beausoleil

One year solar anniversary! 616 dollars saved!

After one year of solar generation and data collection, the good news, particularly interesting to you San Franciscans worried about the effects of fog, is that solar does indeed work year round, even in our peculiar climate.

Below is a graph of kilowatt hours generated each month of the year, starting in November 2009 through October 2009.  As can be expected, the lowest month of generation is January with 260.59 kwh (not surprising given the short days of winter), the highest month April, with 500.84.  In most places on our hemisphere, this number would go up higher as the days lengthen in June, but our fog came a little early this year.

For those of you interested in the bottom line, I have to start by apologizing for an earlier omission to our monthly costs.  PG&E has been billing us monthly for the costs of energy distribution and other fees, but not our actual energy use, which accumulates every month until the true up period one year later (some months are positive, others negative).  We just paid our true up bill of $196.91, so I owe you a year's accounting.

I am comparing the total costs of pre-solar 2008 and solar 2009, including all payments to PG&E and  to Solar City for our monthly lease expense of approximately $30 per month.  The comparison is by cost only, and does not compare usage (which to our chagrin, even with our efforts to turn off more lights and replace lightbulbs, has increased by about 300kwh for the year).  The cost comparison also does not reflect the increase in PG&E rates for electricity, which are impossible to account for this year as PG&E has just switched to a time of day metering.  

Total savings for the year are $616.38 with almost 6,000 pounds of C0² offset!

San Francisco Green Business Awards

The award ceremony for the new green certified businesses in San Francisco took place last week in, appropriately, the Green Room at the War Memorial building across from City Hall.  Beausoleil was recognized as one of 60 newly certified businesses in the last year.  This brings the total to 160 green businesses in a city of over 10,000 total. 

We are very proud of our award, seen above, printed with eco friendly soy based inks, using recycled pallets and glass from a hotel demolition for the frame, put together by ecoimprints, another fabulous San Francisco Green Business.

We encourage you business owners out there to check out the green business program in San Francisco  or the larger Bay Area.  Their process was incredibly helpful in finding new ways to save money and further green our business practices.  Besides the immediate environmental benefits, this could prove to be an even more important step in these difficult financial times to set your business apart from the competition!

July Solar Update - SF fog vs. sun...

Forget June gloom, we actually had a nice June this year with over 455 kwh generated and a PG&E electric bill record low of only $3.04!

Now that the fog is really here for our typical cold San Francisco summer, I thought I would post the solar data from two back to back days, one sunny, one foggy.

The first is from this Tuesday, July 14, a glorious clear summer day with 19.42 kilowatts generated.

The second is from Wednesday, July 15, a thick foggy summer day with 8.58 kilowatts generated.

The fog definitely puts a damper on solar generation, but it still generates a respectable amount.  We'll let you know how it averages out when the bill comes a the end of the month.

If you haven't yet seen it, pick up a copy of the local paper, the Ingleside Light, with a prominent story on our system, our savings, and our first solar party!

San Francisco Solar Map

The City of San Francisco has a goal of 10,000 solar photovoltaic installations by 2010.  To track these installations and to give businesses, nonprofits and homeowners a place to see what has already been installed in their neighborhood, they have developed a website called the  San Francisco Solar Map.  Here you can get an idea of the size and annual savings of systems in your own microclimate.  To also help you determine if going solar might be right for your property, the website includes an interactive tab "What can solar do for you" that will give you a quick analysis of potential savings based on your address and roof size.  Links to local solar installers, tax credits and the fabulously generous  San Francisco Solar Initiative, which currently gives immediate credits of  $2000-10,000 for installing a system, can be found on their site. 

The solar map has just been updated for the first time in over 6 months (sadly budget cuts have affected their ability to keep up to date more regularly with new installations).  Our own installation is finally listed on the map, which helps bring the total to 1311 documented installations - a good start, but still very short of the 10,000 goal.  We know that not all systems are on the map as we have one neighbor in Westwood Park not listed.  We encourage you to contact the organization if you don't find your installation listed, and if you haven't yet considered solar for your property, contact any local installer for a free site specific estimate.  They will look at your PG&E bills and your roof layout and give you a much more accurate assessment for no charge.  The credits are great right now, but with the budget cuts our governments are facing, there is no guarantee of how long they might be available.

