by Stephanie Ghertner

Project Open Hand was founded in 1985 by Ruth Brinker, a retired meal service manager and grandmother, as a grassroots response to the nutritional needs of people with AIDS. In a San Francisco church basement, Ms. Brinker enlisted the help of friends and began preparing meals for seven people with AIDS. Today, Project Open Hand serves over 3,000 people with HIV/AIDS, in addition to seniors and homebound people living with serious illnesses or other debilitating conditions in San Francisco and Alameda counties. In an average month, Project Open Hand provides over 30,000 meals and 11,000 grocery bags to clients living with HIV/AIDS, prepares over 29,000 meals to seniors, and delivers 3,000 meals to people who are homebound with a critical illness. The group now serves more than 7,000 clients – one-thousand times the number of people first touched by Ms. Brinker’s generosity. For nearly 25 years, Project Open Hand’s partnership of volunteers, donors, and staff has provided healthy meals, groceries, nutrition counseling, and emotional support to those in need, and the groundbreaking organization continues to be a model for similar groups around the world.

The cutting-edge nature of Project Open Hand’s mission is also reflected in its progressive approach to operations. The non-profit organization is not only focused on increasing the effectiveness of its programs and services but also the efficiency of its activities. In 2005, Project Open Hand launched the Green Solutions Initiative with the objective of “greening” its facilities. The goal was two-fold: lower operating expenses and reduce environmental impact. Project Open Hand started with basic changes – increasing composting and recycling efforts, converting to energy efficient bulbs, conducting regular water pipe maintenance, and asking employees to turn off lights and computers when not in use. The result of such simple efforts? $60,000 in savings per year! Next, Project Open Hand started to upgrade its fleet of delivery vehicles, replacing 9 mile-per-gallon gas-guzzling vans with fuel-efficient, compact Scions that tripled the fuel economy. The impact? Overall fleet operating costs were reduced by 70%, and the EPA-rated fleet greenhouse gas score increased by 300%!

With its propensity for innovation, Project Open Hand demonstrated what’s good for the environment can also be very good for business. The aforementioned actions maximized economic resources and minimized environmental impact, and the community started to notice. In support of Project Open Hand’s greening efforts, PG&E donated $200,000 to install a state-of-the-art solar photovoltaic (PV) and solar thermal system in 2007. The 22kW, 34-panel solar system produces more than 30,000 kW hours of clean renewable energy each year without emitting any greenhouse gases, and the 10-panel solar thermal system is capable of heating 170,000 gallons of water per year and offsetting the emissions of almost 2 million pounds of carbon dioxide over its lifetime. Combined, the two solar systems will save Project Open Hand approximately $12,000 annually in energy costs and more than $600,000 over the life of the system. Most importantly, the savings will allow Project Open Hand to serve an additional 6,700 home-delivered meals each year.

“Thanks to PG&E, we have a clean energy system that’s functioning great,” Director of Operations Dan Shuman said. The system symbolizes the kind of forward-thinking organization that Project Open Hand is and makes the non-profit’s operations even more attractive to current and potential donors. The publicity received by the solar system has allowed Project Open Hand to secure additional grants and reach a broader audience, thus increasing its community impact.

While Project Open Hand is proud of its accomplishments, the organization recognizes that there is still more to do. The solar system can be expanded by an additional 30% to produce even more energy, motion sensors can be added to reduce electricity produced by ceiling lights, inefficient refrigerators can be replaced to minimize energy usage, and so on. Green is an ongoing process, and Project Open Hand is always looking for further support to help make these changes happen.

Project Open Hand’s Green Solutions Initiative is evidence that seemingly small behavior changes can create powerful results. The non-profit organization’s multi-faceted approach to greening their daily operations showcases the many ways that individuals and businesses can make a difference. By carefully utilizing its resources and reducing its dependence on non-renewable resources, Project Open Hand serves “meals with love” to the Bay Area community with compassion for the planet.

Balboa High School is in the San Francisco Unified School District.  There are more than 1,000 students at the High School.  It is located at 1000 Cayuga Avenue.  The building is the only historic landmark that still operates as a school in San Francisco and construction was completed in the 1930s.  In 2007 and 2008, Newsweek named Balboa one of the top public high schools in the US.  It was named after the Spanish Explorer Vasco Nunez de Balboa (which should be no surprise).

Balboa is one of the 125 schools in the PG&E Solar Schools Program.  The “solar on a stick” installation is on the back side of the school near the tennis courts.

