I ran across some news that Marquiss Wind Power just raised $1.3 M in series A funding, which, in and of itself, isn’t that big of a deal to me (because funding doesn’t = anything).  That said, Marquiss Wind Power has quite the value proposition with their ducted wind turbine product called Aeropoint, a product that comes in three sizes.  It’s a small-wind turbine built for commercial buildings of 1-3 floors.  Based out of Folsom, California, the company had encouraging results with the first three test turbines.  Actually, the results were so good the company claims purchasers should have a payback period of 2-7 years.  You’ll notice that depending on a lot of different factors, a 2-7 year payback is about 2x faster than the payback for solar. 

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This is the San Francisco Sunset Idea House for 2007, and it's one of the first LEED Certified residential remodeled homes in the nation.  This home is unique from other Sunset Idea Houses in that it's in a dense urban area on a compact site.  There are two-units and the smaller one, which is about 1,200 sf, is reportedly on sale for $1,089,000.  No word on whether the larger, 3,600 sf unit will be for sale. 

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Last week, former President George H. W. Bush installed a 33-foot tall, Skystream 3.7 wind turbine to provide energy for the Bush’s Kennebunkport home.  The Bushes were courted by Southwest Windpower, one of the forerunners in small-wind innovation, and after looking at the pros and cons, they decided to take the plunge.  The turbine is connected to the grid and feeds excess power to the system. 

Since the home is their summer home, it will probably have a substantial credit from all the energy they’re feeding into the system during the winter.  The Bushes decided to purchase the turbine for financial and environmental reasons, but they’re also setting a good example, too.  Via Portland Press Herald. 

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This is the Helix Wind Turbine, a small-wind, residential scale option that could cut your electricity bills in half, if installed and situated properly.  This 2-kw grid-tie or off-grid system is designed to catch winds at lower speeds.  And it won’t hurt the birds, either.  According to the company’s website, the Helix System is inexpensive, reliable, and simple — it’s a good choice for low wind speed residential and commercial applications. The Savonius turbine based design catches wind from all directions creating smooth powerful torque to spin the electric generator.  Perfect customers live in areas that have amenable small wind zoning and get about 10 mph of wind/cross-winds.  Via EcoGeek.

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I love these chips.  Oregon-based Kettle Foods just received the LEED Gold certification for their new 73,000 sf chip facility in Beloit, Wisconsin.  As you would expect with a LEED certified building, it has a lot of green aspects, including energy-efficient equipment, water filtration and conservation equipment, and low-VOC, healthy materials.  They also installed 18 wind turbines on the roof, which, according to a press release, will generate enough electricity to produce 56,000 bags of chips every year.

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