2011 NEWS - Green Living Celebration and Solar Tours, Saturday October 1st - Our 3rd annual solar tours are expanding to include a Green Living Expo and Green Building tours. Showcasing: Solar electric – grid-tie and offgrid, Bamboo building, Solar refrigeration, Yurt living, Solar Hot Water, Bio-fuel, Aquaponics, Water catchment, Solar-powered transportation and more! 9am -4pm.
2010 NEWS – The 2nd annual WHSEP SUSTAINABLE ENERGY FAIR AND TOUR was a great success, October 2-3. Fairs were held at both Kona-area Farmers Markets and the SOLAR and WIND TOUR shuttle bus visited Kona Soap Company, Hawaii Preparatory Academy, Kokolulu Farm, Hawi Wind Farm, and Lotus Cafe. Thanks to all of our participants!
WHSEP Program Goals
WHSEP is Building Rural Community Capacity through Cost Saving Energy Solutions – smart choices that improve rural sustainability and quality of life in Hawaii.
Aloha – we invite Big Island residents to get involved in this local community-based energy capacity building project that features grants, loans, and technical assitance for qualified rural applicants.
WHSEP’s prioritized service area is Southern Kona to Ka’u — Honalo village in the north to Pahala and Wood Valley in the south (only exception being Captain Cook suburb). If your home, farm or office is in this region, you may be able to qualify for a full package of technical assistance, grant and/or loan support. (If you are in Captain Cook, or another Big Island community under 5,000 population, email us so we can put you on a future service area waiting list.)
Community Conversation We will be announcing upcoming introductory meetings that have two purposes. First, you will hear an introduction to the WHSEP grant, loan, and technical assitance program and we will help you determine if you qualify based on geographic location. Second, we are facilitating community energy need conversations to help connect those with energy solution needs to those with solutions. These conversations are done in an informal, friendly circle of fellow residents and are generating a lot of positive feedback as many of us have not had a chance before to talk about our energy needs and concerns – nor had the chance to learn from others who are experienced in solving challenges we face, These conversations are proving to be a very solutions-oriented learning exchange among the project’s applicants.
Online Community In addition to the face-to-face meetings, we invite you to participate in an online Community Energy Forum. You can subscribe to the Forum by clicking on the WHSEP COMMUNITY FORUM link in the right column. We ask you to first POST a description of you neighborhood or village and to describe your energy needs. When you sign-up for the forum, folks with suggestions or solutions will be able to send you a message through the forum and your email address will remain invisible to them to ensure your privacy.
Youth Project
Adult volunteers from our local community and project partners are joining forces to recruit, train and mentor middle and high school students in Green Jobs Training.
We call this project the YES! Corps – Youth Energy Sustainability Corps. The first project the students will undertake, 2009-2010, is to learn to help their family and neighbors conduct home energy audits to learn what their energy use is really going to. If you would like to help out as a mentor – or are a teacher or student wanting to participate, let us know at hawaii @ one-island.org.
West Hawaii Sustainable Energy Project. Service Area for grants and loans:
The GIS map below shows the proposed WHSEP service areas in light orange with specific Census Designated Places (CDPs) outlined in magenta. GIS mapping is one of the Green Jobs skill sets WHSEP and One Island will be developing with local youth.
WHSEP proposed service areas in orange
The Lotus Cafe