Installing solar electric system sustains climate and your pocketbook

Whether donating your time or money to charity, or taking steps to help the environment, doing the right thing creates its own rewards. But when doing the right thing also adds to your bottom line, you receive double rewards.

York, Maine, resident Hilary Clark recently installed a solar electric system, comprising 30 solar electric modules — also known as photovoltaic modules — onto her roof to reduce her use of expensive, wasteful, climate-change-causing fossil fuels, and as a result, will save up to $125 a month on her electric bill.

“I’ve always wanted to be off the grid to produce my own electricity,” Hilary says. “It’s something that I’ve wanted to do since the ‘70s.” She’s still on the grid, but, turning the tables on the traditional producer-consumer relationship, she will be able to sell her excess solar energy back to Central Maine Power.

This type of solar electric system, called “grid-tied,” is significantly less expensive and more robust than battery-based “off-grid” systems. A grid-tied solar array will generate electricity any time the sun is shining, powering electric loads in a home, or, if it produces excess, exporting electricity to the grid and receiving a credit. Credits issued by the utility can be carried up to a year.

Hilary, a member of York’s Energy Steering Committee and the York Land Trust, built her house in 1993, implementing the green practices of the time, almost all experimental, including building in a solar hot water system. She considered putting in photovoltaic cells but balked at installing the requisite bulky bank of batteries. So she waited.

Fast forward almost two decades and we see Hilary attending a lecture by Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org. He is one of the leading advocates for persuading the world community to accurately assess our climate and for spreading the message that we can’t continue to put excess carbon into it because fossil fuels will irrevocably and radically alter our atmosphere.

Conservation Law Foundation, Leading Advocate for Protection of New England’s Environment, Joins Green Alliance

Whether the snow-capped White Mountains, the fiery glow of autumn foliage, or the distinct rocky shores along the coast, New Hampshire’s environment has long been an attraction for tourists and a source of pride for residents. With so much natural beauty to admire, protecting the quality and the integrity of the state’s environment is no small feat. For Conservation Law Foundation (CLF), the challenge is well worth it.

Founded in 1966, CLF has long been a defender of New England’s environmental heritage, helping shape the decisions that lead to a higher quality of life and future for our region. Through its extensive work in law, policy, science, and outreach, CLF has for decades contributed to a healthy, clean future for New England and for New Hampshire.

A leader in environmental initiatives and advocacy, CLF is a non-profit organization committed to advancing solutions that address the challenges of climate change, cleaning up our air and water, protecting the ocean, promoting sustainable agriculture, and wisely managing our natural resources by working with businesses, organizations, and policy-makers to achieve its goal of a thriving New England. CLF established a New Hampshire office in 1997.

The organization’s recent decision to join Green Alliance – a Portsmouth-based “green business union” – reflects CLF’s intention to collaborate with the environmentally conscientious members and businesses within the Green Alliance community. Christophe Courchesne, Staff Attorney for CLF in New Hampshire, in describing his organization’s commitment to fostering local relationships, says “CLF is a regional organization, but we’re interested in engaging people closer to where they live while bringing global and regional issues into local contexts.”

Star Island embraces the sun

For a piece of sea-bound land temporarily called home just a few months out of the year, Star Island would seem an unlikely place for “green” to take permanent hold – why with a lone, albeit beautiful hotel, and a smattering of centuries old houses and cottages to its name.

Lately, however, the second largest – and most frequented – of New Hampshire’s Isles of Shoals has sought to prove that improved amenities and sustainability-minded practices need not be mutually exclusive.

Earlier this month the Star Island Family Conference and Retreat Center officially put online the island’s alternative energy cornerstone, in the form of a solar hot water system for the village’s 19th century cottage.

For over a century, cottage guests had to make do by carrying hot water in pitchers to the basins in their rooms. Now, residents will be able to enjoy a warm respite from elements that – even in July and August – don’t always feel summer-like.

Spearheading the installation was Jack Farrell, the Island Facilities Superintendent. Farrell in turn reached out to Jack Bingham, owner of the Seacoast Energy Alternatives (SEA) Solar Store in Dover, to secure the actual system.

Last year, Bingham became the exclusive local dealer for Germany-based Wagner & Co.’s new SECUSOL Smart Drainback Technology System, for years a go-to technology in Europe, where government subsidies and mandates have helped make alternative energy a growing staple.

