Alternative Energy Visitors Center
Like the visitors center in a National Park, the Stone House Resource & Education Center has taken on a new and exciting roll. We will become an important resource for alternative energy information to the Reno/Truckee Meadows area.
As we have been in the process of planning, developing and building the Stone House center as outlined in the pages that follow we have seen a trend toward making this center one of a kind in Northern Nevada. We are fortunate to have all three of the most common sources of alternative energy on our site. As a result of that we have made these elements of the building a focal point. We have gone GREEN.
We have expanded our outreach and have partnered with Black Rock Solar to install photovoltaic panels on the roof of the adjoining school and church. This has created a 30kW power generating plant as phase one of the processes of turning this site into a learning center like no other. When the Stone House is finished we will add another 30kW power generating plant that will combine the solar and wind power to make the entire church, school, and Stone House Center a net zero public site. The Geo-thermal that is on site will be used to heat the sidewalks and to offer slip proof access to the building in the winter.
We have installed Hydronic heating elements in the floors to provide heat to the building and have captured as much of the natural heat of the building as possible. The Stone house construction of the main meeting room offers consistent comfortable temperatures summer and winter. Other energy saving technologies are the use of heat shield insulation to protect against excessive heat loss, and solar tube lighting to bring the sunlight into the building thus eliminating the need for excessive lighting fixtures.
