwellings, the following are some of the requirements you will be expected to meet:

1. For buildings with a hip roof layout, solar panels must provide a three-foot wide access pathway from the ridge to the eave, on each slope where panels are placed.  The access pathways must be located along load-bearing walls or other structurally strong points of the building.
2. For buildings with a single ridge, the panels must provide two three-foot access pathways, from the eave to the ridge, on each slope where the panels are placed.  Access pathways cannot include any eave’s overhang.
3. Panels cannot be placed closer than 1.5 feet to a hip or valley, if they are placed on both sides of the hip or valley.
4. If the panels are placed on only one side of a hip or valley of equal lengths, then the panels can be located directly adjacent to the hip or valley.
5. In cases where there are two or more access pathways, the clear pathways must be arranged so that there are no dead ends longer than 25 feet.  Any access pathways that leads to a dead end if greater than 25 feet in distance, it must continue on to the next access pathway.  However, at no time can any access pathway cause an individual’s travel to be greater than 150 feet prior to arriving at another access pathway.
6. Arrays of photovoltaic panels must not exceed 150 feet by 150 feet in dimension.  This applies to both axes.
7. Panels must have a clearance of at least three feet below the ridge, UNLESS the fire department has determined that an approved method or product will provide equal or greater opportunities for ventilation.

For housing units intended for three or more families, additional regulations must be met to pass solar panel inspection.  These are spelled out in detail on fire department and building safety department websites.

Further Rules and Guidelines

The locations of your wiring systems and raceways are also important.  They must be as close to the ridge, hip, or valley as possible.  Conduit runs must follow the shortest paths from the array to the DC combiner box.  Those combiner boxes must be located so that conduit runs in the pathways between the arrays are minimized.  DC wiring must run along the bottoms of load-bearing walls.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg…

The city has many other rules that must be followed when solar panel arrays are installed.  Though all of this may sound excessive, in reality, it’s not.  Every sub-section of every heading of every page in the manual of regulations is there because it helps to ensure not only your safety but also that of your residents, your neighbors, and the public at large.

That being said, we hope that you can understand how important it is to have the help of a company like Burnham Nationwide.  We’re experienced building code consultants and can perform many types of third party inspection.  If there are problems in your setup, we will see them and point them out, allowing you to make the necessary changes so that you can pass when the fire marshal does come out to look over your project.  Let our expertise help you avoid needless delays.  Contact us today.

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As renewable energy sources play an ever greater role in meeting society’s power demands, solar panels will become an increasingly common sight across the country.  With this trend comes the need to understand and prepare for the both the permit acquisition and solar panel inspection processes, which are required before a photovoltaic system can be switched on.  Here’s a look at what to expect.

NOTE: This list is intended only to provide the reader with a general introduction to the subject.  Specific details of the permit and inspection process will vary from one location to the next, and interested parties are encouraged to consult their local utility for more information.

Obtaining a Permit

1. The number and types of required permits will vary depending on locale.  Some areas will require only building and power permits.  Others may mandate approval from zoning and fire department officials as well.
2. A set of line drawings must be submitted to the permit board, outlining the proposed project.  The form these drawing must take will vary among jurisdictions, but approval of them is required before construction can commence.
3. If renewable energy installations are uncommon in your area, local code officials may have difficulty understanding how to examine and approve your plans.  You or your representative may need to educate them on the benefits of, and procedures for, adding a solar panel array.