How does SECUSOL work? Like most solar hot water systems, it starts with roof-mounted panels or collectors. During operation, a “solar liquid” flows from the heat exchanger (located in the tank) through the collectors, while air is transferred to the upper part of the heat exchanger. Once the tank reaches its “energy maximum”, the system shuts off automatically.

“This is going to help make the whole experience of Star Island that much more enjoyable for visitors,” says Jack Bingham, who recently completed a similar project at the Crossroads House in Portsmouth. “And the best part is, they’re not sacrificing energy in order to attain it; they’re actually saving it.”

Learn About New Hampshire's Hidden Coast with the Great Bay Discovery Center's Summer Programs

The Great Bay Discovery Center’s popular summer events are a great way to engage your children and family in the wonders of the Great Bay. The Great Bay Discovery Center is a conservation-educational facility owned by the Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve located in Greenland, NH. There are a slew of summer programs offered for the entire family, including grandma and grandpa!

Join the crew at the discovery center for Bayventures, a series of events for children ages 7-11. Taking place in July and August, this environmental education series includes events that will connect your children with the outdoors and get them learning about the amazing Great Bay ecosystem. Sessions run two hours in length and there is a nominal charge that helps with materials and supplies. Pre-registration is required for all programs. For more information and to pre-register call (603)-778-0015.

Another amazing series from the Great Bay Discover Center for a slightly younger age group is the Once Upon an Estuary series. For children ages 4-6, accompanied by an adult, there will be story-telling, games and an opportunity for craft making! Most of these will take place outside, so dress appropriately. A small fee is required for materials and pre-registration is required for all programs. For more information and to pre-register call (603)-778-0015.

Bayviews is a series for adults at the Great Bay Discovery Center which include speakers talking about the importance of the Great Bay Estuary and issues that it is facing. Presentations are FREE and open to the public. Call (603)-778-0015 for more information.

Water, Water Everywhere! is an awesome workshop put on by Green Alliance’s very own Tricia. This educational event will take place at the Great Bay Discovery Center and will focus on how the Great Bay works as an ecosystem and tips on how to keep it clean. This event will take place Wednesday July 18th from 12:30 to 2:30pm and cost is $5 per child. (Recommended for children ages 7-11) Come and shower yourself with great activities, games—and even a chance to GET WET! To register call (603)-778-0015.

For more information about the awesome summer programs at the Great Bay Discovery Center, click here.

GUEST BLOG: Public art project seeks support to transform NYC skyline and the way we view water

By Kimberlie Birks
The Water Tank Project

Rarely have New Yorkers lost sleep worrying about water. From the moment we step into our morning shower until we brush our teeth at the end of the day, we take for granted that abundant clean water is just a tap turn away.

All of that is about to change.

“As oil defined the 20th century,” warns Alex Prud’homme in his 2011 book The Ripple Effect, “water will determine the course of the 21st century.”

As Prud’homme explains, “we no longer have the luxury of ignorance.” We must value fresh water as the precious resource that it is and understand how our actions impact the Earth’s limited supply. “After all,” Prud’homme concludes, “we can live without oil, but not without water.”

In the summer of 2013 The Water Tank Project will transform the New York City skyline and—hopefully—the way we view and value our most important resource. Using art for advocacy’s sake, The Water Tank Project will tap the talents of some of today’s most celebrated artists to create water-themed work that will wrap over 100 of the City’s iconic water tanks across all five boroughs. Art overhead will be grounded in a commitment to meaningful change.

Educational partnerships with local schools, a planned symposium on global water issues and numerous ways to become virtually immersed—via the project’s website, blog, Facebook, Twitter and interactive App by design dynamo and Fuseproject founder, Yves Behar—will engage a global community in critical conversation about a broad spectrum of water issues, from climate change and energy policies, agriculture and food security, to sanitation and the negative impact of plastic waste.

“Art has this tremendous power to transcend and transform,” explains the project’s creative director Mary Jordan, who hopes that this artful approach to activism will not only heighten senses but also awareness.

“The art serves as a visual dialog to inspire other dialogs,” she affirms. “Ultimately I hope that its effect trickles into every corner of society, from personal routine to public policy.”

With artists like Andy Goldsworthy, Ed Ruscha, Jay-Z and Jeff Koons and organizations like One Drop, the Columbia Water Center, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute already on board, the initiative is poised to make waves. With enough wind at its back, the project hopes to sail to other global cities, including Mumbai, Rio, Mexico City, and Sydney, demonstrating the potential for the world’s major cities to become leading stewards of sustainability.

