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  • 1.  2021 ASES National Solar Tour

    Posted 10-02-2021 01:02
    This weekend is the annual ASES National Solar Tour. Tour sites can opt for in-person and/or virtual tours. I'm taking this opportunity to showcase my own all-electric 'net positive' home in Southeastern Arizona, which I completed in 2019:

    Whetstone Green: Net Positive Plus 25% On Less Than 4kW!

    Yes, you read that correctly -- Just twelve 320-Watt PV panels provide 125% of my home's annual energy needs! Living in a sunny corner of Climate Zone 3B certainly helps, but there's so much more to this puzzle.

    For new construction, the key to making Net Zero affordable is to start early in the design process. Some of the most consequential choices incur no cost (e.g.,favorable orientation, room layout, overhangs, etc).

    For more information, check out my virtual tour page at https://bit.ly/3l0PkSw. If you happen to live in the area, feel free to drop by between 10:30 AM and 4:00 PM Oct 2nd & 3rd.

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    David Butler
    Optimal Building Systems
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  • 2.  RE: 2021 ASES National Solar Tour

    BPA Staff Member
    Posted 10-02-2021 09:10
    Thanks for posting this David.

    I enjoyed your virtual tour and have spent some time this morning touring homes in Michigan, Alaska, California, and one near us in Salem, Iowa. Such inspiring stories!

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    Diane Chojnowski
    BPA Connections Community Manager
    Building Performance Association
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    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: 2021 ASES National Solar Tour

    Posted 10-04-2021 12:56
    Diane, Glad you got a chance to see David Butler's remarkable low-energy, solar home as well as some of the other virtual solar tours. The virtual tour sites of the National Solar Tour (NST) https://www.nationalsolartour.org/ will be available at least through the end of the year. There are over 1500 Solar Sites nationwide showcasing active and passive solar systems as well as electrical vehicles charged with PV photovoltaic panels so check the map to see ones near you. You can also sort nationwide by the type of project you are interested in. As a member of the steering committee for the NST, I'd like to point out that Solar Sites case studies can still be added so if you know of a home or business with some aspects of solar, and ideally the energy-efficient prerequisites of the building envelope and mechanical systems, please encourage them to list their project.  And do check out David Butler's home! https://www.nationalsolartour.org/tourmap/whetstone-green/

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    Debra Coleman
    Sun Plans
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    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: 2021 ASES National Solar Tour

    Posted 10-03-2021 01:22

    For those who visited my virtual tour page this evening and only saw the banner photo, I just discovered my photo series (11 photos & slides) was taken down at the end of in-person tour hours, which for my site was 4 PM. Apparently ASES's event engine wasn't programmed to accommodate 'hybrid tours', which is a relatively new option (i.e., sites that opt to host both virtual & in-person tours).

    My 'virtual tour' photos should be up again tomorrow (Oct 3) from 10:30 AM to 4 PM (sorry, not sure if the ASES event engine tracks each site's local time zone).  There's a separate web page for Sunday's tour: https://bit.ly/2Yp5o7Y.

    Virtual tour photos are supposed to be viewable through the end of the year, but I understand ASES staff has to manually reconfigure hybrid tour sites for that, presumably sometime next week, so you can check back later if you don't catch the photos on Sunday. 


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    David Butler
    Optimal Building Systems
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