Living Green at Wellfleet Bay

Disposing of CFL Bulbs

In an earlier post we described  efforts to conserve energy and reduce Mass Audubon’s energy costs by requiring all sites to replace incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs). We have also upgraded the lighting at almost every site which has included the use of fluorescent tubes as office lighting.

It's important that everyone realize that proper disposal of these bulbs/tubes is important because they contain trace amounts of mercury.  There is increasing concern about the release of small amounts of mercury into the environment when a bulb is broken or sent to a transfer station to be disposed of in the regular waste stream.  The growing popularity of fluorescent lighting has resulted in a need to address the proper disposal of compact fluorescent lights/tubes.  Therefore, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts recently passed a bill  prohibiting the disposal of all items containing mercury, including intact compact fluorescents, into the general waste stream.  This law goes into effect May 1, 2008. When you are disposing of intact fluorescent lighting, please package the bulb to avoid breakage and recycle it at a local recycling center.

Here is a list of sites across the Commonwealth that accept compact fluorescents for recycling. I haven't asked the Eastham transfer station whether they take these bulbs or not; does anyone know whether there's a Cape-wide policy or is is town-by-town?

Remember that intact CFLs pose no threat of mercury exposure and provide important benefits in reduced energy use (and lower energy costs for consumers), reduced greenhouse gas emissions, and reduced local air pollution (particulates and other pollutants) from electric power generation.

A "Going Green" Opportunity

The Cape and Islands Renewable Energy Collaborative is one of the leading environmental organizations on Cape Cod, and we are always pleased when Mass Audubon can partner with them for an event. In this case, it's a workshop "Going Green at Home and On the Road" to be held at the Long Pasture Wildlife Sanctuary in Barnstable from 9:30 to 1:30 on Saturday, April 12.

The workshop will focus on practical things you can do to lower your energy bills, improve your living and working environments, and reduce your carbon footprint. It features expert presentations from Clean Energy Design, Waquoit Bay Reserve, Cape Light Compact, Cape Cod Commission & WEEinfo Services. Speakers will talk about our current energy situation, introduce a 5-step Energy Action Plan,and describe lifestyle choices, efficiency measures, green building techniques, renewable energy options, and alternative vehicles. The workshop includes a "living local" lunch, lightbulb giveaway, and a first-hand look at wind and solar energy systems. In addition, take-home information will be provided on local energy programs, resources, and incentives.

Space is limited and preregistration is required. The fee of $10 for Mass Audubon members and $12 for nonmembers includes lunch.  To register call 508.362.7475 ext. 9355 or email.

This is a wonderful chance to learn about things each one of us can do to reduce our energy costs at the same time we improve the quality of our environment. Hope to see you there!

Wind Power in Ireland

The potential of wind power is a big subject on the Cape, one in which the sanctuary is actively engaged. Mass Audubon issued a press release today discussing its monitoring of the Cape Wind proposal. On the same subject, I just saw a post on wind power in Ireland that I though many of you would find interesting. Have any of you seen wind farms in Ireland? Do you have pictures you could share with us?

I first saw wind farms in Denmark several years ago. One of the Danes in the group actually owned shares in a wind turbine. There if a person buys shares in a turbine, and thereby provides part of the initial investment in the technology, he or she gets a discount on their electrical power.

That seems like such a great win-win model. I don’t know of any other applications of it—I wonder why not.

CNET news has a blog that specializes in green technology if you’d like to keep up with those developments.

Saving Energy--Appliances and Electronic Devices

Mass Audubon’s energy policy requires the use of Energy Star appliances—a good practice for all of us. If there’s an appliance purchase in your future, you might want to check out their website. 

Turning off lights, appliances and electronic devices when they’re not in use is also a good practice. What I didn’t realize is that some items continue to draw current even when they are seemingly turned off.

The appliances page of the DOE site points out that about 20% of the average home’s energy bill is the result of appliance use. They give the same advice—use Energy Star appliances and turn off appliances when they’re not in use. But about halfway down this page they use the term “phantom loads” to describe this phenomenon. Did you know that about 25% of the power used by home electronics is consumed when they are turned off? Do you know what you can do about it? We found a video that has interesting recommendations.

View the video here

If you’re not interested in the Kill-A-Watt device, keep on reading down the DOE page. They identify the “vampire devices” that are the greatest culprits and suggest easy-to-implement ways of dealing with them. They have a page that shows you how to estimate appliance energy use that has also links to more sophisticated and detailed energy calculators.

