Condos at recycled school site use sun's power

* What: Solar panels

* Company: Thomas Johnson Architecture

* Located: Park Place Condominiums on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard

* How's it green? The condominium, formerly Park Place School, was bought by Thomas Johnson in 2004 and renovated into a residential space. Solar panels installed on the condominiums roof will be used to heat floors inside lofts and condominiums in the building.

* When: January and February

* Why done this way? The floor heating system tubing was installed in 2007 when the renovation was completed. However, the solar panels were not put in place until the beginning of this year.

* Plans for expanding in future: Mr. Johnson says he plans to continue constructing buildings with solar energy features and focus on energy conscious design. "In my opinion if you are not going solar, you're not going green," he said.

* Any suggestions for others considering green initiatives? When it comes to constructing solar buildings, Mr. Johnson advises others to face the windows south and minimize the east and west windows. "If you face your windows south it'll help heat the building up in the winter and keep it cool in the summer.

* Is this an essential part of the business focus and why? "It's the only reason I got into architecture, I've been designing solar buildings for 30 years," Mr. Johnson said. "I'm an environmentalist and the only way we are going to quit burning so much coal is to use solar power. For years everybody thought I was nuts but now going green is politically correct."

-- Compiled by staff writer Tamara Best, tbest@timesfreepress.com