Colorado Ski Town's Solar Array Almost Operational
Wednesday, December 29th 2010 18:39
By GetSolar Staff.
Telluride, Colorado is known as one of the premier ski destinations in the U.S. Small in size, the little town is nestled amid the Rockies in the southwest corner of Colorado. Recently, town officials announced that after more than a year in the making, a solar panel system is almost operational at the regional wastewater treatment plant there.
The photovoltaic system is comprised of 480 solar panels and its engineers expect that it will go online sometime in the next few weeks. The solar panel system is the first large-scale, net-metered, grid-tiered array within the San Miguel Power Associations service area, according to town officials. Don Jones, the owner of Controlled Hydronics Inc., the contractor tasked with the installation, tells the Telluride Watch: "It should be operative in the first week in January."
The $600,000 solar power project was funded in part by a $150,000 grant from the state's Governor's Energy Office. Moreover, the town of Mountain Village, whose wastewater is also treated at the plant, recently contributed $157,000 in financing. Upon completion, the photovoltaic system is expected to produce roughly 205 kilowatt-hours of electricity annually - about 10 percent of the plant's energy use.
Town officials affirm that the solar panel system will save about $14,000 a year in energy costs, helping the town to reach its goal of lowering its 2005 carbon emissions by 20 percent by the year 2020.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Function comes first at new dental office
Function comes first at new dental office
By Penny Stine
Friday, December 17, 2010
GJ Sentinel
From the outside, the new office for Oral Health Partners at 2552 F Road may not look remarkable. It’s a basic box: four walls in a rectangular shape with a roof on top.
But ask Dr. Glen Dean about the building and it becomes obvious that this dental office is the result of 31 years of practice, a lot of thought and asolid partnership between Dean, Blythe Group + Co. and Shaw Construction.
“The interaction with Dr. Dean was fun because of his excitement and enthusiasmabout the project,” said Dave Hall, construction manager with ShawConstruction. “This was personal. He was absolutely hands-on.”
Blythe Group + Co. began working with Dean more than a year before the first signs ofconstruction started.
“Dr. Dean had specific needs related to his practice,” said Mike Archbold with Blythe Group + Co. “He was extensively involved throughout the entire process.”
As apediatric dentist who serves several handicapped clients, Dean wanted the building to be wheelchair accessible. He also wanted the rooms to be private, functional and equipped with the latest technology.
The new building has 9,000 square feet, with 10 examination rooms. One room was designed to be more accommodating to patients in wheelchairs. All rooms have six inch, insulated interior walls.
Acoustic doors separate thechildren’s operatories from the rest of the practice, so if a child is nervousand crying, the sound won’t carry to the waiting room or other examination rooms.
Each examination room has three monitors with separate controls. A patient can watch TV while the dentist is scrutinizing x-rays on the monitor behind the patientchair.
A large, 42-inch monitor on a separate wall can be utilized to showx-rays to parents, display educational materials or simply have interestingpictures designed to put the patient at ease.
All of the examination rooms are interchangeable, although one is slightly wider for wheelchair accommodation. The practice uses a roll-in cart system that insures that the dentist will have the correct equipment for whatever procedure needs to be performed. Every treatment room is also equipped with nitrous oxide, which requires extra ventilation.
A large sterilization room in the middle of the building gives staff plenty of room to work in an environment designed with their safety in mind. Hands free foot controls in the sterilization room and at the sinks in all operatory rooms insure that germs aren’t spread via traditional faucets.
“It’sprobably the most technologically advanced medical building I’m aware of in the valley right now,” Archbold said.
In addition to the high-tech features and amenities designed for patients’ comfort, the building also is designed with sustainability and high building performance in mind.
The building has a geothermal heat exchange unit for heating and cooling. The large windows on the south side of the building allow the sun to warm the building in the wintertime, but the wide overhangs will prevent the sun from overheating the building in the summertime. Insulated solar shadescan also block the sunlight when necessary.
The tall, wide hallways are flooded with natural light from the overhead light wells, but the bright red walls keep it from looking like a dentist office. The photovoltaic array on the roof will supply some of the electricity needs in the building.
In the waiting room, adults can enjoy a little peace and quiet on one half while children play in a separate area.
Dean has already hired six additional people to work in the office and anticipates two more will be starting soon. When fully staffed, the practice will have six dentists, which also includes one orthodontist.
The project superintendent, Rick Wilson with Shaw Construction, estimates that 15 to 20 different subcontractors worked in the building.
