The Current - April 2011
Articles In This Issue:
- 2011 Maryland Clean Energy Summit set for August 25-27, Bethesda
- 2011 Maryland General Assembly Delivers Mixed Results on Clean Energy
- Rebates, Tax Credits Can Pay Half the Cost of Marylanders' Home Efficiency Upgrades
- University of Maryland Architecture and Engineering Students Working Toward a "WaterShed" Landmark for the 2011 U.S. Solar Decathlon This Fall
- Entrepreneurs: Connect to Clean Energy Intelligence on MCEC's new "Clean Energy Connections" blog
- Montgomery County offers $1.7 million in energy efficiency rebates
- Wind turbine will be first step in creating Center for Leadership in Environmental Education
- Check Out These Clean Energy Events through May 31
2011 Maryland Clean Energy Summit set for August 25-27, Bethesda
"Investing in Energy to Generate Jobs" is the theme of the 2011 Maryland Clean Energy Summit. Set for August 25-27 at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel and Conference Center, the summit is sponsored by the Maryland Clean Energy Center.
Early arrivers to the 2011 Maryland Clean Energy Summit are invited to join us Thursday evening, August 25 from 6:30 to 8:30 for a welcome reception. A casual but efficient networking opportunity, the reception will give you the opportunity to mingle with Summit speakers, sponsors, public officials, industry professionals, exhibitors and other attendees.
The agenda all day Friday, August 26 is packed with thought-provoking assessments of Maryland's clean energy economy. Maryland is making investments in every piece of the energy pipeline from research and development to deployment of renewable energy assets. How are public and private sector investments in clean energy and energy efficiency driving job creation? What needs to be done in 2012?
Thought-leaders, industry experts and stakeholders will discuss the economic and job benefits that are arising from investments in innovation, generation, the environment, energy efficiency, consumer awareness and workforce training. Seminars throughout the day will focus on energy efficiency, biofuels and biomass, fuel cells and energy storage, the smart grid, electric vehicles, solar electric and solar hot water systems, geothermal and wind power.
Saturday, August 27, we open up the summit to the public for free. The day's events are specially designed to serve consumers, homeowners and green job seekers. Seminar topics will include home efficiency improvements, renewable energy options and electric vehicles, plus a preview of the coming smart grid and its digital meters.
Additional information about the 2011 Maryland Clean Energy Summit is on the Maryland Clean Energy Center's website here.
To receive e-mail notification when the Summit's registration page goes live, please e-mail info@mdcleanenergy.org and write "Notify me about Summit registration" in the subject line.
Sponsorships and exhibit space at the Maryland Clean Energy Summit are available on a first-come, first-served basis. For details, please call 301-738-6280 or e-mail info@mdcleanenergy.org.
2011 Maryland General Assembly Delivers Mixed Results on Clean Energy
 | Wind farms offshore Ocean City remain uncertain due to concerns over costs to ratepayers. Image courtesy of the Maryland Sierra Club. |
The 2011 session of Maryland's General Assembly generated gains for electric vehicles, solar hot water systems and net metering, but failed to enact bills advancing the development of an offshore wind sector in Maryland.
"Overall, I was impressed by the variety and amount of clean energy legislation that the General Assembly addressed. It's a great improvement from even a few years ago," said Jeremy Butz, co-founder of Chesapeake Green Fuels and chair of the Maryland Clean Energy Center's Legislative Committee.
"I am hopeful that we will see more from the General Assembly in the future and policy-makers will raise the bar further on clean energy legislation," Butz added.
Maryland senators and delegates passed three bills designed to advance electric vehicle (EV) use in the state. Those bills will create an income tax credit in 2011-13 on the purchase price of EV charging equipment, establish a pilot program of incentives for EV owners who recharge their cars at off-peak hours, and create the Maryland Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Council to explore ways of promoting EV use and integrating EVs into the state's transportation infrastructure.
