Solar-Powered Parking Structure to be Built by Turner

The Denver Health and Hospital Authority has selected Turner Construction Company to manage construction of a net-zero parking structure in the middle of downtown Denver, Colorado. The $25-million Design-Build project will feature a rooftop photovoltaic array and other green features that will enable the garage to operate 98 percent of the year with the electrical meter spinning backwards, selling power back to the local utility. For the remaining two percent of the year, the team has elected to employ a small 100A electrical service to charge the building’s DC battery system, rather than turning to natural gas.

“We didn’t start out building a net-zero project, but when we began the Design-Build process one of our major challenges was how to handle the power lines both adjacent to and feeding the structure,” explained Dan Wilder, senior project manager for Turner. “To make it work, we would have had to bury the lines in the alley alongside the site, which was expensive, given their location and length. So we thought, what’s the alternative? And we came up with something of which we’re all incredibly proud.”

He added that Turner worked closely with Turner’s design and trade partners to develop an off-grid, net-zero solution that met the client’s needs, saving approximately $2 million in construction costs in addition to the projected cost savings on future energy.

“We’re excited about this garage as a model for how to go off-grid while staying right in the middle of the action,” continued Wilder, noting that it’s not common for net-zero energy buildings to be located in urban settings. “It demonstrates that in addition to being the right thing to do, going green can be a cost saver during construction as well as long term.”