Sky Factory switching to net-zero solar power

The Sky Factory, a global fine art and technology company based in Fairfield, will ?flip the switch? to become Iowa?s first net-zero solar powered business June 7.

Designed and installed by Fairfield?s Ideal Energy, the 3,500 square foot photovoltaic panel array, generating 54 kilowatts, is the largest private installation in the state and will generate 104 percent of Sky Factory?s power needs.

The Sky Factory?s celebration of the launch of the renewable energy system is open to the public.

At 11 a.m., tours are planned of the Sky Factory, the new solar array and an organic garden featuring a greenhouse with a rocket stove, composting system and just-arrived baby chicks.

At 11:30 a.m., presentations will be given by Sky Factory founder Bill Witherspoon, Mayor Ed Malloy and Ideal Energy owners Troy VanBeek and Amy Greenfield. Fairfield youth will share their thoughts on what it means to serve as an eco-conscience of the future, and there will be a group signing of the Eco-Conscience Pledge.

At 11:50 a.m., the celebration will culminate in a collective ?flipping the switch? to launch the Sky Factory as a net-zero solar powered company. From that point on, Sky Factory?s Illusions of Nature products, in primary use as stress-relieving technologies in healthcare facilities, will be created with solar-made electricity.

Tours will continue at noon.

According to Sky Factory press release, ?implementing renewable energy systems is the right thing to do ? for the planet, for our children and for ourselves ? a necessity for a sustainable future. Sky Factory?s solar array is a manifestation of a consensus-based company and represents our unified desire to develop and act on that inner knowing.?

Inspired by Jack Eastman, long-time Sierra Club leader and Sky Factory?s own eco-conscience, the firm began to investigate and implement sustainable practices throughout the company. Sky Factory total recycling, the new energy conserving building and implementation of a renewable energy system all spring from Eastman?s dedication to an eco-centric awareness of life and living.

Further, for the last several decades bio-evolutionary science has been honing the idea that human beings have an innate love of nature, called biophilia. The instinctive attraction to nature has been dampened by the way modern life has distanced people from contact and connection with nature. Enlivening humans? inherent biophilia draws them closer to their roots in the natural world, renews their sensitivity to the wonder of nature, and delivers proven benefits for body and mind.

The Sky Factory?s primary business is to create illusions of nature that enliven biophilia. In turn, enlivened biophilia promotes a life deeply connected with nature.