May Solar Update

Thank you to everyone who attended our solar party last month.  We had over 30 people in attendance throughout the course of the day, including reporters from the local Ingleside Light paper.  We'll let you know when the story is published!  For those of you who couldn't be there, let us know and we can set up a private tour, or organize a second party if there is enough interest.

Thank you again to Solar City for their presentation on solar photovoltaic systems and for the refreshments.  Thank you to Building Solutions for information about home energy testing and solar water heating.  I learned that SolarCity is the only company around providing lease options instead of a pure purchase for solar panels.  This program is what made solar finally possibly for us as our upfront costs were only $29.  Their program is apparently widely popular as they now have an 8 month waiting list for leased systems (direct purchases can be processed and installed much faster).  All the more reason to look into solar soon and get on the list!  Just announced this week is a partnership with US Bank that creates a tax equity fund that should hopefully speed up leases.  Check out the press release.

On a personal note, our PG&E electric bill last month was $12.03, down from $99 the year before.  Our total savings to date $615.03 and 3453 pounds of CO2 offset!

April Solar Update and PARTY!

A beautiful month of sun = a beautiful month of savings!

From our SolarCity Monitoring program, over 500 kwh were generated in April and only 569 were used.  PG&E electric bill for April was $12.83 compared to $103.75 last year at the same time.  Including our $29 monthly lease payment, total cost was $41.83 for a net savings of $61.92 just in one month.

The graphics below generated through Create a Graph shows a comparison of total electric costs by month before and after solar.  Total saved to date: $556.99 in 7 months since October.  We will continue to update the data through the year as it will be interesting to see how our typically foggy July and August will factor in.

In the meantime, if you want to know more, or want to see our system in place, we are hosting a solar party open house this Sunday, May 17 from 4-6:30.  Please RSVP by this Thursday evening so that we can purchase refreshments.  If you have any questions, please call Christine or Bob at 415-587-2004.

San Francisco Green Business Program

The San Francisco Green Business Program has recently launched their new website where environmentally savvy shoppers can be directed to companies that not only offer green products and services, but whose business have also been certified as meeting green practice goals.  From local bars to environmental consultants, from architects to office supplies, from chocolates to dentists, you can find a growing number of firms that have shown their commitment to the environment by going through the program.

Beausoleil was certified as a green business a few months ago and we have been waiting for the new website to proudly announce our certification. Our link can be found under services/architects and engineers/Beausoleil Architects or you can click here: Beausoleil

We had a wonderful experience through the certification process, where the staff not only reviewed our practices, from recycling, purchasing, and marketing, to energy and water use, but also offered concrete simple suggestions to further improve our processes and save money.  The water audit, provided free by the SFPUC (San Francisco Public Utility Commission) as part of the process showed that our toilets had slow leaks and our landscape irrigation was set for a few minutes longer than necessary.  They adjusted our toilets on the spot and gave us free low flow showerheads and sink aerators.  We've seen our water bill cut by 1/3 since their visit. On the electrical side, though we were already more than compliant with our recently installed solar system, they also suggested a plug load controller by Wattstopper that had outlets tied to a motion sensor.  Our computer monitors, printers and task lighting are now connected, ensuring that there is no power wasted through staff forgetfulness or vampire loads. We've also found new local sources for our office supply products that are competitive with the national brands and offer excellent service. 

We'd like to encourage you and your business to explore the Green Certification process, for our planet and for your bottom line!

10 things from the GreenV Sustainable Center grand opening

The Greenv Sustainable Center  of South San Francisco just opened for business under its new name and new sponsorship, and I took the opportunity to visit their grand opening event last Saturday. Points of interest:

1. The GreenV Sustainable Center of South San Francisco is a mixed-use green marketplace. Housed under one roof are alternative vehicles, sustainable building components, green retail, education, and events for the public and private sectors to access. They are a dynamic community resource for local governments, green businesses, and the public to utilize. The Sustainable Center is a networking junction for people to co-op their skills and marketing to advance the growth of the new green market.