That’s especially good if you’re getting ready to build or remodel. But it’s also nice to know that there are simple, low-cost things we can all do to reduce energy use in our daily lives. Consumer Reports has a book on the subject and provides a lot of free content on its site.

One of the things that really strikes me as I research these topics is how often that I’m told I can do something that’s ecologically positive and actually save money in the process. Can you offer additional insights, resources and experiences?

Energy-Saving Lighting in the Nature Center

Saving energy is a key feature of our green nature center. From the beginning all our fluorescent  fixtures used energy-saving bulbs and that’s the majority of our fixtures. In the gallery, some of the  fluorescents must always be kept on to comply with the commercial building code. Otherwise, the light from the windows is so good that we rarely turn on other fixtures in this area during the day.

We didn’t originally use CFLs (compact fluorescent lights) for the specialty track lighting in the exhibit area and the store.  Now we are in the process of swapping out all those regular bulbs for CFLs. That brings us into compliance with Mass Audubon policy on saving energy. You can recognize the bulbs when they are off by the “curly” element.

Mass Audubon has maintained an organization-wide energy policy for several years. In terms of lighting, it requests that all buildings replace incandescent bulbs with CFLs. The policy also  includes upgrading all refrigerators to Energy Star models (almost complete), upgrading insulation and seals on windows and doors, and replacing all toilets with low-flow models (both in process).

To encourage rapid achievement of these goals the Mass Audubon directors approved an Energy and Water Conservation fund about 4 years ago. In addition to funding upgrades, the fund also supports 5 energy audits each year. The audits help us understand priorities for our energy-saving efforts and promote the goal of enhancements that will pay for themselves over time by reducing energy costs. In the nature center the combination of windows, skylights and carefully-placed lighting create a wonderful ambience for visitors and workers alike. We are still, however, finalizing the lighting plan for the exhibit area. 

If you’ve considered replacing bulbs in your own home, you’ve discovered two things. The bulbs are rather pricey and there are actually several types that are included in energy-saving lists. In addition to CFLs, there are low-pressure sodium and high-intensity discharge (HID) bulbs as well as LEDs (light-emitting diode). They are most frequently used in specialty lighting applications from traffic lights to auto headlights to grow lights for plants. Halogen lights, although slightly more energy efficient than incandescent bulbs, aren’t included in some lists. This chart, courtesy of Nikki McKoon, Manager of Administrative Operations at Mass Audubon, compares CFL with incandescent and the long-run dollar savings are substantial, not to mention the lessened impact on the environment.

 

Mass Audubon uses the Energy Federation in Natick as a source of reasonably-priced lighting with good customer service.

Nikki reminded me that the best way to save energy is not to use it at all, so we should all remember to turn off lights and appliances when we’re not using them. Replacing incandescent bulbs with compact fluorscents is something else we can all do to be more green!

A New Direction for the Green Building Blog

We’ve been talking about taking this blog in a new direction for awhile. It did a good job of keeping people informed during construction, especially since that took place in winter while many of our members were not on the Cape. There will be other news about the nature center itself. We are eagerly waiting for the LEEDS announcement; that should come any day now. We also will continue to follow developments relating to wind power.

As you’ve visited the nature center and asked questions of our volunteer guides, your interest in green building and other sustainability issues has been very obvious. A lot of it centers around, “What can I do to make my home greener?” We’ve also heard a lot of stories about what people are doing in their own lives.

So we’ve decided to refocus on what we all can do to promote conservation and sustainability practices. I’ve asked Mary Lou Roberts to stay on as editor of the blog. She’ll be actively soliciting questions, ideas, and personal experiences. At the moment we’re in the process of swapping out regular lighting for energy-saving bulbs of various types. Mary Lou is working on a post on the subject that will appear soon.

You can ask questions or suggest issues by commenting on any blog post including this one. You can also contact Mary Lou directly at robertsml2001@yahoo.com. We’d like to have you contribute posts to the blog or she can get your story and write it up for the blog. If it’s a question, we’ll try to find an expert to answer it.

One thing we have been doing is Green Building Tours. Joe Lawler, volunteer extraordinaire is here every Saturday, from 11 am to 3 pm to answer questions and guide visitors around the building. By summer, we will also have a self-guided green building tour in place for everyone to explore.

What has been done here at the nature center may give you ideas about what you can do and how to do it. You can also share ideas and concerns with the volunteer guides. We are also talking with the other 3 certified green buildings on the Cape about joining together to promote sustainable building and consumption practices. Watch the blog for more on that.

