CWEB.082/October.29.2002
A Washington state island community is exploring the idea of energy sustainability through locally produced renewable resources.
This ambitious goal is technologically feasible, according to a report for Vashon-Maury Island, located in Puget Sound southwest of Seattle. " ... Vashon-Maury Island is a community with a relatively high energy consumption pattern, and relatively low renewable resources, but nevertheless it appears that there is more than enough potential renewable energy to support the community's energy needs," said the report from Vashon-based Institute for Environmental Research and Education. Solar photovoltaics are the most promising local renewable for energy abundance--albeit the most expensive.
In any case, energy independence for the community of 10,000 people remains a distant aspiration. "We're talking decades here," said Rita Schenck, executive director of IERE. She and other island residents are further discussing sustainable energy independence.
Near-term projects include a push for energy conservation and green power sales, in collaboration with local electric/natural gas utility Puget Sound Energy. Renewables demonstration ventures also are under consideration.
Cost is certainly an issue for prospective Vashon-Maury renewables; estimates range from 6 cents per kilowatt-hour for wind to 30 cents per kilowatt-hour for solar.
Nevertheless, Schenck believes environmental stewardship begins at home. "Communities are where sustainability has to happen. It's the natural unit of sustainability. Energy is really important ... Hopefully we can make some steps in the right direction. Whether we have the political will to be energy independent, that's a question for every community to answer, and certainly for our community. The engineering is there. It's physically and technically possible to do this."
Energy Sustainability
IERE supports fact-based environmental decision-making, Schenck said, and energy is "one of the big kahunas" in its environmental impacts. "We thought, 'What could we do to fix that?' We're on the island. It seems really natural to us to say, 'What if we took the island and essentially eliminated its energy signature? ... Can we take this well-defined community and say, on a net basis, can we make all our own energy?'"
With funding from Paul G. Allen, IERE set out to examine those questions.
First came an assessment of current energy use on the island: electricity, natural gas, diesel (including for ferries), gasoline, heating oil, propane and firewood. These totalled 35 megawatts, with conversion to electricity equivalents. Power supplied by Puget Sound Energy amounts to 30 percent of this total, followed by diesel (26 percent), gasoline (18 percent), natural gas (13 percent), heating oil (6 percent), firewood (4 percent) and propane (3 percent).
Princeton Energy Resources International was contracted to examine prospective renewables for Vashon-Maury Island.
PERI concluded the island could theoretically generate all its energy renewably, despite limitations of a temperate climate. "I was hoping we'd find really red-hot renewable resources there, but unfortunately, one of the reasons people live there is it's a relatively benign environment," PERI's Dan Ancona told Con.WEB.
Solar-electric power could be "substantial," according to an initial report published in May. "To produce the energy required to run the island, it would be necessary to cover 560 acres of the island with PV cells, or 0.87 square miles, or 2.4% of the island. This is a little larger than the current roof space of the island."
Wind resources on Vashon-Maury are characterized as Level 2, a very low ranking. Estimated potential is 45 MW of wind capacity, although the capacity factor would likely peak at 16 percent, much lower than the range of 30 percent to 40 percent for energetic large-scale wind farms.
Tidal power could be generated at two locations, the report found, possibly producing somewhere between 1 MW and 6 MW of power "without unduly affecting shipping and boating concerns."
Biomass resources--such as sewage sludge, industrial food wastes, municipal solid waste, wood wastes and landfill gas--could furnish 1 MW of electricity, the report estimated.
"There is no exploitable geothermal energy on the island, and the hydropower potential is too small to commercialize," the report said.
Cost projections range from 6 cents/KWh for wind to 10 cents/KWh for biomass to 30 cents/KWh for solar, Schenck said. These estimates are subject to a host of variables, including specific technologies and ownership and financing arrangements.
"I have a lot of ideas about things that can be done. But unless those ideas are consonant with what the community wants, I'm not going to do anything," she said.
A Sept. 14 local conference provided information on sustainability issues including energy, and generated about 80 energy ideas from local residents, according to a summary.
The Vashon-Maury Island Community Council is aware of the project, said executive board president Kyle Kruver. Schenck "has brought the opportunities to our attention, and we are just doing our best to facilitate her programming," he told Con.WEB.
Outside entities with an expressed interest include the Pacific Northwest Economic Region, Rocky Mountain Institute, Climate Solutions, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the University of Washington, Schenck said. The Bullitt Foundation has provided a grant to help develop business plans for Vashon renewables.
Puget Sound Energy Role
"Puget Sound Energy is looking for more and more ways to partner with our communities to encourage and motivate their constituents to conserve energy and to consider investing more in renewable sources," said Puget marketing manager Liz Norton. "So this opportunity with Vashon is perfect, in that you've got a very active organization or community with those same kinds of goals."
