Middlebury – The Acorn Renewable Energy Co-op will be presenting a free program on green building as part of its Energy Education Program Series, from 1 to 3 p.m., on Saturday, May 26 at the Champlain Valley Unitarian Universalist Society at 2 Duane Court, Middlebury. This informative program will be presented by Jean Terwilliger, a local LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) accredited architect, and will include a tour of the new CVUUS sanctuary building. The program is co-sponsored by the CVUUS Green Sanctuary Program Committee.

Green buildings save energy and are built with healthy materials, but to be truly sustainable over time they also need to help create community and be loved by the people who inhabit them. Through a tour of the new CVUUS sanctuary building and examples from her design work, Terwilliger will explore how light, space, materials and design work together to create beautiful, functional, sustainable and resilient places to live and work.

Terwilliger is an Addison County architect specializing in the design of sustainable homes, additions and renovations using collaborative design and cost effective green building technologies. Recent projects include LEED and Energy Star rated homes and a wide range of addition and renovation projects throughout Addison County including the Trackside Depot train station renovation in downtown Middlebury. A graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Terwilliger has over 15 years of architectural experience and is a LEED for Homes accredited professional.

The Acorn Renewable Energy Cooperative is a member-owned energy cooperative serving residents and businesses in Addison, Rutland, and Chittenden counties. For more information, or to join the Acorn Renewable Energy Co-op please visit www.acornenergycoop.com or call 802-385-1911.

The Champlain Valley Unitarian Universalist Society offers inclusive community, spiritual sustenance, and religious education, thereby encouraging lives of meaning, integrity, and service. Its Green Sanctuary Program was created to bring alive the Seventh Principle of Unitarian Universalism- respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part, and to further the connections between spiritual practice, social justice, and environmental consciousness. For more information please visit http://cvuus.wikispaces.com/Green+Sanctuary.

The Co-op welcomes sponsors to support future community education programs on energy efficiency and renewable energy production. Contact elizabethgolden@shoreham.net for more information on how you can sponsor the educational program series.

Burlington – Save the date for Renewable Energy Vermont’s 11th Annual Conference and Expo: Driving Towards a Smart, Renewable Energy Future. This year’s conference will continue to bring together key players in the renewable sectors: business leaders, system operators, manufacturers, engineers, scientists, policy makers, regulators and academics.  The conference, typically drawing hundreds of attendees and exhibitors, is consistently the largest renewable energy conference in the state, and is rapidly expanding to accommodate growing regional interest.

The conference provides technical trainings, industry presentations and Poster sessions on policy, regulatory, and financial issues focusing on the power, heating and transportation needs expected from future solar, wind, hydro, geothermal and bio-technologies, with a highlight on SmartGrid, battery development and the electrification of our transportation system.  This 11^th Annual Conference is offered by Vermont’s renewable trade association, Renewable Energy Vermont (REV).

Conference Theme
Vermont and the New England Region must radically transform towards a renewables future, with significant increases in electrification, efficiency and biotechnologies.  What does this transformation look like?

Request for Proposals
Interested in presenting at this year’s conference? Please submit your abstracts and posters based on this years conference theme. Two hundred word abstracts must be submitted by June 15, 2012 at 11:59 pm EST.

Send abstracts to julie@revermont.org. In the subject line, please write: Abstract and Poster Submission: REV Conference 2012. Once your abstract is received you will receive a confirmation email.  Applicants will be notified of their  by July 1st. For more information on the request for proposals, click here: Request for Proposals.

More information is available here: http://www.revermont.org/main/events/conferences/.

Exhibitor and Sponsorship Opportunities
Interested in participating as an exhibitor or sponsor? Call (802) 865-5202 or email Cindy Sherwood. Consistently the largest renewable energy event in Vermont, the Vermont Renewable Energy Conference & Expo draws attendees from across the state and region. Our high-traffic expo serves as the central gathering place for breaks, informal networking and interactive demonstrations. As always, the expo is open to conference attendees and the general public at large.

