Associate Professor of Architecture Mona El Khafif, together with an interdisciplinary team of UVA faculty and researchers, has been awarded a $30,000 Spark Grant from UVA’s Environmental Institute (EI) for their project Solar Ecologies: Modeling a Framework for Community Solar and Land Restoration. 

One of only four projects to receive EI Spark Grant funding this year, Solar Ecologies brings together cross-disciplinary expertise to explore how community solar infrastructure can be integrated with ecological restoration strategies in urbanized commercial corridors. El Khafif serves as principal investigator, with co-investigators Matthew Seibert (Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture), Elizabeth Marshall (Senior Program Manager, Center for Economic and Policy Studies), Gary Koenig (Professor of Chemical Engineering), and Larry Band (Professor of Environmental Sciences and Civil and Environmental Engineering). 

Focusing on Charlottesville’s I-29 corridor within the Meadow Creek watershed, the team will develop a performance-driven design methodology that models the co-benefits of pairing solar energy production with green infrastructure functions such as stormwater management, urban cooling, and habitat support. The project envisions transforming commercial land into hybrid energy–ecological systems, setting the groundwork for a replicable urban sustainability framework. 

Continue reading this story on the UVA School of Architecture website.