Puget initially plans to more widely inform islanders about the utility's energy-saving programs, such as rebates for energy-efficient natural gas furnaces and water heaters and weatherization for low-income customers. Although any specific Vashon-Maury Island initiatives are yet unclear, Norton noted an abundance of single-family residential dwellings, many of them former cabins that perhaps could benefit from tighter envelopes.
On the renewables side, islanders will be encouraged to buy green power from Puget, which gets green tags from Bonneville Environmental Foundation. Schenck said her goal is 10 percent of the community buying green power by the end of 2003. Reinvestment of those funds in local renewables is a possibility, as are other demonstration ventures and promotion of net metering. In addition, Norton said Puget is undertaking a least-cost planning process for which renewables will be considered. "It's a utilitywide look [but] Vashon would be right in there as well."
Puget wants to be engaged in the island's energy sustainability effort, "to figure out what is the best role for the utility moving forward," Norton said. "Also, we firmly believe there will always be distribution requirements ... no matter how [energy is] generated or where it's generated ...
"Are we threatened by it? No. Could it be a different model in the future? Maybe," she said.
'Unique and Pioneering Effort'
Ancona called this project "quite a unique and pioneering effort here to very comprehensively and objectively look at all the potential renewable resources." He believes the Vashon-Maury Island community "could try and move forward with some of these things. I'm not sure they can be totally energy independent" of Puget's electric grid.
The latest report echoes that thought: "The grid is an excellent way for communities to share their energy, producing excess when they can and drawing energy from the grid when their demands exceed their production rate."
Vashon resident Rob Harmon also thinks this endeavor is distinctive. "Is there a sustainable net-zero energy community anywhere in the U.S.? Rita is really trying to break some new ground here. It's a very ambitious project."
He mentioned interest in looking at such pilot projects as hydrogen and biodiesel as transportation fuels, methane from sewage treatment, and solar. Economics will be a major factor, noted Harmon, vice president of BEF. He also sees "an awful lot of opportunities for conservation and efficiency" on the island.
"Based on the demographics of Vashon, the kinds of people I know on Vashon, there will be interest here," he said. "Whether that interest and the research Rita is doing will result in a project, we'll find out as we go."--Mark Ohrenschall
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The Energy Trust of Oregon has big plans for conservation and renewables.
Under its new strategic plan, Oregon's public-purposes funding agency aims to help electric customers save 300 average megawatts and furnish 10 percent of the state's electricity (at least 450 aMW) through renewable resources, both by 2012. The Trust also wants to serve more customers in traditionally hard-to-reach sectors, foster a strong business climate for efficiency/renewable companies, and make clean energy part of the Oregon way of life.
A 2003-2004 action plan spells out specific Trust energy-saving and renewable energy programs and other activities. It sets near-term goals of 65 aMW of efficiencies and 35 aMW of renewables production in the next two years.
The fledgling organization plans to strike a conservation balance among different customer classes and their differing energy-saving profiles, and to pursue a variety of renewable resources. A major renewables ventures, a large-scale wind solicitation, was down to two finalists as of mid-October.
A Trust budget for fiscal year 2003 starting Oct. 1 projects $44.4 million collected from Portland General Electric and PacifiCorp customers under the public-purposes provisions of Oregon's electric industry restructuring. The Trust actually plans to spend $49.4 million in FY 2003, including funds dedicated for future renewables production payments, but expects to finish slightly in the black with monies carried over from 2002.
The two plans and the budget were unanimously approved by the Trust board of directors Sept. 27 in Portland.
Meanwhile, an Oregon regulator whose agency has a key cooperative role with the Trust praised the new organization. "We think they're doing great and really moving in the right direction," said commissioner Lee Beyer of the Oregon Public Utility Commission.
Balanced Planning
The Energy Trust officially debuted March 1 as the independent non-profit entity charged with administering most of the 3 percent of PGE/PacifiCorp Oregon revenues earmarked for public purposes. (See Con.WEB, March 30, 2002, for a special section on the Trust.)
The agency has operated under interim strategic and action plans, while it developed final plans. The Trust held listening sessions around Oregon this spring, conducted open houses in 10 communities in September and solicited and received comments from stakeholders.
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| (Courtesy of the Energy Trust of Oregon) |
In its final strategic plan for 2002 through 2007, the Trust seeks to balance single-mindedly chasing the cheapest energy savings and serving the full range of customers that pay for public purposes.
