The exhibit, located in the historic Lion House, will run with help from the new energy-saving fuel cell. The device is expected to work with the zoo’s cogeneration facility and decrease electrical demand to the Lion House by 200 kilowatts.
“The Power Authority is proud to be part of this important new exhibit at the Bronx Zoo,” said Roger Kelley, NYPA president and chief executive officer. “The clean virtually emission-free, power and heat generated by the fuel cell will allow the zoo to meet its growing power needs deriving from the new exhibit and offset the need for a more expensive process for bringing power to the location.”
The new fuel cell is only one of the many ways in which the WCS will ensure that its conservation practices at home are consistent with its global duty of protecting wildlife and wild places.
Its placement in the “Madagascar!” exhibit, which highlights the many threats and dangers facing the island’s biodiversity, personifies this goal.
“We can’t be a leader in global conservation, if we don’t also live it at home,” said Steven Sanderson, president and CEO of the WCS. “Conservation globally, includes conservation at home.”
Even before Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC was established to ensure a greener-greater New York, the WCS worked on green building plans to incorporate energy saving technologies in their facilities.
“We’ve always been a part of the NYPA,” said Bronx Zoo spokeswoman Linda Corcoran. “What people don’t know is we started green building design six years ago.”
In 2006, the zoo’s Lion House received the New York City Green Building Award by the New York City Department of Environment Protection and will be the first sight in New York City expected to receive the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.
Some of the green technology includes extensive use of dynamic skylights to maximize daylight and modulate the temperature in the exhibit, geothermal heating and cooling systems to reduce consumption of fossil fuels, and technologies that result in a 57% savings in energy and a 59% savings in water consumption.
Today, the NYPA has installed 15 fuel cells in New York and other locations. In January 2009, UTC Power, a United Technologies Corporation, will supply 12 fuel cells for the Freedom Tower and three other new towers at the city’s World Trade Center site.
Selected by the NYPA, the fuel cells will help New York City reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and provide a healthier habitat for the Bronx and the rest of the City.