I’m excited about this new focus because I think we can provide information and resources that will make a difference on the Cape and beyond. A lot will depend on your willingness to share your experiences and issues. Please join us in this effort!

Posted by Bob Prescott

Wildlife and Wind Power

The on-going attention to developing wind power on Cape Cod—both large scale projects like Cape Wind and smaller municipal and private turbines—has raised many questions over the direct and indirect impacts to birds and other wildlife to which Mass Audubon is responding in various ways. To address issue of special concern to Cape residents, Cape & Islands Renewable Energy Collaborative (CIREC) and Wellfleet Bay held a presentation on November 14 at the sanctuary that featured Taber Allison, Mass Audubon’s Vice President for Conservation Science, and Lucy Vlietstra, Associate Professor of Marine Science at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy.

Taber started the evening with a reminder of the impacts of climate change and how, in addition to developing renewable sources of energy, energy efficiency and conservation are essential to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions. His graphs and charts, gleaned from a variety of scientific studies, provided greater detail on the latest understanding on wind power and its impact on wildlife, specifically birds. Comparisons were shown between wind power and other things that kill large numbers of birds—collisions with communication towers, tall buildings, and automobiles and predation from cats among them. When viewed next to the affects of communication towers (almost 1 billion birds killed annually), the impacts of wind towers seemed arguably negligible (30,000 birds annually), as Taber pointed out. But he also presented the other side to the coin—concerns over the cumulative effects on bird populations and the impact to rare and endangered species. Questions also remain on how some of these studies generate their numbers and critics point to the lack of rigorous, standardized methods for assessing mortality.

One of the more sobering parts of Taber’s presentation was his perspective on wildlife impacts from traditional sources of power—fossil fuels—beyond their well-documented contributions to climate change. Extracting methane and coal causes tremendous habitat destruction, and offshore oil platforms cause direct mortality of migrating birds. How much “take” of wildlife is acceptable to satisfy our consumption of energy? Taber pointed out that fully understanding the environmental impacts of any source of energy requires a “cradle to grave” approach that considers everything from the habitat destruction caused by the physical extraction or development of the energy source, to its contributions to climate change, to the disposal of the byproducts. The gaps in our understanding of these complex issues became quite obvious.

With Taber recently named one of 22 individuals to serve on a special Wind Turbine Guidelines Advisory Committee, formed under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, maybe these information gaps will become smaller. This committee will advise the Secretary and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on measures to avoid or minimize impacts to wildlife and their habitats from land-based wind energy facilities.

Lucy Vlietstra closed the evening with her summary of data that looked at the Mass Maritime 660 kilowatt turbine’s possible impacts to birds, with a specific focus on Common and Roseate terns. In   addition to documenting bird use of the airspace around the turbine, Lucy and her students also looked for dead birds around the turbine. In 2006 they put in 602 observation hours and one bird fatality was confirmed. This year, two birds have been confirmed dead including an Osprey. This mortality rate mirrors those found at other turbine study sites.  In addition, by turning off the turbine 3-4 days per week they discovered that birds altered their flight patterns when the rotor was spinning, avoiding the rotor swept zone completely.

While it is clear that major information gaps remain when it comes to the impacts of wind power on wildlife populations, studies like Dr. Vlietstra’s are encouraging that with thoughtful siting of turbines, careful pre and post-construction monitoring, and perhaps new wildlife-deterring technologies coming on line, wind and wildlife may be able to coexist after all.

Posted by Melissa Lowe.

Editor's Note: Another good report on Taber's talk was published in the Barnstable Patriot and archived on a site called National Wind Watch.

More on Solar Energy at Wellfleet Bay

Solar energy is an important part of the sustainability of our green building. We’ve already written about the hot water system and the small array on the classroom building. The hot water system is a closed-loop, self contained system and is not linked to the other energy systems at the sanctuary. The panels are visible on the gallery roof.  We’ve also written about the 3-seasons classroom unit and the solar panels on its roof. The solar panels on the classroom building (see picture further down) are part of the sanctuary energy system. The solar panels were supplied by Schűco, a European firm with U.S. offices in Connecticut. The solar systems were installed by SolarWorks, a renewable energy systems integrator whose offices are in Vermont. Schűco has a good set of FAQs on its website and SolarWorks has an excellent education page.

