Queens Ledger
| 21 A Queens landlord has installed solar technology on more than half the buildings it owns in the borough, part of an ambitious project that will eventually transform its entire portfolio and produce enough clean energy to offset the greenhouse gas emissions of 5 million vehicle miles driven each year.
Solar panels have been installed on 26 of the 45 buildings Zara Realty owns and manages in Queens, enough to power more than 125 households, producing 1.3 million kilowatt hours (kWh), about half the 2.7 million kilowatt hours (kWh) that will be produced when the project is complete at the end of 2021.
Zara is converting all energy use in the common areas of its Queens buildings to clean solar energy, which will also be equivalent to eliminating the carbon emissions of 355 homes and 432 cars over the course of a year. The annual energy savings would equal the carbon sequestered by 2,393 acres of forest, or by the planting of 33,617 new trees.