Unity College’s TerraHaus is the first college dorm build to passive house standards. Solar thermal collectors will provide most of its hot water

Just in time for classes, Unity College opened up the doors to TerraHaus, a boldly innovative, low-energy college dorm that aims to demonstrate the height of high performance building on college campuses.

The building, designed and built by by G*O Logic’s architect Matthew O’Malia and carpenter Alan Gibson, is the nation’s first dorm to meet passive house certification standards. Like their prior net zero G*O Logic home, G*O Logic chose ReVision Energy to design and install the solar energy systems. The TerraHaus sports 120 evacuated tube solar hot water collectors, which should meet nearly all of the building’s hot water needs (showers, washing, etc.).

Here’s what Doug Fox, Director, Center for Sustainability and Global Change, Unity College, said about the choice of renewable energy:

In an era of global change and uncertainty about future oil costs, thinking about resilience in our home and work systems is prudent. The cost of heating water with solar is independent of the price of fossil fuels, hence adding resiliency to our residential systems while also mitigating climate change. Leaving aside the alternate investment calculations that a financial advisor might want me to make, it gives me comfort to think that in my home I have, in a sense, pre-paid for 250 gallons or so of heating oil per year for the next 20 years or more at $1.40/gallon.

More of Doug’s comments and photos of the story of TerraHaus’ construction at: TerraHaus blog.

The Morning Sentinel also featured the building:

The standards, the highest international standards for energy efficiency, require that the dorm use 90 percent less energy for space heating than standard buildings.

On Thursday, Gibson and O’Malia, as well as landscape architect Ann Kearsley of Portland, gave the Unity staff tours of the eco-friendly, stylish tan-shingled cottage.

TerraHaus, which cost about $475,000 and took about three months to build, is nearly airtight, has a heat recovery ventilation system, is exceptionally well insulated and has superior quality windows.

Those high-quality features, said Gibson, will allow TerraHaus to be heated this winter with an electric baseboard heater at a cost of about $30 per person.

Gibson and O’Malia also designed the GO Home on Crocker Road in Belfast, the first passive house-certified home in Maine and the 12th passive house in the country.

According to Doug Fox, director of the Center for Sustainability and Global Change at Unity, TerraHaus is the first of three planned residence halls on the Quaker Hill campus that will comprise the SonnenHaus village of energy-conscious dorms.

Read more: http://www.onlinesentinel.com/news/gree-terrahausready-for-students_2011-08-25.html

It was a true honor for ReVision Energy to work on this project in collaboration with Unity College. A number of our staff members are Unity graduates, and the College has shown truly exceptional dedication to their environmental mission and serves as a model for other campuses nationwide.

In this edition of the Solar Road Tour we head to Southern Maine Community College (SMCC) located on a sun-drenched peninsula of Casco Bay, where from the front of the new SEA Center you can see alternative energy technology on display, juxtaposed with a view of oil tankers coming into Portland Harbor in the distance.

We talk to John Brautigam, program director, about SMCC’s dedication to training students how to install the renewable energy technologies of the present and future. A diversion then takes us to Scratch Baking Company where we have the ultimate delight: the solar cupcake.

In today’s investment environment the choice seems mainly between the uncertainty of the stock market or the unimpressive returns of safer investments such as savings accounts, CDs, and annuities. We make an alternate suggestion: consider an investment in solar.

We had occasion to compare the relative returns of investing in an annuity product vs. a solar electric system. While the two don’t seem much alike on the surface, they both have in common a significant capital outlay in exchange for a monthly dividend.

An annuity works by offering you a monthly payment for a fixed period of time based on a pre-determined interest rate, about 3.8% right now. A solar electric system also requires an up-front investment (unless you opt for financing), and offers a monthly “payment,” so to speak, in the form of reduced utility bills for the life of the system.

Like an annuity, the benefits of a solar electric system are realized over time; for economic models we usually use 25 years, the warranteed life of the panels (though the system is expected to remain operational 40-50 years). However, solar has the benefit that the “dividend” – your utility bill savings – actually increases over time as electric prices rise, unlike an annuity payment which is fixed.

Consider a married couple who are both 60 and in reasonable health and live in Maine. With $15,000 they can:

• Install a 5kW PV system which will provide roughly a $85 monthly benefit each month, which increases as electricity prices rise.
• Buy a joint lifetime annuity which will pay the couple $75 a month, which stays the same forever, not rising with inflation.