If you’ve walked the trails over the past few months, you couldn’t miss the solar array that was installed in October. The original plan was to install it on the roof; the building was designed with sufficient roof  space to accommodate it. However, when the engineers evaluated the site, they found there were not enough hours of sun each day. There were 2 choices. One was to cut down the trees that shade the building. The shade contributes to cooling the building in summer.  They are also an important part of the natural appeal of the sanctuary, so the trees stayed.  Choice two was to site the array on the ground, and that’s what we chose. We didn’t try to hide the array; it is a message that our green building sends to property owners, both personal and commercial.

It is also bird-friendly as the traffic at the nearby bird feeder shows. A robin nested there last spring, and Bob says he’s going to try to attract barn swallows next year. 

Together the two arrays produce 21 kilowatts of energy. That is estimated to be 30% of peak demand for the buildings, excluding the dormitory.  At this point the dormitory has a separate connection to the energy grid.  The sustainable energy system at the  sanctuary is connected to the grid through the meter you can see in front of the classroom building. We currently buy energy to supplement the solar at below-market price because we have the solar system. If  we were able to produce energy beyond our needs, the excess would be sold back into the energy grid, not stored in batteries. There is room in the basement, but the batteries are large, very expensive and would have disposal problems. 

In the winter the energy demand of the main building is relatively low because we heat with wood. The furnace is non-polluting. It has no flue and burns hot and clean. We use downed wood from the sanctuary property to fuel it. The furnace is so efficient we can even burn pine in it without creosote buildup.

The future of sustainable energy at the sanctuary includes a wind turbine. We showed a simulated picture of a turbine at the sanctuary in our most recent post. We are still doing studies on the potential impact on wildlife, which so far have shown minimal impact. We are also considering interesting options for the possibility that we could product sustainable energy beyond the needs of our buildings, including the dormitory and other outbuildings. We’ll have more news on that in months to come.

In November the large solar array will have been in operation for a full year.  At that point we expect a report from SolarWorks on the performance of the system. We’ll share that with you when we get it, so please check back. Or sign up for the email notification so you will get all new posts directly in your inbox.

If you want more information on solar energy, the U.S. Department of Energy has a site for their technology program and a solar page that has a lot of good information.

STAFF NOTE:  This post is being made on Monday, October 15 as part of the blog’s participation in Blog Action Day. A group of individual bloggers has united to encourage blog posts about the environment on October 15. Google seems to be promoting it, but it is a collaborative effort of bloggers around the world. They say they have signed up over 14,000 blogs reaching 12 million readers to make environmental posts on this one day. Such is the power of the Internet!

A Year in the Green Building--An Interview with Bob Prescott

Bob, you’ve been in the new building for a little over a year, the formal opening was last August 11.  What’s your overall impression about what it’s been like?

Bob:  The Esther Underwood Johnson Nature Center really is a gem!  When we moved in, we didn’t really have time to appreciate all its features.  We started to move in on June 15; we were in and set up shop by June 19—and day camp started on June 20!  We felt like we were jumping on a train that was moving at 100 mph, but as the season rolled along we had a chance to discover the building’s advantages.  It just works so well; it’s cool, roomy, handsome and wonderful portal to the outdoors.

What changes has it made in the programs the sanctuary is able to offer?

Bob:  The programs have not changed substantially because we needed to put the building over so much of what we were already doing. Plus, so much of what we do is outdoors.

That said, though, having the day camp building is huge.  It creates a day camp campus with its own entry and its own classrooms and bathrooms. It keeps campers separate from other visitors and lessens  distractions for staff and sanctuary visitors.

Two other big changes were in the exhibit hall space and the comfort level within the building. In the Eleanor Longley Exhibit Hall we can now offer rainy day programs, which we didn’t have space for in the old building and docents are now interpreting the exhibits, giving green building tours, and educating people about the natural history of the sanctuary.

What do visitors say about the building?  What questions do you get most often?

Bob:  People come into the building and say, “Wow, this is spectacular!”  One of the exhibit designers expressed it best.  The original building was nice, but it seemed as if we were trying to squeeze so much into it.  Now, in this space, everything seems to flow a lot better.  People have a higher comfort level.  An example is the store.  We actually have less retail space there than the store in the old building, but we are selling more.  I think the reason is that people enjoy being there—the light from the window and the breeze and the ease of moving around.  It’s the perception of space and light that the design has created.

Visitors often ask, “Why is this building air conditioned?” Of course it’s not air conditioned, but it’s the building taking advantage of the breezes off the bay. It just breathes naturally and we keep cool.