Lodging
REV’s 11th Annual Conference will be held at the Sheraton Hotel & Conference Center in  Burlington, VT. A special group rate is available at $149 per night. Call (800) 325-3535 by September 1, 2012 at 5 pm EST to reserve your room. Please mention that you are with the “Renewable Energy Vermont Conference”.

For Information Contact REV

Bridpot, VT- Viewers will be in for a new experience as they take to the skies for a coast-to-coast journey and aerial look at the complex networks and systems that keep America running. Technology expert and communications attorney Yul Kwon is the adventurous host and guide for a new PBS series called “America Revealed” that helps viewers discover and appreciate the vast infrastructure that makes modern life possible. In one episode, he visits Vermont.

“America Revealed” airs on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on Vermont Public Television’s main channel through May 2. Programs repeat on the VPT World channel Thursdays at 8 p.m. A complete schedule, as well as access to the programs on demand, is available at vpt.org.

Using aerial footage, high-definition video and real-time satellite data, “America Revealed” follows him as he climbs, leaps and rides across the U.S. to trace the movements and communications that come together to grow and deliver our food; transport us and materials; and power our energy addiction. He introduces the individuals who conduct, maintain and keep these systems operating and are at the core of America’s revolutionary manufacturing transformation.

Surprises abound and common assumptions are rebuffed as viewers learn and observe the details and trends that define and drive America’s industries: food, transportation, energy and manufacturing.

Yul Kwon lights in Vermont in the episode that premieres Wednesday, April 25, at 10 p.m. In “Electric Nation,” he explores the intricacies, vulnerabilities and remarkable ingenuity required to keep America’s modern electric power grid up and running. He visits Blue Spruce Farm in Bridport, Vt., where Marie Audet shows him how CVPS Cow Power uses methane from manure to generate electricity supplements energy on their farm and at local residences.

Contact
Ann Curran
Phone: (802) 655-8059
Email: acurran@vpt.org

MONTPELIER – REV’ month-long celebration of Vermont Wind Energy will be capped off this Saturday, March 24^th  with Vermont Wind Energy Open House Day.  Vermonters are invited to learn about wind turbine installations across the state at a variety of participating wind turbine sites.   To find a nearby site, go to REV’s newly launched wind energy initiative and website, Wind Works Vermont.

This March has already proven to be a busy month with informative events in Vermont highlighting the benefits of wind energy:

• First Wind’s Sheffield Snowmobile Ride-In
• VEEP’s Wind Works Education Day at Braintree Elementary School
• Congressman Peter Welch’s call for extending renewable energy tax incentives and Section 1603 grant funding programs at NRG Systems
• Vermont Energy Independence Day

To complement these exciting events, REV’s Vermont Wind Energy Open House Day will take place on Saturday, March 24^th from 10am to 2pm.  Local farms, businesses and colleges have graciously agreed to open their doors and showcase their wind energy installations to show what wind power is truly all about – up close and in person.

For more information on REV’s Vermont Wind Open House Day, please visit: http://windworksvermont.org/marchwind.html.

Wind Works Vermont provides factual information and first-hand experience demonstrating that wind power is a clean, local, and responsible energy choice that benefits both Vermont and Vermonters.  To get the information to Vermonters, REV has placed ads on VTdigger.org and launched a new ad campaign on local stations such as WCAX, WPTZ and Fox44.

“Wind technology is being used by utility companies, farmers, business owners, and school districts all over Vermont to produce clean electric power,” said REV Board Chair Martha Staskus.  “The statewide open house and Wind Works Vermont initiative are all about seeing that in action.”

