Green Building & Renewable Energy Workshop, Nov. 6-8, Akumal

Green Homes & Renewable Energy in the Riviera Maya, a three day workshop, will be November 6-8, 2008, in Akumal, Mexico, 70 miles south of Cancun.

Whether you want to "green" your home or business in the Riviera Maya or anyplace else in the world, you'll gain invaluable insights from two exceptional green building and renewable energy professionals.

This is another in the series of sustainability workshops hosted by Centro Ecológico Akumal.

Co-sponsored by Yucatan Environmental Foundation, a U.S. 501(c)(3), RENEW Wisconsin, a non-profit promoting renewable energy, and Just Imagine Website services.

Register online or by mail.

November 6 - Green building and remodeling techniques and tools, including water and waste management
Presenter: Sherrie Gruder, Sustainable Design Specialist, LEED Accredited Professional

November 7 - Using the sun to make electricity and hot water
Presenter: John Hippensteel, Lake Michigan Wind and Sun*
John Hippensteel will give you the basic information about how PV and solar hot water systems work, how (and where) they can be installed, estimating system size, and other basics to help you become knowledgeable enough to proceed with confidence if you choose to install a solar system.

November 8 - Using wind to generate electricity
Presenter: John Hippensteel, Lake Michigan Wind and Sun*
John will cover the basics of residential size wind systems for your home or business. He'll cover wind resources, basic system components, system types, turbine types, applications, and tower types. You'll be better informed on wind's value to you and how to get started on an installation.

November 8 - Installation tours
The workshops will end with a tour of wind and solar installations at homes and businesses in the Akumal area -- solar hot water on CEA dorms; solar electricity on
the home of Bart Smith; solar hot water and electricity and wind turbines at Centro Ecológico Sian Ka'an (CESiaK) in Tulum. The tour is included in all registration, even a registration for only one of the three days.

For more information, contact Ed Blume.


* With the explosive demand for wind and solar installations, John cannot be 100% certain that he can get free in November. If he can't, the instructor will be someone of equal intelligence and expertise.

Organized by Eco-Yucatan, Inc. and Ed Blume, Director of Communications and Outreach for RENEW Wisconsin, a non-profit promoting renewable energy.