At the Sept. 27 board meeting, Trust board chair Steve Schell read a letter from corporate utilities manager John Bacchetti of Klamath Falls window manufacturer JELD-WEN. Bacchetti recommended the Trust fund ventures with the "largest and quickest opportunities" for energy savings--namely, industrial. If the Trust operates like a business it will send dollars to the highest returns on investment and ignore projects with 5-, 10- or 20-year paybacks; if it acts like a government agency it will simply hand out money to those who squeak the loudest, Bacchetti wrote.
Abundant inexpensive savings and lower customer bills "are not mutually exclusive," responded Trust executive director Margie Harris. "We have attempted in our allocation to balance that approach, to get cost-efficient megawatts at the same time we are reducing consumer bills."
She also stressed a balancing act, in discussions about the strategic plan's specification that the Trust will pay up to 10 percent more per kilowatt-hour of energy saved to increase participation in conservation and on-site renewables programs by such historically underserved customer groups as small commercial, industrial, agricultural, residential rental and low-income.
"We are trying to explain market sensitivity to underserved markets, without doing so at the expense of other emphases and programs we really want that are designed to capture megawatts," Harris said, although she acknowledged that as a significant challenge. "We want to demonstrate we can do both. It remains to be seen how that will be shown."
Trust planning/evaluation director Fred Gordon said the agency will examine "the most cost-effective ways of getting higher participation" from customer groups that haven't been widely reached over the past 20 years. "We can do this in a way to get the most bang from the least bucks. Short of paying 100 percent of value, we're not sure what those ways are now."
Planning, Programs, Budget
The strategic plan lists five overarching goals (see second paragraph of story), as well as specific measures and strategic approaches for each. This plan extends halfway through the 10-year public-purposes funding period established by Oregon's restructuring legislation.
A complementary action plan carries through the new two years. In addition to numeric goals (also see above), the action plan outlines upcoming long-term Trust-funded programs and activities, with timelines.
On the demand side these represent a substantial move beyond four current pilot efforts and the continuation of PGE/PacifiCorp ventures, which are scheduled to stop enrolling new customers by October 2003.
Commercial/industrial and residential sectors are covered, both new and existing, as is ongoing funding for the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance.
Renewables efforts will focus on wind, solar and biomass programs, while still keeping the door open for unsolicited proposals.
The Trust's request for proposals for wind energy yielded seven responsive bids totalling 604.5 MW of capacity, at an average 20-year levelized cost in the range of 3 cents/KWh to 4 cents/KWh at the busbar and an average capacity factor of 30 percent to 32 percent, reported renewable energy director Peter West.
The two selected finalists are Tomen Power, proposing a wind farm in the Combine Hills of Umatilla County, and Northwestern Wind Power, proposing an addition to the Klondike wind project in Sherman County. One will be selected for Trust funding of up to $8.3 million, according to an Oct. 16 Trust news release.
For its first full fiscal year of operation, the Trust banks on $44.4 million in public-purposes revenues from PGE and Pacific customers. Budgeted expenses for FY 2003 total $38.3 million, plus $11 million in dedicated funding, including $8.3 million for the large-scale wind-power solicitation.
This $49.4 million in planned expenses is $5 million more than planned revenues, but the budget bottom line finishes slightly in the black with $5.1 million in estimated carryover funds from FY 2002.
The Trust expects to spend 69 percent of its FY 2003 funds on efficiency programs, 27 percent on renewables programs, 2 percent on communications and outreach and 2 percent on management and general. That 4 percent on non-program activities is considered quite low for a non-profit group, according to Trust officials. "We are basically treating ourselves as a pass-through organization," said Harris. "That approach is very much reflected in our budget."
She also pronounced herself "pleased personally that we're putting the strategic planning effort and budget planning effort behind us so we can turn our attention to actual program design and implementation."
In other Trust news, board members Andy Anderson and Suzanne Johannsen have resigned, leaving seven voting board members. The board is looking to add four new members, including replacements for Anderson and Johanssen, who both left because of other time commitments, said Trust communications director Jan Schaeffer.
The Trust also has new offices, at 733 SW Oak St., Suite 200, in Portland.
An OPUC Perspective
OPUC commissioner Beyer believes the Trust is off to a good start. In an interview with Con.WEB, Beyer lauded the Trust for responsiveness, flexibility, strategic approach, smooth transition from utility programs, diverse projects, balancing benefits among all customer classes and administrative frugality.
Although it's "way too early" to judge the Trust's full impact in Oregon, "I think it's going to be an experiment that's going to pay off and accomplish what we've intended," said Beyer.--Mark Ohrenschall
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A spurned wind-energy developer has invoked a federal law in an attempt to force NorthWestern Energy to buy power from its proposed 50-megawatt Montana wind farm.
