Greetings from Sunbeam! 

It seemed to me that I spent my entire childhood in a school building and, in reality we all spent a good portion of our time in them. The schools I attended were all built in the early 1960s or before and looked and felt a lot different than modern schools, but in ways that really matter, school construction techniques haven’t changed that much – until recently.

The hot topic for this issue is Green/Sustainable/High Performance schools. You’ll find articles defining these new schools and presenting ideas on how you can influence school construction in your town or neighborhood as well as case studies and shining examples of some newly built schools.

Read on and, as always, send me an e-mail at cbeach@ases.org if you have comments or suggestions for Sunbeam or if you’d like to be taken off the Sunbeam mailing list.

If you appreciate the Sunbeam Newsletter and would like a subscription to SOLAR TODAY Magazine or to become a member of the American Solar Energy Society, please visit this link for a special offer for Sunbeam Readers and sign up today.

“By almost a 2-1 ratio, Americans favor adequate funding for education. We support funding for classrooms, teacher salaries, athletics and new school construction. But we do not support wasting millions of dollars each year through energy inefficiency.”
Guest Opinion: School Buildings Waste Energy, but New Law Provides Remedies by Jeff Hatch-Miller
Arizona Daily Star, azstarnet.com, July 3, 2007

”The government of Australia will provide funding to help every school in the country to install solar hot water systems and rainwater tanks.”
Australia to Install Solar Thermal at Every School
renewableenergyfocus.com, August 22, 2007 

U.S. Mayors Champion the Greening of America’s Schools
Press release, U.S. Green Building Council, July 3, 2007 

Schools in the U.S Considering Going Green to Save on Electricity
Press Release, U.S. Green Building Council, May 28, 2007 

Legacy Schools
American Solar Energy Society’s Legacy Schools Program 

Little Green Schoolhouse – Four Pillars for Healthy, Sustainable Schools
GreenSchools.net 

High Performance Schools
California Integrated Waste Management Board

Green Schools: A Design Fad or a Trend Worth Embracing?
By Joel K. Sims, AIA, School Planning & Management archives 

Green Schools Initiative - $15 Million in New Funding Available from the Trust
Massachusetts Technology Collaborative Renewable Energy Trust 

Energy Star for K-12 School Districts

Healthy School Environment Resources – High Performance Schools
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency  

Sidwell School: 70% Less Water, 60% Less Energy
by Justin Thomas, Treehugger.com 

New Ash Creek School Gets the Most Value for Funds Spent
Oregon Office of Energy, Case Study 

Conley-Caraballo High School
Collaborative for High Performance Schools 

Maywood Academy High School
Collaborative for High Performance Schools 

“The Bush administration has violated a 2004 congressional deadline for presenting the latest scientific research about global warming to lawmakers and the public and must submit its report by next  spring, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.”
Administration Breaking Law By Withholding Global Warming Report, Judge Rules
by Bob Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle, SFGate.com, August 22, 2007 

State Reaches Settlement On Gas Emissions
by Margot Roosevelt, Los Angeles Times, August 22, 2007 

“AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - The treaty that replaces the Kyoto Protocol on climate change could be a potpourri of legal obligations, nonbinding commitments and aid arrangements for the developing world, but each nation should choose its own course, the U.N.'s top climate official said Thursday.”
De Boer Speaks on Climate Change Treaty
by Arthur Max, Yahoo! News, August 23, 2007 

Bush Climate Meeting Must Stay Within UN Fold
By Marlowe Hood, Yahoo!News, August 23, 2007 

Climate Fight Must Be Won In Developing Nations
By Gerard Wynn, Yahoo!News, August 23, 2007 

Change In Hottest Year Fuels Global Warming Skeptics
by Brad Knickerbocker, Christian Science Monitor, August 23, 2007 

“According to new research, the number of  U.S. jobs created as a result of rapid growth in the renewable energy and energy-efficiency (RE/EE) field as of 2006 is estimated to exceed 450,000.”
Renewable Energy: Economic Powerhouse?
By Roger H. Bezdek, SOLAR TODAY Magazine, July/August 2007

Renewable Energy Forecast: 40 Million Jobs in U.S.
American Solar Energy Society

Global Business Group Releases Papers on Energy Security and Efficiency
Renewable Energy Focus, August 22, 2007 

