the vision realized ... CMG.. community microgrid

WOW - what a field trip yesterday.  A 12 hour day on a bus tour of zero-emission developments... and ONE site did the REAL THING... Bad Aiblingen. I mean they rock and rolled on everything regarding effective development, renewable energies, system integrations, business and construction management... and they are looking to hire 500 people in Germany because of increasing demand for the product. there's only one little problem with this re-developer:  the company name is B+O... now who was their PR and marketing advisor - didn't anyone tell them what the Brits would consider BO to stand for?


My apologies for not being able to write further on this right now.. I'm in the middle of intense 6, 12 hour days and a bit tired... and conserving my own energies as much as possible to be available for student consultations all day today.  So I will just share a web site and picture. 

couple web links:  B+O  redevelopment company... has english version.
.... and                       German utube video showing the village

The short summary is that they use a 1000 hectare forest for biomass CHP, a 20 hectare corn field for biogas, large solar PV arrays and even larger solar hot water arrays... geothermal pre-heating, GSPH: ground source heat pumps... and a storage system that integrates all these renewable energies into one central control system with smart controls for distribution.  like I said... WOW.  It is possible to do community microgrids in a re-development AND for a commercial/industrial/residential 'eco-village'.... no that's a model for a truly sustainable future.  There is hope!

I have not been on a facilities tour that got me this excited since 1988 when I first embarked on a career in facility management.  Bad Aublingen eco-industrial park was TRULY inspiring.  I hope to go back next week and spend an entire day looking around.