EAST WHITELAND TWP - Solar panels were installed Thursday on the roof of Immaculata University's new Parsons Science Building.

The 28 panels were installed thanks to a generous donation from the college's new president, Barbara Letteire.

"We made significant progress in the construction of the Parsons Science Pavilion, and it was most gratifying to see the recent installation of the solar panels," Letteire said Friday. "This is just one more significant move Immaculata is making to do our part to save Mother Earth."

The solar panels will recover and redistribute previously expended energy used in the heating and cooling of the new facility.

The university estimates saving approximately $17,000 per year in electric and fuel costs, reducing the consumption of propane burned each year by approximately 8,200 gallons, and reducing CO2 emissions by the equivalent of approximately 68,000 pounds of coal not burned by the utility company to produce electricity.

Installation of the solar panels is one of many energy saving initiatives underway, or being planned.

Other projects include replacing light fixtures with LED lights across campus, using geothermal wells to heat and cool buildings, installing occupancy sensors and upgrading HVAC controls to save energy, and upgrading to low flush toilets and water saving fixtures.

In addition, Immaculata continues its extensive recycling program.

The university launched a zero-cost textbook program using Open Educational Resources. The 10 OER-based courses replaced traditional printed textbooks with a variety of online resources, including online texts from open-source sites, web-based articles and audio-visual resources in the public domain.

The university plans to increase the number of OER-based courses available to students.

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