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:

The Redfern House, a Gold LEED Certified Home, is Available for Viewing

A newly constructed home located in Portland is expected to receive a Gold rating from the US Green Building Council’s LEED for Homes Program.

LEED is an acronym for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and provides a set of standards for environmentally sustainable construction for new design or renovation.

Tours are scheduled for Saturday morning June 13th and Tuesday evening June 16th. Catherine Culley of Redfern Properties is organizing the tours and can be reached at 207-221-5746.

The Redfern House is utilizing resource efficient materials and renewable energy systems.

It is less than 2000 square feet, and has 3 bedrooms and 2.5 baths. It has been designed and built to be healthy, extremely efficient, highly durable, and ecologically responsible.

The home is constructed with FSC certified lumber, local materials and materials that are high in recycled content and low in embodied energy. It was built with passive solar design with south facing exposure to maximize thermal gain. Solar shades block sun heat but not light in the summer months. There is high R-value insulation and a tight exterior envelope.

A grid tied solar electric system provides for a portion of the homes electrical needs. Solar thermal evacuated tubes heat water for the domestic hot water supply of the home, as well as cover a portion of heat for the radiant floor heat distribution system.

Other features of this home include non toxic paints, cellulose insulation, a detached garage and resource efficient framing. Being located in the downtown region, it’s accessible to public transportation and to Greater Portland’s resources.

The Redfern House was designed by LEED accredited architect Chris Briley. Chris is the founding principal of Green Design Studio based in Yarmouth, Maine.

ReVision Energy designed and installed the solar hot water and solar electric systems on the home. Horizon Residential provided consultation on insulation, ventilation, and heating performance. Horizon is also serving as the ‘rater’ for the home in a number of the LEED categories.

Other sustainability partners that helped to make this project a success were Cuddledown, Furniturea, Green Designs, Ember Grove, Angela Adams, and Back Cove Yardscaping.

UPDATE: Read about Redfern earning the Platinum LEED Certification!

More Photos from Our Gallery:

This summer solstice come out to celebrate sustainable living by attending ReVision Energy in Portland’s grand opening event!

We just moved to Presumpscot Street, Portland, Maine and have been very busy setting up our workable showroom that highlights the solar power and solar hot water systems we install.

The grand opening is a chance for you to view our showroom, learn about renewable energy and solar power, and meet other local community members, non profit organizations and business owners who are committed to sustainability.

The event will be held on Friday, June 19th from 4-8pm. It will be held at our Portland location: 142 Presumpscot St. Portland, ME 04103. Fred Horch, Sustainability Goods and Maine Green Building Supplies will have a display set up with information to hand out. There will be a solar electric bike demo by eastcoastebikes.com and live performance art by madgirlworld.com. Pete Kilpatrick and band will be playing thanks to Reverbrock.org! Free drinks will be provided by Allagash Brewing Company of Portland. There will be a moon bounce for the kids, and so much more! Please be sure to attend this must do event of the summer, and bring your friends; the event is free to all. We will be donating any money we receive for site evaluation sign ups that night to the Maine Businesses for Social Responsibility.

Randy Lane, proud owner of a ReVision Energy solar hot water system, is going to be opening up his home at 8 Abby Lane in Richmond, Maine on Thursday April 16th from 6-7:30pm.

This will be ReVision Energy’s first ‘sponsored’ Solar House Party event and we hope you consider joining in the fun!

Randy, a 30 year veteran of the building trades, designed and built his home with both active and passive solar applications in mind. The passive solar system is a solarium / greenhouse designed by Lane to provide supplemental space heating.

The active solar hot water application was designed and installed by ReVision Energy. There are 90 evacuated tubes installed on the south facing roof, mounted on a stainless steel racking system at 45 degrees to optimize year round performance. These collectors heat a 160 gallon, super-insulated dual coil storage tank. Hot water from the storage tank supplies both domestic use and supplemental space heating. The system is backed by a high efficiency propane boiler. Lane has been monitoring the energy his systems produce and reports that his savings are quite impressive.

Randy has taken the information he has learned from his own experience and applied it to his building practices. Randy is the founder of New Earth Solutions, Inc., a green general contracting company whose goal is to bring energy efficient solutions to new construction or remodeling clients at an affordable price.

The open house is a chance for those interested or curious about passive or active solar design to come and see it for themselves. There will be a representative from ReVision Energy present to describe how the solar hot water system works. There will be a tour of the systems and plenty of time for questions and answers. The event is free and all are welcome. Please plan to meet at 8 Abby Lane in Richmond by 6pm. If you have questions please contact Jen at (207) 221-6342.