Newburgh healthcare facility holds solar panel ribbon-cutting ceremony

NEWBURGH, Ind. (WFIE) - A ribbon-cutting ceremony at Orthopedic Associates happened early on Friday afternoon.

Orthopedic Associates will soon become the only healthcare facility in Indiana to have net-zero energy usage, all done by a parking canopy.

This means the total amount of energy used by the building on an annual basis is roughly equal to the amount of renewable energy created on the site.

The surgical practice has completed a solar array disguised as a parking canopy.

When patients or employees come to park their cars at the practice, not only are they parking under the shade, but they’re also parking under the building’s energy source.

“This project has really been a passion of ours for several years now," Dennis Beck, the president of Orthopedic Associates said. “It represents the completion of something that we feel very important about, which is the environment and financial responsibility towards our patients right here in our community. It represents the first net-zero energy health care company in the entire state, and I can’t think of anything I’d be more proud of today than that.”

Health officials at the facility also explored different options for this project like wind energy, but decided the solar array was perfect as it doubles as another advantage for their patients and employees.

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