Brightfields for a Brighter Future: Solar Potential Analysis for the City of Muncie

Keywords: Sustainability, brownfield, brownfield redevelopment, solar, brightfield
Session Type: Virtual Poster
Day: Saturday
Session Start / End Time: 4/10/2021 08:00 AM (Pacific Time (US & Canada)) - 4/10/2021 09:15 AM (Pacific Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 51

Abstract

The Brightfields for a Brighter Future project was implemented in Spring 2021 as Ball State University’s Regional Analysis and Design Studio. This community-based course was built around the theme of promoting a more sustainable community through analysis of the solar energy potential of existing brownfields in Muncie, Indiana. This project was conducted by ten urban planning major students interested in regional planning, brownfield redevelopment, application of GIS-based planning techniques to regional scale, and sustainable community-building. Partnering with the Beyond Coal Campaign of Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter, students assess, analyze, and evaluate the energy production potential of rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) panel installations on City of Muncie-owned buildings and public schools, electric grid-connected solar PV installation on brownfields, and off-grid community solar installations. The final result includes the site selection results for the large-scale and community off-grid solar PV installation and digital rendering of the proposed site design. This project was funded by a BSU Provost’s Immersive Learning grant due to its focus on community-based learning.