Project Goals
The owners of Mount Fair Farm, a private residence and horse farm in Albemarle County, Virginia, are committed to reducing the environmental footprint of their property. In addition to installing a 110 kW solar PV array, they hired 2RW to help identify ways to reduce electricity usage.
Services
To help Mount Fair Farm identify potential energy-savings opportunities, 2RW:
- Worked closely with the owner to establish energy efficiency and management goals
- Analyzed the property’s historical electricity usage and demand to understand usage patterns
- Conducted lighting assessments in the house, barn, horticultural, and riding spaces and infrared thermal imaging of the house and barn
Results
Based on the results of the study, 2RW recommended a variety of potential energy-saving opportunities including:
- Adding weather sealing and improving insulation to reduce air leakage and thermal inefficiencies
- Installing energy monitoring systems to alert owners when energy demand or usage exceeds a specified threshold so they can proactively make adjustments—before their energy bill increases
- Upgrading lighting to reduce electricity usage while meeting the lighting requirements of diverse living and work spaces
- Installing programmable thermostats to reduce unnecessary heating and cooling loads
- Establishing a solar renewable energy credit (SREC) trading account to monetize RECs produced by the property’s PV array and shorten its payback period