Given the choice, a lower electric bill looks like a much better investment for the next 25 years!

The Case in New Hampshire

In NH, even without the $2,000 state rebate, a solar investment still beats the annuity. In this case it’s more fair to compare a $17,000 solar investment to a $17,000 annuity. At that rate, the annuity will earn $85/month, which is pretty close to the solar in year 1. However, over the 25 years the solar becomes more valuable as the cost of electricity increases (averaging 4% a year right now) whereas the annuity stays the same. And, of course, you’re generating clean electricity the whole time rather than investing in a financial instrument.

The solar earns more, helps the environment, and takes strain off the grid. Who can’t feel good about growing with that?

Farming and gardening is, of course, the original use of solar power, but the Maine Organic Farmers & Gardeners Association (MOFGA) went the next step and installed the 21st century evolution: an 11.7kw solar photovoltaic array. This grid-tied system has no moving parts, no batteries, just fifty-two Solon Blue 225 watt panels tied to two inverters that will convert sunshine into electricity for the next several decades.

This 21st century system marks the latest step in the restoration of a 200 year old barn – a true symbol of old tradition meets new technology! This unique and highly visible project was a great opportunity for some video coverage, and in this 7-minute feature we hear from Vernon LeCount from MOFGA and John Luft from ReVision Energy’s Liberty office about the installation and MOFGA’s long-term ambitions about renewable energy.

MOFGA provides year-round services to organic farmers and gardeners, but they may be best known for their big upcoming event: the Common Ground Fair to be held this September 23-25. The fair is the premiere celebration of rural traditions and sustainable living and attracts over 60,000 people each year.

We’ll be there the whole weekend with staff from all three branches. Be sure to keep an eye out for the new PV system as you approach the south parking lot, and talk to us about any questions you’ve ever had about solar, energy efficiency, and green building.

Thanks again, MOFGA, for making a big commitment to sustainable energy, and to Darryl Czuchra Production Services, who went above and beyond in the creation of this video.

More Photos in Our Commercial Solar Photo Gallery:

The fourth annual Freeing the Grid report has come out, outlining the wide range of states’ progress towards modern and understandable net-metering service, a requirement of the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

Essentially, net metering lets a customer back-feed solar energy to the grid, and lets their account be credited at the full retail rate.

The report, done by the independent organization Network for New Energy Choices, advocates common sense net metering policy. With simple rules and standards, a number of states have demonstrated the readiness with which solar photovoltaic (PV) systems can feed the grid renewable energy. On the other hand, excessive system requirements, redundant applications, and general unfamiliarity with grid-tied technology still pose obstacles in other states.

Photo of a 3.6 kW ground mounted array in Bath Maine. Derek Wilbraham uses his solar credits to offset the electricity bills at his home and camp!

In Maine, specific recommendations were made to remove system size limits and allow solar PV systems to be sized to meet on-site load. The report also recommends adopting safe harbor language to protect customer from extra and/or unanticipated fees (e.g. CMP’s $50 net metering charge.) The report notes that Maine has adopted a policy of “meter aggregation”- where a customer can spread solar generation credits across several accounts which are metered separately, one of the first states in the country to do so. Maine’s overall grades were B for net-metering, and A for interconnection.

In New Hampshire, similar recommendations are made to lift unnecessary net metering requirements. The report also shows a need for a more concise and rational interconnection standard. New Hampshire’s overall grades were B for net-metering, and D for interconnection.

You can also download the full report, containing a detailed state-by-state summary.

The Morning Sentinel reported on the new TerraHaus eco-friendly student housing at Unity College.

Beth Staples writes:

Belfast-based G*O Logic architect Matthew O’Malia and carpenter Alan Gibson designed and built the nation’s first dorm to meet passive house certification standards.

The standards, the highest international standards for energy efficiency, require that the dorm use 90 percent less energy for space heating than standard buildings.

… A solar hot water system installed by ReVision Energy of Liberty and Portland will provide hot water for showers and washing dishes.

Jesse Pyles, Unity’s sustainablilty coordinator, said 10 of the college’s 500-plus students were chosen by lottery to live in the cottage.

The lottery winners agreed to participate in educational programs, including giving tours of the one-of-kind dorm.

Read more at The Morning Sentinel.