Our architect, Andrew Miao, and the staff at Architectural Design Inc. wrote an interesting article on the thought process that goes into a green building that helps people understand. 

Overall, has it changed the visitor experience at the sanctuary?

Bob:  Yes and no.   The trails and wildlife remain unchanged by the new building.  We didn’t add any parking spaces in order to preserve the quality of the visitor experience. The garden was completely replanted and attracts hummingbirds, butterflies and birds in general.  The building does give us a chance to better prepare the first time and casual visitor for the natural environment that awaits them outside.

I understand there is a gift that will help visitors understand what makes the building green.  Could you tell us about that?

Bob:  We received a very generous donation to create a green building trail guide, a guide to all the green features. There will be 10 or 12 stops that will each have a “factoid” that highlights one element of the green design, alternative energy, recycled materials or another element of the green construction.  Where we can, we’ll hang a piece of material to show what we’re talking about.  Each stop will give part of the answer to why this building is green. 

We will have a map of the “green” trail through the building.  This will have more detail on why the building is green.  At the end it will say to go online if you want to know more.  We’ll flesh out the detail there with the blog and a virtual tour of the building. 

Are you looking at other projects that use the greenness of the building as a backdrop?

Bob:  Yes, we want to do a middle school program that supports subjects in their curriculum.  They have subjects like photovoltaic cells for solar energy, wind energy, green building and recycling.  Our building illustrates these subjects.  We’d really like to have a program, but there are a lot of children in the middle schools and we just don’t have the resources at present.  If anyone knows of a funding source that we could approach, that would be great.  If they could help us make the approach, that would be even better!

Do you have a “next step” in the works?

The next big step is to look at the possibility of putting up a wind turbine.  We are nearing the end of the bird and bat studies and we haven’t found the birds to be an issue.  Bats are attracted by the sound of the turbine and then can’t dodge the moving blades. We hope to do a study with BU focusing on them next summer.

We are considering a 250-killowatt turbine for this site.  The picture is a simulation of how it would look viewed from Silver Spring.  Another option would be to buy a piece of land on the Cape, put up a 660-killowatt, municipal turbine, and sell the excess electricity.  Then we could consider heating the building with electricity and buying the proposed Toyota Prius that travels the first 60 miles on electrical power.  That would wipe out our oil and gas bills and save us a lot of money!

These are things we want to share—the building itself and how it is affecting the way we do business.  We believe everyone on the Cape can benefit from the things we are learning from this green building project.

Staff Note:  We will be making posts from time to time as there are developments related to the building.  Please take advantage of the email subscription feature so you can get new posts without having to check the blog.
 

Posted by staff.

A Glorious Day for a Grand Opening!

After months of construction and being crammed into trailers followed by weeks of intense activity to get the new building up and serving the flow of summer visitors and campers, the Nature Center was formally opened on Saturday, August 12.  The weather was spectacular, the building and grounds were at their best, and everyone had a wonderful time.

The festivities began the evening of August 11 with a reception to honor approximately 200 donors to the building project. Some from off-Cape battled traffic to see the new building for the first time. Residents, many of whom are sanctuary volunteers, were surprised to  see the exhibit area coming to life. Staffers from Main Street Design and Mystic Design Studio had worked all day to get the initial exhibits into place. There's more to come--including an exhibit that portrays many of the green building elements described in the blog--so keep watching.

Saturday morning dawned bright and clear, lending itself to the first activity of the day, a guided nature walk. At 10 the formal ceremony began with speeches under the Siberian Elm, which thankfully survived the rigors of construction. Bob Prescott introduced Laura Johnson, Mass Audubon President, Karl Weiss of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative and John Scanlan, the general contractor. All spoke in glowing terms of the beauty, functionality and greenness of the building.  See more shots of activities in Pictures of Progress.

Then the audience moved to the front of the building for the formal ribbon cutting. Laura Johnson wielded the very large scissors.  Looking on were Priscilla Bailey, Charlotte and Myron Leach, campers Everit Pearce, Miles Tibbetts, Emily Alexander and camp counselor Artemis Roehrig. After the ribbon cutting the audience moved into the building and out onto the memorial pavers for final speeches.

The afternoon was devoted to tours of the building, walks on nature trails, eating popcorn and ice cream, a live animal display, and lots of socializing. A wonderful day ended with a sunset nature walk guided by Bob Prescott along Goose Pond Trail and down to the Bay.

Posted by Staff.