Legislators passed a bill adding solar hot water systems to the state's list of Tier 1 renewable energy sources. That bill will make solar hot water systems eligible for solar renewable energy credits (SRECs), greatly enhancing the systems' financial attractiveness.
A tally of the 17 bills tracked by the Maryland Clean Energy Center can be found on its web site here.
Other bills that passed and were sent to Governor O'Malley for his signature before Sine Die included bills that will:
- add waste-to-energy projects to Maryland's Tier 1 renewables list;
- improve Maryland's net metering system; and
- require the Public Service Commission to better educate Marylanders on consumer options for energy purchases.
The General Assembly opted not to pass major offshore wind legislation drafted by the O'Malley administration and widely endorsed by clean energy advocates. Those bills would have effectively required utilities to enter into long-term power purchase agreements with offshore wind generators. They would have also created incentives for wind turbine manufacturing facilities in the state.
"The General Assembly's record on clean energy was mixed this session," said Baltimore County Delegate Dana Stein. "The biggest disappointment was that the administration's offshore wind bill did not pass amid the questions about its costs. Even though there would be some modest cost to ratepayers, it is worth it to further develop clean energy. Today when we pay our electric bill, the effect on the environment [of coal-fired generators] is not calculated into the rate. So I think it is very reasonable to pay a little bit more for wind energy."
Legislators also chose not to pass a bill that would have given the Public Service Commission the option to approve long-term purchases of Solar Renewable Energy Credits, or SRECs, by utilities to help finance solar photovoltaic projects.
"It's unfortunate that the legislature got scared by the words 'long-term contract,'" said Kerinia Cusick, chair of the policy committee of the Maryland-DC-Virginia Solar Energy Industries Association. "Frankly this has a chilling effect on competition in the state as a whole."
The legislature's decision, she predicted, will concentrate the market for SRECs in fewer hands and ultimately make it more difficult for commercial buyers and homeowners to partly finance solar systems through SREC sales. Those sales, she added, will become increasingly important to homeowners as government incentives on photo-voltaic systems dwindle in the coming years.
Rebates, Tax Credits Can Pay Half the Cost of Marylanders' Home Efficiency Upgrades
If your home score a 7 or less using this Yardstick tool from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, you will likely save money on your monthly heating and cooling bills with efficiency upgrades identified by a home energy audit.
Nearly 250 Maryland households are poised to receive more than $385,000 from the Maryland Energy Administration's (MEA) Home Performance Rebate Program. And state officials plan to distribute a total of $1 million to qualified residents who improve the energy efficiency of their homes.
For a limited time, the MEA program offers homeowners larger rebates than ever before for home energy efficiency improvements. Combined with other incentives, about 50 percent of qualified improvements can be paid for by combining a 35 percent rebate (up to $3,100) from the MEA with a 15 percent rebate from the applicant's utility. A federal tax deduction may be available too.
The program which began on January 20, is slated to conclude on July 1. On average, Marylanders are reserving about $33,000 a week of Home Performance Rebates and collecting an average of $1,471 per household.
Qualifying improvements include home energy audits, whole-house air sealing, duct sealing and new insulation in attics, walls, rim joists, crawl spaces and basements.
To apply for the rebate program, homeowners must:
- Receive a home energy audit or update any existing audit that is more than six months old;
- Choose which energy efficiency projects to implement;
- Find and hire a qualified contractor on the Maryland Home Performance with Energy Star list;
- Reserve a rebate by downloading and completing program forms.
The Home Performance Rebate Program is designed to help all homeowners upgrade the energy efficiency of their homes to Energy Star standards.
Haven't secured a home energy audit yet? Use the "Home Energy Yardstick" tool from the U.S. EPA. It measures a home's energy consumption on a scale of 0 to 10 using utility bills, the number of occupants living in the home, its square footage and zip code. The resulting score is a home's relative ranking comparing its energy use to other households in the country.
