NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release: February 13, 2013                               

For More Information:
David Wedekindt, Center for the Arts
716-645-6775 or [email protected]

UB Center for the Arts Video Production Group Nominated for 2013 New York Emmy® Award

Buffalo, NY - The Center for the Arts Video Production Group at the University at Buffalo (UB) has been nominated for a 2013 New York Emmy® Award.  The honor recognizes an informational video on the UB Solar Strand produced by the Center for the Arts Video Production Group in collaboration with a cross cutting team of university faculty, staff and students, the New York Power Authority and key community partners.

The University at Buffalo's 750 kilowatt Solar Strand, brought to life by world-renowned artist Walter Hood, reflects a transformative vision that defines the future of sustainability. Its approach moves beyond obtaining carbon neutrality and reducing UB's footprint. It welcomes students, faculty staff and community members to UB's campus through a connected and cultural natural landscape, designed to be one of the most publicly accessible energy sites in the world. Like higher education, the strand is multidimensional; merging teaching, learning, art, research, sustainability and community engagement into a complex and powerful resource that will be a model for future development.

Groups of photovoltaic panels are mounted onto supports that stretch in three rows along Flint Road, creating a new gateway to the North Campus.  The design's logic is derived from the "strand" concept: a linear landscape formation and DNA fingerprint.  Walkways run between the rows of panels, connecting the array with local roads, the Center for Tomorrow, and naturally regenerated meadows and wetland areas that the public can enjoy.  Gathering spaces embedded in the project include an open-air chamber paved with recycled, concrete sidewalk slabs. The array's tallest groupings of solar panels form a slanted roof over three outdoor "social rooms."

At 140 feet wide and 1,250 feet long, the array has a rated capacity to produce enough electricity for hundreds of students apartments.  The project, one of the largest ground-mounted solar arrays in New York State, was funded by the New York Power Authority.

The Center for the Arts Video Production Group is a professional television and video outlet dedicated to enhancing communication about the Center for the Arts, University at Buffalo and affiliated groups.  It collaborates with a wide range of university clients to produce videos for marketing, development, education and entertainment.  Since 2006, the group has been honored with fourteen national Telly Awards and a 2011 New York Emmy® Award.

The New York Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences presents Emmy awards in recognition of excellence in the television industry.  The final winners will be announced in a ceremony on April 14, 2013 in New York City.

Links for more information:

"UB Solar Strand: The Vision" on YouTube

More info on The Solar Strand

New York Emmy Awards

####