Susan Ritter is the Assistant Principal and that is Susan in the pix.  Susan is writing a story about a grant they were just awarded by PG&E that will involve turning one of their rooms into a “green room.”  Susan is standing in the room in the pix.

http://www.californiasolarschools.org/solar-schools/schools/balboa-high/

By Nick Poplawski

On a beautiful Tuesday afternoon last week, I had a chance to attend my very first Solarbration, and I was impressed!  St. Philip the Apostle School put on a great set of events for the students, and gave them a hands on experience with solar PV and solar thermal technology.  Based in Addison, Garrett Schweikhofer of SunHeat Solar Inc. was kind enough to bring flat plate and evacuated tube solar water heating systems, as well as some small solar PV panels, to show the students what everything looked like up close.  He was also giving each group a quick lesson on solar technology.  Classes made solar cookers to cook s’mores too.  I didn’t have a chance to eat them, but they looked delicious!

Dawn O’Brien, the Development director, was also on duty, making sure the kids were learning and getting the most out of the experience.  She had been a catalyst for many energy improvements at the school.  Denise Sedlak, the Principal was also taking part in the festivities.  Reporter Anna Madrzyk and photographer Tanit Jarusan from the Daily Herald were there as well.  They were covering the school’s role in greening the community, as well as its own facility.  Three 8^th grade girls played a role in not only transforming the recycling habits of the school, but of the entire community.    Dana Gattone, Angel Loizzo, and Maggie O’Brien’s research project on recycling methods helped put recycling to the forefront of Addison’s sustainability efforts.

After lunch, the entire school had an assembly, with kindergarteners singing songs about solar energy, and a video presentation of “Powershift,” a film about sustainable energy.  Illinois State Representative Dennis Reboletti came for the assembly and explained the importance of clean energy education to the students.

Overall, it was a great experience.  I’m really excited to see so much enthusiasm for clean energy and environmental stewardship.  It is absolutely critical that the next generation of leaders are familiar with these issues, as they will face them in ways we can only imagine.

By Stephanie Ghertner

Habitat for Humanity not only helps families with limited incomes get into their own homes, but they are helping to make the homes more energy efficient than the typical house in the US to avoid these families getting huge monthly utility bills. More efficient homes means less pollution for all of us and lower monthly bills for each of these households that allow these families to spend more money on other essential family expenses.

For the past few years, Habitat for Humanity International has partnered with PG&E to support the installation of solar electric systems on Habitat-built homes in northern and central California.  Since the program began in 2005, the partnership has brought solar energy to families with limited incomes, demonstrating a shared commitment to affordable, renewable energy and promoting energy literacy throughout local communities.

Incorporating solar energy into the design plans helps to lower the cost to homeowners while creating a standard of environmentally friendly building practices.  The solar panels installed on Habitat-built homes generate nearly 300kWh of clean, renewable energy from sunlight each month, saving the families approximately $500 a year on energy costs, and each panel helps prevent the release of more than 132,000 pounds of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere over the 30-year life of the system.

By Katie Kizer

People tend to start renewable energy projects – and more specifically, solar PV projects—for all sorts of reasons. They want to educate students, promote awareness in the community, or they may just want to prove they are “going green” along with the rest of the world. After taking the initiative to start these types of projects, a more appropriate question that arises is, why do they keep going? As Steve Ruelli of the Skokie School District 73.5 explains it, he was bitten by the bug.

After a successful solar PV installation at McCracken Middle School, Steve’s interest immediately turned to possible improvements on the John Middleton Elementary School. He explored various options for energy efficiency and renewable energy, yet he decided to once again pursue a solar PV system. This is because roof-mounted solar PV panels can easily be integrated into existing buildings, such as the elementary school. They installed another 1 kW solar PV system, for which data is available to monitor online, and Steve is already looking to expand. The project’s funding was made possible by ComEd and the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation.Back to the original question, why keep going?

It’s because people like Steve know that it works.

It’s also because the Skokie School District is very supportive of green technologies, and in the type of environment where innovation is encouraged and even facilitated, renewable energy thrives. All it takes is one committed person, like Steve, who knows the ropes.

Like the McCracken installation and all of the Illinois Solar Schools, this system will be used as an educational tool for students, staff, and community to learn about the power of the sun. As the district has continued to expand upon its green credentials, its reputation has mirrored the advancements. Steve explains that he is being asked to be part of a “green tour” as a result of the example that the district has set. He has also been asked to head a test project for a 30-50 kW solar PV system. Such a large system would offset a notable portion of energy while saving a chunk of change on utility bills.

Not only have the people of Skokie School District 73.5 seen this technology work, they are continuing to set the bar for what these installations can achieve. Steve told me that his goal is to be a leader in the industry and to exemplify these successful systems for other educational facilities—a way for others to learn from Skokie’s example. If you ask me, we should all be bitten by the bug.