Burlington, VT. Amy Seidl, ecologist and author, will speak to the Greater Burlington community at the Fletcher Free Library on February 8, 2012 at 7:00 pm. Seidl’s lecture will focus on her most recent book,Finding Higher Ground: Adaptation in the Age of Warming, and discuss how we can increase our capacity for resilience in the face of climate change, drawing on examples ranging from Vermont communities to the natural world. In tandem with Seidl’s lecture, Burlington city officials will be participating in a series of workshops on climate adaptation and planning with Rhett Lamb, Planning Director for the city of Keene, New Hampshire.

The devastation following Irene focused attention on the urgency for adapting to a changing climate, as scientists warn that increasingly frequent and violent storms and weather events will be among the effects of climate change. As the City of Burlington and local universities work to develop their Climate Action Plans, opportunities for citizen education and dialogue are increasingly important.

Finding Higher Ground evaluates current climate science and introduces proactive solutions to oncoming changes the planet will face with climate change. The book combines accessible and in-depth science with the author’s personal narrative about the warming world, and features stories of adaptation that human and natural communities are already beginning to make. “While mitigating climate change is essential,” she writes, “adapting to and through centuries of warming is paramount.”

Seidl will speak in the Fletcher Room at the Fletcher Free Library, 235 College Street, Burlington, VT from 7-8:30 pm. This event is free and open to the public. For More Information…

NOFA Vermont is pleased to offer an Intensive Seminar on On-Farm Renewable Energy and Using Renewables to Heat Greenhouses as a part of their 30th Annual Winter Conference.  This seminar will include speakers on business planning with sustainability in mind, finding financial support to conduct energy audits by NRCS and Efficiency Vermont, organizing and financing single ownership and 3rd party financed solar and wind energy projects with Encore Redevelopment,  and net metering with AllEarth Renewables.  The afternoon will focus on heating greenhouses with cordwood gasifiers, wood pellets, and aerobic composting systems. Registration is $55 for NOFA Members and $65 for Non-members.  Lunch is included. Click here for more information…

Vermont Energy Independence Day is a media project to capture the voice of Vermont on our transition to a sustainable energy future. The project is facilitated and produced by Bright Blue Eco Media the nonprofit media company that produced the Emmy-award winning Bloom- The Plight of the Lake Champlain, and this year’s three-part Bloom series premiering on PBS on February 29th.

On the first full day of spring 2012, Vermonters from across the state will tell their stories of our transition towards energy independence. Film the beauty of Vermont, how we use energy, or your story of our energy future. Upload your files in the following weeks. The Bright Blue Team will then edit Vermont’s first crowd-sourced documentary.

Anyone with a video camera or a smart phone (or a friend’s to borrow) can participate. Learn about the what, when, and how by browsing the site. Check out who is filming, join the growing story corps, or network with a community or class. Click here to read more…

This daylong conference offers an unparalleled experience for town energy committee leaders, municipal officials, local and regional planners, and concerned citizens to learn new strategies and identify opportunities to reduce energy costs and tackle climate change. Register today for this 4th annual event, hosted by the Vermont Energy and Climate Action Network and the UVM Extension Service at http://www.regonline.com/2011Energy

Vermont Department of Public Service Commissioner Elizabeth Miller will talk about the new Comprehensive Energy Plan and what it means for communities.  Vermont Agency of Natural Resources Secretary Deborah Markowitz will discuss the work of the State’s Climate Cabinet.  The conference will also feature environmental activist, actor, and writer Kathryn Blume, who will talk about how one individual can make a difference in affecting climate change.  The day includes 14 different workshops focused on promoting efficiency and renewable energy at the local level, along with a number of different roundtable discussions topics designed to promote dialogue on the most pressing energy topics. Don’t miss this important event! Help shape Vermont’s energy future.

Register today at http://www.regonline.com/2011Energy.

The early registration fee is $25, which includes a full lunch and morning refreshments. Register early! Early registration ends November 25th. Registrations after November 25 are $30. Students requesting a discount must also register before November 25.

For more information, contact: Jessie Schmidt, UVM Extension at: 866-860-1382 extension 203 or Email: jessica.a.schmidt@uvm.edu.