An Unintended Interlude

As the Fourth of July approaches, we are experiencing a collective shock to our lives and it is being felt globally. We thought out greatest threat was climate change. We have now added a more immediate but shorter-term threat of COVID-19 and the vexing, long ignored injustice of racism.

 I had intended to be commenting on zero energy schools and closely related topics beginning last fall. I’m finally resuming postings on this blog. Here’s what going on.

 My time in the fall of 2019 was mostly focused on estimating the economics of zero energy schools in Wisconsin. The focus was a feasibility study of converting one or two public schools in Darlington, Wisconsin to zero energy. These schools had already installed 156 kW-dc solar using third party financing as noted in chapter 7 of the book. The Darlington schools have made remarkable progress in reducing their energy usage and costs with a combination of efficiency, renewables, and careful facilities management under the leadership of Lee Black, Head of Maintenance at the Darlington Community School District.

 They are now asking if they can achieve zero energy at one or both schools on a cash flow positive basis. Our team of Henry Hundt, Niels Wolter, and I applied for DOE funding, and with that support undertook the study with Lee Black and District Administrator Cale Jackson. The central financial modeling tool that we used was NREL’s SAM (System Advisor Model). We much appreciate the work that’s been done to develop SAM as well as NREL’s responsiveness as questions emerged during our study. Given net metering limitations in Wisconsin, the identified solar systems for Darlington schools include battery storage. SAM has the capability to include battery storage as well as third party ownership.

 The central result of our DOE co-funded study was that on-site solar PV and batteries are estimated to provide a small NPV for one school with a direct purchase by the school district. Incentives rules at the time of the study precluded third party ownership. Due to the limitations of the small distribution grid serving the two schools and the cost of retrofitting the HVAC systems to heat pump systems, it would be more financially advantageous to leave the existing natural gas heating in the schools and provide solar PV and batteries for zero energy for the electric supply only.

 The situation would be quite different in the case of a new school with a geothermal HVAC system on a larger distribution grid. The Darlington Study including observations for other locations can be found in Publications. 

Decisions on additional solar PV and battery storage have now been put on hold by COVID-19. The dilemma facing school districts and private schools is that the Wisconsin State Budget is in turmoil due to the drop in revenues. This in term has put public school district financial planning on hold as state aids for the 2020-21 budget need to be announced. Projects that had been previously contracted and bonding established are continuing to proceed, including what’s anticipated as a new zero energy elementary school in Fitchburg, Wisconsin (Oregon School District).  I hope to have an update on this blog in the coming weeks on that project.

A Moment for Reflection

After what seemed like a long slog, The Inevitable Solar School came out last week. I’m taking a couple weeks off for some sailing and biking. When I return, I’ll be discussing some current developments in Wisconsin with solar schools, two of which are planning for zero energy. There is also an eight story office building in preliminary design where the owners are inquiring about zero energy on their new facility and adding solar to an existing facility.

The Inevitable Solar School uses the metaphor of river travel. The currents carrying us to zero energy solar schools are growing stronger. I’m posting some pictures from a couple of trips. Some are from the Grand Canyon and others from Glacier Bay, Alaska. The frozen lake image is near the house. That lake freezes later than it did a short time ago.

I look forward to hearing from some of you, and perhaps you’ll provide some zero energy stories to share on this website.

Best,

Mark

Building on Beliefs

In spring of 2011, I wrote a piece for High Performance Buildings on Hoffman’s work with the Benedictine Sisters at Holy Wisdom Monastery in Middleton, WI. This LEED Platinum-NC facility was completed in 2009 and is setup to eventually achieve Net-Zero after adding additional solar PV over the years. It is a great example of how sustainable design can be applied over time, piece by piece until milestones are reached.

Early Reviews for The Inevitable Solar School

Zero energy buildings are a key strategy for meeting long-term energy and climate objectives. Schools are a great place to start as there are many good examples and they can be a great teaching tool for today’s youth who will become the leaders of tomorrow. The Inevitable Solar School provides a road map on why and how to build these schools, including extensive case studies that school administrators and designers can learn from.

Steven Nadel, Executive Director, American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE)

Mark Hanson has authored a visionary, timely and practical book on the implementation of zero net energy solar schools and buildings. As a professional resource economist, with extensive experience in the building industry, Dr. Hanson provides a motivating hands-on “how-to” book, with a wealth of technical, financial, and institutional guidelines as well as extensive case studies covering a wide range of school types and locations. This book should be mandatory reading today for school administrators, facility managers, business managers, board members, community members, teachers, students and building professionals who have the opportunity to evaluate and build a zero net energy school, including new buildings and retrofits.

Wesley K. Foell, National Advisory Board of the Union of Concerned Scientists; past director, Ecology/Environment Project – International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis (Vienna); Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Founder and President, Resource Management Associates of Madison (RMA)

Schools touch the lives of many on a daily basis and nearly everyone has been reached at some time through a school. These buildings are a perfect transition point of shifting buildings from “taking” to buildings that can give back—through producing more energy than then consume. There is no reason for schools to be anything but zero energy moving forward, and this book provides the motivation and rationale to help make zero energy schools commonplace.

Paul Torcellini, Principal Engineer, Commercial Buildings Research Group, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)

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Welcome and Thank you

My hope is to create an on going space to share and write on the subject of solar schools and sustainability in general. The book has served as a catalyst for the website and my goal is to continue to do so. Solar technology and how we build and integrate it into our schools, businesses and homes will have a large impact on our future comfort and costs.

I will use the page to share some of my earlier works on sustainability across several industries, excepts from the book as I see them develop in real world cases, as well as news and musings on current events and technologies. Hopefully these efforts can help those interested in developing solar projects for their own businesses and schools do so in the most appropriate and cost effective manner. The blog will be an interactive one—please feel free to email or share. I am happy to take up questions and help explain topics further.

Perhaps I will include a few items drawn from the general joys of life, like traveling and observing nature undisturbed by any amount of human design.

Thank you for your time,

Mark