About 10 to 12 people worked at the job site any given day during construction. In today’s uncertain economy, all were happy to be part of the $2 million construction project.
The Oral Health Partners building should function at a high level, keeping the practice compliant with both Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability (HIPAA) standards.
It should also meet the needs of patients and staff, providing great dental care in high-tech comfort.
The staff hopes to be in business in their new facility on Monday, Dec. 20.
By Penny Stine
Friday, December 17, 2010
GJ Sentinel
From the outside, the new office for Oral Health Partners at 2552 F Road may not look remarkable. It’s a basic box: four walls in a rectangular shape with a roof on top.
But ask Dr. Glen Dean about the building and it becomes obvious that this dental office is the result of 31 years of practice, a lot of thought and asolid partnership between Dean, Blythe Group + Co. and Shaw Construction.
“The interaction with Dr. Dean was fun because of his excitement and enthusiasmabout the project,” said Dave Hall, construction manager with ShawConstruction. “This was personal. He was absolutely hands-on.”
Blythe Group + Co. began working with Dean more than a year before the first signs ofconstruction started.
“Dr. Dean had specific needs related to his practice,” said Mike Archbold with Blythe Group + Co. “He was extensively involved throughout the entire process.”
As apediatric dentist who serves several handicapped clients, Dean wanted the building to be wheelchair accessible. He also wanted the rooms to be private, functional and equipped with the latest technology.
The new building has 9,000 square feet, with 10 examination rooms. One room was designed to be more accommodating to patients in wheelchairs. All rooms have six inch, insulated interior walls.
Acoustic doors separate thechildren’s operatories from the rest of the practice, so if a child is nervousand crying, the sound won’t carry to the waiting room or other examination rooms.
Each examination room has three monitors with separate controls. A patient can watch TV while the dentist is scrutinizing x-rays on the monitor behind the patientchair.
A large, 42-inch monitor on a separate wall can be utilized to showx-rays to parents, display educational materials or simply have interestingpictures designed to put the patient at ease.
All of the examination rooms are interchangeable, although one is slightly wider for wheelchair accommodation. The practice uses a roll-in cart system that insures that the dentist will have the correct equipment for whatever procedure needs to be performed. Every treatment room is also equipped with nitrous oxide, which requires extra ventilation.
A large sterilization room in the middle of the building gives staff plenty of room to work in an environment designed with their safety in mind. Hands free foot controls in the sterilization room and at the sinks in all operatory rooms insure that germs aren’t spread via traditional faucets.
“It’sprobably the most technologically advanced medical building I’m aware of in the valley right now,” Archbold said.
In addition to the high-tech features and amenities designed for patients’ comfort, the building also is designed with sustainability and high building performance in mind.
The building has a geothermal heat exchange unit for heating and cooling. The large windows on the south side of the building allow the sun to warm the building in the wintertime, but the wide overhangs will prevent the sun from overheating the building in the summertime. Insulated solar shadescan also block the sunlight when necessary.
The tall, wide hallways are flooded with natural light from the overhead light wells, but the bright red walls keep it from looking like a dentist office. The photovoltaic array on the roof will supply some of the electricity needs in the building.
In the waiting room, adults can enjoy a little peace and quiet on one half while children play in a separate area.
Dean has already hired six additional people to work in the office and anticipates two more will be starting soon. When fully staffed, the practice will have six dentists, which also includes one orthodontist.
The project superintendent, Rick Wilson with Shaw Construction, estimates that 15 to 20 different subcontractors worked in the building.
About 10 to 12 people worked at the job site any given day during construction. In today’s uncertain economy, all were happy to be part of the $2 million construction project.
The Oral Health Partners building should function at a high level, keeping the practice compliant with both Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability (HIPAA) standards.
It should also meet the needs of patients and staff, providing great dental care in high-tech comfort.
The staff hopes to be in business in their new facility on Monday, Dec. 20.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Ritter praises Rifle for sustainable development projects
Ritter praises Rifle for sustainable development projects
By Dennis Webb
Thursday, December 9, 2010
RIFLE — Seemingly everywhere you turn these days in the Rifle area, solar projects are popping up in quantities that rival the natural gas drilling rigs dotting the horizons.
This city at the center of Garfield County’s natural gas fields and the region’s come-and-go oil shale industry has been pushing hard to promote itself as an alternative-energy hub as well. It also has been focusing on further diversifying its economy by pursuing sustainable development projects downtown.