University of Maryland Architecture and Engineering Students Working Toward a "WaterShed" Landmark for the 2011 U.S. Solar Decathlon This Fall
WaterShed will be the culmination of an innovative learning program combining team building, collaboration, experiential learning, age-old wisdom, and new technologies to equip tomorrow's professionals, leaders, and decision makers with the knowledge to address one of the most critical issues of our time—dependence on fossil fuels.
About 200 students and faculty mostly from the architecture and engineering schools at the University of Maryland in College Park are gearing up for this year's U.S. Solar Decathlon on the West Potomac Park in Washington, DC September 23 – October 2.
This year's entry, entitled "WaterShed," is being designed to demonstrate that a home can be affordable, efficient, fully powered by clean energy and also exist in harmony with the Chesapeake Bay watershed, which stretches throughout Maryland, northern Virginia, the boot heel of West Virginia northward through central Pennsylvania into south central New York State.
"Natural ecosystems have evolved over millions of years to sustainably harness energy, produce food and recycle waste," said Amy Gardner, an AIA LEED-AP Associate Professor at UMD's School of Architecture the WaterShed team's lead faculty advisor / 'investigator.' "The WaterShed House will bring attention to the threats the Bay faces and demonstrate how we can live well without harming our environment."
After the University of Maryland's LEAFHouse finished 2nd overall in the 2007 Solar Decathlon competition, AND won the "People's Choice" award AND placed first or second in half of the individual competitions (energy balance, communications, architecture, market viability and lighting), this year's team is sharply focused on what it will take to win the overall competition against 19 other college teams. This is the University's 4th Solar Decathlon entry since the competition launched in 2002.
Among the competitors are 15 other individual or joint U.S. university collaborations and teams from China, Belgium, Canada and New Zealand. The Maryland Clean Energy Center is one of more than 50 individual or corporate sponsors supporting the WaterShed effort.
WaterShed's unique shape – two rectangular units capped by a butterfly roof – will maximize its capacity to capture and use both sunlight and rainwater. A green roof and green wall, which will feature edible crops, will retain storm water and minimize solar gain in the home and the building's heat-island effect. The home's grey water system and constructed wetlands will use waterborne nutrients, filter WaterShed's water and minimize the amount of water and nutrients the home drains back into the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem.
Click here to hear University of Maryland Associate Professor Amy Gardner – the team's lead faculty coordinator talk about what distinguishes the time and energy the students are investing in the WaterShed entry.
Click here for a "digital walk-through" of the WaterShed house.
Entrepreneurs: Connect to Clean Energy Intelligence on MCEC's new "Clean Energy Connections" blog
The Maryland Clean Energy Center is stepping up its efforts to serve energy entrepreneurs throughout Maryland with our new blog, "Clean Energy Connections." Postings will focus on, but not necessarily be limited to, information to serving the growing number of energy innovators thinking about markets they can serve, how they can do so by building a business in Maryland, and the myriad ways that local, state and certain federal resources can help. Check it out.
We welcome your comments and ideas for future postings. Also visit the blog for details coming soon about the Energy Industry Growth Forum in Colorado in November organized by the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory. A panel of venture capitalists are to receive applications this summer for the opportunity to present business plans that could be funded by private equity firms, venture capitalists and other potential investors.
Montgomery County offers $1.7 million in energy efficiency rebates
Montgomery County officials are preparing to distribute $1.7 million in rebates to businesses, nonprofits, congregations and multi-family communities that implement energy efficiency projects.
The Montgomery County Commercial and Multi-Family Rebate Program is funded by an Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant provided through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
The program is designed to "jump start" energy projects by helping businesses, non-profits, congregations, and multi-family communities overcome the initial financial barrier of implementing energy improvements. Similar to rebates offered by Pepco, BGE and Allegheny Power, the program's rebates can cover 50 percent of the cost of qualified energy efficiency improvements up to a maximum of $75,000 per recipient.
Eligible energy conservation improvements include lighting upgrades, heating and cooling upgrades, cool roofing materials, energy management systems and Energy Star qualified equipment.
Rebates will be awarded competitively based on the merits of each potential participant's application.