NorthWestern (formerly Montana Power) opposes the idea as it plans another wind power solicitation, but the Montana Public Service Commission will consider the matter at a Nov. 15 hearing.
This action comes from Whitehall Wind, an affiliate of Minnesota-based Northern Alternative Energy, a rejected bidder in NorthWestern's 2001 solicitation for 150 MW of wind power resources to serve default supply customers. The investor-owned utility had chosen Montana Wind Harness for the entire amount, but in July cancelled a power-purchase agreement after the PSC questioned the selection process (see Con.WEB, Aug. 29, 2002).
Whitehall subsequently petitioned the PSC, declaring its planned 50-MW project a qualifying facility under the federal Public Utility Regulatory Policy Act and Montana's so-called "mini-PURPA" law. The company cited failed contract negotiations with NorthWestern. Whitehall wants the Montana PSC to set rates and conditions for a QF contract by early December.
The developer is in a rush to complete the project before the current federal wind energy production tax credit expires in December 2003, NAE president John Jaunich told Con.WEB. "QF is the only avenue we know of to get things going," he said.
NorthWestern asked the PSC to dismiss Whitehall's request, but the commission said it would hear the case. The utility intends to issue another wind-energy solicitation for default supply customers in coming months, said spokeswoman Claudia Rapkoch. The timing may be delayed because of the Whitehall QF issue, she added.
Whitehall's Plans
Whitehall is pursuing the 50-MW wind project in southwestern Montana, on a site encompassing reclaimed land at the Golden Sunlight Mine and adjacent U.S. Bureau of Land Management property, Jaunich said. The company plans about 35 turbines of 1.8-MW capacity, and a total capital investment of $65 million, he said.
Whitehall has filed with NorthWestern for a transmission interconnection study, he said, praising the utility as "very cooperative in that effort."
Jaunich said his firm has found a less receptive audience at NorthWestern for buying power from the proposed wind project.
NAE submitted a bid for the utility's 150-MW wind power solicitation, but the IOU announced in December 2001 its choice of Montana Wind Harness for a power purchase agreement from three separate sites at a price of 3.1 cents per kilowatt-hour over 20 years.
However, after months of considering NorthWestern's proposed power supply for its default customers, the PSC in June decided the utility had not sufficiently explained how it selected Montana Wind Harness, and thus regulators could not conclude the choice was reasonable. Three accepted contracts will supply about 80 percent of the utility's default power supply.
NorthWestern shortly thereafter cancelled the MWH contract, although utility officials left open the possibility of adding wind power to its system.
Jaunich said that after the PSC ruling in June he approached NorthWestern officials with an offer to sell output from the proposed 50-MW project at 2.8 cents/KWh, fixed over 20 to 30 years. But he said the officials eventually declined, responding that they were still evaluating wind options. "We said, 'We can't wait; our window is fast shrinking,'" said Jaunich.
Whitehall's Aug. 2 PSC filing noted a 120-day deadline for commission action. If QF approval came by December, the company "would have its project substantially completed by the end of 2003," the filing said.
NorthWestern Energy's Plans
"It is our intention to issue an [request for proposals] for the wind power portion of the [default supply] portfolio once we get a couple of other things finished," Rapkoch told Con.WEB. The company has been focusing on lining up conservation and demand-side management resources for its portfolio and will make decisions on those before moving on to wind power, she said. NorthWestern had tentatively planned to look into putting together a wind RFP in late fall or early winter. "But now we have to work through this QF issue, so it may be early next year," she said.
NorthWestern has not yet decided how much wind power it plans to purchase, Rapkoch added.
NorthWestern asked the PSC to dismiss Whitehall Wind's request, saying the developer should wait until the company schedules another wind bidding process. The utility argued that Whitehall didn't negotiate with NorthWestern before filing its petition, and also that the developer is not a QF, according to PSC attorney Martin Jacobson.
But the commission denied NorthWestern's plea. "The PSC determines that [Whitehall Wind's] petition presents a number of important issues which might be of first impression in Montana," the commission said in an Oct. 16 order requesting that both sides submit more information by Nov. 13, two days before the scheduled hearing.
Issues
In its review of the Whitehall Wind request, the PSC will have to determine whether the federal PURPA--which requires utilities to buy power from QFs--trumps Montana's electric industry restructuring law--which requires utilities to set up a default energy supply--and the state's mini-PURPA statute, which requires QFs of 3 MW or more to get contracts through competitive bidding, said PSC utility division staffer Will Rosquist. "It hasn't been a problem because we haven't had a whole lot of large QFs that have approached the utility," Rosquist said. "This is the first major QF proposal to come in, in probably 10 years."
