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Contents

features

22 The Clean Snowmobile
Challenge

By Tracy Dahl

An electric snowmobile competition helps meet the need for a zero-emissions workhorse in the Arctic.

26 Greener Buildings,
Cleaner Air

By Richard Crume

By consuming less energy, green buildings help reduce harmful air pollution.

30 GET STARTED | Optimizing for High-Performance Solar Water-Heating Systems By Gary Klein What’s the best supplemental heater? We look at the issues and options, concluding this t wo-part series.

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36 A Solar Campus in the
North Country

By Mike Koshmrl

St. John’s University’s 400-kilowatt solar farm is both a demonstration of the potential for solar in Minnesota and a tool for educators.

ON THE COVER: Dr. Derek Larson of St. John’s University uses the photovoltaic (PV) system installed on the Collegeville, Minn., campus to help students understand the economics, policy drivers and land-use implications of renewable energy. The system is proving large-scale PV in a state with a solar resource comparable to that in parts of Florida. PHOTO COURTES Y OF PAUL MIDDLESTAEDT.

Articles appearing in this magazine are indexed in Environmental Periodicals Bibliography and ArchiText Construction Index: afsonl.com.

40CASE STUDY | Solar Water Heating Cuts Costs for Apartment Buildings By Linda Erkelens A San Francisco couple stabilized their utility costs with four rooftop water-heating arrays.

42 Achieving Solar Thermal Market Transformation By Katrina Phruksukarn and Jordan Iantorno California has launched a carefully crafted plan to promote solar water heating.

Next Issue: The BIPV Passive Solar House The South’s first certified passive solar house also uses building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) laminates, reducing energy usage 90 percent over homes built to code. The result: an affordable net-zero-energy model for the extreme conditions of hot, humid Louisiana or anyplace else.