Woolman Hill Sustainable Practices

Posted October 23, 2005

In response to Friends testimonies of simplicity and stewardship, Woolman Hill strives to operate in as resource-responsible and earth-friendly a way as possible. Some of the methods are quite simple, such as feeding compost to chickens, then spreading chicken manure on the gardens; other methods are more complex, such as the photovoltaic installation. Following is a list of what we do:

- The PV array, installed in 2001 through fundraising and a 50% grant from the Western Massachusetts Electric Co., supplies most of the electrical needs of the Red House (staff housing), the blacksmith shop (maintenance), and the office. On a sunny summer day the 1 kilowatt array produces about 6 kilowatt-hours of electricity, more than is consumed. The excess is fed back into the utility grid.

- The farmhouse (staff housing) has a solar hot water heater, also installed in 2001, and funded through fundraising. This is a closed glycol system, using three panels, and a small PV panel, which powers the DC pump, which circulates the glycol from the roof down to the heat exchanger next to the hot water tank in the basement, and back to the roof again. Turning off the electric hot water heater reduced the electrical consumption of the farmhouse by 75%!

- The farmhouse has an independent PV system, which powers several lights and the stereo in the home. It is DC only, comprising four PV panels totaling 400 watts.

- The large meeting room in the conference center and the farmhouse are heated by wood, sustainably harvested on the property by staff.

- There are several gardens and coldframes at Woolman Hill, which provide a great deal of the food consumed by staff and residents, although not enough to feed the guests at weekend conferences. The gardens are all organic, enriched by chicken manure and leaves from the property.

- Cleaning agents used in the conference center are ‘Seventh Generation’ brand, safer for the environment. Weekend guests at the conference center use cloth napkins.

- Disposable products are avoided, and guests (even weddings!) are strongly encouraged to use our dinnerware, cups, and glasses.

- We recycle everything the Town of Deerfield will accept.

- Co-director Mark Fraser and his family drive two old diesel cars which run on recycled canola oil recuperated from local restaurants by Mark. What oil is not burnt in the cars is burnt by the oil furnace and hot water heater at the conference center, and totals about 10% of the fuel.

- Most staff and cabin guests use outhouses.

Energy Audit/Education for those in Connecticut with a Meeting House or Church

Posted November 22, 2005

Interreligious Eco-Justice Network (IREJN) is starting a new program to offer conservation education and audits to faith houses via it “This Old House of Worship program.” Through a conservation grant from Interfaith Power and Light, IREJN is able to place energy analysts and educators in faith houses to offer a good basic analysis of where they could save money and energy immediately by simple means and to suggest what other measures might be well worth doing, even if they require more investment of planning. The educational component may take place over a coffee hour or during the course of a thorough walk through of a number of faith house located relatively close together. IREJN is currently seeking networks of congregations to participate together. Hartford Monthly Meeting has expressed interest in doing this. It is expected that several groups will be put together in the state shortly after the beginning of the New Year. If your Meeting (or other churches you have contact with) would like more information contact Rabbi Andrea Cohen Kiener at 860-231-8554 or by email at andrea@irejn.org.

You could also contact me as I have just joined the Board of IREJN (but Rabbi Cohen Kiener will have more information).

Bill Upholt
Hartford Monthly Meeting

Savings Through Energy Management for This Old House of Worship

Posted December 6, 2005

This morning I attended a meeting sponsored by the CT Interreligious Eco-Justice Network (IREJN) where a “Savings Through Energy Management for This Old House of Worship” program was discussed. This program will organize groups of 10-30 people from 5-10 faith communities to attend a 15 hour (5-3 hour sessions) training program on energy management. Each session will occur in a different one of the worship houses and will examine different aspects of the energy use. A professional will lead the sessions and train the participants in how to make a detailed study of their own building system, provide recommendations of actions, calculate potential savings (both in energy and reduced CO2 emissions), help in setting priorities, and provide information on rebates and other sources of funds to implement the changes. Equipment used in the study will be available for loan to each of the faith communities. The sessions will examine the heating efficiency, windows, walls, ceiling doors, ventilation, lighting, appliances etc. The program is funded in part by a grant from Interfaith Power and Light.

IREJN is presently putting together groups in the New Haven and Hartford areas projected to begin in January.

I plan to participate in the Hartford group and would be glad to share the resulting information following the sessions.

Bill Upholt

Meetinghouse Heating

Posted Novemer 24, 2005

Hi,

We at Smithfield MM in RI found a very easy to install and very economical to operate means of circulating heated air in our Meetinghouse. Our ceiling is approx. 20 feet high. We have finned pipes that circulate hot water along the outside walls of the room. The loft rooms have windows overlooking the meeting space. We placed a very quiet window fan in the center loft window that both extracts unneeded heat from the loft room and moves the otherwise trapped hot air at the ceiling of the meetingroom. We've saved a good deal on our gas costs and the space is much more comfortable. A win, win.

Other buildings with a similar configuration may want to try it.

Blessings,
Suzanne

Baltimore YM request for info sharing

Posted December 3, 2005 (two postings combined)

Roy Taylor of Baltimore YM is starting a project through the Publications Committtee of QEW to help Friends across the continent share info on work in their Meetings on greening up. It seems there is a lot of interest everywhere.

He would like to hear from Friends what their Meetings have been doing, especially about problems encountered and either solved or not solved.

He sent this out recently:

"I attended the USGBC's Conference and trade show called GreenBuild, about three weeks ago. While attending a session called "Ethics of Building Green" I met Rev. Fletcher Harper of GreenFaith. He is working with Bill Walsh of Healthy Building News and others on developing a set of standards and protocol for greening all buildings of faith. We are just starting the discussion of how we can work together on this project. Widening the circle will bring a diversity of perspective to this work and net us an even better product to share with all our Meetings.

Greening Friends Meeting at Cambridge

Posted December 3, 2006

In Cambridge we've joined Mass. Interfaith Power and Light and had our buildings assessed. We are purchasing our oil through them. We've also replaced all the light bulbs.. well, almost all... with more energy efficient bulbs. There are some dim "candle-flame" lights in sconces that are the old kind.

What's going on in other Meetings?