Lyndon State College's athletic complex will become significantly greener next summer, thanks to a gift from a local hardware and home supply store.
Sticks and Stuff has donated 72 solar panels and associated heat pump equipment to the college. Next summer the solar hot water system will be installed on the Rita Bole Gymnasium roof and used to heat the campus' 25 meter swimming pool, housed in an adjacent building.
Sticks and Stuff recently purchased the former Indoor Recreation of Orleans County (IROC) facility, in Derby, where the solar panels had been installed. The two-year-old panels are expected to last another 20 to 25 years.
The college will pay to remove the system from the Derby site and transport it to the college. According to Tom Archer, the director of LSC’s physical plant, the college will also need to add additional supports to the gymnasium roof to support the panels, which each weigh over 100 pounds empty. All told, the project will cost the college approximately $85,000. According to the college, that expense will be recouped in fuel savings in about seven-and-a-half years:
Lyndon annually uses approximately 8,000 gallons of fuel to heat the pool; annual cost savings would be nearly $11,400.
The college’s Sustainability Studies degree program will also benefit from the project. Ben Luce, assistant professor of natural science and physics commented: “We have been interested for years in the possibility of heating our athletic complex with solar hot water. This system is ideal. We plan to involve our students closely in both the installation and performance analysis of this system, which we anticipate will strongly advance our goals of making Lyndon State a leader in energy efficiency and renewable energy implementation and education.”
Sticks and Stuff plans to open its fourth store at the former IROC building, in Derby. An opening date has yet to be announced.
Update: Sticks and Stuff is hoping to open its Derby store by the end of the year.