What the Inspector Will Look For

1. The inspector will check installed panels for hot spots or other factors that may compromise safety.  If problems are found, a licensed electrician will need to make the necessary corrections.
2. The presence of a utility AC disconnect switch will be verified.  The switch should be easily seen and accessible.  It should also be lockable.
3. The position of the circuit breaker will be located.  It must conform to plan specs and not exceed 20% of the BUS rating.
4. The inspector will verify the presence of an AC grounding electrode system; this can either be an ufer or a rod driven into the ground.  Additional grounding rods may be required as well.
5. The inspector will check for AC and DC disconnects near the inverter.
6. If DC wiring is installed within the structure, the inspector will make sure it’s contained inside a metal raceway.
7. Reflective marking should be placed on cable assemblies, junction boxes, and conduits, stating “CAUTION: SOLAR CIRCUIT.”  The inspector will verify their presence as part of the solar panel inspection.
8. If gas meters are nearby, the distance from them to electrical equipment will be measured.  Minimum distance requirements must be met for project approval.
9. If a new rooftop installation is in progress, the inspector will verify all connections are in place, roof entry points are flashed and counter-flashed, and all wiring is secured properly.
10. Equipment on the DC side of the inverter should be rated for 600 volts DC; this will be checked.
11. In structures with solar and through-the-lines electrical connections, the inspector will verify that the disconnection points for both are clearly marked.

Don’t Be Caught Unprepared

Obtaining an initial permit can be confusing or time-consuming.  Failing an inspection can have serious consequences.  Here at Burnham Nationwide, we help with both phases of your project.  We’re experienced permit expeditors as well as inspectors.  We’ll make sure your permit is approved, and your project passes the first time.  We will be your liaison with local officials.  We will set up the time and date of the inspection, meet with the inspector, answer his or her questions, and deliver the proper forms.  We’ll even prepare your project beforehand to ensure its passage.  Don’t get stuck waiting for a permit, dealing with expensive renovation costs, or missing out on rebates or tax credits.  Contact us today.

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Some critics still say that deriving significant amounts of power from the sun’s rays is a pipe dream, but a growing body of evidence is proving them wrong.  As an article published in the March 16^th 2011 issue of Scientific American shows, the costs of harvesting solar energy have declined dramatically over the past several decades.  In fact, it appears that high efficiency solar panels are following their own version of Moore’s Law.

For those of you unfamiliar with that term, it stems from a prediction made by Gordon E. Moore, one of the founders of Intel.  In 1965, he predicted that the number of transistors that could be placed on a silicon chip would double every 24 months “for at least 10 years.”  The prophecy was later clarified by Intel executive David House, who said that actual chip performance would double every 18 months.

Moore’s and House’s predictions have proven uncannily correct, so much so that Intel and other chip manufacturers set their research and production goals according to them.  In 1965, computers with the processing power of an arithmetic calculator filled giant rooms.  Today, a single laptop computer can do vastly more work than ones built just a few years ago.  As far as calculators are concerned, today we have ones that not only add and subtract, they also compute complex data using trigonometric and calculus formulas and perform other highly advanced functions – yet they fit in a shirt pocket.

Solar cell prices have followed a Moore’s Law-like trend during their history.  In 1956, it cost $300 to generate a watt of electricity from sunlight.  This figure fell to $50 per watt in the 1970s, then to $10 a watt during the 1990s.  Today it hovers around $1.00 on average, with manufacturing prices as low as 75 cents a watt in some settings.

This amount is still prohibitively high compared to coal-fired power generation, which currently costs a shade under 10 cents per watt.  However, if current trends continue, by 2030, high efficiency solar panels will generate energy at half the cost of methods that use fossil fuels.  Years before then, they will be competitive with coal, oil, and hydroelectric plants on an economic basis.  Additionally, that’s not taking into consideration the environmental and financial benefits of cutting the amount of greenhouse gasses pouring into the atmosphere.

Several factors are driving the reductions in expenses.  The silicon wafers in solar cells can now be made more efficiently, thanks to the use of diamond-tipped industrial blades and other enhancements to the manufacturing process.  Advances in software allow panel farms to track the sun’s path across the sky more precisely.  Sanyo has pioneered the construction of double-sided panels, and developments in thin-film and quantum dot technologies promise a revolution in efficiency.

