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Thanks to $1.6 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), installation of energy efficient and renewable energy technologies was recently completed at the New Jersey Institute of Technology’s Oak Residence Hall. The project was approved by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities and the U.S. Department of Energy as one of seven projects in the $20.6 million State Energy Program funded by ARRA. Upgrades to the building will reduce electrical energy use by an estimated 50 percent, and fossil fuel use by an estimated 40 percent.   Among the technologies implemented is a SunMaxx solar thermal hot water heating system. Installed by Mechanical Degrees, Inc., the system consists of 37 SunMaxx ThermoPower-VHP30 evacuated tube solar collectors and incorporates a StorMaxx-NP 2,084 gallon non-pressurized tank for storage. Inside the tank are a total of 11 stacked 90 foot heat exchanger coils (two per stack); four for the solar loop and seven for the heating of the domestic hot water. Sixty-five percent of the energy needed to heat the building’s hot water is efficiently handled by the SunMaxx solar hot water heating system.   According to Boris Shapiro, executive director of technical services and program project manager, the plan utilizes a number of innovative renewable energy and energy efficient technologies.   “NJIT’s facilities team has created an energy improvement plan that utilizes an innovative mix of technology to upgrade operations and reduce the ecological footprint of this building,” Shapiro said. “We expect Oak Hall to emerge as a model building that can be used to introduce energy efficiency concepts to the state’s higher education community.”   SunMaxx Solar is an industry leader in the manufacture and distribution of turnkey solar thermal solutions for domestic hot water and space heating systems. Our prepackaged solar hot water and space heating kits are specially designed for either commercial or residential applications. For more information, please visit SunMaxx Solar online at www.sunmaxxsolar.com. You can also contact a solar thermal specialist at 1.877.786.6299 or via twitter (@sunmaxxsolar) and on facebook.