Bonneville Environmental Foundation

The Skyline School in Portland, Oregon is raising its wind turbine and tower today between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. today Pacific Time. You can check out a live video cam feed of the installation at:

http://www.solar4rschools.org/node/953

Enter USERNAME: skylinek8 (lowercase)
PASSWORD: windy (lowercase) to view the live feed.

You may need to enter the username and password several times at each prompt.

The XZERES 110 is a 2.5 kilowatt (KW) wind turbine that will be placed on a 90-foot monopole tower that is capable of producing approximately 4,265 kilowatt-hours (kWh) annually.

That is enough energy to power two average classrooms for a year or a video game system for 25 years straight!

The Skyline School Wind Turbine Project was made possible by funding from the Northwest Environmental Defense Council, the Energy Trust of Oregon, the Bonneville Environmental Foundation and the Oregon Department of Energy Business Energy Tax Credit.

The newly formed Renewable Energy Group is pleased to welcome Emily Barrett and Sean LaFreniere to the Solar 4R Schools team.

Emily Barrett joins the group after working with BEF for a year while a research fellow for Natural Resources Defense Council.  During her fellowship, Emily wrote “Solar Electric Energy for your Stadium or Arena,” a guide which BEF and NRDC co-released in August 2010 to support professional sports clubs in installing photovoltaic systems.

After graduating from Tufts University and before moving to Portland to devote herself to renewable energy issues, Emily spent some time doing invasive species eradication in Arizona and in Ireland working and learning about sustainable agriculture.

Emily was drawn to working with the Solar 4R Schools program because of her desire to be involved energy solutions and her belief that education is paramount in tackling these systemic issues. She enjoys the cross-functionality of her work at BEF and is grateful for the many learning opportunities, which constantly present themselves.

Sean LaFreniere was born in Santa Barbara, CA and moved to Portland to study English and History at Lewis and Clark College, graduating in 1995.  After working in high tech during the early 2000’s, Sean entered the University of Oregon’s sustainable architecture program, studying at the Portland Center for Urban Architecture and with the Danish International Studies program, and completed his Master’s degree in 2007.

Noted explorations and studies included touring San Francisco and the Berkley hills with architects and professors Gerry Gast and Hajo Neis, attending the final lecture series of urban planning legend Jan Gehl in Copenhagen, Denmark, and exploring Finland in winter with architect and polar explorer John Anderson.

Living abroad also allowed Sean to join his friend and Middle East journalist, Michael Totten, in road trips through Turkey; Iraq,; Cyprus; Bosnia; Kosovo; Romania; and Ukraine, where reconstruction and sustainability were of particular importance.  Sean presents his travel photos online at seanlafreniere.com and at local venues such as Starbucks, Wholesome Blends, and the Shaken Martini Lounge.

Sean is excited to put his technical skills and design experience together to support renewable energy and sustainable education at Bonneville Environmental Foundation and is currently working on solar installations at the Feiro Marine Life Center in Port Angeles, WA and at View Park Preparatory High School in Los Angeles, CA.

Diane Zipper with Renewable Northwest Project will be giving a talk called “Renewable Energy 101: A presentation on Renewable Energy and the Choices Available to You” at the REI Portland store on Earth Day, April 22 from 7 to 8 p.m.

The talk is an overview of renewable energy projects in Oregon and a discussion on the environmental and economic benefits of clean power. Diane will also talk about area tax credits, incentive and local green power programs.

All attendees will get an REI shopping bag and there will be a raffle drawing for prizes.

The cost is free and you can register on line at http://www.rei.com/stores/13

The talk will be held in the REI-Portland store Community Room located at 1405 NW Johnson St.

Like many who call Portland home, several BEFers have acute cases of Blazermania right about now. There’s only four games left in the regular season with a big game tonight against the Dallas Maverics. And we’re only about a week away from the NBA Playoffs. The Portland Trailblazers are a fun team to watch and a fun team to root for. But it was this article in the Oregonian yesterday that made many of us at BEF especially proud to be Blazer fans.

The article details  many of the steps the Rose Garden is taking to become a more efficient and environmentally friendly facility. From composting beer cups to more efficient lightbulbs and heating systems, the folks at the Rose Garden have been working for five years to reduce the footprint of the 765,000 square foot facility. My favorite quote of the piece comes from Darby Hoover, a senior resource specialist for the Natural Resources Defense Council, who works with stadiums across the country.

The Rose Garden is “making efforts across the board,” she said. “They’re not just doing the fan outreach. They’re doing the behind the scenes work, too.”

Kudos go to the Rose Garden, the only sporting venue in the nation to recieve a gold rating from the U.S. Green Building Council.

Go Blazers!

We thought we would let those who live in the Portland area know that on Friday, February 19 at lunchtime, Margie Gardner, BEF’s Chief Executive Officer, will be speaking at Friday Forums, City Club’s ongoing lecture series, on the topic of how markets can engage people and businesses in restoring our planet. She will share examples of how, through entrepreneurial and innovative strategies, people have tackled problems ranging from acid rain to energy generation and water restoration.

If you are interested in attending this lunchtime lecture series at the Governor Hotel, please click here for details on tickets.

Thank you,

Your Friends at BEF

Rob Harmon will be speaking at the Sustainable Industries Economic Forum in Portland, Oregon on Sept. 16. The forum, sponsored by Portland State University, meets 7:30-10:30 a.m at the Governor Hotel.

BEF’s Chief Innovation Officer and Senior Vice President, Rob developed our renewable energy certificate (REC) program in 1999.  In 2000, he developed and launched the first carbon calculator on the Internet, and closed the first large retail REC transaction in the United States.