County officials anticipate having approximately $1.7 million available for awards. They have developed an electronic portal here for accepting applications and monitoring the progress of recipients.
The second of two rounds of applications will be accepted through Sunday, May 15.
Wind turbine TO be first step in creating Center for Leadership in Environmental Education
Aided by a $75,000 grant from the Maryland Energy Administration, Chesapeake College is preparing to erect a 120-foot, 50-kilowatt wind turbine on its Wye Mills campus later this year.
Several months of anemometer monitoring on the site beside Route 50 concluded the area receives average winds of 10-12 miles per hour which are sufficient to support turbine operations, said Monte Garrettson, the college’s director of facilities.
The turbine will be tied into the college’s electricity grid and should save the college about $10,000 per year in energy costs, Garrettson said.
The turbine project which recently won a design award from the U.S. Green Building Council, is the first step in creating the college’s planned Center for Leadership in Environmental Education (CLEEn). Designed to be a LEED Gold or Platinum facility, the center will both model emerging renewable energy technologies and deliver clean energy education and training to students and area businesses.
Designed to be highly energy efficient, the stand-alone, 4,000-square-foot facility will utilize state-of-the-art clean energy technologies, including the wind turbine, a geothermal system and three solar photo voltaic systems: a 4-kilowatt, roof-mounted array; a 6-kilowatt, ground-mounted array and a 2.8-kilowatt, pole-mounted array that tracks the sun in order to optimize energy output. Those systems, Garrettson said, will ensure that the center is energy self-sufficient.
They will also generate opportunities to educate college students, area workers and campus visitors about clean energy.
The college – which already has an approved degree program in environmental sciences and offers continuing education classes in wind power, solar, geothermal and electrical systems – plans to create two classrooms in the center, including a large “dirty classroom” where students can work hands-on with wind turbines and other clean energy equipment. Plans for the facility also include a visitor/learning center and space for instructional displays where school children and other visitors will be able to learn hands-on about the building’s systems and view monitors that provide real-time tracking of energy generation from its wind and solar equipment.
“This project started with an idea for a wind turbine and a trailer, then it grew into what we hope will be a state-of-the-art role model for an environmental education center. There is just so much enthusiasm around campus for sustainability and being a leader in this field,” said Chesapeake College President Barbara Viniar.
College officials – who are working in collaboration with five county governments, local school systems, other colleges, state and federal agencies, and the area’s business community on the venture – are currently preparing a fundraising campaign to support the creation of the Center for Leadership in Environmental Education.
Check Out These Clean Energy Events through May 31
Also check out events on the Maryland Clean Energy Center's website calendar.
April 16-23 - Baltimore Green Week
Various locations throughout Baltimore. Now in its eighth year, Baltimore Green Week kicked off Saturday, April 16 with EcoFest, bringing free yoga, bikes to borrow, and worm composting demonstrations to Druid Hill Park. Festivities continue around the city through Saturday, April 23.
Friday, April 22 – Launch of Clean Energy Coalition's Mid-Atlantic Chapter at Solar Energy World Expo, Elkridge
11 a.m. – 3 p.m. | 5681 Main St., Elkridge, MD 21075. The coalition is an area-wide organization that seeks to accelerate the transition of America's energy supply to sustainable, clean energy. Find out more about the Coalition here.
Friday, April 22 - Living Smart by Living Green, Potomac
5- 7:30 p.m. | Potomac Community Center, 11315 Falls Road, Potomac, Md Free, family-oriented information event about home energy efficiency. Discount home energy audits, free CFL bulbs and more. Get details
Saturday, April 23, 2011 - Earth Day Celebration at Maryland Science Center, Baltimore
Noon - 4:00pm | Maryland Science Center, 601 Light Street, Baltimore, MD 21230 It will be a green scene when the Maryland Science Center celebrates Earth Day with an afternoon of hands-on activities and experiments that will inspire visitors to do their part in caring for the planet. Earth Day events are free with paid admission to the Maryland Science Center. For information and ticket prices, visit www.marylandsciencecenter.org or call the 24-Hour Information Line at 410-685-5225.
