Environment the focus of Batavia energy conservation exhibit

Ed Weiss has been conserving since he was a kid growing up on a farm in Michigan.

“We turned off the lights when we left a room or we heard about it,” he said. And living on well water meant using as little as possible to avoid wearing the pump out. He and his brother shared water for their once-a-week baths, taking turns as to who got to use it first.

Weiss may not go to such extremes these days, but he and his wife, Nancy, still conserve when they can. Together they attended the Green Energy Expo in Batavia on Saturday to look at products such as wind turbines and solar panels for their Batavia duplex.

Thirteen exhibitors presented information on environmentally conscious building practices and products at the exposition sponsored by the Batavia Chamber of Commerce.

John Dillon, Batavia’s water superintendent, was passing out information about the city’s upcoming “Fix a Leak” campaign, and its $50 rebates for replacing older toilets with WaterSense-stamped low-flow versions. Last year, 34 homeowners received the rebates, he said.

Dillon also said that 90 to 95 percent of the time city workers are called out to investigate unusually high water use, it turns out to be from a leaking toilet.

New Edison Energy brought the niftiest show-and-tell item — a hybrid wind turbine-solar panel energy collection device, set up at the entrance to the expo. The wind turbine part operated on a vertical axis, unlike the historic windmills that dot Batavia, which used to be home to several windmill companies.

Although winds were low, a display indicated plenty of solar power was being collected on the sunny afternoon. The company has installed 300-watt versions of the system at Clarendon Hills Middle School and the Illinois Math and Science Academy, said Sam Giliberto, president of the firm. They can be used to run security lighting or lighting for pathways and parking lots, he said.