Green before it was "in"

North Fond du Lac dentist has a lengthy history of energy independence

Story by Gina Mangan

DR. ORVIS JOHNSON’S PATIENTS KNOW him as the fun loving dentist who dresses like a pumpkin on Halloween and transforms from Dr. O. Johnson to Dr. O’Johnson, the leprechaun, on St. Patty’s Day.

Fond du Lac area residents might recognize Johnson’s face from his weekly “Tooth Talk” columns in the community’s free circulation newspaper, where he dubs himself “A Norwegian, creating smiles for all ethnic backgrounds.”

Those passing by his 2,200-sq. ft. dental office due north of Forest Mall in North Fond du Lac know it for its three quarter-acre prairie, the striking bermed landscape on the building’s north side and the building’s interesting pitched roof.

What few realize, however, is that Johnson is something of a modern day environmentally conscious “MacGyver.” With the help of a contractor versed in solar energy systems, Johnson designed his building’s own unique solar heat system nearly 30 years ago during a time when Americans were faced with rising energy and gas prices.

Johnson’s system involves 40 feet of upper windows covered by insulated doors that open and close with the power of a basic greenhouse motor. As the sun’s heat pours through the windows, it is stored in 980 gel-filled Kool Paks, which Johnson purchased from an area department store. When the heat near the ceiling reaches 74 degrees, the cold air duct closes on the floors and automatically opens in the ceiling. The heat stored in the Kool Paks is pulled into the furnace and distributed into the north side of the building while the south side of the building is heated directly by the sun.

In addition to this active solar heating system, the building’s south side is lined with high efficiency sliding glass windows covered with heavy solar curtains, which remain open when the sun shines and closed at night to retain heat. Three dental examination rooms face the warm sun and the picturesque prairie beyond.

Johnson said even on below zero days, the air inside his dental clinic can get as warm as a balmy 90 degrees, which prompts cracking open some of the windows. While he hasn’t tracked his energy savings over the years, he estimates the system reduces his natural gas bills by about one half. When the sun shines, the gas furnace doesn’t kick in until after business hours, allowing Johnson to set back the thermostat to further reduce dependency on natural gas.

“I just walk through the building on those sunny days and say, ‘Thank you, God.’” he said.

A Solar Disciple
WITH THE 1974 OIL EMBARGO forever etched in his mind, Johnson has been a long time proponent of solar energy. He designed his property in an environmentally sustainable fashion long before “green” was a buzzword in business and industry.

That lovely prairie garden that produces 40 varieties of wild flowers and bouquets for patients at the end of each summer day? It filters runoff from his parking lot, stopping it from trickling into the meandering stream in the back. The pitched roof and earthen berm? Designed to insulate the building from harsh winds from the north. The stand of deciduous trees he planted on the building’s south and west sides? They strategically shade the building during the summer and allow sunlight to pour through bare branches in the winter.

“I stood out there like Galileo, put a stick in the ground to measure the sun and shadows, and that’s where I planted the trees,” Johnson said.

The building’s foundation and basement floor was encapsulated in four inches of Styrofoam for better insulation, long before it became a standard building practice. Without even realizing it at the time, Johnson created his own “thermal flux zone” – a term now used in energy efficient building construction – by installing a large ceiling exchange fan that exhausts hot upper hallway air. That, in combination with opening the lower windows for cross ventilation, can drop the temperature in the building by nearly 20 degrees, Johnson said.

“Maybe I was a little ahead of our time,” he said. “People driving by here, they have no idea of everything that’s been done. No idea at all.”

That’s largely because Johnson has done little to toot his own horn when it comes to his environmental practices. While he’s an enthusiastic lover of the great outdoors – evident in his office’s décor – Johnson said he doesn’t consider himself a crusading tree hugger. Even the move to solar heating in his office, as well as the home he owned in 1975, was done more out of a sense of maintaining American energy resources and depleting our dependence on foreign oil – a construct Johnson refers to as “isolationism.”

A record of efficiency
NOW, AS AMERICANS EXPERIENCE a renewed awareness of the scarcity of fossil resources and policy leaders call for an end to American dependence on foreign oil, Johnson wants others to know there are effective alternatives that can be implemented at relatively low costs. Johnson installed his dental clinic solar system during President Jimmy Carter’s administration, well known for its aggressive energy policies during the late 1970s. He recovered the cost of the project – approximately $12,000 – through a federal tax credit and a provision that allowed him to deduct the added cost of the project from the value of the property. In addition, he continuously saves money on heating bills.

During his first winter in the building in 1981, the natural gas meter was buried in snow. As a result, the power company estimated his heating bills according to the average cost for a building his size. When the snow melted and a utility employee came to read the meter, he thought the low readings were a result of malfunction. He ordered Johnson a new gas meter. The second meter indicated the same results, Johnson said.

“They ended up giving me back $800 that I overpaid that first winter,” he said.

Government policies perpetuating solar energy fell out of favor during Ronald Reagan’s presidency. The tax credits expired. The government’s Solar Energy Research Institute was gutted. Solar panels were taken off the White House roof, and the entire solar industry went belly up. More than 25 years later, leaders are again scrambling to develop energy policies in response to rising oil and natural gas prices.

“If we had continued to do what we started to do in 1974, we wouldn’t be in the predicament we’re in today,” Johnson said. “Solar is a long-term investment, but if we don’t do anything now, for certain the great overseas exchange of wealth … will continue.”

Such a lapse in sound energy policy and its affect on energy markets hasn’t really surprised him. He learned as a young Boy Scout that “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” The Boy Scouts may have also reinforced his love of the outdoors, which is reflected by his themed exam rooms. His “fish room” features a wall covered in fish netting and fishing lures, and a fishing pole appears to poke through one wall. The walls of a second room are painted with tree branches and birds, a theme carried into his own home. During the summer, he opens the sliding glass doors to let in the fresh air and listen to the birds sing.

Johnson refers to his office building as his adult tree house fort, a childhood dream of his never realized during his upbringing.

“People say my patients must love it, and I say, ‘I love it – I love coming to work,’” he said.

In the spirit of planning for the future, Johnson is in the process of exploring the installation of electric solar panels to expand the use of the sun’s power. Not only is the cost of solar panels dropping, but the federal government last fall renewed a 30 percent tax credit and removed the $2,000 credit cap on the purchase and installation of solar systems.

Johnson said he hopes President Barack Obama and the newly seated Congress will offer additional incentives and that Americans will become better acquainted with the sun’s energy potential. In the same spirit, Johnson said he’s willing to show his own system off to anyone who asks.

“That’s my goal, to let people know solar can be done inexpensively. There are alternatives, and solar works,” he said.

Gina Mangan is a freelance writer based in Oshkosh and is raising three children. Readers can email her at gmanganschmitz@new.rr.com.