The University of Asia and the Pacific installed a 300-kilowatt photovoltaic power system that can power its whole parking and sports building and feed electricity to other buildings in the Ortigas campus.
UA&P, located on a 2.5-hectare property in Ortigas Center, Pasig City, said it was now reaping the benefits of going solar in terms of reduced energy costs, less carbon footprint and a supplemental capability to provide an uninterruptible power supply.
The system provides the 60-kw power need of the parking and sports building, which houses a three-level parking facility, two basketball courts, an Olympic-sized futsal pitch and a three-lane indoor running track.
It also feeds the power requirement of the other buildings on campus in tandem with the power supply from distributor Manila Electric Co.
“Our goal and desire is to ensure that our stakeholders, comprising our students, parents, teachers, employees, contractors and guests are not burdened with the disruptive effects of power supply service interruptions that can only result in class schedule delays and extensions, and consequently, wasted resources,” UA&P vice president for development Ruben Umali said.
Umali said the university’s switch to solar power was in response to the call of the Energy Department for energy conservation and efficiency, made tangible in the department’s solar power program in cooperation with Metro Manila schools.
The PSB rooftop has 1,200 pieces of high-efficiency 250W black monocrystalline solar panels that not only provided better architectural aesthetic to the roof and added protection for uplift winds but also saved the university as much as P4 million in heat insulation.
It said another exceptional feature was the system’s use of hybrid inverters that control and continuously charge a battery bank that could be switched on in the event of an unexpected shutdown of either the Meralco power supply or the solar power system.
The building is also self-sustaining in important structural ways. It has the capabilities to reuse water, avail of a state-of-the-art fire protection system and utilize energy-efficient LED lights within the building.
These environment-friendly initiatives have earned for UA&P recognition from the international agency Global Reporting Initiative based in Amsterdam.
GRI is a private agency that helps organizations manage their economic, environmental, social, and governance performance consistently at high global standards.
UA&P is the first university in Southeast Asia to be granted a sustainability disclosure level check in 2013 by the GRI.
A distinctive feature of these pioneering efforts is the participation of the university’s alumni, a guarantee of UA&P’s adherence to the government’s bid for nation building and the development of nation builders.