ReVision Energy would like to congratulate staffers Jen Hatch and Heather Fournier, who each received a “Volunteer of the Year” award by the NH Chapter of the US Green Building Council. Jen also was elected onto the board of the Maine Chapter of the US Green Building Counciland received recognition for her “participation in planning and executing programs as a member of the Program Committee.”

Much of Jen and Heather’s work this year revolved around bringing “Green Eggs” monthly breakfasts, long established in Maine, to New Hampshire. These informal forums feature a speaker on one of many sustainable building topics and a full breakfast. Green Eggs is now offered monthly, generally the 1st Wednesday of the month in Maine and the 2nd Wednesday in New Hampshire.

ReVision Energy’s Jen Hatch, who received recognition for her volunteering efforts for both the Maine and New Hampshire Chapters of the USGBC.

Events this year have included talks on building systems commissioning, air source heat pumps, geothermal, solar, A/V systems and more. Jen also helped with the Green Home Lecture Series which talked about energy efficiency options for homeowner which took place over a series of Tuesdays hosted at ReVision Energy’s Portland showroom.

Thank you for your great service Jen and Heather!

A Bit About the USGBC

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is a national nonprofit organization commited to the development of cost-efficient and energy-saving green buildings. They are the architects of the LEED standards and provide a wealth of resources, educational opportunities and outreach. Bringing USGBC local is a network of 79 chapters, which are independent affiliates that act locally to realize USGBC’s mission of transforming the built environment within a generation.

The New Hampshire Chapter of the US Green Building Council and Maine Chapter of the US Green Building Council are two of these local affiliates, and their efforts in the region include educational programs like Green Eggs and Green Home Lectures, as well as great work promoting LEED projects, advocating on behalf of energy efficiency standards, and educating builders on high efficiency building practices.

Great Work in Our Region

The USGBC and its local chapters also recognize outstanding work in green building. In 2011, the prestigious LEED for Homes Project of the Year Award was awarded to G•O Logic’s signature GO Home (ReVision designed and installed the solar energy systems for the project).

On receiving the award, Principal Matt O’Malia said “Our aim is to revolutionize home construction standards in North America. The USGBC Project of the Year Award affirms the level of energy performance we’re pursuing, and that is demonstrated by The GO Home: the next generation of housing that maximizes comfort, energy efficiency and cost while providing all of the amenities of a standard home.”

The GO Home is the model for a new Belfast-based cohousing and ecovillage community. Learn more about the award here: http://www.gologichomes.com/blog/.

Finally, we should note that the GO Home is not the first local project to win a LEED award! In 2009, Rockport-based Bright Built Barn was award the 2009 LEED for Homes Innovative Project Award (another home where we designed and installed solar energy systems).

Rebbeca Goldfine of Mainebiz reports on the vision and leadership by G-O Logic, creators of the net-zero home in Belfast, Maine that has served as a prototype for several new buildings and a new eco-housing development in the area:

In Belfast, a little red house at the edge of a small field of milkweed has been causing a stir since it was built in 2010. It’s been on the cover of Maine Home and Design, was featured on the TV show “This New House” on the DIY network and been the subject of many news stories. It also recently won the U.S. Green Building Council’s 2011 project of the year. The object of all this attention is small and neat, with a pitched roof topped with shimmering blue solar panels. It’s painted the bright red of a classic New England barn — a deliberate decision by its two creators to attract attention to an innovative home design for Maine and the rest of the country.

“Passive houses are a huge paradigm shift,” says Matt O’Malia, who with Alan Gibson in 2008 founded G∙O Logic, an architecture and building company in Belfast that specializes in passive structures. To illustrate the extent of this shift, O’Malia holds up two fingers a couple inches apart to indicate how much the updated — and highly contested — conventional building code in Maine improves energy efficiency. Then he stretches his arms wide to show how much a passive design enhances a home’s energy performance.

“We’re going to build a house 90% better,” he says, meaning a passive house uses 10% of the heating energy that a standard, code-compliant home uses. Passive homes meet the highest international standard for energy efficiency.

Full article available online: http://www.mainebiz.biz/news48675.html

Brett Humble, Project Officer, US Dept of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory, Bill Gabler, ARRA Project Manager, Joanne Morin, Director of the New Hampshire Office of Energy and Planning, Dr. Scott Kalicki, President of LRCC., Phil Coupe, co-founder, ReVision Energy, Scott Osgood, Director of Capital Planning at Community College System of New Hampshire gathered to a cut a power cord at LRCC’s new dual-axis tracking solar array.

Sun greeted a crowd of 10-20 attendees at Lake Region Community College‘s (LRCC) ribbon cutting ceremony for their new 3.7kw dual-axis tracker installed by ReVision Energy using equipment from Vermont-based AllEarth Renewables.

The event was MC’ed by LRCC President Dr. Scott Kalicki, and featured words from ReVision Energy co-founder Phil Coupe and Joanne Morin, Director of the New Hampshire Office of Energy and Planning.

The tracker moved right on cue as Phil took stage! His brief speech touched on the importance of solar in the transition to a renewable energy economy, energy independence, and the growth of green jobs:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

After the ceremony, attending guests asked questions to ReVision Staff and were taken on a tour by ReVision’s Fred Greenhalgh to see the 12.4kw rooftop solar photovoltaic array as well as the 43″ data monitoring display in the college lobby.

Thanks again to LRCC for hosting the event, and for great support from Bill Gabler, ARRA Project Manager, and Laura Richardson, ARRA Coordinator for SEP.

