Most conventions move in and out of a city in a matter of days without leaving much of a footprint. Not so for the American Solar Energy Society's 2007 national conference, which left behind a lasting legacy.

"The old adage is that a CVB brings in a convention and there is no lasting impact," said M. Kelly Brewer, vice president of sales, Positively Cleveland, the city's CVB. "That was not the case with SOLAR 2007, the American Solar Energy Society's [ASES] national conference. One of its residuals is that we are doing what we can to change our environment to be more sustainable."

The CVB teamed up with Green Energy Ohio, a non-profit dedicated to promoting environmentally and economically sustainable energy policies in the state, to try to persuade ASES to bring its conference to the city. Nicknamed SOLAR 2007, this is the premier technical conference for solar energy and energy efficiency professionals in the United States. With the energy industry changing at an unprecedented pace, this conference has taken on even added importance.

"We realized we had to provide ASES with much more than just hotel rates and convention center configurations. We had to demonstrate that we're involved in the sustainable renewable front. There has been a tremendous effort to enhance Cleveland's position on wind power and solar energy and we had to show this," he said.

According to Green Energy Ohio, 900 kilowatts are produced annually by solar panels in Ohio. "ASES was attracted to the old rust belt trying to rejuvenate itself with new tools and approaches to energy," Brewer said. The dream of many is to rebuild the area's once-dominant foundation of manufacturing into a green land of new and renewable energy companies.

Winning the bid for SOLAR 2007 was a big deal for Cleveland. But the city didn't just sit back and wait for it to come to town. Sustainable initiatives started rippling throughout the city.

The Great Lakes Science Center, across from the Cleveland Convention Center, installed what has become an iconic wind turbine a year before the conference. Two weeks before the conference kicked off, the Science Center unveiled a 300-foot solar array canopy that will also help power the building.

"It's amazing to look at Cleveland today and see the kind of impact you can have as an association," said Becky Campbell-Howe, ASES's director of operations. "ASES has been in existence for 53 years and I've been with the organization since 1993. For many of those years, it was like rolling a stone up a hill and when we got it up two steps, it fell back one. We knew there would be a point when consciousness in this country would change … when the country would realize we can no longer do business as usual and that has happened. It was especially gratifying to go into a community like Cleveland and wake people up; to have the opportunity to give them information on how to do things differently."

Other green efforts implemented in the city prior to the conference included solar thermal heating installed on a city fire station, and a brand new PV (photovoltaics) panel system at Jacob's Field, home of the Cleveland Indians. These panels use solar cells to convert light from the sun directly into electricity. The Indians became the first team in the American League to lower its carbon footprint.

"A lot of people perceived the city as being cloudy and dreary and didn't understand solar can work in Cleveland," said Christina Panoska, who was program manager for Green Energy Ohio. "We were thrilled with the technologies our partners installed. They showed a national audience that Cleveland is being progressive and taking leadership."

More than 1,800 people registered for and attended SOLAR 2007 July 7-12. The public was invited to visit the exhibit hall Sunday, and approximately 3,200 Ohioans poured in to see the latest technologies in solar, wind, and other renewable energies - the largest public group to come to an ASES event. More than 160 exhibitors, including three from China, flaunted their wares. The trade show was so booked that it had to turn away last-minute applications for lack of space at the convention center. Registered attendees included renewable-energy engineers, scientists, academics, and consultants from across the nation.

Green by Design
Since the conference, eight of downtown Cleveland's hotels are in the midst of becoming green with others ready to begin the process, creating a Green Convention District. These eight hotels are involved in an eight-month program that will help them create their own strategic plan for implementing green practices. "It is the CVB's hope that we will be able to offer this program one day to all of the more than 600 partners that make up our membership," explained Brewer. "People recognize green as being clean, efficient, and well run. We chose to build our own program with some from the ASES conference helping us. We're almost halfway through the first Sustainability Implementation program involving most of our large brand properties downtown."

The city is in the midst of moving forward to build a new convention center in the core of downtown. Brewer said that when the time comes, there will be a strong focus on constructing a green building with sustainable practices.

"Being two to three years ahead of the curve to when the center actually opens as far as our awareness of the growing importance to the needs of our sustainable-conscious customers will allow us to take the early example of last year's solar conference and build a more consolidated script that everyone can follow and benefit from," Brewer said.

Attracting and servicing the conference was definitely a team approach. "We realized the value of the conference and that it would be good for everyone to walk hand-in-hand," said Brewer. "This undertaking enhanced the opinion of what a CVB can do for a community for many."

The CVB learned from the network of sustainable energy professionals and volunteers who were involved in the SOLAR 2007, that a strong part of Cleveland's manufacturing base is already well positioned to produce renewable components.

A study conducted in an effort to win this convention found that Cleveland and Northeast Ohio (the Cleveland+ Region) already manufactures 28 different parts needed to construct a wind turbine, including the underwater concrete needed to perhaps one day position a wind farm as part of Cleveland's already striking skyline.

The "green feeling" ignited in the city by SOLAR 2007 even permeated state government. A "Renewable Portfolio Standard" bill is in the works, which will require at least 25 percent of the electricity sold in Ohio to be generated from renewable and advanced energy technologies by 2025, with no less than half of that energy created in Ohio.

"We knew we would make a strong impact in Cleveland because of its passionate people and extremely active ASES chapter," Campbell-Howe said.

The conference also sparked an awareness of the sustainable energy business' job-creating potential. Approximately 2.2 million new jobs and $220 billion in annual revenues in Ohio could be created if federal and state governments would make an all-out push for renewables and super-efficient products, it was reported at the conference.

Often overlooked in the economic impact and turnstile numbers from a trade show is the ripple effect is has on the region, in big and small ways. Cleveland's John Hay High School has gone solar as a result of SOLAR 2007. ASES donated solar panels and monitoring equipment to the school during the conference as part of its Legacy Program. An all-female crew installed the system after the conference was over. A teacher at the high school now teaches about renewable energy to help students understand the program - and prepare the next generation for the energy challenges ahead.

Meaningful Speakers, Relevant Entertainment

One of the highlights of the SOLAR 2007 conference was a rousing speech by Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland during Sunday evening's official opening session, followed by an evening reception featuring the aptly named California rock band, Rolling Blackouts. Another popular reception was held at the Great Lakes Brewing Company, a brewer of all-natural beer, known for its environmental and socially conscious policies.

Many prominent speakers in the fields of renewable energy and economic development were featured at the meeting, including Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club; Alexander Karsner, the assistant secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy for the Department of Energy; and George Sterzinger, executive director of the Renewable Energy Policy Project.

Sun Worshippers of a Different Sort

As one might expect, SOLAR 2007 attendees are not the type to stay indoors during the entire conference. A particularly popular off-site tour was a trip to Ohio’s countryside to see first-hand how the state’s Amish population use wind turbines to create electricity. There, in the midst of a culture that still uses horse-drawn plows, are more than 100 solar installations and energy-producing windmills.

Another tour visited unique sites in Central Ohio that feature renewable energy. One stop on the tour was to Malabar Farm State Park, built in 1939 by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Louis Bromfield, who espoused a sustainable philosophy. Participants visited and enjoyed lunch with Ohio First Lady, Francis Strickland, at the Ohio Governor's Residence and Heritage Garden, a center of culture and education that features a 3.2 kW solar PV array (converting light from the sun into electricity). Finally, the tour concluded with a visit to a unique farming enterprise, RainFresh Harvests, which is an off-grid, bio-integrated greenhouse powered by wind and PV systems and heated with solar thermal. 

Andrea Doyle is Convene's senior writer.