Solar Stocks Plummet in Market Turmoil
by J. Peter Lynch, Wall Street Analyst, RenewableEnergyAccess.com, August 22, 2007 

Massachusetts Accelerates Renewable Energy Industries
RenewableEnergyAccess.com, August 10, 2007 

Part 1: A Glimpse of the Energy Future, Buildings Offer the Greatest Opportunity for Energy Conservation
by Larisa Brass, RenewableEnergyAccess.com, August 15, 2007 

Part 2: A Glimpse of the Energy Future
by Larisa Brass, RenewableEnergyAccess.com, August 16, 2007 

The Appeal of Animal Waste
by Ken Silverstein, RenewableEnergyAccess.com, August 13, 2007 

Contract Signed for First Powerbuoy at Oregon Wave Park
RenewableEnergyAccess.com, August 23, 2007 

Solar-To-Hydrogen Technology Sold For $400 Million Euro
Environmental News Network, August 17, 2007 

Siemens Ships First Turbine Blades from New U.S. Factory
RenewableEnergyAccess.com, August 21, 2007 

“In many developing countries there is a much larger potential for renewable like wind and solar energy than in industrialized countries. But there are obstacles that prevent the adoption of such “new” renewables in developing countries.”
Energy For All: Obstacles and Success Conditions for RE in Developing Countries
RenewableEnergyFocus.com 

Provinces to Produce Additional 25,000 MW of Green Power by 2020
RenewableEnergyFocus.com, August 22, 2007 

Wind Energy Catches on in Chile
by Matt Malinowski, RenewableEnergyAccess.com, August 24, 2007 

Econergy International Acquires 18 MW Wind Farm in Brazil
RenewableEnergyAccess.com, August 23, 2007 

China Market Shines for Solar, Wind Firms
Mass High Tech: The Journal of New England Technology, August 20, 2007 

Kyocera Supplies Solar Modules for World’s Largest Stadium-Integrated Photovoltaic System
Solarbuzz August 16, 2007 

British Columbia’s Energy Plan: A Work in Progress
by Randy Seibold, RenewableEnergyAccess.com, August 20, 2007 

RIL Looks at Solar Energy to Power Villages
The Hindu, August 21, 2007 

Solel To Build World’s Largest Solar Park
Government of Israel Economic Mission Los Angeles, Economic Office Newsletter, August 2007

“The sun shining over the Ipswich River means more than just another beautiful New England day to one Massachusetts company – it means power.”
EBSCO Publishing Shines Light on Solar Power and Corporate Responsibility
PR Web Press Release, August 21, 2007 

Carmanah Receives Additional $600K order from U.S. Defence For Solar LED Airfield Lighting
Filing Services Canada, Press Release, August 21, 2007 

University of New Hampshire to Power Campus with Landfill Gas
RenewableEnergyAccess.com, August 20, 2007 

Pepperidge Farms to Power Bakery with 1.2 MW Fuel Cell
RenewableEnergyAccess.com, August 21, 2007 

Photovoltaic Solar Power System at Alcoa’s Kawneer Facility in California Begins Operation
Yahoo!Finance, August 23, 2007 

“Beam solar energy directly from space, and disaster relief expeditions could power all their equipment with no more than a few portable antennas and converters. Campers could use such energy to cook dinners using nothing more than a cell phone-like device.”
Space Solar Energy Has Future, U.S. Researchers Say
by Andrzej Zwaniecki, USInfo, August 20, 2007 

“Q Microbe” Shows Promise for Advancing Cellulosic Ethanol
RenewableEnergyAccess.com, August 20, 2007 

Groundbreaking Developments for Hydrogen; Ocean Renewables in Congress
RenewableEnergyAccess.com POD cast, August 23, 2007 

CHP Licenses Solar Water Cracker Technology
RenewableEnergyAccess.com, August 23, 2007 

Solar Cell Power Performance Boosted 60-70% by Nanoparticles Used in Octillion’s ‘NanoPower Window’
Yahoo!Finance, August 20, 2007 

”Honolulu’s Sopogy said yesterday it plans to subject its solar thermal technology to a northern climate, announcing that it would build a 50 kilowatt test plant in Idaho.”
Inside Greentech, August 22, 2007

Oregon Climate Change Legislation Becomes Law
RenewableEnergyAccess.com, August 22, 2007 

Denver Federal Center to Host Solar Park
CRES Clips, August 22, 2007