Summary

The Lummi Nation will install an approximately 100-kilowatt (kW) solar photovoltaic (PV) system at the Lummi Indian Business Council Health and Wellness Center, and a new 50,000-square-foot facility in Bellingham, Washington, in an effort to 1) improve economic and energy self-sufficiency and 2) reduce emissions from energy production and use that contribute to global climate change, air-quality degradation, and other adverse environmental and human health impacts. The project is estimated to save $324,984 over the 25-year life of the system and provide training for seven tribal members.

Project Description

Background

The Lummi People are the original inhabitants of Washington State’s northernmost coast and southern British Columbia. The Lummi Nation is self-governing, federally recognized, and the third largest tribe in Washington, serving more than 5,000 members and managing 13,000 acres of tidelands on the Lummi Reservation.

Tribal energy self-sufficiency has been a goal of the Lummi Nation since at least 1993. In 2012 a Wind Resource and Feasibility Assessment Report for the Lummi Reservation was prepared with a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). In 2014 the Lummi Indian Business Council Resolution Guiding Principles to Address Climate Change directed the Lummi Indian Business Council administration to undertake efforts as soon as practical to reduce the Lummi Nation’s contribution to global climate change. In 2016, the Council adopted a Lummi Nation Strategic Energy Plan (SEP) for 2016–2026 to identify options for improving energy efficiency and developing renewable energy resources. The SEP will help attain the Lummi Nation’s stated goals of 1) improved economic and energy self-sufficiency, and 2) reduced emissions from energy production and use that contribute to global climate change, air quality degradation, and other adverse environmental and human health impacts.

In 2020, Lummi Indian Business Council resolutions adopted strategies for communitywide solar development for the purpose of achieving the multiple economic, health, environmental, and educational benefits of solar energy, while maintaining the community character, design standards, and livability of the Lummi Nation. This project is a step toward those goals.

Project Objectives

The Lummi Nation will install an approximately 100-kW solar PV system at the Lummi Indian Business Council Health and Wellness Center, a new 50,000-square-foot facility. The project is estimated to provide a 14% offset from a baseline energy use intensity of 55 kilo British thermal units per square foot per year, or 8,058,945 kilowatt-hours per year for similarly sized (in square feet) medical office buildings; save $324,984 over the 25-year life of the system; and provide solar installation training for seven tribal members. Environmental benefits include elimination of an estimated 77,784 pounds of carbon dioxide, 48 pounds of sulfur dioxide, and 72 pounds nitrogen oxides_.

The facility will be in a high-visibility area, which hosts a cluster of community resources such as the Administration Building, Housing Authority, Northwest Indian College, and Fitness Center. This facility will be a resource for the entire Tribe. The facility comprises adult and pediatric clinics; dental, behavioral health, and rehabilitation offices, a drop-in childcare, and other ancillary spaces. The Tribe intends to pursue an “integrated care” approach to delivering health and wellness services to the tribal community that is to be reflected in the design of this facility. Integrated care is the systematic coordination of general and behavioral healthcare to better serve individuals with mental health, substance use, and primary medical conditions.

Project Scope

The Lummi Nation will install an approximately 100-kW roof-mounted solar PV system at the new 50,000-square-foot Health and Wellness Center in Bellingham, Washington. The Lummi Indian Business Council will provide overall project management, including oversight of project deliverables and programmatic reporting requirements; financial and administrative management; and all fiscal oversight and reporting.

Lummi Public Works will provide administrative and technical leadership in supervision of the project, as well as expertise in engineering, wastewater, municipal water, and construction, in coordination with Lummi Indian Business Council and other department management.

A general contractor will support construction milestones of the new Wellness Center to meet energy-specific deliverables; provide design of the solar PV system, energy modeling, and design the integration of the solar and heat pump systems with the building systems; and serve as a project and administrative manager, including oversight of interconnection, engineering, procurement, project timelines, logistics, permitting, lead solar installations and training, and safety meetings. This DOE-supported project will include only the solar PV installation. Design of the solar PV system and construction of the Wellness Center fall outside the scope of this project.

Project Location

The Lummi People are the original inhabitants of Washington State’s northernmost coast and southern British Columbia. The Lummi Indian Reservation is to the west of Bellingham in western Whatcom County, south of Ferndale, Washington, and 20 miles south of the border with Canada.The Lummi Nation will install an approximately 100-kW roof-mounted solar PV system at the Lummi Indian Business Council Health and Wellness Center, and a new 50,000-square-foot facility in Bellingham, Washington.

The project was competitively selected in Fiscal Year 2022 under the DOE Office of Indian Energy’s funding opportunity announcement “Energy Technology Deployment on Tribal Lands – 2020” (DE-FOA-0002317) and started in September 2022.

The project status reports provide more information.