The federal PURPA was conceived in 1978 "to encourage the development of cogeneration and small power production facilities," including renewables under 80 MW, NAE's filing reads. Utilities must pay qualifying facilities up to avoided costs. Montana adopted a mini-PURPA statute in 1981 requiring the PSC to set payment and conditions if a utility and QF fail to agreement.
NAE's filing acknowledges the commission has "apparently adopted" an interim rate schedule for NorthWestern precluding QF contracts above 3 MW in the absence of a competitive solicitation, but "that interim rule is not binding on the Commission and is in obvious violation of both federal and state QF statutes and regulations."
PURPA remains the law of the land, and the Whitehall wind project meets federal and state QF criteria, NAE contends. The firm claims entitlement to short-term payments of 3.2 cents/KWh--"a very attractive price"--based on an existing interim rate for QFs larger than 3 MW, and an option for long-range purchases at avoided costs determined by the PSC.
"Since negotiations have not progressed at all since contact was initiated between the companies in early June, WHW believes it is entitled to declare negotiations at an impasse and ask the Commision to set the terms and conditions for a contract with NWE," the filing reads. "WWH does not take this step lightly, but believes that the merits of its project are such that it makes no sense to wait for the outcome of whatever steps NWE may decide to take in the future to secure power supply for its default supply customers ... A utility's refusal to deal with independent power developers is one of the primary evils that PURPA was intended to address."
NAE also is exploring potential power sales to entities other than NorthWestern, Jaunich said. He said his company also would respond to any wind solicitation from the IOU, proposing additional megawattage beyond the 50 MW initially envisioned.--Mark Ohrenschall and Cassandra Sweet
Washington state government agencies are under orders to pursue sustainable environmental practices, specifically including energy conservation and green power.
Gov. Gary Locke's Sept. 18 executive order on sustainability adds impetus to energy-saving and renewable energy efforts for state government, according to state officials. Energy policy official Tony Usibelli called the order a "very positive step," while Clint Lougheed of the Department of General Administration predicted it "will result in more energy efficiency in the state," although how much is unknown.
Locke did not set numerical targets, nor does his directive include funding. State officials acknowledged money presents a key question for state energy sustainability, especially for more expensive green power. At the same time there exist some opportunities and alternative approaches, such as energy saving performance contracting, aggregate purchasing and green building standards.
State agencies collectively make a large footprint in Washington, occupying many millions of square feet of space, consuming many average megawatts of electricity annually and wielding purchasing power estimated at $1 billion.
"Employing sustainable practices enables us to address our current needs without sacrificing the needs of future generations," the second-term Democratic governor said in a news release. "We, as a state, should serve as a model and contribute positively to the long-term protection and enhancement of our quality of life."
State agencies are directed to create biennial sustainability plans, the first due Sept. 1, 2003, and provide annual progress reports starting by Oct. 15, 2004. Locke's order lists seven long-term goals to guide these plans, including minimizing energy and water use and shifting to clean energy for facilities and vehicles.
Executive Order
Locke's executive order culminated the efforts of an interagency working group the governor established early this year to examine state government sustainability.
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| Washington Gov. Gary Locke (Courtesy of Gov. Locke's Web site) |
This campaign dovetails with Locke's interest in streamlining government, according to Usibelli, energy policy staff assistant director in the state Office of Trade and Economic Development, who participated in the working group. "I also think it has some positive aspects to it in a time of ... economic challenges for the state," he said, because saving energy, water and other resources can improve budget bottom lines. Washington state government faces a projected $2 billion shortfall in the coming two-year period.
Locke's directive begins with a nod "to the mutually compatible goals of economic vitality, a healthy environment and strong communities," and goes on to outline "the steady decline in the natural resources and ecosystems on which people and economic vitality depend ... the regional and global implications of climate change, loss of biological diversity, and threats to resources such as clean water require us all to examine and change behaviors ... state government should model sustainable business practices that contribute to the long-term protection and enhancement of our environment, our economy and the health of current and future generations."
In addition to energy-related goals for state agencies, Locke suggests moving to non-toxic, recycled and remanufactured materials in purchasing and construction, expanding markets for "environmentally preferable" products and services, minimizing resource waste, increasing employee awareness and making sustainability "an agency value."
The order charges the Office of Financial Management with appointing a sustainability coordinator to work with state agencies on meeting goals as well as enlisting private-sector representatives and others in an advisory role.
Colleges, universities and kindergarten through 12th-grade schools are among the entities not covered under the order, although Locke encouraged such organizations to go sustainable on their own.
In neighboring Oregon, Gov. John Kitzhaber signed an executive order for state government sustainability in May 2000. Only a handful of other governors nationwide have enacted environmental sustainability orders, according to Lougheed.