The accomplishments to date of the city — and more broadly the clean-energy undertakings of communities through Garfield County — were celebrated Thursday at an event headlined by Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter, who initiated programs that helped make them possible.
Local officials praised the role Ritter played, but he said places such as Rifle have themselves to credit for the state’s decision to get involved in their sustainable community initiatives.
“It was because of what was already going on in Rifle,” Ritter said.
In April, Ritter announced Rifle was one of four communities in the state chosen to kick off the Sustainable Main Streets Initiative. It’s aimed at helping communities overcome challenges such as vacant storefronts and aging buildings to achieve long-term downtown stability and prosperity.
Later in the year, the federal government chipped in a total of $1.28 million in funding for the four communities’ projects.
Ritter said he has been impressed by the desire of a city so tied to a traditional, boom-and-bust-oriented extractive-energy industry to want to diversify and create an economy that sustains itself for decades to come.
The city has been moving on several fronts, such as creation of an Energy Innovation Center on a uranium mill tailings reclamation site.
The center is focusing on trying to bridge the gap between conventional and alternative fuels and intends to showcase emerging fuel technologies.
The center is still in its infancy, but a commercial composting facility is in the works, and this year test crops were grown there as part of a project involving Colorado Mountain College and others to evaluate the energy potential of switchgrass and other grasses.
The city has installed 2.3-megawatts’ worth of solar panels at that site and another location in town, paying no money upfront under an agreement in which it committed to long-term purchases of power.
At the time of their completion, the combined panels represented the largest municipal installation in the state, and the second-largest system overall.
Rifle also joined with Garfield County, the county’s other municipalities and other participants in successfully obtaining $1.6 million in funds from Ritter’s New Energy Communities Initiative.
The result has been $700,000 in solar installations across the county along with other alternative-energy, conservation and other projects by the participants.
Ritter on Thursday commemorated the completion of one such solar installation, at the newly completed Rifle Branch Library of the Garfield County Public Library District. That project was expected to provide half the library’s power. Instead, it’s covering more than 100 percent of the building’s needs, meaning its meter is running backwards, library officials are reporting with glee.
TOUR OF DOWNTOWN
Also Thursday, Rifle Mayor Keith Lambert took Ritter on a brief tour of downtown to show some of the projects being undertaken through the Sustainable Main Streets Initiative, under which participating communities benefit from the targeted resources of several state agencies.
The tour included a historic theater being renovated by the city, and a city-owned former lumber store site slated for redevelopment for such possible uses as restaurants and shops. Lambert also proudly showed off the city’s popular Centennial Park, which has LED lighting funded by Ritter’s New Energy Communities Initiative.
Transit-oriented development and a walkable downtown full of attractions are among city leaders’ other visions for Rifle.
Those leaders aren’t discounting the continued importance of traditional energy development to the city’s economy.
But Lambert said the dream of a more diverse energy and economic future for Rifle, initially voiced by a small number of city leaders several years ago, has come to be embraced by the city at large.
“There’s a feeling in the community as well that this is our destiny and this is our future,” he said.
Michael Langhorne, who has volunteered to spearhead the city’s sustainable downtown program, praised Ritter’s efforts to have state agencies “come to the table” with the city in its efforts rather than standing as bureaucratic obstacles.
“This kind of partnership is very vital for rural communities,” he said.
He said it also will be important for the administration of Colorado’s next governor, John Hickenlooper, to keep the Sustainable Main Streets Initiative going.
In an interview, Ritter said he hopes Hickenlooper will continue something along the lines of that initiative and also continue with the clean-energy efforts Ritter shepherded while governor.
“The governor-elect and I talked about Colorado’s potential as a hub for a clean-energy economy. There’s more to do, and I think he’s dedicated to doing that,” Ritter said.
With Ritter’s time as governor drawing to a close, local beneficiaries of his clean-energy initiatives seized the opportunity Thursday to thank him for those initiatives and share some of the results with him.
“We’re helping every sector in the region to save energy,” Glenwood City Council member Shelley Kaup said of the work being done by the Garfield New Energy Communities Initiative, whose board she heads.
Alice Laird, director of Clean Energy Economy for the Region, the nonprofit that administers that initiative, told Ritter, “We cannot describe the enormous positive change it’s made in the region. It’s brought our region together in a very tangible way.”
For Lambert, it has been gratifying to see the accomplishments occurring at the regional level and within Rifle itself.
“It’s all happening, and seemingly it’s like becoming a star overnight. It hasn’t been overnight. It’s been a long process, but we’re reaping the rewards,” he said.
By Dennis Webb
Thursday, December 9, 2010
RIFLE — Seemingly everywhere you turn these days in the Rifle area, solar projects are popping up in quantities that rival the natural gas drilling rigs dotting the horizons.
This city at the center of Garfield County’s natural gas fields and the region’s come-and-go oil shale industry has been pushing hard to promote itself as an alternative-energy hub as well. It also has been focusing on further diversifying its economy by pursuing sustainable development projects downtown.
The accomplishments to date of the city — and more broadly the clean-energy undertakings of communities through Garfield County — were celebrated Thursday at an event headlined by Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter, who initiated programs that helped make them possible.
Local officials praised the role Ritter played, but he said places such as Rifle have themselves to credit for the state’s decision to get involved in their sustainable community initiatives.
“It was because of what was already going on in Rifle,” Ritter said.
In April, Ritter announced Rifle was one of four communities in the state chosen to kick off the Sustainable Main Streets Initiative. It’s aimed at helping communities overcome challenges such as vacant storefronts and aging buildings to achieve long-term downtown stability and prosperity.
Later in the year, the federal government chipped in a total of $1.28 million in funding for the four communities’ projects.
Ritter said he has been impressed by the desire of a city so tied to a traditional, boom-and-bust-oriented extractive-energy industry to want to diversify and create an economy that sustains itself for decades to come.
The city has been moving on several fronts, such as creation of an Energy Innovation Center on a uranium mill tailings reclamation site.
The center is focusing on trying to bridge the gap between conventional and alternative fuels and intends to showcase emerging fuel technologies.
The center is still in its infancy, but a commercial composting facility is in the works, and this year test crops were grown there as part of a project involving Colorado Mountain College and others to evaluate the energy potential of switchgrass and other grasses.
The city has installed 2.3-megawatts’ worth of solar panels at that site and another location in town, paying no money upfront under an agreement in which it committed to long-term purchases of power.
At the time of their completion, the combined panels represented the largest municipal installation in the state, and the second-largest system overall.
Rifle also joined with Garfield County, the county’s other municipalities and other participants in successfully obtaining $1.6 million in funds from Ritter’s New Energy Communities Initiative.
The result has been $700,000 in solar installations across the county along with other alternative-energy, conservation and other projects by the participants.
Ritter on Thursday commemorated the completion of one such solar installation, at the newly completed Rifle Branch Library of the Garfield County Public Library District. That project was expected to provide half the library’s power. Instead, it’s covering more than 100 percent of the building’s needs, meaning its meter is running backwards, library officials are reporting with glee.
TOUR OF DOWNTOWN
Also Thursday, Rifle Mayor Keith Lambert took Ritter on a brief tour of downtown to show some of the projects being undertaken through the Sustainable Main Streets Initiative, under which participating communities benefit from the targeted resources of several state agencies.
The tour included a historic theater being renovated by the city, and a city-owned former lumber store site slated for redevelopment for such possible uses as restaurants and shops. Lambert also proudly showed off the city’s popular Centennial Park, which has LED lighting funded by Ritter’s New Energy Communities Initiative.
Transit-oriented development and a walkable downtown full of attractions are among city leaders’ other visions for Rifle.
Those leaders aren’t discounting the continued importance of traditional energy development to the city’s economy.
But Lambert said the dream of a more diverse energy and economic future for Rifle, initially voiced by a small number of city leaders several years ago, has come to be embraced by the city at large.
“There’s a feeling in the community as well that this is our destiny and this is our future,” he said.
Michael Langhorne, who has volunteered to spearhead the city’s sustainable downtown program, praised Ritter’s efforts to have state agencies “come to the table” with the city in its efforts rather than standing as bureaucratic obstacles.
“This kind of partnership is very vital for rural communities,” he said.
He said it also will be important for the administration of Colorado’s next governor, John Hickenlooper, to keep the Sustainable Main Streets Initiative going.
In an interview, Ritter said he hopes Hickenlooper will continue something along the lines of that initiative and also continue with the clean-energy efforts Ritter shepherded while governor.
“The governor-elect and I talked about Colorado’s potential as a hub for a clean-energy economy. There’s more to do, and I think he’s dedicated to doing that,” Ritter said.
With Ritter’s time as governor drawing to a close, local beneficiaries of his clean-energy initiatives seized the opportunity Thursday to thank him for those initiatives and share some of the results with him.
“We’re helping every sector in the region to save energy,” Glenwood City Council member Shelley Kaup said of the work being done by the Garfield New Energy Communities Initiative, whose board she heads.
Alice Laird, director of Clean Energy Economy for the Region, the nonprofit that administers that initiative, told Ritter, “We cannot describe the enormous positive change it’s made in the region. It’s brought our region together in a very tangible way.”
For Lambert, it has been gratifying to see the accomplishments occurring at the regional level and within Rifle itself.
“It’s all happening, and seemingly it’s like becoming a star overnight. It hasn’t been overnight. It’s been a long process, but we’re reaping the rewards,” he said.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Van Gundys Goes Solar
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KKCO)_Van Gundy's recycles more than 4 million pounds of scrap metal every month and now they'll have the help of the sun to do it.
On Friday, the recycling center cut a giant check in half to demonstrate the more than $10,000 it will save a year with a new 85,000 kilowatt solar plant.
Van Gundy's says it strives to be a clean, safe and efficient recycling facility and not just another 'scrap yard.'
"The system should pay for itself in about three years, so it really, the benefit of it far out ways the expense of installing it" says Dean Van Gundy.
The solar power plant is one of the Western Slopes largest.
Atlasta Solar Center installed it.
On Friday, the recycling center cut a giant check in half to demonstrate the more than $10,000 it will save a year with a new 85,000 kilowatt solar plant.
Van Gundy's says it strives to be a clean, safe and efficient recycling facility and not just another 'scrap yard.'
"The system should pay for itself in about three years, so it really, the benefit of it far out ways the expense of installing it" says Dean Van Gundy.
The solar power plant is one of the Western Slopes largest.
Atlasta Solar Center installed it.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Latimer House offsets electricity bill with solar donation
Latimer House offsets electricity bill with solar donation
By Sharon Sullivan
Free Press Staff Writer,
High Noon Solar gave a solar power system last month to Hilltop's Latimer House that will equal a donation of about $375 a year for 30 years — unless electricity rates go up. If that happens the savings will be greater.
The solar donation consists of 16 solar panels mounted to the roof of the Latimer House. The 3.2 kilowatt solar grid tie will offset the nonprofit organization's electricity bill for years to come, said Heidi Ihrke, co-owner of High Noon Solar.
The Latimer House provides shelter and other services to victims of domestic violence.
“This is a substantial donation,” said Karla Kitzman, Latimer House program coordinator. “It will be an ongoing, cost-savings every year.
“Having a donation like this will have a great impact to the longevity of our program.”
High Noon has given solar panels to different nonprofit organizations each year for the past three years.
The Latimer House gift makes the second solar donation by High Noon in 2010. The business gave a system earlier this year to The Western Slope Center for Children, a nonprofit dedicated to providing services to child sexual abuse victims and their families.
Each donation helps to offset the nonprofits' electricity bills by generating a portion of their electricity via the solar panels.
“This year we wanted to focus on the humanities,” Ihrke said. “In the past we've given to the arts (KAFM Community Radio, The Art Center). This year we wanted to focus on people.”
Copyright 2010 Grand Junction Free Press. All rights reserved.
By Sharon Sullivan
Free Press Staff Writer,
High Noon Solar gave a solar power system last month to Hilltop's Latimer House that will equal a donation of about $375 a year for 30 years — unless electricity rates go up. If that happens the savings will be greater.
The solar donation consists of 16 solar panels mounted to the roof of the Latimer House. The 3.2 kilowatt solar grid tie will offset the nonprofit organization's electricity bill for years to come, said Heidi Ihrke, co-owner of High Noon Solar.
The Latimer House provides shelter and other services to victims of domestic violence.
“This is a substantial donation,” said Karla Kitzman, Latimer House program coordinator. “It will be an ongoing, cost-savings every year.
“Having a donation like this will have a great impact to the longevity of our program.”
High Noon has given solar panels to different nonprofit organizations each year for the past three years.
The Latimer House gift makes the second solar donation by High Noon in 2010. The business gave a system earlier this year to The Western Slope Center for Children, a nonprofit dedicated to providing services to child sexual abuse victims and their families.
Each donation helps to offset the nonprofits' electricity bills by generating a portion of their electricity via the solar panels.
“This year we wanted to focus on the humanities,” Ihrke said. “In the past we've given to the arts (KAFM Community Radio, The Art Center). This year we wanted to focus on people.”
Copyright 2010 Grand Junction Free Press. All rights reserved.
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