100% Renewable Energy

The Garden is dedicated to sustainability and reducing its carbon footprint through various renewable energy initiatives. We’ve partnered with Dominion Energy Green Power program to match 100% of our monthly electricity usage with Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), ensuring that our energy comes from renewable sources. This effort supports the transition to green energy, offsets our carbon emissions, and helps us contribute to a more sustainable future. Additionally, Arcadia Power provides another avenue for individuals to access clean energy options.

See Our Impact

You can track the Garden’s energy and cost savings in real-time through our online monitoring tools. This allows you to stay updated on the impact of our renewable energy efforts, from electricity consumption to the environmental benefits of using clean power. Whether it’s for the propagation greenhouse or the Baker Hall Visitor Center, you can easily see how much energy we are saving and the associated cost reductions.

In 2018, the Garden installed 120 solar panels on the Dominion Energy Garden of Lights storage building, generating enough energy to power our propagation greenhouse. The panels produce more energy on sunny days than the greenhouse needs, further contributing to our sustainability goals. This project marked an important step in reducing our reliance on non-renewable energy sources.

In December 2022, we expanded our solar energy efforts with the installation of a 212.4 kW solar system on the roof of the Baker Hall Visitor Center/Education Building. This system, consisting of 472 panels, is expected to offset 83% of the building’s energy needs. Already, this project has delivered significant financial and environmental benefits, including nearly $4,000 in savings in the first two months and the reduction of over 80,000 lbs of CO2 emissions the equivalent to the environmental benefit of more than 600 trees.