Photos from Our Solar Project Gallery

A local Target store lets customers know that the store’s A/C load is reduced to help keep the region’s electric usage under control

When it’s a searing 100-degrees in Maine or New Hampshire, we concede it’s a worthy time to put on an air conditioner. But while A/C may take the edge off the heat for us humans, the strain is pushed onto the electric grid.

As consumers we usually only experience electricity’s effects – turning on the lights, running a fan, or powering a gadget. Yet, in the background is an extraordinarily elaborate system of transmission and distribution that ultimately ties back to a control room that looks remarkably like the bridge of the Starship Enterprise.

Here grid operators have job #1 of maintaining consistent electricity supply despite constantly fluctuating and limited data. While most power is purchased at bulk auction for competitive prices, when there’s a sudden flux of demand, options become limited and the real-time cost of electricity skyrockets. For example, when savagely hot temperatures hit the Northeast and anyone with an A/C kicks it on.

When a kWh Costs a Lot More than a kWh

On Thursday, July 21, for example, a power line failure knocked several power substations out of commission (Source: Portland Press Herald), an event which, combined with the heat, caused electricity prices to more than quadruple as backup generators and reserves were kicked in to meet the demand. The brutal pattern repeated that Friday, when from 1pm – 6pm power cost more than $250 per gWh, four times more than electricity cost the previous Friday, July 15.

The worst part of this equation is that the electric generators brought online to meet peak demand are often the dirtiest and least efficient tools to produce power – short cycle, peak-load firing coal or oil power plants (located in such picturesque areas as Cousins Island and Bar Harbor, Maine).

The utility companies’ solution to heavy summertime use is to build more and bigger power lines, often through previously undisturbed habitat.  The transmission build out is an expensive and intensive project, comprising pieces like this 286-ton transformer, made in Taiwan, the transportation of which requires a 16-axle truck and roads to be supported with extra steel bracing!

With all the cost associated with propping up the existing system, we can’t help but ask – why don’t we harness the sun instead?

The Vision of Distributed Solar

We’ve talked about the idea of distributed solar before, mostly in the context of our allies at GridSolar. The concept is this: install solar panels where power is most needed under peak conditions – the hospitals, schools and commercial buildings with large flat roofs, big A/C units, and population-dense neighborhoods.

This solar electric installation in in-town Yarmouth will offset peak electric use in the neighborhood when it produces more power than it uses

Since, almost by definition, solar panels will perform close to their peak when A/C loads are the highest, distributed solar accomplishes the goal of reducing strain from the grid without requiring expensive and inefficient peak fossil fuel inputs. Oh, and they have the added benefit of producing clean electricity the other 355 days when it’s not peak load!

Of course, you don’t need a huge installation to help the cause – literally every grid-tied solar electric installation helps take some load off the grid. Within ReVision’s customers alone there is over 2MW of electricity being eased off the grid during peak hours of use (as well as all the other times the sun is shining).

So, with solar electricity you can feel good about running your air conditioner, or even better – if you’ve gone to the beach, you can rest assured your system is helping run your neighbors A/C instead, and you’re racking up the credit. Now that’s cool!

More Resources on this Staggering Summer and the Grid:

We’ve stumbled across some really interesting materials on the state of the electric grid and our use of electricity. These might interest you, too:

• APM’s Marketplace has been featuring segments of an hour-long documentary on our addiction to coal power
• New York City is getting serious about solar – with 2/3 of its buildings good sites for solar, the city predicts it could meet 1/2 its energy needs with solar power.  From CNN Money
• We were inspired by this story of the Japanese working as a nation to keep the electric use under control in a post-Fukushima environment

Last Friday the doors of our NH Solar Showroom opened with a blast!

A crowd of 50-60 enjoyed local food and drink while seeing a variety of renewable energy systems, including a working evacuated tube solar hot water system, displays of solar electric panels and inverters, and representatives from OkoFEN pellet boilers.

ReVision staff mingled with current customers, the solar curious, local builders, architects, and friends from The Center for Wildlife, the NH Chapter of the US Green Building Council, The Green Alliance and Build Green NH.

For fun we had a cow-shaped bounce house, rides on eZee electric bikes and great live music from The Trashpickers. Thanks to Red Hook Brewery and Peak Organic for delicious brew and Cornucopia for delicious wines and cheeses.

Check out this video for a taste of the evening!

More Photos from the Event: