Bainbridge Bakers marks 28th anniversary with a preview peek of new second location - BI Review

by CECILIA GARZA,  Bainbridge Island Review Staff Writer 
Mar 21, 2014 at 11:29AM

After 28 years of serving coffee and baked goods on Bainbridge, it’s time for Bainbridge Bakers to spread its wings — that is, to the other end of Winslow.

The bakery will celebrate its 28th anniversary this Sunday with music and a “peek-a-boo preview” tour of their new location near the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art.

“The establishment of the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art and the Kids Discovery Museum is one of the most important and notable events to occur on the island in many years,” said bakery owner Mike Loudon. “We are proud and honored to be able to support the patrons and visitors of these fine new facilities.”

Bainbridge Bakers will continue business at its original location at the Winslow Green, but come April, it will begin pouring coffee on the other end of Winslow Way, too.

At Island Gateway, nestled next door to Avalara and the museums, will be a full bakery and cafe serving all of the same Bainbridge Bakers favorites.

The bakery invites residents to join in its 28th anniversary celebration this Sunday, March 23 by welcoming the upcoming opening of its new location.

The party will kick off at 10 a.m. with kiddie karaoke until noon at the original Bainbridge Bakers location.

Island band Paundy will take the floor from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. for a live performance at the new location.

Their performance will be followed by local singer/songwriter Zach Fleury for another round of music back at the original Bainbridge Bakers from 1 to 3 p.m.

The party will continue until 6 p.m. at the bakery’s Winslow Green location.

Cake and preview tours of the new bakery will be provided.

CECILIA GARZA,  Bainbridge Island Review Staff Writer 
cgarza@bainbridgereview.com or 206-842-6613

Installation Notes: Welcome To The Net-Zero Neighborhood - Solar Power World

March 11, 2014: By Andrew Merecicky

Residents of Bainbridge Island, Wash., led by Asani Development Initiatives, are re-imagining what a residential community could be. Even more impressive than its community gardens and car share program, the Grow Community is on track to be the largest planned solar-ready neighborhood in Washington State.

The housing development is designed to be a net-zero energy community, and is one of seven such endorsed projects by the One Planet Living program. Asani has also partnered with two Washington-based companies, BlueFrog Solar and A&R Solar, to develop an installation-ready solar package around which each home in the Grow Community is specifically designed.

The solar systems are intended to provide 100% of the energy demand of each house. The roofs of each structure were carefully designed to support the required number of solar panels. The installation package available to homebuyers features the Washington-based itek Energy‘s PV panels and APS America‘s microinverters.

Model homes on Grow Avenue NW. September 26, 2012. Credit: Anthony Rich

“The variety of rooflines that make a project like Grow so visually interesting can be a challenge for solar systems, which rely on PV arrays being optimally oriented toward the sun,” says Kelly Samson CEO of APS America. “Unlike regular ‘string’ inverters, APS microinverters maximize output and allow monitoring of individual panels, optimizing the productivity of the whole array at all points in the sun’s daily arc across the sky.”

The project will be completed in three phases. The first phase, which is presently nearing completion, will contain 18 single-family homes, six town houses and 20 multi-family rental units. Two more neighborhoods, referred to as “neighborhood 2.0″ and “3.0″ respectively, are still in the design stages. Homeowners have the standing option to install a solar system or not, providing customers with flexibile options regarding installation timing and financing.

“The project is being constructed in three phases to reduce risk and to allow the development team to apply lessons learned in each phase to the subsequent phase,” says Marja Preston, president of Asani Development. “We were confident that the solar community would work as we had a long interest list prior to placing the homes on the market. All of the homes were presold before construction began, an indication that there is strong interest, not only in solar homes, but in solar homes in a connected, walkable community.”

The first solar modules installed on Grow model homes. July 13, 2012.
Credit: Jonathan Davis

Phase II, containing neighborhood 2.0 and 3.0, will involve building 88 more homes. Housing options will consist of a mix of two-story town houses, single-level houses and apartments in three-story buildings. Additionally, residential parking will be underground to maximize the community’s green space. The second phase is also going to include the community center building and a childcare facility in its construction. Every structure in the community is built solar-ready.

The ultimate goal of the project was to design a repeatable model for a net-zero energy housing development, a task which, Preston says, was accomplished.

 “The biggest challenge for our team was to design a net-zero energy single-family home that could be built and sold for a reasonable price. The goal for the project was to demonstrate a profitable and therefore replicable net-zero energy residential real estate development. We absolutely met that challenge,” Preston says.

Bainbridge is an ideal location for such an innovative project, because tax rebates in Washington make possible an affordably-priced solar option. This is one of the reasons Preston sees a promising future for Grow and similar green community development in Washington.

“The fact that almost all the homebuyers have chosen the solar option is an indication that the strategy for adding solar that we created with BlueFrog and A&R has been successful and is entirely replicable in other housing developments in the state.”

Installation Notes:  

Panel type: 240 and 270W itek Energy  
Microinverters: YC200, YC500 APS America  
Racking and Mounting: SunModo Racking Systems  
Monitoring: APS Energy Communication Unit/Energy Monitoring and Analysis Output: 2.9 kW to 8.9 kW per housing unit.
Installation Crew: A&R Solar  
Installation Dates: June 2012 – ongoing project

Read article here:   http://www.solarpowerworldonline.com/2014/03/installation-notes-welcome-net-zero-neighborhood/