CALIFORNIA, USA, July 10, 2008: a Hindu religious and cultural center in California has taken significant steps towards sustainability including running on solar power, reducing energy consumption and a plethora of planting trees. Currently under construction, this religious meeting place is being built as a place of love, peace and harmony, and protecting the environment is part of the vision.
BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir and Cultural Center is scheduled to open in the summer of 2008, under the aegis of the BAPS organization. The organization attempts to address spiritual, moral and social challenges and issues faced by the world. And, the center is poised to set another wonderful example of sustainability by a religious organization.
The temple and cultural center will be installing a 60kW (kilowatt) grid-tied solar power system by GoGreenSolar. The system will generate more power than required by the temple and cultural center, and the extra power generated will be sent to the local grid for distribution. It has been estimated that the solar panels would reduce 1,556 tonnes of CO2 emissions, which is the equivalent to planting 62,244 trees, over a period of 25 years.
The center has also taken steps to reduce its electricity consumption by installing solar tube lighting. This eliminates the use of light bulbs during the day, drastically cutting the power consumption.
The entire center will be built on a 20 acre-site, northeast of the 71 Freeway, between Monte Vista and Central Avenues. The temple will cover approximately 10,000 square-foot, and the cultural center 33,781 square-foot. The main elements of the cultural center are classrooms, computer labs, gym, dining hall, kitchen, restaurant, gardens and living quarters.