2. The Center is located just off of El Camino Real and across from the South San Francisco Recycling Center. It’s a short walk from Bart. For more info contact: Evan Herceg, Green Building Exchange, 1 Chestnut Avenue, South San Francisco, CA 94080. Tel. (650) 588-1113, eherceg@greenbuildingexchange.com

3. The ‘GreenV’ in the Center’s name is from its major sponsor. GreenV is the manufacturer of the Apex-Block, an environmentally correct and sustainable advanced ICF (insulated concrete form) wall system. Unlike many similar products, Apex-Blocks are made of cement and recycled polystyrene foam. They are formed into large 51 pound homogeneous recyclable blocks (think fewer, larger parts to put together) with interlocking surfaces and networked inner cavities for filling with reinforced concrete. They form a load-bearing, shear resistive grid and can even be used for retaining walls. The blocks can be sawn, routed out for electrical installations, fastened to, and plastered inside and out.

4. Apex-Block details:
Fire Resistant: Tested to 4 hours at 2000 degrees F, the Apex-Block system does not burn or develop smoke. Unlike steel, it does not soften or bend in extreme heat.
Energy Efficient: Apex-Blocks are impervious to continuous frost and cold cycles. With a lab tested thermal value of R-52, buildings constructed with Apex-Blocks use up to 50% less energy to heat, and up to 60% less energy to cool (compared to traditional wood framed structures).
Healthy Environment: The Apex-Block does not absorb or retain moisture, instead - sheds it. The ability to keep dry makes it resistant to mold and mildew. Apex-Blocks will not rot, even in the wettest of environments, and provides optimal vapor release by allowing the building to breathe.
Infestation Resistant:Apex-Blocks are made from materials that are inhospitable to insects and rodents. For more info, contact Rick Rios, GreenV, rrios@verdevinc.com, (650) 588-1113

5. Keynote speaker David Gottfried was quite inspirational, talking not only about his involvement in founding the USGBC and the World Green Building Council, but about his struggle to ‘green’ his own personal life.  It’s not ultimately about buildings and technology, but about our life as human animals on the planet. Read David’s book “Greed to Green”.

6. David was the founder and the first staff president of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). The USGBC has been quoted as the leading global green building organization, having the greatest impact on climate change. In 1998 Gottfried invented and incubated the World Green Building Council, now with established and emerging green building councils in approximately 50 countries. Collectively, the world's green building councils have likely done more for climate change reduction than any organization. USGBC is considered the fastest growing non-profit in the world, now with almost 20,000 organizational members and 80 U.S. chapters.

7. One of the Center’s main functions is to host classes. They have a year-long commitment to working with the Solar Living Institute to house their classes on solar and renewable energy, alternative fuels and vehicles, gardening and permaculture, and so on. (707) 472-2450.

8. Fluid Stone finishes made from minerals, recycled aggregates and flexible, low VOC acrylic binders, were interesting.  Can be used on walls, floors, roof decks, driveways, decorative surfaces. Contact: (619) 491-0671 .

9. I also liked Liberty Valley Doors, Inc., (707) 795-8040. They have a line of beautiful doors made from recycled ‘rediscovered’ wood.

10. Freebies you missed if you didn’t make it to the party: 1.5 GPM Evolve ‘Gecko’ shower head; compact fluorescent lamp; California Poppy seeds; Green Zebra savings coupon book.

January 2009 Solar Update

January is generally one of our wettest months in the Bay Area.  While we desperately miss our rain and the family conversation at the lunch table centered on what we could do to save and store water, the number of clear sunny days has allowed us some fabulous solar generation.

This graph from our Solar City monitoring software shows total power generated each day of the month. The peak is on January 29 with 13.16 kwh generated. The lowest point was on January 22, where we did get clouds and rain all day and only 1 kwh was generated.  Our January bill last year was $135.10 for 764 kwh of power use.  This month our total electric use was a bit lower at 679 kwh, but with 260 kwh generated during the day offsetting the more expensive tiered power, our total electric bill was still an amazing $12.82!  To date, subtracting lease costs and upfront installation costs, we have already saved almost $400 and 1400 pounds of CO2 in these four months!

We will be planning a solar party soon and invite you to join us to see our system and hear the technical and financial details directly from Solar City.  We'll keep you posted - details will follow soon.

Green Home Guide Posting

We are pleased to announce that we have been selected as the Green Professional of the Week by the USGBC's Green Home Guide website.  Check out their site Green Home Guide to see our technical responses to questions regarding wind energy analysis, options for environmentally friendly entry doors as well as residential solar installation options and costing.  They seem to be a great source of practical technical information from professionals in the design and construction fields.  Let us know what you think.