MORE NEWS, 2-9 (ICE STORMS BOOST SOLAR; NAT’L GUARD GOES NEW ENERGY; DOE LOANS FOR NEW ENERGY CARS; NEW ENERGY A NUN’S HABIT)

ICE STORMS BOOST SOLAR
Oklahoma ice storms power switch to solar home; TechnologyPanels can save money
Sheila Stogsdill, February 8, 2009 (NewsOK)

"In the last nine years, ice storms have created more destruction than tornadoes, costing the state more than $1 billion in damages…After extended periods without running water or electrical power, more and more homeowners are looking to solar energy.

"John Miggins of Standard Renewable Energy…said most inquiries are from people wanting to save money. His business has increased by 25 percent…

"Technology harvests energy from the sun and creates electricity, hot water and heat. When homeowners use less power than they have generated, grid-tied power generation systems allow them to sell electricity to power companies…hundreds of Oklahoma homes use grid-tied systems, and that number is growing."

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"Miggins uses his solar-powered office and 800-square foot rental house to demonstrate solar products. Electricity costs at the rental home, which has a woodburning stove, average about $75 a month…

"Solar products can add $10,000 to $30,000 to a home’s price tag…Homeowners usually make that up in energy savings in about six years.

"A conservative solar package includes the panels, a solar water heating system, insulation and window upgrades, and a radiant heat barrier that reduces summer heat by about 45 percent…

"During the most recent ice storm, which brought single-digit temperatures, [a local solar system owner] never used his furnace, relying instead on a woodstove and solar energy to heat his home…"


NAT’L GUARD GOES NEW ENERGY
NM Guard goes green to conserve energy
Sue Major Holmes, February 7, 2009 (AP via The Daily Times)

"…At the national level, the Guard has had a green initiative, called sustainable design and development, since 2001. The Department of Defense also follows the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and the Energy Efficiency and Security Act of 2007.

"Guard units nationwide have built numerous green projects. Since 2005, a solar array has provided some of the power for the New Jersey Army National Guard's training center in Wrightstown; the Ohio Air National Guard's 180th Fighter Wing opened an alternative energy site in Toledo last September.

"Now the military wants to do more than build green buildings…Every building under the military construction program must meet the U.S. Green Building Council's silver rating."

Solar array at the New Jersey Nat’l Guard training facility. (click to enlarge)

"Two percent of a building's cost will be spent to make sure it meets standards…more energy-efficient systems, better windows and doors, more insulation…[T]he New Mexico Guard's compound near Santa Fe [has]a slender, 43-foot tall white wind turbine near headquarters. It generates 300 to 400 kilowatts a month…The electricity goes into the energy grid and the Guard receives credit on its electric bill…

"Solar tubes—like small round skylights—supply half the lighting needs at one Guard building and a quarter of those needs at two others…The New Mexico Guard…recommends everything from turning off computers, printers, copiers, televisions and other electronics at night to making sure a vehicle's air filter is clean…"

UQM Propulsion hybrid electric military truck prototype. (click to enlarge)

"Solar cells light signs at the Santa Fe compound and one in Rio Rancho. Hydrogen fuel provides backup power in five critical buildings, including headquarters. Old boilers have been replaced with tankless water heaters in numerous facilities. Heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems have been updated…The Guard also runs 13 car pool vans…The 15-vehicle commercial fleet uses biofuels and ethanol; the general drives a hybrid electric-gas vehicle.

"Last fall nearly everyone in the state Guard went to a schedule that gives them every other Monday off…The electric bill dropped…Total utility costs, including such things as natural gas, water and refuse, dropped…

"The future will be one of innovative projects…wind power…photovoltaics…solar power, ground source heat pumps…solar cells for armories in Santa Fe and Albuquerque and roof-mounted wind turbines on the four-story headquarters building…"


DOE LOANS FOR NEW ENERGY CARS
Chu Wants to Start Issuing Auto Loans Within 2 Months
Tina Seeley and Laura Litvan, February 6, 2009 (Bloomberg News)

"Energy Secretary Steven Chu wants to begin disbursing loans to carmakers in one to two months from a $25 billion U.S. program aimed at funding fuel-efficient vehicle technology…

"Chu’s goal is to get the funds moving quickly, Energy Department spokesman Dan Leistikow said…"

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"General Motors Corp., Chrysler LLC, and Ford Motor Co. have filed applications with the department seeking funds under the program, which loans money to automakers and car-parts companies to cover costs of making more efficient vehicles or components. The department received 75 applications requesting $38 billion in loans.

"The department needs to ensure that recipients of the loans are “financially viable,” Chu told reporters…Chu also said a “good goal” is to start issuing loan guarantees for energy investments in the economic stimulus package within six months of congressional approval…"


NEW ENERGY A NUN’S HABIT
Praise the Lord and Green the Roof
Joseph Huff-Hannon, January 30, 2009 (NY Times)

"…In setting out to construct an environmentally advanced building to replace the trio of connected brownstones that they now call home, the Episcopal sisters of the Community of the Holy Spirit were taking a giant step in their decade-long journey to weave ecological concerns into their daily ministry. While they have long tried to reduce their carbon footprint at 113th Street, the new convent, for which construction will begin in March, will help them be green from the ground up.

"Of the 14 firms that the sisters had invited to submit proposals, BKSK ultimately wooed them with a plan that features rooftop gardens, water heated by solar power, rainwater collection, natural light and ventilation and the use of environmentally sensitive materials throughout.

"BKSK is no stranger to this field; the firm has also designed a new green building at the Queens Botanical Garden and is drawing up plans for what will potentially be a new “eco-synagogue,” the Sephardic Synagogue, in Gravesend, Brooklyn."

Composting at the convent. (from the NY Times - click to enlarge)

"Now it is the sisters’ turn to go an even deeper shade of green, which raises the question: Why would a community of nuns, devoted as they presumably are to spiritual matters, take the relatively unusual step of embracing environmentalism so energetically? 'It’s a question of stewardship,' said Sister Faith Margaret, a Staten Island native. 'Of responsibility.'

"…The green convent that the architects were discussing on this fall day seemed a far cry from their current convent, which is known as St. Hilda’s House. Yet a close look at St. Hilda’s reveals the same environmentalism that is shaping the new building…"

…The site of the new building, on Convent Avenue at 150th Street, is currently an empty lot. But if all goes as planned, then by the spring of 2010, the eight nuns of the Community of the Holy Spirit, most of whom are in their 50s and 60s, will be living in a home that reflects the environmental ethos that has become a central tenet of their lives…When the work is completed, after 57 years in the shadow of the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine a few blocks away, the sisters will have accomplished their mission of scaling down both their space and their ecological footprint…"