Gateway to Sustainability:
Hawaii Gateway Energy Center, Kailua-Kona, Hawaii

The Gateway Energy Center at the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii commands a view of the Pacific Ocean any Hawaiian vacationer would envy. The 3,600-square-foot center consists of two buildings side by side—a conference and educational center and a smaller administrative space. But what overwhelms the building, appearing like a technological interloper in a natural ecosystem, is a white steel truss system supporting several sets of photovoltaic panels—some of them pointing up into the sky from the roof of the building, some of them shading the project’s front patio entrance and steps from the parking area. Together, the 20-kilowatt grid-tied system is providing 10 percent more energy than the building needs.
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