McKinstry Expands Services with Holistic Solar and Storage Solutions

Our renewable team is growing to support our clients in pursuit of a zero-carbon future

As part of McKinstry’s Action for Impact plan to address the climate, affordability and equity crises, we are focusing on transforming the built environment by breaking down barriers for organizations pursuing a zero-carbon future. Our renewable energy team has successfully developed, built and maintained rooftop, canopy and ground-mounted solar and storage projects for city and county governments, K-12 school districts, higher education institutions, healthcare facilities and others.

“Interest in decarbonization and renewables is flourishing as leaders across the country seek to establish bold, aggressive zero-carbon goals,” said Jeff Hughes, McKinstry’s director of renewable energy services. “We’re seeing opportunities to offer robust renewable energy options in nearly every market, helping clients identify creative solutions that not only fit their budget and infrastructure needs but their sustainability goals as well.” In the past three years, McKinstry has grown its renewable energy team from its initial two hires to a team of 20 professionals who have been awarded projects ranging in size from 500 kW to 15 MW across 14 states.

These projects include:

Howard County, Arkansas: Installed a 30 8kW solar array coupled with energy upgrades and retrofits that bring the county close to net-zero energy. The county will generate as much energy each year as it consumes at zero cost premium to taxpayers.

Salt Lake City School District: Partnering with the district in its goal of reaching clean, renewable electricity by 2030 and overall carbon neutrality by 2040. The project will yield a 30% reduction in carbon emissions by electrifying two elementary schools and installing more than 1 MW of solar power at six schools.

Winona State University: Finishing a solar energy project that will result in a 23.8% reduction in utility costs and a total savings of $26 million over the project’s 25-year lifetime.

Northwest Colorado regional government partnership: Completed 13 new solar arrays constructed across eight local government agencies throughout Northwest Colorado. This collaboration supports the state’s goal to achieve 100% renewable energy by 2040.

Climate Pledge Arena: The arena is targeted to be the first International Living Future Institute certified zero-carbon arena in the world. McKinstry-installed photovoltaics that provides more than 1.4 million kWh of annual renewable electricity and 31,000 metric tons of carbon offset over the project’s lifetime.

Denver Public Schools: We partnered with the district on an energy savings performance contract to upgrade critical systems and add 5 MW of solar across 17 schools totaling more than 3.8 million square feet. The project continues to deliver $1.5 million in annual utility and operations and maintenance cost savings each year.

Catalyst Building: Part of the South Landing Living Laboratory, the Catalyst Building employs a variety of innovative technologies and solutions, such as cross-laminated timber, daylighting and air sealing, to hit zero-energy and zero-carbon targets. Featuring a rooftop solar array that generates approximately 300,000 kWh each year, the building’s design ensures it remains functional without power. The Catalyst Building is on target to become one of the largest zero-carbon and zero-energy buildings ever certified by the International Living Future Institute (ILFI).

As a leader in the commercial solar and battery energy storage market, we remain dedicated to building trust with clients using thoughtful, comprehensive solutions tailored to client needs and desired outcomes.

Director of Project Development Heath Mackay shares, “We collaborate with our customers to holistically assess technology and project finance solutions, which results in projects that truly meet their long-term sustainability and economic objectives. By approaching projects with the focus squarely on the client and their goals, we offer something unique in the market.”

Beyond our work on behalf of clients across the U.S. to chart the course for a zero-carbon future, we are proud to be one of the first organizations to sign The Climate Pledge co-founded by Amazon and Global Optimism. We are committed to reducing our net greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2025 and achieving net-zero-carbon by 2030.

Learn more about how McKinstry provides additional value and savings to maximize the economic and environmental impact of solar and storage projects.

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