• Go Zero Solar Energy Tour logo
    ENERGY,  Energy Conservation,  EVENT,  Solar

    SOLAR OREGON Go Zero Virtual Tour 2020

    Wed, Oct. 14th @ 4-6 PM Wed & Oct. 21st @ 4-6 PM Residential buildings account for ​almost a quarter of all energy usage​ in the state of Oregon. Zero energy home design is an important strategy in climate adaptation. Join Solar Oregon for two premier virtual explorations of zero energy homes across the state. At the Go Zero Tour 2020, part of Sustainable Building Week you can explore a mix of new and retrofit homes all from the safety and comfort of your home. Learn all the surprisingly simple, accessible, and innovative strategies that homeowners use for getting to zero. This is a two part event–all ticket types get you…

  • Solar-Powered Winery
    ENERGY,  EVENT,  Solar,  Vineyards

    Solar Oregon’s 8th Annual Solar Winery Tour

    ** Rescheduled to Sat. August 16th This year is special: to give the greatest access and highest quality experience during COVID, we are excited to bring you an innovative, fully virtual tour, complete with home wine tastings. From the comfort and safety of our homes, we will travel to Adelsheim vineyards, Torii Mor Vineyard, and Alexana winery. Our Winery Hosts this year are Adelsheim vineyards, Torii Mor Vineyard and Alexana winery. Spend an incredible virtual day in the Willamette valley. Drink wine, eat great food, and support clean energy! For more info: www.solaroregon.org

  • Solar Oregon Winery Tour
    Education,  ENERGY,  EVENT,  Solar

    Solar Oregon’s 40th Birthday Bash

    Thursday, December 5, 5:30 – 9:00 PM – Vacasa HQ 850 Northwest 13th Avenue Portland, OR 97209 Solar Oregon is turning 40 and celebrating 4 decades of promoting clean energy.  To be around as non-profit for 40 years is a testament to the support of the community, the strength of the many board members and staff who have guided it and the relevance of this organization’s work.Solar Oregon was founded to offer an alternative to nuclear power during the 1970’s and 80’s.  Back then electricity produced by the sun was only in the research lab and solar energy consisted of a couple of passive solar and water heating applications. Fast forward…

  • Abandoned Gas Pumps
    Fossil Fuels,  Publisher's Page,  Solar,  Think Piece

    Changing Direction

    “A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom. But the tumult soon subsides. Time makes more converts than reason.”  — Thomas Paine, from the introduction to Common Sense.  For more than 200, years we have accepted the burning of fossil fuels as the way to power our rapidly changing modern world. For more than 100 years, we have accepted the gasoline-powered car for personal mobility. For more 70 years, we have accepted crop hybridization, chemical fertilizers and herbicides as the means to feed our exploding population. For more than 60,…

  • Net Zero Home Tour
    BUILDING,  Education,  ENERGY,  Energy Conservation,  EVENT,  Heating & Cooling,  Solar

    Solar Oregon Net Zero Homes Tour

    Saturday October 19, 2019  9am – 5pm  2105 N Webster Street, Portland  Join Solar Oregon, Passive House, Green Hammer and Earth Advantage to see what it’s like to live in a Zero carbon home and learn all the surprisingly simple, accessible and innovate strategies that homeowners use for getting to zero.  The Tour will feature homes in North and South East Portland and will be co-hosted by some of the leading green builders and architects in the area. Lunch will be at the new Tillamook Row Net Zero Apartments in NE Portland.  Suggested Donation – $10 Solar Oregon members, $20 for general public  For more info: https://solaroregon.org/event/net-zero-homes-tour/

  • BUILDING,  Construction,  Energy Conservation,  Solar

    Solar Oregon Presents Passive House 101

    Solar Oregon and Passive House Northwest present:  Passive House 101 July 9, 2019 – 6 – 8 pm Shine Distillery – 4232 N Williams Ave Portland Join Solar Oregon for an evening discussion on how Passive House– the world’s most energy efficient building certification– and solar PV can be the easiest path to healthy, comfortable, and durable Zero Energy buildings. Joshua Salinger, CEO of Birdsmouth Design/Build and board member of Passive House Northwest will discuss what Passive House is, it’s history, it’s methods, and why it matters. 40% of the energy used in the U.S. goes towards our buildings – this is more than the energy used in transportation and industry combined! Learn…

  • Sunny windmill
    ENERGY,  Energy Conservation,  Solar,  Wind

    TOP TEN Clean Energy Developments of 2018

    2018 showed that clean energy is becoming more and more the norm. And we’re not just talking about Bradley Cooper standing in front of a field of wind turbines in the hit movie, A Star is Born. In spite of the lack of action from the US federal government, the world is moving forward on clean energy. From India to the Caribbean to businesses and cities in the United States, 2018 was a great year for energy efficiency, electric vehicles, solar and wind energy, and more. Here we list our top ten clean energy developments of the year.  1. Carbon-Free Electricity is All the Rage Xcel Energy committed to supplying…

  • synergy
    ENERGY,  Solar

    Solar Synergy 2.0

    We at the Green Living Journal believe that the solar photovoltaic (PV) system, combined with in-home battery storage, is the only sensible, sustainable tool that individuals can use to reduce their impact on the environment, protect themselves from rising electric rates, and provide energy security in the event of disasters (natural or otherwise).

  • ENERGY,  Publisher's Page,  Solar,  Wind

    Time Flies

    A Five Year Trend Towards Renewables They say that time flies when you’re having fun. If that’s true, then we’re having a ball, because it seems like only yesterday that the first issue of our Green Living Journal hit the streets of Portland in 2008. That’s right, we are five years old, we have published 360,000 copies of our Journal, and we are optimistic about the future because of the changes that have taken place in those five years. Optimistic? How can we, or anyone else, be optimistic, given the present state of affairs? With civilization on the brink of collapse, are we not all in the proverbial handbasket? Where…