Energy and Sustainability
Washington state government has already cut its total energy consumption substantially since the energy crisis. State agency electricity use dropped an average of 10.6 percent in 2001, compared to 2000, and is down nearly 7 percent in 2002 through August, also compared to 2000, according to recent state figures. Natural gas use fell 14.5 percent in 2001, compared to 2000, and is 2.6 percent lower this year through August.
The sustainability order reminds state agencies that the governor's January 2001 executive order requesting 10 percent cuts in electricity and natural gas use remains in effect. "I think it's a good follow-up," said Usibelli.
"I think many agencies have been working towards improving the energy efficiency of their facilities for a number of years," said Lougheed, facility engineering manager in GA's engineering and architectural services department. "There are some that haven't, and some that can do more," he added, predicting Locke's order would get the attention of a number of conservation-lagging agencies.
State officials discussed targets for energy and other quantifiable goals, but ultimately decided instead to "put the onus on each individual agency to be accountable" for its own sustainability practices, Usibelli said. Agencies differ dramatically in energy conservation opportunities, he noted. They also vary in facilities, vehicle fleets and other aspects, said Lougheed.
Nevertheless, "I think it's going to make people stop and think about how they're building and operating their facilities," said Lougheed.
Dollars will inevitably creep into that thought process. "Money's always an issue," said GA's Stuart Simpson, who advises state agencies on green building.
But the financial equation for sustainability is multifaceted.
Green building may initially cost slightly more than conventional construction, but Simpson noted that experienced green building designers can whittle away that premium. Even if there are added capital costs, reduced energy and water use lowers operational expenses and quickens paybacks. He also said some of Locke's sustainability goals require little funding, such as incorporating it as a priority value.
"Given there's a $2 billion hole in the state budget, I think agencies are going to have to get very creative how they respond to this executive order," said Lougheed.
As for specific opportunities, GA has used energy saving performance contracting for many years. "That's worked very well and we continue to do that," said Lougheed, although borrowing capacity and utility rebate availability are among limiting factors.
Another option under discussion by GA is green building standards for state facilities, specifically the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) silver level, according to Simpson and Lougheed. LEED is already required for consideration for new state facilities, Simpson said. A new energy-saving goal for the Capitol Campus is another possibility.
Purchasing green power may prove challenging, according to state officials, because of its higher price--a tough proposition in a budget-cutting era. "The big issue is the additional cost," Usibelli said. Lougheed suggested looking into a bulk green power buying arrangement for state government as a whole.
"We're going to do our part to keep agencies aware of the [sustainability] order," Lougheed said. "Frankly, there's a lot more serious concerns agencies are having" at the moment given the looming multibillion-dollar budget gap.--Mark Ohrenschall
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Using crystal ball-like capabilities, the new version of an energy modeling software program hopes to dissolve the first-cost barrier to using energy efficiency strategies on new buildings, remodeling and retrofit projects, particularly in the small commercial market.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory's ENERGY-10 software had heretofore served as an energy analysis tool allowing users to compare energy savings, in energy terms, from any combination of integrated energy efficiency strategies.
The new Version 1.5, released in August, includes a life-cycle cost tool that will forecast, discount and compare those energy savings in today's dollars. The program can then include mortgage and interest rates, initial construction costs, annual electric bills, tax payments and exemptions, equipment and fuel costs, and the size implications of HVAC systems--all this, to project a year-by-year cash flow over the life of the building, calculating which strategy is ultimately most cost-effective.
ENERGY-10, which costs $250 for professional use and $50 for student/academic use, has about 100 registered Northwest users.
Scenario Playing
Since its development in the early 1990s, ENERGY-10 software has allowed architects, designers and students to play "what if" scenarios with energy use by combining various efficiency solutions with the basic framework of a hypothetical building, while the software simulated a year of hour-by-hour operations. It was originally designed to allow architects to see residential passive solar techniques at work in small commercial building applications, and quantify projected results for prospective clients, ENERGY-10 author and NREL research fellow Doug Balcomb told Con.WEB.
Balcomb said his software was designed specifically as an energy analysis tool that was easier to learn. While building simulation program DOE-2 can be used for large commercial structures and sports dozens of pages of building specification inputs (down to the outside texture of the building), ENERGY-10 is tailored for small commercial construction--topping out around 20,000 feet--and has simpler user interfaces that ask for more basic material and systems data.
Workshops
ENERGY-10 is primarily marketed and taught through workshops offered by the Sustainable Buildings Industry Council, as well as a university site license program, but workshops have been difficult to promote in the Northwest, according to SBIC program manager Doug Schroeder. Local partnerships and funding have made most of the 80 nationwide workshops happen, but, "We just have not been successful getting key institutions [in the Northwest] to pony up resources," he said.