Help launch this visionary initiative by supporting The Water Tank Project’s Kickstarter campaign!

Guest Blog: Rescue Great Bay From Pollution and Cynical Politics

Guest blog from Jean Eno, Director of  Winnicut River Watershed Coalition and Peter Wellenberger, Great Bay-Piscataqua Waterkeeper for Conservation Law Foundation

 The Great Bay estuary is in decline. As one of the most studied estuaries in the world, the evidence is clear – unless we take immediate action, the estuary could reach a tipping point, leading to a collapse of its ecosystem and the loss of a natural treasure at the heart of what makes the Seacoast region such a remarkable place to live, work, and play.

Unfortunately, during a time when it’s politically expedient in certain D.C. circles to attack science and the agencies charged with protecting the health of our communities and natural resources, some would rather undermine EPA’s efforts to clean up our estuary than support real, constructive solutions. By sowing the seeds of doubt and confusion about the science of water pollution, and without the benefit of the science EPA and the N.H. Department of Environmental Services have developed over the course of several years, they are trying to scare people into thinking EPA is out to bankrupt their communities.

The June 4 Congressional hearing in Exeter, entitled “EPA Overreach and the Impact on New Hampshire Communities,” was a missed opportunity. There, Congressmen Darrell Issa (of California) and Frank Guinta conducted a hearing in which, despite a packed room, only five witnesses were permitted to testify: four representatives of the Municipal Coalition – a small group of vocal municipalities doing everything in their power to delay EPA’s permitting process – and EPA Regional Administrator Curt Spalding.

Despite numerous claims by the Municipal Coalition that the science is flawed, not a single scientist was asked to testify about the real pollution threats to the Great Bay estuary. Instead of focusing on the legitimate need to upgrade outdated and inadequate sewage treatment plants, the Congressmen heard the Municipal Coalition’s consultant from Washington, D.C., whose only apparent objective was to blast the agencies with expertise in the water pollution challenges facing our estuary – the N.H. Department of Environmental Services and EPA. A more balanced panel might have shed light on what is really happening in the estuary and how we can fix it.

In the end, the only real outcome from the Congressional hearing was a desperate attempt to delay action instead of proceeding with real solutions required to restore the Great Bay estuary. Enough is enough. It’s time for the Municipal Coalition to stop wasting scarce financial resources on D.C. consultants and their tactics of fear and delay, and to start investing in real solutions. We all benefit from a clean, healthy Great Bay estuary. Now is the time to protect our future.
 

Colonial Stoneworks' outdoor fireplaces mesh the rustic and elegant

Few relics of summer are more beloved or imbued with nostalgia than an evening around an outdoor fire – why with the stories, songs, and S’mores infusing the crisp evening air as bountifully as the embers themselves.

Typically, the centerpiece of this seasonal rite is no more complex than a hand-dug hole or a shallow metal bowl – a rustic venue for a rustic ritual.

But what if you’re looking for a little bit of luxury to help temper the always-fickle New England elements? The Donahues found themselves in just this position when, in the summer of 2011, they first looked into adding an outdoor fireplace to their newly renovated stone patio.

“We love our property, and we love large group gatherings – that was our original motivation,” says Marilyn Donahue, recalling when she and husband Jim first considered augmenting their North Hampton property. “As much as we love fire pits, there’s nothing quite like the ambiance of a fireplace.”

Enter Adam Bennett, owner of the Windham-based Colonial Stoneworks. After years working in the automotive and landscaping sectors, in 2010 Bennett launched Colonial with the aim of emphasizing “green hard-scaping,” specifically the use of New England granite in everything from mailboxes to property walls to walkways and staircases.

Up until last summer, Bennett had conducted dozens of projects of varying sizes for properties throughout Southern New Hampshire – many of them involving stones and boulders found right on the customer’s property. One thing he hadn’t attempted, however, was an outdoor patio fireplace.

“I’d done a handful of fire pits before, but nothing that was too complicated,” says Bennett of his first large-scale outdoor fireplace. “This was a different animal entirely. Let’s just say it took a little longer.”

The result is a majestically Spartan nine-by-six fireplace with 15 and 20 foot seating walls on each side, respectively – perfect for gatherings large and small alike. In so doing, Bennett extended the house’s patio to create an airy outdoor living space, with thick woodlands beyond and the open air making for a truly New England arena.