The potential for harvesting energy from the sun is astounding.  Every day, the amount of power that reaches the earth’s surface from our home star totals 89 petawatts of power.  That’s 89,000,000,000,000,000 watts, more than 6,000 times the energy consumed by all human activities in a year.  By capturing 1/1000^th of that energy, we could supply six times the amount of electricity needed to maintain civilization at its current level and produce virtually no pollutants in exchange.  The potential benefits of pursuing solar energy stagger the imagination.

Becoming part of this revolution requires going through a variety of permit applications and inspections.  Let us help you with that end of things.  We can assist in expediting the permit process, allowing your project to commence faster.  Also, upon completion, we can help with solar panel inspection as well, letting you enjoy the benefits of sustainable power generation sooner.  Contact us today.

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Solar panel technologies offer the potential to generate enormous amounts of power while being environmentally friendly.  However, they have faced a number of barriers to widespread acceptance, due to efficiency and other limitations.  That’s why recent news from MIT researchers is so exciting.  They have developed a way to use three-dimensional design techniques to increase solar panel output by as much as 20 times that of traditional flat arrays.

Rooftop panels are limited in how much power they collect by the location of the sun.  When it’s directly overhead, they are very effective, but this diminishes in the mornings and evenings.  The collection amount is also reduced in winter and in areas far from the equator.

Aware of this, the MIT researchers set out to determine the ideal shape for panels.  They tested a number of configurations in a variety of latitudes, weather conditions, and seasons of the year, using a computer algorithm.  After that, they settled on three designs, which they built models of and installed on the roof of the MIT lab building.

The solar cell arrays out-performed traditional flat panels, creating anywhere from two to 20 times the amount of electricity.  The power output was also more consistent over time, even after the effects of clouds and shadows were taken into account.

Each of the designs is accordion-shaped and is meant to be vertically mounted on rooftops.  According to Jeffrey Grossman, the study’s senior author, they could also be installed on parking garages to provide power for vehicles that run on electricity.

Solar energy has long been touted as an answer to the world’s energy needs, but several limitations have prevented its widespread adoption.  One of these is the cost of manufacture versus the amount of energy produced by these solar panel technologies.

“Even 10 years ago, this idea wouldn’t have been economically justified because the modules cost so much,” said Grossman in a recent interview.  However, these costs have been falling in recent years, leading him and his colleagues to believe that now is an ideal time to explore new types of panels.

At Burnham Nationwide, we know solar panels and the ins and outs of installation, efficiency, and much more. Contact us today to learn how we can help you!

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Our clients enjoy the breadth of services we offer—a range that is unrivaled in the construction industry—toward fruition of their building projects. However, we also offer an array of building inspection services—above and beyond a mere job site inspection—designed to ensure adherence to safeguards that can save on insurance or avoid litigation related to design shortcomings.

Burnham Nationwide provides the full gamut of these types of quality assurance services—known in industry nomenclature simply as inspection services—to provide our clients insight related to construction, maintenance, insurance, and litigation concerns. Among the services Burnham Nationwide offers in this area are:

• Warranty inspections. With our patented BurnhamXchange™ tool, we are able to provide our clients needed information during installation of the full range of products online. This tool gives our clients instant and updated data related to warranty inspections—an impressive array of knowledge acquired after having conducted hundreds upon hundreds of installation inspections. Additionally, our partnership with Colloid Environmental Technologies Company (CETCO) gives our clients access to our considerable expertise related to environmental containment of liquid contaminants. CETCO is the industry leader in providing applications, concrete waterproofing for underground structures, lining systems for liquid containment, and non-oil and gas-related drilling applications. Working closely with our clients in need of their specialized expertise, CETCO offers waterproofing solutions for commercial, institutional, and industrial projects drilling fluids, construction drilling products, environmental liner systems, such as clay and pond liners, and soil sealants and erosion control products for waste and liquid containment applications, including storm water impoundments, wetlands, canals, secondary containment, wastewater treatment plants, landfills, mining facilities, agricultural operations, and engineered remedial barriers. A respected industry leader, CETCO doesn’t just partner with anyone; they’ve partnered with Burnham Nationwide.