There are more than 2,000 registered users nationwide, include more than 60 colleges and universities, but only 50 of those users are in Oregon, 39 in Washington, eight in Montana and four in Idaho.
Instead of a computer-training course, the workshops look first at how buildings use energy, then address specific efficiency strategies, then look at ENERGY-10. One of the software's goals is self-explanation, so users can learn themselves, and authors are working on better tutorials. SBIC offers an online support forum where users can troubleshoot and receive help from SBIC experts.
"You can integrate different energy efficiency strategies and see how they play off each other. We can promote certain strategies, but if they're not integrated properly you can make things worse," Schroeder said. The program also can model options for existing buildings for energy auditing purposes, a use never originally intended, Schroeder said.
Northwest ENERGY-10 Stories
As a teaching tool, the new version will help students make quick evaluations and check their work when calculating and comparing efficiency benefits, said Roger Ebbage, director of the Northwest Energy Education Institute in Eugene.
In his energy investment analysis class, students quantitatively compare energy improvements on paper before using the software, and then calculate life-cycle costs by hand. Version 1.5 will allow a further check of their work, he said. Ebbage, who organized a 1998 ENERGY-10 workshop in Portland, has used the program in Lane Community College's two-year energy management program since the software was developed, and called it "a great entry point for students to get into some real serious building simulation software."
Ebbage's students eventually graduate to DOE-2, a building simulation program that, though much more powerful than ENERGY-10, requires more training and targets engineers and other specialized users.
One architect in Mount Vernon, WA recently bought the program to test code compliance in some of his energy-efficient residential projects. Russ Weiser, of Henry Klein Partnership Architects, is working on a home with a lot of concrete thermal mass. With ENERGY-10 Version 1.5, he can enter a hypothetical code-compliant building and compare it to the specifications of his design.
Sandra Mallory, a Seattle architect with the non-profit Environmental Works, began using the software while teaching non-architecture students in a sustainable systems masters program at Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania. It was inexpensive and easy for Mallory and students to learn on their own, she said. "If you add 30 feet of glass on the west wall, for example, you can see what that will do to energy consumption," she said. "Once you've got the basic building in there you can go in and make changes pretty quickly. With insulation, you can see at what point it doesn't make sense to add any more."
Mallory said ENERGY-10, like many energy modeling programs, can't model the shading effect of adjacent structures or trees, but users can get around that by manipulating the program's capabilities and inserting proxies. "We were able to put shading devices on the building that were what we thought would be similar to the effect of shading from trees."
Next on the horizon for ENERGY-10 is a sketch interface tool planned for release in Version 2.0 early next year, which will allow users to model shading. "We work now in a series of dialogue boxes, inputting data," said Schroeder. "An architect intuitively wants to draw a building. The sketch feature will let them draw, and ENERGY-10 will understand the dimensions." A beta version is also under development that models energy use in net-metered solar-powered buildings.--Ben Gilbert
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From the outside, a "green" home may look similar to a conventional home.
But on the inside, "green" features result in reduced consumption of energy and water, healthier indoor air quality, less water pollution and reduced pressure on natural resources.
Around the nation, including the Pacific Northwest, home buyers who want to shrink their environmental footprints and home builders looking for a new marketing edge are taking an interest in green building. Programs are emerging to help further its practice.
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| (Courtesy of BuiltGreen) |
"Our customers want to know that the product they buy is sensitive to a wide range of environmental issues," said Peter Orser, executive vice president of Quadrant Homes, a leading homebuilder in the Puget Sound region. Quadrant is building all its homes to the three-star standard of BuiltGreen, a voluntary program run by the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties.
Beyond environmental impacts, green buildings have practical features that are "very marketable," said Kathleen O'Brien, president of O'Brien & Company and a consultant who helped the Master Builders set up BuiltGreen. Those features include better indoor air quality, greater energy efficiency, durability and lower maintenance costs.
For contractors, green construction practices such as job-site recycling can reduce their costs and liability, O'Brien added.
Green Building Programs
BuiltGreen, which kicked off in October 2000, is one of about two dozen such programs that have sprung up around the nation.
A total of 24 Puget Sound-area builders are listed as BuiltGreen members. Associate members include building supply vendors, architects, real estate firms, consultants and non-profit organizations. Other sponsors in addition to Master Builders are King County, Snohomish County and Fannie Mae Foundation.
Similar programs in Washington include Build a Better Clark and Build a Better Kitsap. In Oregon, Portland General Electric sponsors Earth Advantage. Among governments, the city of Portland's G/Rated program provides training, technical assistance, and cash incentives for people who plan to incorporate green features into remodeled or newly built homes.
