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| People Power SunNE |
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01/08/09
by Ann Kopel
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 | | The SunNE Advisory Board with friends and family - From left to right and back to front are Aaron Gilliam, Janelle Hansen, Alicia Viani, Peter Nierengarten, Josh Hilsdon, Iona Truby, John Sorenson, W |
Al Gore tells us scientists are screaming from the rooftops that climate change is real, and Portland’s Sunnyside neighbors are looking at the rooftop of the Sunnyside Environmental School as a place to do something about it. John Sorenson, Executive Director of the newly formed nonprofit Northwest Neighborhood Energy (N2E) guides that vision. Sorenson has been the moving force behind district energy in Portland since early 2007. In a recent interview, Sorenson explained how he came to that vision. “In the seventies, I read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and Small is Beautiful and those values have always been in my life.” Before moving to Oregon in 2001, Sorenson had a cabinet making and remodeling business in Alaska that spent a lot of time helping friends improve their energy efficiency. When Sorenson moved to Portland to be closer to his parents, he expected to be semi-retired, but Gore’s movie and the issue of global warming continued to fuel his interest in energy efficiency. He insulated the walls of his Portland home to R43 and cut his fuel bill by 70%. He put in a system to recover the waste heat from his shower line and he built a thermal link to cool his house when the sprinklers were turned on. He converted his truck to run on waste vegetable oil. Even so, he knew his individual actions could not effectively mitigate CO2 levels or climate change, so he began researching larger community solutions. “I discovered that 70% of our home and commercial energy use goes to heating and hot water, and I got really excited about developing a local thermal energy district that uses only the resources we already have right here in Portland.” Sorenson focused his research on district energy, contacted experts in the field, and began building community support for a local project. He chose Sunnyside because it’s a very progressive community. In July, 2007, he went to a meeting of the Sunnyside Neighborhood Association to explain the project. He left with the association’s support and a connection to Seth Truby. Truby was taken with the project and asked to help. Since then, Sorenson and Truby have taken their local district energy show on the road in Portland and throughout Oregon. They speak to any organization or person who might be in a position to help. In their wake is a growing list of political, organizational, professional, and personal supporters including Anders Rydaker, engineer and executive with the St. Paul District Energy project who assists the project in an engineering and advisory role. In November, Truby and Sorenson gathered their research and support letters and wrote a grant to CREF, Community Renewable Energy Feasibility, to fund a feasibility study through the Oregon Department of Energy. Funds aren’t as fundamental as community support because it is the community who will purchase the energy. Over the summer, a group of students from the Cascade Climate Network secured a grant from the Clif Bar company and Focus the Nation to survey the neighborhood, which showed that more than 85% of those surveyed were comfortable moving to locally produced energy. In August, an advisory board of local neighbors was formed. They are: Aaron Gilliam, Sustainability Coordinator for the Sunnyside Environmental School; Ann Kopel (author of this article), Sunnyside resident for 20 + years and PCC instructor; Josh Hilsdon, renewable energy advocate who manages energy efficiency programs with Fluid Market Strategies; and Peter Nierengarten, engineer at Portland Water Bureau and member of the Sunnyside Neighborhood Association Sustainability Committee. Jules Kopel Bailey, the newly elected Oregon State Representative for District 42 (Sunnyside) commented, “The SunNE project is an example of how community-led change can drive innovation on sustainability. I will work to bring state support through financing for retrofits and infrastructure investment. It’s not just about climate change, it’s about job creation in tough economic times.” Sorenson reminds us “there is a huge risk in stepping out to get something started, but there’s also a lot of power in actually acting on your intentions. So, it’s vitally important to do what you believe in.”
Fundraiser for SunNE
SunNE’s advisory board and the Sunnyside Neighborhood Sustainability Committee are hosting The Coldest Day Of The Year Dance and Silent auction to raise funds for Northwest Neighborhood Energy (N2E). Saturday, January 31 7:00 pm at Sunnyside Environmental School Gym, 3421 SE Salmon St. The event is free and everyone is welcome! Bring cash or checks for the auction. No credit cards will be accepted. There will be live music, contra dancing, and prominent speakers including Bill Bradbury, Jules Kopel Bailey, Rex Burkholder, Steve Novick, and others. For more information and a list of auction donors go to the Upcoming Events page at sunnysideneighborhoodenergy.wikispaces.com/
Find out more about thermal energy
The Sunnyside Neighborhood Energy project (SunNE) is working to create a renewably powered neighborhood thermal energy district at the Sunnyside Environmental School. SunNE will employ a combination of solar, geothermal and biofuel energy to produce hot water, which will be sent via insulated pipes to Sunnyside homes and businesses. There, a simple heat exchanger will convert the thermal energy to space heating and hot water using the building’s existing infrastructure. Although the exact design has yet to be determined by an upcoming feasibility study, the concept is based on existing thermal energy districts in Canada, Europe, Scandinavia, and downtown St. Paul Minnesota. For more information, see sunnysideneighborhoodenergy.wikispaces.com/ A few other District Energy projects:
• District Energy Saint Paul The US’s foremost example of municipal district heating. It’s been operating successfully since 1983. www.districtenergy.com • Brattleboro Thermal Utility A municipal district heating system proposed for Brattleboro, Vermont. www.brattleborothermalutility.com • Samsø energy independence Samsø, an island off the coast of Denmark, accomplished a carbon neutral energy plan over a period of ten years. They are now a net renewable energy exporter. www.energiakademiet.dk/front_uk.asp?id=56
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