Cuppy, Subman, and Mobil Racing Celebrate Plainfield Plazas

A unique celebration alongside Interstate 395 recently took place in Connecticut’s Quiet Corner.
Subman and Cuppy, the mascots of Subway and Dunkin’ Donuts respectively, celebrated the official grand opening of the I-395 Plainfield Service Plazas this past weekend, April 13 and 14, 2013.
The plazas are located between exits 89 and 90, near the Route 6 interchange.
In addition to colorful balloons decorating the inside and outside of both plazas, a Mobil racing car #14 could be seen near the outdoor patio of the northbound plaza. Several customers were seen taking photos of this racing car whose accompanying truck was parked near the northbound plaza’s pylon sign that lists the gas prices.
A Subway, Dunkin’ Donuts, Mobil Mart convenience store, and a Mobil gasoline station are located at both plazas.
Previously, both plazas featured only a Mobil Mart convenience store and Mobil gasoline station.
According to the Connecticut Service Plaza Facebook page, coupons to celebrate the occasion were printed in the Norwich Bulletin.
The plazas first reopened Sept. 28, 2012, about seven months ago, and are the first service plazas to be renovated in Eastern Connecticut.
They previously closed for renovations on July 1, 2011 and were scheduled to open June 2012 but septic system issues delayed the opening.
The Connecticut Service Plaza Web site states that solar panels have been installed at eight of the newly renovated service plazas. 
Data is monitored from these solar panels and posted on the Web site. Both Plainfield plazas along with the Rte. 15 plazas in Fairfield have solar panel systems of 2.76 kilowatts direct current. 
At the Plainfield Northbound service plaza, 599.10 kilowatt hours was generated to date with total CO2 offset equaling 10 trees.
The Plainfield Southbound service plaza has generated 726.20 kilowatt hours so far with total CO2 offset equaling 13 trees. The total energy generated at the southbound plaza is equal to 4 60-watt bulbs for 1 year of 8 hours a day use and equal to 58 gallons of gasoline saved. 
While electricity produced is used by the facilities, excess power is fed into the utility grid and used by other customers. Connecticut Service Plaza is paid for energy production exceeding their usage demand. 
Other energy-saving initiatives that have been taken include “installation of reflective roofs to reduce heat absorption, using of heat pump systems to reduce heating/cooling impact, water efficient landscaping that requires no irrigation, water efficient plumbing fixtures and heaters, retaining existing building components when possible, recycling over 75% of demolition waste, using recyclable construction materials when possible, using low-volatile odor compound adhesives and materials, and reducing light pollution via energy efficient lights with leak-reduction shields.”