What Makes It Green?
So, what makes a home "green"?
The definition is somewhat loose, but any building material or practice that improves a home's energy performance beyond code, cuts fresh water consumption, reduces demand on forests and other natural resources, and/or lessens a home's impact on its occupants and on its surroundings could be considered green.
"Through intelligent design and building material choices that take a whole systems approach, buildings can be 'greened' into healthy, productive places that meet the needs of individuals, businesses, and the community at large," says a Green Construction Topical Report from the Pacific Northwest Pollution Prevention Resource Center.
BuiltGreen
BuiltGreen provides participating builders a checklist of premium materials and practices from which contractors can select to earn a one-, two- or three-star BuiltGreen rating. When construction is complete, builders send a signed copy of the checklist to the Master Builders Association for review and issuance of a BuiltGreen certificate. About 1,600 homes have been completed to BuiltGreen specifications.
The extent to which BuiltGreen homes improve energy performance varies because builders choose from a wide range of options. "The list is flexible. You can't say a three-star home will save X percent because there are many variables," O'Brien said.
Examples of energy efficiency features on the checklist:
BUILDING ENVELOPE:
HEATING AND COOLING:
WATER HEATING:
LIGHTING:
APPLIANCES:
Other BuiltGreen Features
Indoor air quality features include use of low-toxicity paints, finishes, floor coverings, grout, caulking and sealers, along with formaldehyde-free cabinetry. They also include a series of air-handling features, such as a whole house fan and a central vacuuming system exhausted to the outdoors.
To reduce demand on natural resources, contractors can select wood from timberlands that meet Forest Stewardship Council criteria for forest and harvest management methods. Points are available for using recycled materials for foundations, roofing, insulation and decking.
Site impacts can be reduced by minimizing impervious surfaces, limiting grading, controlling erosion, stabilizing soils with compost and getting landscaping started with organic fertilizer.
The soil stabilization and impervious surface provisions address salmon habitat issues that were the impetus for BuiltGreen. After Puget Sound chinook salmon were added to the federal threatened species list, O'Brien said, builders and local governments were looking for ways to get ahead of the regulatory curve.
Cost, Marketing
Because BuiltGreen is voluntary, marketing to both builders and home buyers has been critical to stirring up interest in the program. Many builders, for example, assume that building a green home will cost more. "They're always surprised when it doesn't," O'Brien said.
Quadrant Homes' Orser, which built 620 homes to the BuiltGreen standard last year and plans to complete 850 this year, said most customers have positive attitudes about BuiltGreen homes--as long as the price is right.
"What's clear to me is that most buyers want a basic level of BuiltGreen, but they won't pay a lot more for additional features without a clear payback," Orser said. "All other things being equal, if they have to choose between BuiltGreen and a home that's not BuiltGreen, they'll take BuiltGreen all day long."
More intensive marketing will be necessary for BuiltGreen to enjoy wider visibility, O'Brien said. "The most successful program is Denver's. They've really taken off. They've moved to a single source of funding with industrial allies, they have TV advertising, and are part of the Denver Parade of Homes. This is where our program has to go," she said.
Earth Advantage
PGE's Earth Advantage program, which started in 1999, began marketing through classes for contractors, architects and real estate professionals.
Builders seeking Earth Advantage certification must adopt practices in each of four categories--energy efficiency, indoor air quality, environmental responsibility and resource efficiency.
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| (Courtesy of Earth Advantage) |
A total of 51 single-family home builders, along with two multifamily builders and one manufactured home company, participate in Earth Advantage. The fuel-blind program extends beyond PGE service territory; builders in areas served by Eugene Water & Electric Board, Clark Public Utilities and the city of Ashland can take part as well.
Homes must be at least 15 percent more efficient than Oregon's energy code or applicable national standards covering heating and cooling equipment, appliances and lighting. Upon completion, a home must pass blower door and duct blasting tests to ensure tightness.
By the end of 2002, Earth Advantage expects to have 400 homes certified, in addition to the 63 certified in the two previous years. A total of 3,000 Earth Advantage homes are in the planning or construction stage for completion in future years.
Follow-up testing of Earth Advantage homes' actual performance is planned for next year, Hansell said. Computer modeling shows 15 percent to 19 percent reduced energy consumption.
Hansell said that as more builders try Earth Advantage, the word is spreading and more are coming on board. "We're still figuring what hits their hot buttons," he said. The program suggests to builders that an Earth Advantage certification will make their products stand out in the marketplace. "You have a certified home with tested performance. The house is distinctively different. It's healthier and it performs better."--Jim DiPeso
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