Saturday, April 23 – Song of the Earth: Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day, Bethesda
8 – 10 p.m. at the Music Center at Strathmore, Bethesda Malcolm Dalglish's "Hymnody of Earth: A Ceremony of Song for Hammered Dulcimer and Choir, Percussion and Dance" evokes the splendor of nature and draws on a world of musical traditions including Celtic, Shaker songs, early American shape-note hymns, and more.
Saturday, April 23 – Annual Earth Day 5K Race and Walk, Annapolis
7:30 a.m. start | Quiet Waters Park, Annapolis Runners, walkers and friends of the environment are gearing up for one of the year's most fun racing events: the Anne Arundel Sierra Club's Earth Day 5K Race and Walk at Quiet Waters Park in Annapolis. Aside from being fun, the event is the Club's only annual fundraising event. Registration is between 7:30 a.m. and 8:15 a.m., and the race at 8:30 a.m. There is a $30 runner registration fee at the race.
Sunday, April 24 – Earth Day Community Festival at Mountainside, Frederick County
10:00 a.m. to 3:00p.m. | 2914 Roderick Road, Urbana, MD 21704 The festival is to include: * Free Admission and Parking * Art Contest (open to grades k-8) * Chorus Performances * Moonbounce * Ropes Course Games * Local Earth-Friendly Businesses * Tours (including nature walk & windmill) * Tree Planting Most activities will be free (free planting, moon bounce, games & tours) but there will be a few items for purchase. There will be food for sale and proceeds will go to support local Boy Scouts. Some vendors may have items for purchase.
Tuesday, May 3 – 2nd Green Energy Business Opportunity Conference
8 a.m. – 6 p.m. | BWI Airport Marriott, 1743 West Nursery Road, Baltimore, MD 21090 Workshops and plenary sessions on business in energy efficiency, renewable energy, biofuels, smart grid, biomass, recycling, education and careers. Presented by the Maryland Legislative Black Caucus and Presidents' RoundTable.
Wednesday, May 4 – Greening Condos at Bethesda Green
7 – 8:30 p.m., 2nd second floor of Capital One Bank Branch, 4825 Cordell Avenue, Suite 200, Bethesda, MD 20814 Bethesda Green, ecobeco, the Maryland Clean Energy Center and other event sponsors present this third in a free series of panel discussions focusing on greening condominiums. The five sessions are scheduled at Bethesda Green on the first Wednesday every month through July. Sessions start at 7 p.m. with networking and light appetizers. Formal presentations begin at 7:15 pm and conclude at 8:30 pm.
Friday, Saturday & Sunday, May 13-15 – Solar & Wind Expo-Maryland
10 a.m. – 6 p.m. daily | Timonium Fairgrounds, Baltimore County, Exit 83 off the I-695 Baltimore Beltway. This annual event is an excellent primer for not just solar and wind energy, but efficiency and electric vehicles. Dr. Bjorn Frogner, the Maryland Clean Energy Center's Entrepreneur-in-Residence is to speak Friday afternoon and Communications Director Jim Pierobon speaks on Saturday offering an energy checklist to help you save green by going green, step-by-step. Sneak preview: If you haven't had an energy audit on your home yet, this will be especially useful.
Tuesday, May 24 – Frederick County Power Forum
7 – 9 p.m. | City Hall, 101 N. Court Street, Frederick Learn all about electric choice from Paula Carmody, Maryland People's Counsel, and a panel composed of electric suppliers, moderated by Jim Pierobon of the Maryland Clean Energy Center. You're energy bill is one expense you CAN control. Don't miss this opportunity to hear directly from suppliers about the programs and rates they can offer as well as take advantage of free programs and resources available for Frederick City households. The event is free but seating is limited. You can register at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2VGP8XY or call 301-600-6360.
Have an event you'd like listed on our calendar and in our monthly newsletter? Please send it to us at info@mdcleanenergy.org.