Marie Selby Botanical Gardens’ downtown Sarasota campus is now the world’s first net positive energy botanical garden complex—and the home of the world’s first net positive energy restaurant. 

Switching on the gardens' solar arrays is the latest advance since the January grand opening of phase one of the gardens’ Master Plan, a $52 million expansion. The gardens' solar arrays will be monitored for both Living Building and Living Community Petal Certification by the International Living Future Institute (ILFI) to demonstrate the project produces more power than it consumes.

The center of the project is the 50,000-square-foot solar network atop the Morganroth Family Living Energy Access Facility (LEAF), which supports a solar array spanning more than one acre. The Elizabeth Moore Rooftop Garden and solar array located atop the Steinwachs Family Plant Research Center adds an additional 7,000 square feet of solar capacity. Together, these installations provide a combined 57,000 square feet of solar infrastructure. Phase One will produce an 1.27 million kilowatt-hours of power per year, which is expected to exceed all the facility’s energy demands by 10 percent.

Additional benefits of the one-of-a-kind solar array include saving Selby Gardens over $100,000 annually in energy costs; offsetting 975 tons of CO2 annually; and providing 100 percent carbon-free cooking for the gardens' fully electrified restaurant.

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