This home in Falmouth served as a model for what a modular green home might look like. In addition to extreme energy efficiency, it uses solar hot water collectors for domestic hot water and supplemental radiant heating.

At ReVision we’ve had the honor to work on several pilot projects for net-zero homes – projects like the Bright Built Barn and GO Home which have proven to produce more energy than they use.

This leading edge building science is starting to move from the realm of demonstration to reality, marked yesterday in the Portland Press Herald’s coverage of new green modular homes developed by Kaplan Thompson Architects and Keiser Homes.

Tux Turkel writes:

To achieve net-zero performance, Keiser looked at a site-built home Kaplan had recently designed in Falmouth. That home, which is 1,680 square feet and has three bedrooms and 2½ bathrooms, served as a prototype for the line. It’s being offered as the Great Diamond model, with a starting price of $235,000.

Each model combines energy efficiency with features that promote healthy indoor living, such as low-emission paint and heat recovery ventilation for fresh air exchange. South-facing windows help warm the homes in winter; roof overhangs block hot sunlight in summer.

Each home will be plumbed and wired for solar. For buyers who choose the option, solar hot water, solar electric systems or both will be installed.

Choosing both systems could add another $40,000 or so, although tax credits could lower the cost. The systems are designed to soak up enough energy over the course of a year to offset electric bills. The extra power generated by the solar electric panels in the summer and fed back into the grid is intended to make up utility costs in winter — resulting in net-zero energy consumption.

What makes the homes remarkable is that they are not being marketed at the top-tier of development, but towards middle class families. “We think this is the direction of the future,” said Josh Saunders, Keiser’s sales manager. “Even more than sustainable, energy efficient is what people are going to gravitate to. That’s where the payback is.”

As we’ve mentioned before, investing in a solar electric system allows you to pre buy electricity for less than today’s grid rates. Add to that a life of minimal utility bills, and net zero starts to mean as much economic sense as it does environmental sense.

More info at Kaplan Thompson’s website.

Come to learn about our native wildlife and the latest conservation efforts and what you can do to help protect these animals and their habitat—with knowledgeable staff from CFW, White Pine Programs, Mt. A Conservation, York Land Trust, Revision Energy, BioDiversity Research Institute and others.

Meet CFW’s wildlife rehabilitation & education team, including staff, interns, volunteers & wildlife ambassadors (resident, non-releaseable live reptiles, birds of prey and mammals)! Enjoy storytelling, kid’s learning activities, conservation exhibits, raffle prizes ice cream and lots more!

FMI, directions & trolley schedule, visit our website: www.yorkcenterforwildlife.org or call CFW at 207-361-1400.

Solar panels are becoming a more common sight on public buildings, such as this solar electric system on the Town Hall of Dayton, Maine. Now a group of Unity College students aims to put solar on the White House.

We’re thrilled to see that a group of Unity students have embarked on a journey to Washington to encourage Obama to put solar panels back on the White House.

It was President Jimmy Carter who first put solar hot water collectors on the White House on June 20, 1979, used originally to heat water for the White House staff eating area.  The panels represented a new solar strategy that Carter said was going to “move our nation toward true energy security and abundant, readily available energy supplies.”

In 1986, President Ronald Reagan had the panels removed, and now, in 2010, students are bringing one of the panels back.

Here’s an audio clip from yesterday’s Democracy Now featuring Bill McKibben, founder of the green group 350.org, and Unity student Jean Altomare:

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This project is starting to gather more and more momentum as the caravan draws closer to Washington. Here’s an excerpt from a Reuters Blog Post on the effort:

Bill McKibben, founder of the green group 350.org, is on a quest to convince President Barack Obama to put solar panels back on the roof of the White House.

He’s at the end of a journey to Washington from Maine in a van fired by biodiesel carrying one of the 32 panels Jimmy Carter unveiled in 1979 during the first press conference on the White House roof.

Also in the van are students from Unity College, which got the the panels some time after President Ronald Reagan, no fan of alternative energy, had workers remove the panels during “roof repairs” in 1986.

McKibben had hoped to meet with somebody high up in the Obama administration such as Carol Browner, Obama’s top energy and climate aide. He’s been talking all week with the White House’s Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) on the plan.

