Banff building goes greener with new solar panels

The Town of Banff's Okâch – Îyethkabi Oûgitûbi pavilion has solar panels on its roof and doesn't have a natural gas line - it's heated and cooled with an electric heat pump. (Supplied/Town of Banff)

A building used as a community hub and activity space in the town of Banff is enjoying an environmentally friendly investment.

The Town of Banff says solar panels have now been installed on the roof of the Okâch – Îyethkabi Oûgitûbi pavilion building in Sundance Park.

It’s the first building to be built under the town’s new municipal sustainable building policy and the panels were partially funded by a provincial agency.

Municipal Climate Change Action Centre in Alberta (MCCAC) contributed $12,600 toward the $60,000 project.

“The support from the MCCAC helps us shift away from fossil fuels and towards our climate action targets,” said Banff Mayor Corrie DiManno in a news release.

“For instance, cutting eight tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions each year and saving the cost of natural gas connections in this solar project is a big environmental benefit.”

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The 18kW array on the south-east and south-west exposed roof areas will produce about 19,000kWh of electricity annually, officials say. It will avoid the creation of more than eight tonnes of CO2 emissions every year.

The panels on the Okâch – Îyethkabi Oûgitûbi pavilion aren’t the only green feature the facility enjoys.

It’s heated and cooled entirely with electricity using a heat pump, avoiding the requirement to install a natural gas line.

The Town of Banff has a goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in municipal operations and facilities by 50 per cent and an 80 per cent reduction community wide by 2050.

It also intends to completely shift to renewable energy in that same time.