•  Our building inspection services also include those related to site and building inspection reports, helping to ensure building efficiency. In the 20 years since our founding, Burnham Nationwide has amassed a database of thousands of building permits from throughout the nation, yielding an invaluable resource for our clients. With this expertise, Burnham Nationwide is able to guide our clients in assembling site inspection reports in a way that ensures each construction project is adherent to code. These inspection services we offer our clients run the gamut—verifying zoning, existing utility connections, requirements related to parking, plumbing fixture counts, licensing requirements, occupancy limits, and the entire range of such critical inspection needs.

• Solar panel inspections are another part of the Burnham Nationwide arsenal designed in our clients’ best interests. The team of professionals at Burnham Nationwide works hard to enhance the system performance of clients’ solar arrays through independent pre-construction inspections. By doing this, the Burnham Nationwide team ensures clients’ projects are fully adherent to all code, zoning, and construction requirements.

The building inspection services we offer are just another way of giving you peace of mind that your project meets the highest regulatory standards. Inspections by our Burnham Energy team also provide added assurance to financiers and end users that the project will perform at the highest envisioned levels, to not only meet, but also exceed, all warranties.

If you’ve dealt with other companies offering such insight and expertise, you might be surprised how vested we are in our clients’ needs. This is because we view your projects as our own and consider our clients more as partners. This is part of our corporate culture, a philosophy each one of our team members has adopted. To learn more about our commitment to our clients’ needs, visit burnhamnationwide.com, where you are also able to contact us directly. We also can be reached by telephone by calling us toll-free at (800) 407-7990.

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Sunny days are here again—quite literally, with the arrival of the sunnier days of spring and in anticipation of the imminent summer months. Now that spring has sprung, it might be a good idea for those of you with solar panel installations to explore how best to take advantage of the sun’s rays in these brighter, post-winter days.

It’s actually not too complicated, and we will attempt here to demystify the process. A first requirement for optimizing the use of solar panels lies in the most basic of astronomical knowledge, which is to say, realizing the sun is at its peak between the hours of 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. in most spots. Given that solar schedule, point your panels due south as this tends to be the best direction to harness the energy of solar rays.

Owners of solar panels tend to have sunny dispositions, and among them there’s no such thing as a bad latitude (sorry, couldn’t resist a little solar humor there). However, seriously folks, knowing your latitude is important in operating your solar panels. It’s important in these hotter months to adjust your panels to your latitude to further enhance the panels’ efficiency and output. Conversely, in the winter, one would still aim one’s solar panels according to latitude but add 15 degrees to that calculation. Like in real estate, location is everything. For U.S. residents, this is a good thing because the country is in the middle latitude with the sun directly overhead, thus ensuring the delivery of greater energy from the sun during the hotter months.

Some folks think that solar panel installations have to be aimed at the sun every minute of every hour, but that’s a myth. As long as solar panels are directed at the sun for a few hours each day, you’ll be assured of reliable energy.

It may seem obvious to advise about avoiding shade in locating and configuring your solar panel array, but it’s worth repeating. Shade, of course, is anathema to solar energy collection. A solar panel obscured by shade can lose up to 80 percent of its total output.

Configuring and adjusting solar panels sounds like a chore, but it takes mere minutes. Those inclined toward a more sedentary lifestyle might derive greater enjoyment tracking their solar harnessing on the computer—a fun exercise but also an important one to get the most out of a system of solar panels. Many owners of solar panels opt to mount their array on a tracking system to better monitor the sun’s movements in order to capture the most of its solar output. We have seen grown men and women describe their solar tracking with a palpable enthusiasm usually exhibited by a teenager gushing over the latest computer app or game. It’s fun to go solar!

To further optimize the output of solar panel installations, it’s a good idea to conduct an assessment of a home or building to ascertain areas where electricity is being wasted, and then hook up solar panels accordingly. As a complement to solar panels, one might also consider the use of energy-efficient light bulbs, the installation of good insulation, and other techniques to further augment the output of solar panels.

