By Jim Cavan

So often the “green” movement is associated with new and next-generation businesses – the organic bakeries, bio-diesel companies or hair salons that started their businesses with the explicit intention of doing things green. But when a company with a 50 year history decides to heed the calls of sustainability, generational lines disappear, in the process proving that “going green” has moved squarely from the fringe to the mainstream.

This past week Seacoast Energy Alternatives (SEA) Solar Store, a Dover-based alternative energy company, teamed up with Portsmouth staple Ricci Lumber to install a brand new building-mounted wind turbine at the historic lumber yard’s Bartlett Street warehouse.

While the turbine – known as a Swift building mounted system –won't cover a large percentage of the Ricci Lumber electric bill, it will have the potential to generate power 24 hours a day and be “net metered,” meaning any excess electricity produced is streamed out to Public Services of New Hampshire (PSNH), thereby becoming a “credit” for Ricci to take advantage of later.

Ricci Lumber owner Ed Hayes had in the past considered incorporating roof-based solar PV tubes to help with energy costs. But it wasn’t until Jay Lawrie, the owner of SEA, presented the idea of a mounted wind turbine. “Jay is a builder and has been a customer of ours for a while,” says Hayes. “And we always noticed we got a lot of wind on our site, so Jay started telling us about these new turbines they were planning on installing, and we just went from there.”

The project represented new territory for SEA Solar Store’s Jack Bingham, who recently worked with Crossroads House in Portsmouth to provide the shelter a massive new solar hot water heater – the type of system which Bingham is more used to installing.

“Considering it’s the first one of its kind that we’ve installed, it went incredibly well,” says Bingham. “We started a week ago, making a few modifications in the attic, and at that point putting up the turbine itself only took one day from start to finish.”

To build the system, a 16-foot aluminum pole was mounted to the truss structure under the roof and propped up above the roof peak roughly 8 feet, putting the turbine at the most active wind spot on the warehouse. According to Bingham, the system was unique in that it was mounted inside the building, with only the actual wind-catching turbine visible outside.

“Usually in places like Portsmouth you have zoning guidelines that dictate you can’t put up a 60 or even a 30-foot turbine,” says Bingham. “But this one is mounted inside the building, so it’s incredibly quiet, doesn’t vibrate or make a lot of noise, which I think made it easier getting through zoning.”

Jim Holway of Rye-based Holway Electric helped with the turbine’s wiring.