Aggregates Manager Digital Magazine
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/85652
G THE SUN Seeking ranite Construction Inc. is proactive when it comes to new technology, especially where the environment is concerned. "We're engineers and employees who are very interested in technology issues," says Lee Haven, business development manager for Granite. "If there's a newer, better, stronger, faster way to do things, we want to be at the forefront of that. We're very proactive in trying to understand any issue that will make the cost of production a little cheaper and, at the same time, help our communities. We live, play, work, eat, sleep, and raise our children in these communities, and we want to be part of them. It isn't rhetoric. It's a way of life." In keeping with its proactive policy, Granite be- gan using solar panels at its Indio Quarry last year in hopes that the panels would provide a majority of the power required for the operation of an onsite hot-mix plant. The Indio solar project was developed using AMONIX CPV (concentrated photo voltaic) technology, and in cooperation with the Imperial Irrigation District, a community-owned utility that provides electric power and irrigation water to the lower southeastern portion of California's desert. The solar project wasn't the first industrial-grade project in the Coachella Valley, but it was the first of this particular kind. "We placed six solar panels on about 14 acres located at our Indio hot-plant facility in an area we call our sustainable green zone," Haven says. "We actually placed the mega-modules on disturbed ground where we put a lot of our recycled asphalt product. Because of that, we didn't have to do ad- ditional environmental studies for the project. We were able to pull a permit over the counter through the County of Riverside. Make no mistake, the County of Riverside is very interested in assisting A California quarry uses the power of the sun to provide energy for its hot-mix plant. by Kerry Clines, Senior Editor SOLAR POWER 29