1.  Consistently demonstrate practical, affordable energy efficiency and renewable energy ideas, devices, and systems at the over 4000 weekly farmers’ markets that take place across the USA from Memorial Day to Halloween or Thanksgiving.  

The people who attend farmers’ markets are a core constituency for green technology and practical applications that save money, energy, and resources.  They are likely to be early adopters who can spread those possibilities into the community.  I’ve done energy demos at my local farmers’ market and know that a renewable energy company sometimes participates in the year-long weekly market near Providence, RI.  I wouldn’t be surprised if there were more examples out there.  

Do energy education weekly at as many of those 4000 weekly markets as possible and over one growing season energy use and attitudes would change significantly.  See Mr Franklin’s Folks for one vision of how this might work.

I went walking down by Magazine Beach today

and picked up

a clear plastic cup with clear cover

a black plastic cup cover

a white plastic cup cover

a smaller plastic cup, crushed

a broken white styrofoam “clamshell” container

a brown plastic tray for cookies or something like that

a white plastic spoon, dirty

and an orange straw

At the NESEA Building Energy Conference in March, the winner of the MA Zero Net Energy House contest was announced.  It is the Stephens/Clarke Residence in Montague, MA which was built by Bick Corsa.  The 1152 square foot, 3 bedroom house cost $180,000, was monitored from January 1, 2009 to January 1, 2010, and produced two and a half times the energy it consumed.  This Zero Net Energy House is actually a Positive Net Energy House.

The house is highly insulated, with R42 walls, R100 ceiling, and stands on an R30 insulated slab.  It is powered by 4.94 kW of solar electric panels, solar air and hot water heaters, and passive solar heat gained through U-.17 windows (about R 5.8, according to my calculations).  There is a mini-split air source heat pump serving as a furnace and demand hot water heaters as back-up in case it’s needed.

The house used 1,959 kilowatts for the entire year with an annual energy bill for heating, cooling, hot water, cooking, appliances, and lighting of $392.  They sold 2,933 kilowatt hours worth $586 back to the grid over that same period.

Got the following email and thought I’d pass it on in case somebody here might be interested:

Do you want to know more about green building? Do you know a student who might want to earn college credit to learn about green building?

My name is Ryan Harb. For those of you who don’t know me, I’m a finishing graduate student from UMass and in May I will become the first person in the country to receive a MS in Green Building. I have a strong interest in ecological design and for 4 years I have been transforming my single-family home in Amherst, a college rental property, into a model sustainable residence. One project I’m working on now is a front yard transformation – creating a 5000 s.f. highly productive, food producing, permaculture garden at my home. Designing sustainable (food and other) systems is one of many aspects of green building.

This summer I will be co-teaching a 3-week Sustainable Design and Construction course at Sirius Community in Shutesbury, MA – a model educational and sustainable ecovillage in scenic western Massachusetts. This is one of the few opportunities in the country to receive college credit while learning experientially about sustainable design and construction. All students will receive natural building certification upon completion of this course.

I’ve been using my recycled solar cloches for years to start my garden early.  This year, here in Planting Zone 6A, I started planting a few days ago with tomatoes and basil in one solar cloche, zucchini in another, roquette and broccoli in a simple single cloche, and spinach in the space between them.  It was a great early Spring day as I planted the seeds and I was happy to spend an hour in the garden.  I’ll be happier when I see the seeds become seedlings and happier still, a couple of months down the road, when I get to taste my fresh vegetables.

Next week, I plan to plant more spinach and sugarsnap peas.

In the background of two of the pictures, you can see my Dirty F*ck*ng Solar Hippie Backpack which I have been using for about five years.

Climate change is moot.  If we halt air and water pollution (using the zero emission standard of such treehugging radicals as DuPont), end our dependence on foreign fuels (through systemic efficiency coupled with cogeneration and renewables), and create new energy jobs here at home, then we can save ourselves.  The planet can take of itself.

For instance, the Home Energy Efficiency Team of Cambridge, MA  began doing monthly weatherization barnraisings in the summer of 2008. Today they are in contact with about 20 other communities in MA, RI, and NY which are doing something similar and there are other groups in MA, NH, ME, CA that are doing solar barnraisings.

Just for a change, we should spend some of the time and media real estate on a few of the ready solutions like that (weatherization, insulation, efficiency, renewables) instead of the phony debate about global warming, global weirding (a term Friedman got from Hunter Lovins, I believe), and climate change we have been indulging in for years.  I don’t care if you believe in anthropogenic climate change or not.  If you insulate your band joist and attic hatch or install a setback thermostat, you’re going to save money and energy and reduce greenhouse gases and other pollutants whether you trust the science or consider it a liberal conspiracy.

I’ve been publishing different versions of “Mr Franklin’s Folks” for nearly a decade.  It’s about groups of people going to some of the over 4,600 farmers’ markets that happen every week across the USA from Memorial Day to Halloween or Thanksgiving to demonstrate the fact that Solar IS Civil Defense, among other things.  “Mr Franklin’s Folks” is the first posting at my solar archive, Solarray, and I took a table to advertise the concept at the first YearlyKos convention in Las Vegas.  

“Mr Franklin’s Folks” is a demonstration of practical energy actions that remain practical whatever your politics.  I don’t know but it might be time for the Franklin Folk to invite the Tea Party people to a weatherization barnraising.