The award-winning 'Barn' at Barn Beach Reserve in Leavenworth includes green features such as solar-heated water that radiates through the floor for winter heating.

If you haven’t been to Leavenworth lately, here’s a really good reason to go: Visit Barn Beach Reserve. 

The reserve spans eight acres overlooking and adjacent to the Wenatchee River.  A group of conservation-minded citizens established the reserve in 2002 to help protect the river ecosystem and, according to the Barn Beach website, “to promote the environmental, economic and social sustainability of the Greater Wenatchee Valley through educational programming and stewardship bridging environment, arts and cultural history.” 

Executive Director Jeff Parsons has been with Barn Beach since its inception in 2002.

This they do through exhibits, programs and community events along the river at the focal point of the reserve,  the 107-year-old River Haus, home to the Upper Valley Museum and Icicle Arts as well as Barn Beach Reserve. Jim White, senior energy services engineer for Chelan PUD, conducted an audit at the historic former home last month to recommend ways to save energy. 

That’s not necessary at “The Barn,” the  new, green-built education and environmental center constructed on the foundation of a 1960s-era home on the property. The facility features 

The century-old River Haus is home to Barn Beach Nature Center, Icicle Arts and the Upper Valley Museum at Leavenworth.

countertops made from recycled paper, low-VOC pressboard cabinets, recycled corrugated metal, and acoustic “cloud” ceiling panels made of remnants from a Hanes underwear factory. Solar energy is collected in two systems, one to heat the building and another to provide electricity. A simple, passive convection ventilation system operates in mild weather. In summer heat, cool air from a basement is circulated to the main floor of the 4,000-square foot building. 

The American Institute of Architects named “The Barn” one of the top 10 green building projects in the Northwest in 2009. 

If Barn Beach Executive Director Jeff Parsons isn’t there to show you around, interpretive signs can guide visitors through the building and its green attributes. 

The reserve is adjacent to the city park and Blackbird Island, a popular stop on Audubon’s Great Washington Birding Trail. Check out upcoming events at the reserve here.

Fourth-graders don’t know they’re learning – they’re too busy having fun

A little go-kart is conveying a big idea about what transportation and energy use might look like in the future.

After taking a spin in the solar-powered go-kart, students at John Newbery Elementary learn more about renewable energy from Chelan County PUD's Bob Bauer.

Each year in May, every fourth-grader in the Wenatchee School District gets to drive Chelan County PUD’s solar-powered go-kart. It’s part of a unit on electricity that culminates in a field trip to Rocky Reach Dam.

The go-kart, powered by a 600-watt solar panel, helps drive home the point that solar power can be used to perform many common tasks  – some mundane, and some exceedingly fun.

Led by PUD Education Specialist Bob Bauer, students list off the items in their classroom that use electricity: the pencil sharpener, coffeemaker, computers, and lights. Bauer tells them that solar panels installed permanently at their schools are generating enough electricity to power all those things.

The Alcoa Community Solar Endowment and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers installed solar arrays at all schools in the county in 2004-06.

Jim White, senior energy conservation engineer at the PUD, built the go-kart. It’s been used in classrooms for several years.

The field experience at Rocky Reach Dam is called River of Power. More than 700 fourth-graders from public and private schools in Chelan County participate in the four-day event. This year’s event is May 26-29.

Hands-on activities acquaint students with hydropower, the world of salmon, and basic principles of electricity generation. Students build model dams out of sand and cardboard, draw fish, measure the power of falling water and watch corn pop in a solar popper, among other lessons.

River of Power was developed in partnership with the Wenatchee School District. Teachers spend several weeks in the classroom each spring teaching about electricity, hydropower, the history of the Columbia River and renewable energy.

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One of the questions most frequently heard by Conservation staff at Chelan County PUD is how much it costs to set up a home solar-power system. Randy Brooks, owner of Brooks Solar in Chelan, says $10 to $12 per watt installed is a good estimate for a grid-tied system without batteries.  With batteries for storing power, costs go up by about 30 percent.

“There really is no ‘average’ system size and cost.  Each situation tends to be different. “

- Randy Brooks, Brooks Solar Inc.

Brooks adds, “The estimated cost for off-grid is a little vague. I usually tell people if they are more than a quarter mile from the grid, they can install their own power system for the same cost as extending the grid. This depends greatly on their energy use, though.

“There really is no ‘average’ system size and cost.  Each situation tends to be different.  However, I usually recommend grid-tie customers get a system that will earn about as much in incentives annually as they pay for electricity. That is usually a 1.5 kW (about $15,000) system. The smallest system I recommend is 700 watts (about $7,000) because that is the smallest grid-tie inverter available. 

“The largest system would be based on how much space and money customers have, up to 100 kW (the maximum allowed by the state net meter law).”

Brooks notes that for off-grid situations, a load evaluation must be conducted and the solar system sized to meet that need, “so it all depends on how much power customers use.”

For more information:
Brooks Solar

The Solar Guide

Sustainable Natural Alternative Power (SNAP)

Related articles:
Solar industry posts strong growth in 2008 (NY Times)

Marcelo da Luz

A meeting with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is the next goal of the driver who set a world record for distance traveled in a solar car.

Marcelo da Luz, a former flight attendant and native of Brazil, brought his saucer-shaped solar car to Wenatchee on Dec. 4, making appearances at Wenatchee High School, Wenatchee Valley College, the Performing Arts Center (photo at left) and Newbery Elementary. Students at the elementary school were fascinated with the futuristic vehicle and shouted in unison as da Luz led them in a countdown, then drove the car around the parking lot and out of sight – then returned to applause and squeals of delight.

Da Luz set the record by traveling more than 10,000 miles across Canada and the U.S. Sponsors helped him build the $1 million car and finance the trip, which started in June and ended in October. He is looking for additional sponsors to continue his journey.

He wants to meet Schwarzenegger to draw attention to renewable energy development, which the governor has supported, and to what can be achieved by “the power of one.” Da Luz’s Web site is called the Power of One, shortened to xof1.

Related links
Fill ‘er up with sunshine (Wenatchee World)

Marcelo Da Luz set the record for travel in a solar car by driving more than 10,000 miles across Canada and the U.S