I'm pretty psyched that the American Solar Energy Society will be holding its 38th National Solar Conference in Buffalo. I remember the summers when the solar boat races were held on Hoyt Lake. It would be great to get those races back to Buffalo - maybe landing the solar conference will help to draw attention to other alternative energy events searching for 'exposure'.
When the attendees arrive, they will not only prepare themselves for lectures, they will also explore the region visiting some of the alternative energy sites that have sprung up in recent years. That list of sites will include Babeville, The Darwin Martin House, Rock Harbor Village - as the conference draws near, we'll keep you posted on the 4-5000 visitors who will be attending the largest solar and renewable energy conference in the country.
As the conference rolls into town, the attendees will be practicing what they preach. They intend to walk away from Buffalo leaving as small of a carbon footprint trace as possible - thank goodness dollar bills recirculate, as they will be leaving plenty of those behind. Following are just a few of the ways visitors will be living a green lifestyle during their stay:
- We communicate mainly via e-mail with our presenters and our attendees.
- We make it easy for you to register on-line.
- We selected a city that works hard on its Green Hospitality Initiative
- We selected hotels which utilizes green housekeeping practices - conducting linen and towel changes less often or by request.
- All events are either at the hotels or convention center, or within walking distance. No need to rent a car for SOLAR 2009!
- We publish all of the information about our conference on our website.
- We are offering our exhibitors a paperless lead tracking system.
- We will provide water coolers rather than bottled water for our attendees, and everyone will get their own reusable bottle.
- We provide the conference proceedings on a CD-ROM rather than in paper format.
- We carefully analyze our food usage from past years to better estimate our usage this year - less waste and helps us keep the costs down.
- All unused food will be donated to a local food bank, and all food waste will be composted at a facility in Buffalo.
If you have additional green suggestions for the group while they are here, be sure to leave a comment. As we learn about more and more sustainable groups in WNY, it is important to hi-light them as often as possible. Groups like Re-Tree, Re-Use, Buffalo First, Riverkeeper, Great Lakes United, Go! Buffalo, Buffalo CarShare, Wind Action Group... these are the groups that are making a difference in our daily lives.
Conference hosts, The Local Organizing Committee (LOC) and The Western New York Sustainable Energy Association Trust, are looking for volunteers during the conference. If you would like to volunteer for this worthy cause, please contact Elizabeth Nichols.
The event takes place Tuesday, May 12 through Saturday, May 16, 2009.
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When the attendees arrive, they will not only prepare themselves for lectures, they will also explore the region visiting some of the alternative energy sites that have sprung up in recent years. That list of sites will include Babeville, The Darwin Martin House, Rock Harbor Village - as the conference draws near, we'll keep you posted on the 4-5000 visitors who will be attending the largest solar and renewable energy conference in the country.
As the conference rolls into town, the attendees will be practicing what they preach. They intend to walk away from Buffalo leaving as small of a carbon footprint trace as possible - thank goodness dollar bills recirculate, as they will be leaving plenty of those behind. Following are just a few of the ways visitors will be living a green lifestyle during their stay:
- We communicate mainly via e-mail with our presenters and our attendees.
- We make it easy for you to register on-line.
- We selected a city that works hard on its Green Hospitality Initiative
- We selected hotels which utilizes green housekeeping practices - conducting linen and towel changes less often or by request.
- All events are either at the hotels or convention center, or within walking distance. No need to rent a car for SOLAR 2009!
- We publish all of the information about our conference on our website.
- We are offering our exhibitors a paperless lead tracking system.
- We will provide water coolers rather than bottled water for our attendees, and everyone will get their own reusable bottle.
- We provide the conference proceedings on a CD-ROM rather than in paper format.
- We carefully analyze our food usage from past years to better estimate our usage this year - less waste and helps us keep the costs down.
- All unused food will be donated to a local food bank, and all food waste will be composted at a facility in Buffalo.
If you have additional green suggestions for the group while they are here, be sure to leave a comment. As we learn about more and more sustainable groups in WNY, it is important to hi-light them as often as possible. Groups like Re-Tree, Re-Use, Buffalo First, Riverkeeper, Great Lakes United, Go! Buffalo, Buffalo CarShare, Wind Action Group... these are the groups that are making a difference in our daily lives.
Conference hosts, The Local Organizing Committee (LOC) and The Western New York Sustainable Energy Association Trust, are looking for volunteers during the conference. If you would like to volunteer for this worthy cause, please contact Elizabeth Nichols.
The event takes place Tuesday, May 12 through Saturday, May 16, 2009.
This is great. And if anybody wonders if Buffalo could ever get on the solar bandwagon, consider this: the country that is the most actively engaged in solar is Germany -which ain't exactly Saudi Arabia.
And as an aside, looking at the solar kite picture above, I wonder how those plans to transform the old Freezer Queen Building into condos are progerssing...