每日跟讀#770: Why the Star of a Big Hollywood Development Is the Sun

At last count, there were 34 major construction projects in Hollywood, which Los Angeles officials are determined to turn into a high-density area.

根據最新近的統計，好萊塢計有34個大型建案，洛杉磯市政官員決心把好萊塢變成一個建築物密集的地區。

But one new building stands out amid the glut, and not just because of its name — the Epic — or the company that will soon occupy all of its 13 floors: Netflix.

在這新建築物供過於求之際，有一棟新的大樓卻顯得與眾不同，不只是因為它名叫Epic，或是Netflix很快就會使用它全部13個樓層。

The just-completed Epic is the first office tower in LA to embed solar energy-generating panels (“building integrated photovoltaics”) into its facade, according to Hudson Pacific, which owns the property. Put simply, the structure will use its walls to capture and convert sunlight into electricity.

擁有該大樓的哈德遜太平洋公司指出，剛竣工的Epic是洛杉磯第一座將太陽能發電面板（建築整合太陽能）嵌入建築立面的辦公大樓。簡而言之，這棟建物將利用它的牆壁來捕捉陽光，並轉化為電能。

“Vertical panels are extremely uncommon and part of the reason is just physics — they’re less efficient than if you have them on the roof,” said Bernadette Del Chiaro, executive director of the California Solar and Storage Association, a trade group.

“So I’m not sure how much energy they will generate. But it’s still interesting.”

同業組織加州太陽能與儲存協會執行董事伯納戴特．德爾基亞洛說：「垂直面板非常罕見，部分原因直接關乎物理原理，它們的效率不如裝在屋頂。因此，我不確定它們會產生多少電能，但這仍是件很有趣的事。」

Del Chiaro described Los Angeles as “almost a clean-energy desert,” saying, “it’s the place with the most amount of energy need and the most sun and the least amount of this type of experimentation.”

德爾基亞洛形容洛杉磯「幾乎是個乾淨能源的荒漠」，表示「這裡是個能源需求最大、陽光最多，這一類實驗卻最少的地方」。

The 310 panels, manufactured by Walters & Wolf and installed on the building’s east and west sides (the two with the greatest exposure), will supply 1.5% of the power that Netflix needs, according to Natalie Teear, Hudson Pacific’s vice president for sustainability and social impact.

哈德遜太平洋公司主管永續性及社會影響業務的副總裁娜塔莉．提爾指出，由Walters & Wolf製造、安裝在大樓東面和西面（陽光照射最多的兩邊）的310片面板，將供應Netflix所需電力的1.5%。

“It’s just a cool example of what’s possible,” Teear said.

提爾說：「這恰恰是個展示可能性的很酷的例子。」

Chris Barton, Hudson Pacific’s executive vice president for development and capital investments, declined to say how much the solar panels added to the cost of construction.

克里斯．巴頓是哈德遜太平洋公司主管開發與資本投資的執行副總裁，他拒絕透露太陽能板會使建築成本增加多少。

“There’s a premium to pay for them, certainly,” he said. “But we want to do what we can to establish a market for this technology.”

他說：「當然，要為它付額外的費用，但我們希望盡自己所能為這項技術建立起市場。」

Netflix had no comment. A Hudson Pacific spokeswoman said the streaming giant would move into the building in the coming months.

Netflix未就此事發表評論。哈德遜太平洋一位女發言人表示，這家串流媒體巨擘將在未來幾個月內搬進這棟大樓。

The Epic has other unusual features — colossal outdoor work spaces with trees, fire pits and sofas, for instance — but Netflix’s primary Hollywood headquarters will remain across the street in a building (also owned by Hudson Pacific) that is known for its eye-popping lobby.

Epic還有些與眾不同的其他特點，例如有樹木、火坑跟沙發的巨大戶外工作空間，但Netflix在好萊塢的主要總部，仍會在對街一棟以大廳令人瞠目結舌著稱的大樓（亦由哈德遜太平洋公司擁有）之內。

Source article: https://paper.udn.com/udnpaper/POH0067/348832/web/#2L-16233285L