As the use of solar panels increases in popularity, the technology has gotten less expensive. It’s still not entirely inexpensive though, which further illustrates the need to explore methods of optimizing their output. Given such cost considerations, it’s best to view such technology as an investment with an ensured—if not necessarily short-term—rate of return. If your home or building has a roof yielding the best positioning, it’s a good idea to purchase the biggest system you’re able to afford with an eye toward maximizing these future returns.

In tandem, the kW output of solar panels continues to improve as the technology is perfected. These factors heighten the need to get the most of one’s solar panels. Rebates are now offered by various utilities as incentives for their use, and owners of solar panels are able to sell off excess electricity back to the grid. From any direction you choose to look at it, the use of solar panels is emerging as a really bright idea.

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Everyone knows tax day is April 15, but a lot of us forget that Earth Day is celebrated every year on April 22. First celebrated in 1970, the day was set aside to raise environmental awareness and promote appreciation for our planet. When it comes to ensuring eco-friendly building, the effort should not be viewed as taxing, but as a way to not only contribute to our planet’s viability but also to realize economic savings by incorporating energy-efficient standards.

There are several ways building owners can boast of having eco-friendly buildings. Here are just a few simple steps that can be taken toward that end:

• Installing skylights in a building enables a property owner to illuminate the interior, free of charge, thanks to Mother Nature! Given today’s heightened environmental consciousness, building owners have no shortage of available skylight installers. Not only do skylights save on energy bills, but also they offer an elegant element to any building.

• Solar panels are another tested element toward eco-friendly building. Initially, the cost of solar panels was cost-prohibitive. However, advances in the technology have helped prices go down. Moreover, many utilities offer rebates as powerful incentives toward the development of eco-friendly projects. Many property owners with solar panels end up selling surplus energy to the utility where their eco-friendly buildings are located. Short of selling the excess to a utility, it can also be stored for later use by transferring it to a battery. Granted, there is an initial investment requirement but the dividends will pay off big time in the long run.

• Low-wattage light bulbs are an often overlooked, yet simple, step that can be taken to achieve eco-friendliness. These bulbs are the “pigtail” variety and can be deceptive, given that they are brighter than conventional bulbs. However, don’t be deceived; they are exponentially more energy efficient that old-school light bulbs. As an added plus, these bulbs require no special adaptations and can plug into any socket.

• The bathroom is one of the last places some might expect to target in trying to achieve eco-friendly building, but the toilet consumes quite a bit of water. Due to this, it’s advisable to secure a low-flow toilet device to cut on water bills. These easy-to-install devices—available at any building supplies store—ensure that a toilet uses considerably less water without compromising water flow. This simple step can help you save not only water but also money on your water bill each month.

• Motion sensors designed to turn off a light bulb automatically are another element found in many eco-friendly buildings. The timers on these devices will automatically shut off light bulbs either indoors or outdoors if you happen to forget to shut them off yourself. Building owners sometimes don’t count the cost of wasted electricity but believe us—it can be quite considerable.

As part of their professional acumen, the staff of Burnham Nationwide is well-versed on the range of energy-efficient methods and practices. We see the heightened interest in eco-friendly building as advantageous to our clients because of the real savings that can be achieved.

Having a so-called “green building” is an ever-increasing goal of many—a source of pride in their communities and a way of achieving financial and energy savings. Achieving green status requires cooperation from all construction players—the architect, the design team, engineers, and the client. You can count on having a reliable partner in Burnham Nationwide for development of your own green building.

For additional insight and guidance on achieving eco-friendly buildings, please contact us through our website at burnhamnationwide.com or by calling us toll-free at (800) 407-7990.

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“I was contacted by Burnham Nationwide’s San Jose office and met with Greg Sellers during a Solar convention he was attending. I had started a company 18 months prior, specializing in gas station permitting work throughout California based on a mandate of enhanced vapor recovery, from state air quality folks. With a fueling background from Mobil Oil and Hertz Corporation, I was able to help over 130 independent dealers pull their needed permits to achieve compliance.