More Photos from Our Solar Events Gallery:

We’ve noticed an interesting phenomenon when customers start generating their own solar electricity – they start looking at electricity in a whole new way! As soon as you have a means of understanding how much electricity you produce, you naturally want to understand how much you consume, and if possible adjust your behavior so that you consume less without losing too many creature comforts so your PV system foots a larger part of your bill.

It’s in this context that we were interviewed on a story of the promise of smart meters for Maine and New Hampshire. The Green Alliance reports, via Foster’s Daily Democrat:

Michael Gray lives in Hampstead, NH and uses both a solar electric array and solar water heating system. Gray installed a device called The Energy Detective (TED), to add more monitoring options to his solar energy systems, which were installed by Exeter-based ReVision Energy. While nearly all solar electric systems installed today come with monitoring on the solar side, they don’t show homeowners the other side of the coin: how much power their home consumes.

“TED has a little LCD display about the size of an alarm clock. We keep it on the counter,” says Gray. “It can display in watts or money per hour. It was really transformative to actually see in real time what you’re using.

“That had an effect on our family. It makes us think, ‘Is that something we want to spend our money on?’ You can actually turn lights off and see the price per hour go down. Being aware has helped us.”

Read more at Foster’s website. And if you want more info, we’d be happy to talk with you more about the TED!

Mainebiz also provided coverage of our partnership with Downeast Energy:

The partnership allows Brunswick-based Downeast Energy and Portland-based ReVision Energy to offer each other’s energy options. Downeast provides oil, propane and biofuel to customers generally within the midcoast Maine market while ReVision installs solar energy systems in roughly the same area, according to the Bangor Daily News. ReVision has been training Downeast employees on its solar energy systems for the past three weeks.

Mike McCormack, Downeast vice president of sales, said the partnership allows both companies to operate independently, yet address customers’ requests for expanded energy options. The company chose to partner with an existing solar provider rather than develop in-house expertise, the paper reported.

Visit the full article on Mainebiz website.

The Bangor Daily News reports on the new partnership between ReVision Energy and Downeast Energy, aimed at making solar hot water solutions more available to Mainers as well as promoting Downeast’s biofuel product.

Mike McCormack, vice president of sales and marketing for Downeast, said the company’s customers have been asking about solar energy water heater systems with more frequency, both in surveys and in their contact with employees.

Downeast chose to seek an expert partner rather than build the solar capacity in-house, and McCormack approached ReVision, he said.

The partnership between a more traditional energy and an alternative energy firm may be seen as counterintuitive, said Phil Coupe, ReVision co-founder. After all, many seek solar or other energy resources to get away from fossil fuels.

“The reality is, everyone in Maine needs traditional fuels to make it through a Maine winter,” said Coupe.

Visit Bangor Daily News for full article.

The Times Record reports on newly announced partnership between ReVision Energy and Downeast Energy.

Downeast Energy an-nounced today a new “strategic partnership” with ReVision Energy, a company specializing in domestic solar water heating and electricity systems.

ReVision co-founder Phil Coupe said the partnership between a firm that delivers home heating oil and one that retrofits homes to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels “may seem counterintuitive” at first, but that the 103-year-old energy company and the solar power firm that started in 2003 can work better together.

“Mainers need traditional fuels to stay warm, but at the same time you can get 100 percent of domestic water heated from sunshine from May to October,” Coupe said. “I think the two companies can help (Mainers) become more energy efficient and that’s the value in the relationship.”

Coupe said the average solar water heating system costs between $5,500 and $6,500 — after a 30 percent rebate from the federal government and a $1,000 cash rebate from the state-run Efficiency Maine program — and can reduce annual oil consumption by around 250 to 300 gallons.

“At today’s oil prices, that results in about a six-year payback,” Coupe said.

Representatives said the companies remain separate and will not share any revenue but will begin a formal collaboration that both hope will lead to expansion in their respective markets.

Visit Times Record for full article.

The Portland Press Herald reports on a new high-efficiency 3-unit apartment building installed on Portland’s East End:

Paul Ledman and his wife, Colleen Myers, are using the power of the sun and air to make their Portland home perfectly comfortable with minimal energy from outside sources. Ledman says cutting down on usage doesn’t mean sacrificing comfort.

They had a dream when they purchased a vacant lot on Munjoy Hill, a perfect site at 62 Cumberland Ave. Ledman’s vision included not only a magnificent view of Portland from the upper floors, but also a way to build so there would be abundant heat, hot water and air conditioning for less than what most of us pay to outside companies.

“If you don’t waste energy, you don’t need to keep buying it,” he said.

Together with general contractor Mike White, owner of Island Carpentry, Ledman found the right people to explore options, make decisions, and do the hands-on work of creating an energy-efficient home to provide spacious living for himself and his family, plus two bright, attractive apartments, totaling three stories of living space and a garage.

Ledman says he used three basic components in the heating and ventilating design, and although the equipment doesn’t need to be over-the-top expensive, it does need to be the correct equipment … Photovoltaic (solar) panels on the roof generate electricity for the house. As a bonus, extra power produced now can also be used later, in a bank of sorts: Ledman gets credit from Central Maine Power for power he doesn’t use, for use on cloudy days. And that’s not just because Ledman is such a nice guy. It’s the law. The building is “on the grid” with Central Maine Power, and this credit system is regulated by the Maine Public Utilities Commission.

Full article by Kathy Eliscu available at: http://www.pressherald.com/life/homeandgarden/solar-on-munjoy-hill_2011-09-04.html?searchterm=solar+hot+water