Customers should not have much trouble finding Half-Moon Outfitters new store in Columbia, SC when it opens June 3. They can just head down the 2900 block of Devine Street until they see the giant tree like structure bristling with solar panels and pull in.


As owner, Half Moon was able to retrofit the building for solar power, so owner Beezer Molton figured why not make a statement. Rather than install solar panels on the roof of the building where noone would see them, he worked with local contractors to erect a 5 kw solar solar array on a tree-like structure that will no doubt become an oft referenced landmark in Columbia’s Five Points District. 

 

The solar tree became the answer when various design challenges crept up with a conventional solar array during design discussions with Sunstore Solar, the South Carolina based photovoltaic and alternative energy provider. According to Molten the building was just not well suited to a normal rooftop solar array. The orientation to the sun was poor and I really did not want to make a bunch of new roof penetrations to allow for a diagonally mounted array in a place where no one would see it anyway so when Sunstore started talking about a parking lot array or a tree, it really struck a chord with us.

 

Building a solar tree is no easy task. Sunstore Solar Saleman Andrew Streit commissioned a sculpting and welding team at Stuyck and Co. to buildi it in the Five Points District of Columbia. The tree is itself built from salvaged steel, and was welded together utilizing the engineering expertise of Fuss & ONeill to insure that solar panels will withstand up to Hurricane force winds.


The building that the tree will partially power (perhaps offsetting as much as 10% of the stores power needs) has a number of notable green design elements:


  • All paints and sealants are VOC free or of low VOC content.

  • All lights are either fluorescent or LED 

  • Most of the metal and steel used is salvaged. 

  • The majority of the lumber is harvested within 100 miles of the store most notable and prominently is the SC Cedar.

  • The majority of the remaining lumber is either salvaged or re-claimed.

  • The Front doors are salvaged and were once the front doors of Columbia High School, a beloved institution that was demolished years ago and was built in 1915.

  • The buildings façade windows are actually roll up garage doors to encourage natural ventilation on pretty days.

  • All new paved surfaces will be pervious.

  • All purchased landscape plantings will be native.

  • Most donated plant materials are fruit bearing.

Half-Moon Outfitters is leveraging experience and expertise garnered during their 2005 and 2006 renovation of its North Charleston Distribution center which resulted in a LEED Platinum NC 2.2 designation, the first in the state. The architectural firm of Molten/Lamar provided the design and in both cases the buildings were designed to encourage and invite the winter sun in but with critical awnings to keep the summer sun out.



The new Half-Moon at 2920 Devine Street in Columbia, SC will open on June 3rd at noon. Half-Moon Outfitters is a chain of 8 retail stores in South Carolina and Georgia and is on-line at www.halfmoonoutfitters.com.