by Brianna Crandall — April 22, 2022 — Truliant Federal Credit Union, based in Winston-Salem, NC, has just announced that it will move forward its commitment towards sustainability with the installation of rooftop solar panels on its new Operations Center at Hanes Mall. Truliant is partnering with Renu Energy Solutions for the installation.
Truliant FCU is transforming a former Macy’s store into an energy-efficient operations center with help from Renu Energy Solutions’ installation of 880 solar panels. Image courtesy of Truliant
The on-site 352-kilowatt solar installation will be comprised of 880 solar panels. The system will produce 474,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) its first year and more than 12.7 million kWh over 30 years. Truliant will use the power it produces from the panels and plans to activate the solar installation this fall.
Todd Hall, president and CEO of Truliant, commented:
Outfitting our Operations Center with solar panels is a meaningful way to move Truliant’s corporate sustainability efforts forward. As we add facilities to support a growing workforce, we continue to examine ways to limit our carbon footprint and lead in our communities through action.
Truliant is converting the former three-story Macy’s from a retail store to an Operations Center through a major adaptive re-use project. It will open in late 2022.
Truliant bought the 151,400-square-foot operations center in June of 2020. It is located across from Truliant’s headquarters. The installation will be done by Charlotte, NC-based Renu Energy Solutions. Founded in 2010, Renu has completed more than 4,100 solar energy installations.
Truliant will utilize 51,000-square-feet of rooftop space for the solar panels. Big box store roofs are often cited as ideal for the solar installations because of high exposure to sunlight, flat surfaces that cast few shadows, and because they repurpose space in concealed areas of the landscape.
In recent years, Truliant has introduced several projects aimed at reducing its environmental impact including multi-year paper-reduction initiatives; LED light retrofitting; and repurposing asphalt from repaving; and bi-polar ionization to increase indoor air quality.