Greg mentioned the parent company, Burnham Nationwide, specialized in building permitting services, and while his office was focused on solar efforts, he asked if I would be interested in helping out the Chicago office with permitting projects for several Chase bank branches in the Los Angeles area. The projects were a great success and we decided this could be a permanent thing. I returned home, found a small starter office and Burnham Los Angeles was born.

While we are fairly new to the Burnham family, we have moved, doubled office space and are poised for growth and market share in Southern California. Happy 20th Anniversary Burnham, it’s great to be here.”

- Fred Weaver, Burnham – Los Angeles

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The cost of living in New York City can be so exorbitantly high that many residents will wrack their brains trying to think of ways that they can reduce their expenses. In addition, many residents may wonder how they can decrease the size of their carbon footprint while saving money. One solution for both of these problems that many people around the world are turning to is rooftop solar panels. However, this solution can be a difficult one to implement for many New York City residents who live in buildings that they do not personally own.

If a resident does not own their roof, they may not be able to simply walk onto it and install their own panels. However, they can work with the building’s other residents to petition the owner or manager to add solar panels to the structure. This process has been made even easier by the recent research that has been conducted by the Office of Long Term Planning and Sustainability.

According to David Bragdon who is the director of that office, New York City could easily add thousands of megawatts of solar power. He also claims that the city has been working on making the permit process easier for residents and easing certain regulations to make adding panels more feasible for all sorts of structures.

His comments were made after the city paid $450,000 to the Lidar Company to perform a series of investigative flights over the city. During these flights, they took a number of pictures and collected a lot of data about the million plus buildings in the city to create a detailed map. The information that was collected shows details about the shapes, angles, and sizes of all of the rooftops in the city. Based on this map, over two-thirds of the roofs in this city are well suited to the addition of rooftop solar panels.

If panels were added to all of the roofs where they could possibly be added, they would generate enough power to create half of the city’s electricity needs during peak hours! The professionals who conducted these studies claim that they analyzed not only the rooftops themselves but also how the shading in each area would affect how well the panels would work if they were added.

When residents of New York City are interested in finding out about the specific nature of their building in regards to its potential for housing rooftop panels, they can visit an interactive version of the map that was created by the information collected by the Lidar Company. The map was paid for by the federal Department of Energy under their Solar America Cities Program and cost the city $210,000.

The map allows residents to view their building and analyze its potential to go solar. Interested residents can look at information about their offices, their homes, or even their friends’ homes.  When they enter their address, they can discover a lot of relevant information on how that address would respond to the implementation of solar collecting panels.

For instance, they will discover how much solar energy could be produced on that particular roof. The estimates are based upon how much light the roof receives, how large it is, its angle, and other factors. They can also find out information on government programs including tax breaks and financial incentives. If they are gathering information to present to the building’s owner or manager, they may also be interested in looking at the section of the interactive map that includes detailed data on how much the solar panels would cost to install and how many years it would take the buildings’ owners to get that initial cost back through energy savings.

People who are curious about the environment may enjoy exploring other features of the interactive map. For instance, they can look at how much carbon dioxide they could avoid if their building implemented panels. They can also look at how many trees it would take to absorb that same amount of carbon dioxide.

One reason that some building owners shy away from installing panels is the regulations that surround such additions. However, the U.S. Department of Energy has recently eased many of these regulations. They have pledged to send $12 million to various organizations to help make the regulations surrounding the installation of rooftop panels easier to navigate.

When people live in a city like New York, they may often feel like they have limited control over some of their circumstances. For instance, they cannot simply add rooftop solar panels to their high rise as easily as someone could add them to the top of their barn in Iowa. However, with accurate information gathered from trustworthy sources, such as the map referred to above, they can easily convince their building owner or homeowner’s association to add these structures.

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