Lucye Rafferty/The Hoya ICC, adorned by more than 3,000 square meters of solar panels, is a model for harnessing solar energy for power. The Oberstar-Norton Bill looks to increase the number of such buildings.

The Intercultural Center attracted attention for its futuristic architecture when it opened in 1982, but today the federally funded building’s 3,318 square meters of active solar panels, not its modern design, make the building notable for staying ahead of new trends in construction that are environmentally-friendly. With the recent passing of a bill in Congress that would offer federal funds to buildings that use solar panels, ICC has proven to remain ahead of its time.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Oberstar-Norton Solar Energy Amendment to the Energy Policy Act of 2003 by a vote of 247-175 on April 11, providing funds to develop solar energy sources, not unlike those found on the large slanting surface of ICC.

Congressman Oberstar (D-Minn.), ranking member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, originally introduced an act nearly identical to 2003’s H.R. 6 when he was elected into Congress 29 years ago, and has constantly reintroduced the legislation.

“This is not a new idea,” Oberstar said on the House floor as he introduced the bill on April 10. “It was one that I first offered, I would say to my good friend, the chairman of the committee, in 1979.”

Congresswoman Norton (D-D.C.), the Ranking Member of the Economic Development and Public Buildings Subcommittee of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, co-sponsored the bill after supporting Oberstar’s similar legislation two years ago. According to Christopher Hicks, a legislative assistant in Norton’s office, because of Norton’s position on the committee, she “has the [General Services Administration] under her jurisdiction and they deal with all public buildings. Since GSA is under her jurisdiction, it made perfect sense for her to co-sponsor this bill.”

Georgetown’s Intercultural Center puts to use exactly what Oberstar and Norton’s legislation hopes to inspire and fund — alternative forms of energy, specifically solar energy.

The Oberstar-Norton amendment sanctions the GSA to equip new and existing federal buildings with photovoltaic solar electric systems, providing up to $263 million in funds for this project over the next five fiscal years. Solar panels can be produced in three separate forms: solar water heating systems, solar air heating systems and solar electric photovoltaic systems. Both Georgetown’s ICC and the proposed amendment make use of photovoltaic systems.

Photovoltaic panels directly convert sunlight to electricity, using energy from photons in the sun’s rays.

Using this method, ICC has generated over 3.5 million kilowatt-hours since its conception, according to University Architect Alan Brangman.

ICC is covered with 10 solar panels spanning 3,318 square meters of the building’s slanted surface and producing about 40 percent of the energy needed to run the facility. The size of the building’s active solar area ranks ICC as the largest single-installation solar panel in the world.

Not only do the panels garner ICC superlative records, but they also consistently save the university a significant sum of money. The panels offset about $45,000 in electric bills each year and, “typically, the electrical bill for that building will be substantially less than what it is for other buildings,” Brangman said. (“1980s Energy Crisis Inspired ICC’s Solar Panels,” THE HOYA, Tuesday, March 20, 2001)Government funds actually paid for the building of ICC itself, under a project entitled the “Demonstration Project.” This venture, under the eye of Congress and the Department of Energy, provided $10 million in resources to construct ICC. While building ICC was a reaction inspired by the 1980s energy crisis, the recent amendment has more proactive and environmentally based goals. It aims to accelerate the growth of commercially viable photovoltaic energy, thus making it more accessible to the general public, to reduce fossil fuel consumption by the federal government and to develop future incentive programs for alternative fuel sources.

“Congresswoman [Norton] is a big proponent of environmental issues and she felt this would be a good way for the federal government to included solar energy as part of their public buildings,” Hicks said.

“It’s time that the federal government went solar and set an example for the use of alternatives to fossil fuels for the rest of the country,” Norton said in a Feb. 14 press release. “Over time, solar power could become the most efficient way to provide energy to federal buildings in many locations.”

The Oberstar-Norton amendment also “seeks to fulfill the promise of the Million Solar Roofs Initiative of 1997 to have 20,000 photovoltaic solar energy systems installed in federal buildings by 2010,” Norton’s press release said.

ICC may not have been the motivation behind Oberstar and Norton’s amendment, and the original technology for solar power developed in the 1950s, long before the building’s first stone was ever placed, but it still stands tall as a model for alternative energy sources. Georgetown has also focused on other forms of alternative energy, specifically in the new fuel cell bus research, which has been funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation over the last 20 years.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory, part of the U.S. Department of Energy, cites Georgetown University as a higher education institution dedicated to innovation and an openness to new ideas and technologies. According to the NREL’s Web site, Georgetown’s “impressive Intercultural Center makes a dramatic statement of those ideals. With a 337-kWp PV array integrated into the sweeping south roof, this large, modern facility sets a shining example, showcasing distributed, utility-interactive PV as the preferred power source for the future.”