Company to Build First LEED-certified Cell Site

June 8, 2012

Santell Solutions is designing and in the approval process for the first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), Green Globe-certified tower site. The site design will include sustainable solutions in almost every aspect of the project, including self-generating power from wind, recycled building and shelter materials, site environmental applications and a very low carbon footprint.

“We are working in conjunction with several individuals who are on the sustainability advisory group in Washington, D.C.,” said Andrew Santacroce, president, Santell Solutions. “The site will also be based upon BIM, Building Information Modeling, so that all equipment will be monitored within the project website, including alarms, security, aviation and equipment life cycle analytics. We have adopted this approach to meet the Department of the Interior executive directives for sustainability to be placed into effect in 2015.”

Located adjacent to the Appalachian Trail (AT) on federal land, the 330-foot self-support tower will be used for LTE, microwave backbone systems and E-911 end users. The site provides RF coverage and Microwave shots over the east/west barrier of the Appalachian Mountain Range in Pennsylvania.

The project will replace five existing older towers and disintegrating infrastructure with a sustainable site, reducing the scenic and environmental impact on the AT.

“We have been involved with many manufacturers, many of whom in this business were not aware of sustainable design,” Santacroce said. “It is our intention to deploy these innovations at several other sites along the AT as well as within other government-owned, environmentally sensitive properties.”

Santell Solutions’ approach to upgrading the telecom facilities includes deploying a Web-based collaborative portal, where government agencies, hiking and biking clubs and the AT Conservancy have access to information on site designs and other facets of the development process.

“We have used this type of site with several of our clients (national carriers to local broadcast stations) for reporting, inspection services, construction management, project construction, project financial controls, and we have streamlined the portals to be flexible in capabilities to be cost effective for the type and size project,” Santacroce said. “As a side note, we have been able to expedite the process of approvals by almost one year with the use of the information/collaboration portal.”

Over the next few months Santell Solutions will be performing the analytics of the power systems, lighting systems, building environmental controls, site environmental controls and FAA LED lighting and Web-based security systems, including two-way audio communications and PDA alerts.

“We will be publishing the findings in terms of LEED certifications, site operational savings from systems and reliability findings through completion of construction, which is scheduled for December of this year,” Santacroce said.