Easterseals NH transformed a 15-acre campus in Franklin, NH into a first of its kind, sustainable multi-use center that includes housing and accommodations for veterans and active military personnel. Phase one includes a 46.11 kW of solar array installed by ReVision Energy, with more solar planned for phase two.
The 15-acre property was previously the Elms Farm, home of the New England statesman Daniel Webster, and has had several lives since being sold by the Webster family. The existing complex of brick buildings housed an orphanage until the mid-1900s, then it was a home to an order of Catholic nuns and later was run as a substance use treatment center. The transformation into a multi-purpose veterans retreat center and veterans housing property began about four years ago.
With NH veterans’ groups declaring that affordable housing was their greatest need, Easterseals NH designed the campus to address that need while also connecting veterans to service organizations. Today the campus has 29 new housing units, meeting and conference rooms, with plans to build equestrian and aquatics centers.
The housing units are rented to income-eligible veterans and active military. Rent includes all utilities, which was one of the incentives to install solar. By generating a portion of the campus’ electricity needs, Easterseals NH is avoiding the ever-rising cost of electricity in a state that has some of the highest rates in the country.
Phase one of the campus renovation was completed in just over two years by Procon, a N.H.-based design-build firm, that focused on making the housing buildings as sustainable as possible, according to Al Aldenberg. Aldenberg is a brigadier general in the N.H. Army National Guard who, as chief military and veterans services officer for Easterseals in New Hampshire and Vermont, oversees the operations of the Easterseals NH Military & Veterans Campus.
“Mindful of the difficulties of achieving sustainability in the context of a historic preservation project, Easterseals NH has gone to great lengths to maximize the energy efficiency of these buildings focusing on modern windows, greatly improved building envelopes, air sealing, conversion to efficient HVAC systems, etc.,” Aldenberg said.
Procon engaged ReVision Energy, New England’s largest employee-owned solar company to install the rooftop solar, which includes 87 Silfab 530 solar panels mounted on Unirac’s Ecolibrium Ecofoot 2+ ballasted racking system on the rooftop of two of the buildings. Using two SolarEdge 17.3K three-phase inverters, the system was connected in August to the Eversource grid.
Being a historic site, the project was overseen by a statewide historic preservation organization, which required reducing visibility of the solar modules as much as possible, explained Rachel Eades, commercial sales consultant at ReVision. To comply, ReVision made a few modifications to ensure that the panels wouldn’t be seen on the rooftop, such as setting them back further from the edge, Eades noted.
Cost-effective operations are important to Easterseals NH, as a non-profit developer, and solar is cost effective, according to Aldenberg. He noted that solar “is specifically targeted to contribute to the permanent affordability of that housing for income eligible veterans.”
In the future Easterseals NH plans on incorporating solar wherever feasible, according to Aldenberg. He said the new buildings in phase two are expected to be sited and designed to accommodate solar panels in order to achieve sustainability and affordability.
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