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Jacob Javits Convention Center’s green solar array rooftop drone

The Possibilities of Sustainability: Javits Center, NY

Working with Siemens, the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City developed an innovative microgrid featuring the largest rooftop solar array and battery storage system in Manhattan to date.

Creating the blueprint

Hosting over 175 events with 40,000 exhibitors and 2 million visitors annually, and featuring 19 acres of exhibit space, the Javits Center is one of the busiest convention centers in the nation — and a major power consumer. For the state of New York to stay on track for their energy goals, the Javits Center sought ways to offset their electricity needs.

By merging energy efficiency, smart technologies and distributed energy systems, Siemens has helped the Javits Center generate an expected annual 1,011 MWh of renewable energy, and a blueprint for a flexible, eco-friendly energy approach.

Learn more about how the Javits Center is a model of smart building sustainability.

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A close-up view of a solar array installed on the rooftop of the Jacob Javits Convention Center.

Manhattan’s largest rooftop solar array

The rooftop solar farm at the Javits Center provides 906.3 kW megawatts of solar energy, including 3.5 megawatts of battery storage. The Siemens microgrid empowers the building to be more resilient to outages, more reliable overall, and more sustainable. When finished, the Center will have more than 2,014 solar panels on 34 canopy-style solar arrays on its 6.45-acre green roof.

A rooftop view of the Jacob Javits Convention Center with a clear sky.

A powerful synergy

For a fully integrated and managed Energy-as-a-Service (EaaS) solution from design to delivery, Javits Center leveraged Siemens Smart Infrastructure and Financial Services, along with engaging with asset management leader, Calibrant Energy, to meet its clean energy requirements. This collaboration helped the Javits Center to deploy smart building energy infrastructure (such as solar panels, microgrids and energy storage) with no up-front capital investment required and no operational or performance risk.

In addition to providing Javits demand savings, the battery is also helping to alleviate ConEdison’s most congested network. The custom solar canopy system was designed specifically to accommodate the unique characteristics of one of the largest green roofs in the US.