Renewable Energy and the Emerging Green Economy

As 2009 ended, the price of oil rose to $79.62 a barrel  (December 31, 2009) 71 percent higher than a year ago. From reliable sources such as oil economist Matt Simmons and postings on The Oil Drum, many see that the United States will most probably shift to natural gas as a transition fuel supply replacing hard to reach and expensive sources of oil. By now it must be obvious that renewable energy sources, e.g. solar, wind, geothermal and the promising area of algae, are the logical long term sustainable solutions for our national economy. 

Abraham Paiss & Associates was fortunate in 2009 to become the public relations, marketing, and web design firm for one of Colorado's leading solar engineering and construction companies: SolSource Inc. Headquartered in Denver, SolSource is a highly experienced designer and installer of solar electric and solar thermal systems for homes, businesses, municipalities, schools, and the military. During 2009 we assisted SolSource in its announcement of a 1.2 MW solar photovoltaic system for Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora, Colorado. When installed in 2010 this installation will be the largest solar array on a U.S. Air Force base in Colorado. You can read about it in an AP story written in the Denver Post.

Helping schools lower their utility bills and incorporate renewable energy into the school curriculum is another focus of SolSource. In December, Jeff Scott, company founder and president, visited Academia Sandoval Elementary School in Denver to teach children how much energy is produced from the 9.8 kW solar system on their school roof in the first use of an online data monitoring system in the Denver Public School system. We feel honored to work with an excellent solar energy company and are looking forward to supporting SolSource in its pioneering work ahead in 2010.

Welcome to my Blog!

Greetings Everyone!

It seems that everywhere one turns these days, global environmental issues are being discussed. One wonders if the discussion will lead us to solve these challenges to all of us living here on spaceship Earth.

Over the past 30 years I have been involved in various aspects of sustainable development - even before the topic was coined. This includes environmental planing, solar home design and construction, solar hot water design and installation, biological wastewater treatment, alternative transportation education, and for the past 15 years sustainable neighborhood development using the cohousing model.

I have started this blog to provide a forum for discussion about what we can do to help re-direct our society to a more sustainable path so that our children's children will be assured of a high quality of life.

I look forward to hearing your comments and working together toward this end.

A Shining Example of Sustainable Development

Hello Again...

One of the way I will be helping to spread the word is to offer sustainable developoment examples that show us not only what is possible but what is actually being done. One of those is Oshara Village in Santa Fe, New Mexico, which is now under construction. This unique New Urbanist development, which is the first of its kind in the United States to combine New Urbanism and Sustainability, will allow residents to drastically reduce their use of non-renewable resources and overall energy consumption.

Below is a 10 minute video describing The Oshara Model and how we can build and rebuild our cities and towns to be more sustainable while still being wonderful places to live. Enjoy!




Let me know what you think of this video and I am happy to pass along a copy if you have a group or an online place to show it.

Enjoy your day!