In 2004, Rob was awarded the national Green Power Pioneer Award for his visionary leadership in establishing the retail market for renewable energy certificates and his ongoing efforts to ensure a thriving and credible voluntary market in the United States.

The 2009 Solar & Sustainability Science Fair on May 15 in Portland was a hit for those looking at the future of sustainability in the northwest. The event held more than 40 vendors – including BEF’s Solar 4R Schools program – who are shaping the future of the industry. It also showcased a few of the young minds who will shape our environmental future during a high school science fair. The projects and young scientists were impressive.

For example, Nathan Van Winkle here compared the carbon storage capacities in natural and mitigation wetlands.[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7W49u6Glb0&hl=en&fs=1]

Another great science exhibit came from Alex McCarthy, who’s looking for an organic compound to replace silica in photovoltaic cells.[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5exENVUlrs&hl=en&fs=1]

Congratulations to all the Science Fair participants.

Hello Renewable Energy Supporters,

We here at the Solar 4R Schools program would like to invite you to stop by our booth at the 2009 Solar & Sustainability Science Fair on May 15 at the PHC Northwest building in Portland.

The fair, held from noon to 6 p.m., is free to attend and will showcase more than 30 organizations that promote sustainability, energy-efficient technologies and renewable energy education.

The PHCNW building is located at 5414 NE 148th Ave. and is home to the Pacific Northwest’s largest single-roof solar array – it’s bigger than a football field!

Come see the array and then celebrate solar and sustainability science fair projects created by local student and community organizations, like us, that see people of all ages and abilities as our best renewable resource.

For more event details see the flyer below or visit www.phcnw.com/solar.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkzZP42Upc0]Da Vinci Arts Middle School in Portland celebrated a roofing renaissance at its new LEED Platinum-anticipated, net zero energy, high performance classroom building on April 10.The school held an open house to showcase the latest innovation of its groundbreaking building: a roof constructed with integrated photovoltaic (PV) solar tiles.

Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF) donated 150 32-watt SolarSave® tiles from Applied Solar, Inc. that are being integrated into the roof and wired to an inverter in the building. When combined with a smaller, pole-mounted PV array already located at the site, these two systems will generate up to 6.3 kW of energy — enough to provide the 1,490-square-foot building’s electricity needs — making it the first net zero energy, LEED Platinum-anticipated, freestanding public school classroom in the nation.

The building will house a music room, two practice rooms and a small recording studio. Scheduled to be completed this summer and to be filled with music-making students in September, the building has a high thermal mass (thanks to thick walls) and boasts an innovative design that incorporates natural ventilation and day-lighting as well as nightly venting to regulate heating. It is being built with non-toxic, environmentally friendly materials and processes and will employ an artistic storm-water management system that connects to an adjacent garden.

Designed as a showcase of technologies for future district renovation and new construction projects, the building has benefited from more than $500,000 in design, construction and consulting services donated by the community, including significant contributions from SRG Architects, Todd Hess Building Co. and PBS Engineering.

The da Vinci High Performance Classroom project is the sixth collaboration between Portland Public Schools and the Bonneville Environmental Foundation’s Solar 4R Schools program. In addition to donating the solar tiles, BEF also consulted with the engineers and architects during the construction process and contributed educational materials and teacher training opportunities through its Solar 4R Schools program to help make the building a focal point of learning both about music and renewable energy.
BEF also has worked with Portland Public Schools to provide renewable energy education and solar demonstration installations at Cleveland and Lincoln high schools, Rosa Parks Elementary School and Sunnyside Environmental School, as well an earlier project at da Vinci. Previous projects were funded with the support of Energy Trust of Oregon and Portland General Electric.

The da Vinci classroom project was a 2007 recipient of the City of Portland Office of Sustainable Development’s Green Investment Fund. Updates on the building’s construction are available at http://facilities.pps.k12.or.us/.docs/pg/11207.

About the Project Partners
The da Vinci Arts High Performance Classroom was made possible through the contributions of more than 20 project partners, including: BEA Consulting/GBS, Bonneville Environmental Foundation, Business Energy Tax Credit, Carlson Testing, Center Pointe Signs, Cisco, Christensen Electric, City of Portland Green Investment Fund, Climatech, da Vinci Middle School, Energy Studies in Buildings Lab, Energy Trust of Oregon, Green Building Services, Greenworks, KPFF, Listen Acoustics, Mark Edlen, Oregon Department of Energy, Owens Corning, PBS Engineering and Environmental, Portland Public Schools, Solarc Engineering, SRG, Todd Hess Building Co., Walsh Construction, Waste Management.

Sharon Begley writes in this week’s Newsweek article, “We Can’t Get There From Here”, that changing light bulbs and putting a high price on carbon emissions won’t be enough to save us from the amount of CO2 we’re pouring into the atmosphere. She reports that some see a breakthrough innovation as the solution.

BEF was one of many organizations that brought Thomas Friedman to Portland to talk about his newest book, “Hot, Flat and Crowded”, last week. He talked to some of the same people as Begley and came to similar yet different conclusions. He thinks the same amount of support, excitement, and money poured into the dot.com bubble is necessary to get all you garage innovators into companies and scale large enough to make a difference. But he also thinks putting a price high enough on CO2 will help push the market in that direction.

Anyway, some of us at BEF met Monday to discuss his ideas. I found them alarming and inspiring, encouraged that one of the things we try to do here at BEF is to support bringing renewable electricity sources into the mainstream. Just wish we had more money in order to make an even bigger contribution to the effort to clean up our air.