Review - 2006 PA Clean Energy Expo

On Friday, March 31st I drove to State College, PA to attend the 2006 Clean Energy Expo held at the Bryce Jordan Center.  I was happy to revisit my alma mater and it was fun to see all the students bustling about on campus.  Has it been that long... Accompanying myself was Steve Mellinger of Blue Moon Enterprises out of Lancaster.  Steve is an alternative energy guru who I was glad to have with me.

The show consisted of about a hundred booths spread around the concourse and down on the court level.  Many of the booths were devoted to Penn State department projects and student programs with some degree of emphasis on energy or agriculture (which PSU is known for).  Not much of this held my interest, but I was fascinated by the Hybrid and Fuel Cell vehicles which were on display.  Unfortunately, many of the vehicles did not seem to have a factory representation to answer questions - only local dealer staff.  Still, I enjoyed the materials and poking my head in the battery compartments, etc.  to see the inner workings.  I was especially impressed with the the Honda Civic Hybrid - that would be my choice if I had to make it today.

Downstairs on the court level is where the real action was.  Steve and I spent some time with many different exhibitors in the solar, wind, biodiesel and geothermal fields.  I was excited to talk to the folks at Enerworks of Ontario, Canada. They are bringing a system of solar thermal water heating into the states, a system which they quoted an installed price of $4,000-$5,500 for!  The price of alternative energy is starting to get competitive, folks.

Another exhibitor that impressed was Envinity of State College.  They are a green design and construction company, and the people working the booth (which was excellent, by the way) were knowledgable of all phases of home construction and the new materials which are taking over the green market.  I left with a promise to contact them to participate in my upcoming Lancaster Green Home project. 

A financing company by the name of AFC First was pushing it's low-interest unsecured loan program for energy-efficient upgrades.  I thought it has real potential to help the Lancaster homeowner who wants to remodel green.  The program is partially funded by the PA Treasurer's dept, and is called Keystone Help.  They were advertising 7.99% at the show.

Home performance contractoring is the new business to be in.  I met a couple out of Mechanicsburg whose company is called Zerodraft Central Pennsylvania.  They were helpful and could speak intelligently about the home envelope and leakdown testing.  Laurie Johnson was enjoyable to talk with and I appreciated her encouragement of my efforts to bring a Green focus into the Real Estate industry in the Lancaster region.

We stopped by the booth of the Green Building Association of Central PA (of which I am a member) to talk with executive director David Sheridan about his latest building project in Carlisle.

As a dealer and installer of solar, LED lighting and most any other alternative energy system, Steve Mellinger spent a lot of time talking with manufacturers about their products.  In the meantime, I stocked up at the Energy Star booth (which was huge) on the excellent materials they offer on energy savings, building, appliances and lighting.   I also was very glad to see Worley & Obetz of Lancaster represented, and chatted with their people about their cutting-edge biodiesel offerings.

Steve and I left State College encouraged by the opportunities presented to us by the many great exhibits at the show, and determined in our efforts to bring "green" to Lancaster homes soon.  In 2007, look for OUR booth at the PA Clean Energy Expo!

Jeff R. Geoghan

April 2006

  ©2008 Jeff R. Geoghan