Google’s Bay View campus in Mountain View, California, features one of North America’s largest building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV), 90,000 silver solar panels layered over one another onto the building’s canopy-style roof, to reach the company goal of running on carbon-free energy entirely by 2030.
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A high-performance roof system is durable, resilient, and allows a building to be occupied after a disaster event and continues performing during a loss of power. Designing beyond code minimums could help a roof stay intact with minimal damage during a storm.
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Scientific research, best practice guidelines, and certification systems can help design/construction professionals sidestep building failures while delivering high-performance buildings. When inexpensive solar panels are added to the mix, buildings that produce as much energy as they use are actually within reach.
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Last year, the California Energy Commission introduced new energy-efficient standards for all newly built residential and commercial structures. Essentially, ‘solar-ready roofs’ will be required on all new construction.
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