”They keep saying it’s complicated and difficult, but compared with the other tasks they face, we think this one is relatively simple and it would be a great statement,” McKibben said via cell phone from the van.

… U.S. seed sales shot higher the year after Michelle Obama planted a vegetable garden on the White House grounds. Solar power backers say President Obama could spark a similar reaction in their business if he put panels on top of the most coveted real estate in the country.

You can follow the story of the students on their blog, Putsolaron.it

We wish the Mainers good luck!

Aqua Maine’s new water treatment facility in Rockport uses solar hot water and solar electric systems which will work together to provide over 80,000 kw/hr of energy each year.

The Free Press, today featured our recent project with the Camden and Rockland Division of Aqua Maine.

The new $7.2 million wastewater treatment facility in Mirror Lake in Rockport features both solar electric and solar hot water systems.

The solar systems will work in tandem to provide more than 75% of the needed energy to heat 2,500 gallons of treated lake water to 95° F each day (a feat that requires up to 1,209,300 BTUs in the wintertime!).

According to The Free Press:

The new facility uses more power to push water through the filters, and the microfiltration membranes must be periodically cleaned with heated water. Rick Knowlton, vice president of operations, says, “While the original design of the facility included a large electric heater to warm water for the membrane cleaning process, we knew that this would be a perfect application for a solar thermal system to supplement or reduce the use of the electric heater. Almost 2,500 gallons of warm water will be needed every day, and the solar system being constructed should reduce our purchased electricity by 80,000 kWh every year. It’s one of the larger solar systems installed in Maine.”

Over the first 20 years of its life, the system is expected to save over $210,000 in electric costs. And according to The Free Press, “the power savings have been passed on to the Camden & Rockland Division customers as part of the recent Maine PUC decision on rates.”

Not only will Midcoast Mainers benefit financially from the project, but they can breathe a little easier, too. The solar system will offset roughly 1.27 million pounds of C02 each year, the equivalent of planting over 3,600 trees.

More Photos from Our Commercial Solar Photo Gallery:

For more installations, see our Solar Projects Map

This 3.2kw solar electric system will offset roughly 6,603 lbs of C02 annually. That’s the equivalent of planting 33 trees or reducing 12,000 miles of car travel.

For Maureen Quinn, energy efficiency and conservation is a key part of owning a home.

She had been thinking about solar for years, but the generous state and federal incentives made it easy for her to get started. “Now seemed to be the ideal time for me to make it happen,” she says.

Quinn met ReVision’s Will Kessler at an open house, where she had the opportunity to see the systems up close and get a feeling for how the process went. After a complimentary site visit, Will designed a 3.2kw grid-tied solar electric system to be installed on her south-facing roof. The project specification, according to Quinn, “compared favorably with the competition, particularly in regards to experience and price.”

Saving Green by Being Green

Quinn reports that ReVision’s installation team “exceeded my expectations completely” and had the system running in only two half days. Now she’s enjoying keeping tabs on how much energy she’s sending back to the grid!

“I love saving money every month by using the power of the sun instead of fossil based fuel to power my home,” she says. “It is great to keep some green for being green!”

Maureen’s system will produce roughly 4,402 kilowatt hours of clean, renewable electricity annually, offsetting 6,603 lbs. of CO2 emissions. The 3.2kw system will generate roughly 65% of her home’s total electricity.

What do the design features of a building tell us about the building’s relationship to nature or natural systems? Children learn about their relationship to ecological systems and to sustainable practices through the buildings they spend time in. Children spend about eight hours a day inside schools… what are we teaching them through our architectural and infrastructure choices?

Presenters Cindy Thomashow and Alan Kuniholm will explore these questions and more in September’s Green Eggs, the Maine Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council‘s monthly breakfast forum.

Join us at the beautiful Maine Audubon’s Gilsland Farm Environmental Center starting with networking and breakfast from 7:30 – 8:00 followed by a 45 minute presentation and a 15 minute question, answer & discussion period. Full breakfast – local, organic, creative – will be prepared by Local Sprouts Cooperative. Attendees can stick around after the presentations for a tour of the farm.

Attendance is $10 for members and $15 for non members. To register for the event, visit the Maine Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council’s website.