Testimonial letter from Sw Anand Paul
This letter is one of a remarkable series of over 2650 letters amassed in 1983 to support Osho's attempt to get permanent resident status in the US at the time of the Oregon ranch. The image is reproduced here with the kind permission of The Oregon Historical Society. Information about their collection of these letters and other supporting material -- the "Jeffrey Noles Rajneesh Collection", named for Osho's immigration lawyer Jeffrey Noles, who compiled them in 1983 and donated them to the OHS -- can be found at this page. The wiki is grateful to the OHS for making access available for these documents. For more information and links to all the letters, see Testimonial letters.
This letter is from Sw Anand Paul (Paul Sansone). It is "Exhibit A-566" in the Noles collection.
The text version below has been created by optical character recognition (OCR), from the images supplied by OHS. It has not been checked for errors but this process usually results in over 99% correct transcription. Most apparent "errors" are correct transcriptions of typos already in the original. The image on the right in the text box links to a pdf file of the original letter, it has 12 pages.
 SOLAR RESOURCE SERVICE To whom it may concern: I am writing to document the exceptional contributions of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh to the welfare of the United States of America in science and technology. I am an acknowledged regional expert in solar and conservation technologies. A business and personal resume are included with this letter to serve as a description of my professional abilities. Please note the extensive training and research done for the federal government and recent awards received. The work at Rajneeshpuram is unusual in complexity, scope, and speed of completion. The enclosed article, written by request of the Solar Energy Association of Oregon, documents the work accomplished at Rajneeshpuram during the last year. I have trained hundreds of technicians for government and industry, but found the sannyassins of Rajneeshpuram the fastest and best learners of my career. The work completed at Rajneeshpuram was executed at speeds that exceeded the most sophisticated "fast track" construction projects. The quality of work met highest industry standards. Construction projects requiring months of work by traditional subcontractors are accomplished in weeks. Planning and consensus making in the average city government (see my resume for comprehensive planning at the city of Forest Grove) required, years to complete. At Rajneeshpuram the work was done in several months and satisfied the exacting requirements of the state of Oregon. After working as a consultant to the Rajneesh community for nine months, Bhagwan's silent communion with his disciples became so obvious that my wife and I became sannyassins. To treat the work of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh as anything less than inspirational is a tragic loss to the welfare and prosperity of our great nation. Sincerely yours, Paul included an enclosure, an article he had written for SEAOGRAM, the quarterly magazine of the Solar Energy Association of Oregon. See the pdf for the whole context .... Solar Energy Association of Oregon SEAOGRAM kthe offici«l maguim of the Soler Energy Arsodelion of Oregon. It is published quarterly in December. March, June and September. Mailing adress is 2637 S.W. Water Ave., Portland, OR 97201. Phone: (S03) 224-7867. Membership in SEA of O is $10 for students and seniors. $16 for individual members of SEA of O member organizations, $20 Tot regular members, $35 for small businesses and professionals, $50 for large corporations and institutions. SEAOGRAM accepts unsolicited manuscripts, artwork and photographs. The deadline for receiving material it the last day of the month pier to publication. All material is subject Io editing. Signed articles represent the opinion of the author and not necessarily those of the Solar Energy Association of Oregon. Members receive SEAOGRAM 4 times a year. Conference discounts and other benefits.
Rajneeshpuram. Community-Scale Renewable Energyby Anand Paul Sansone Rajneeshpuram is the new city being built near Antelope, Oregon by the followers of Bhagwan Shree Rajncesh. The author is a solar designer and consultant who is now a follower of Rajneesh and Is intimately involved in the developments mentioned below, -ed. Rajneeshpuram is a bold effort to construct a new city in the desert. A "Buddha Field". A joyous community of individuals living in silent communion with a spiritual teacher. People living and working to create a reflection of their own religious vision. Rajneeshpuram’s comprehensive planning and early construction exhibit sufficient synergistic vision to demonstrate a community-wide utilization of renewable technologies. In conservation and solar technologies an impressive amount of work has been completed in the last year. A 40 foot by 60 foot indoor solar heated swimming pool, a super-insulated and daylighted office building, a 1000 square foot collector array with 1800 gallon storage solar preheating water system for the communal cafeteria, the design and partial construction of a two acre (88.000 square feet) energy-conserving greenhouse are but a few of the projects. SOLAR HEATED INDOOR POOLThe Rancho Rajneesh Guest House has a 40 foot by 60 foot indoor swimming pool which is heted by a drain-back solar pool heating system utilizing fourteen 4 X 10 •black chrome collectors mounted below the deck which extends from the pool building. This extra effort allowed the collectors to block the view of the mechanical rooms, and blend with the low profile of the single story buildings in the complex. Freeze protection was accomplished utilizing motorized valves commonly used in freeze protecting fountains because the solenoid valves normally used required more back pressure than was present with the collectors mounted below the pool level. The collectors drain into a sump and the water is pumped by a sump pump back into the pool during a drain-back cycle. SUPER-INSULATED OFFICE BUILDINGThe Ranch Headquarters Building, «Socrates, is designed utilizing super-conservation and daylighting strategics. A standard two story steel truss building provided the shell. Interior wood framed walls were framed to provide a mounting surface for interior finish and a 10” cavity for insulation. The ceiling is insulated to a hefty R-50. The slab-on-grade first floor has 2” Thermax (R-19) perimeter insulation. An interior vapor barrier and tight construction provide limited infiltration, with ventilation control through a central H-VAC system equipped with heat recovery systems. The building has a very small heating load with most of the heating supplied by occupants and lights. Thb cooling load, already reduced by the conservation efforts, is lowered with landscaping, exterior seasonal sunshades, and extensive use of indirect and low-energy illumination and daylighting. CAFETERIA SOLAR WATER HEATING SYSTEMThe sannyasins of the Rajneesh Commune eat their meals at a central location. The cafeteria, Magdalena, is designed to seat over 500 people. The major energy load of the building is heating the water, a system was designed to preheat the hot water with a large solar system (see photo). Poor water quality necessitated an indirect system for the collection ioop. Four banks of six 4’ X 10' black chrome collectors (950 sq. ft.) were installed on an awning on the rear of the building. The collection loop was plumbed to a bank of Noranda tube-in-tank finned heat exchangers fitted into the bottom of an 1800 gallon storage tank. Potable water is preheated by another bank of Noranda doublewalled tube-in-tank exchangers fitted into the top of the tank. Heat is stored in a heavily insulated 1800 gallon tank of filtered and treated water. [image caption: Collectors on kitchen: Rajneeshpuram 12 Sansone photo] The system utilizes Bray oil, a synthetic heat transfer oil in the collection loop. All soldered joints were brazed, expansion bellows installed betw een groups of collectors, and all threaded joints were sealed with Rector-Seal #5. The system utilizes compatible seals throughout the system, a hydrin diaphragm 75 gallon expansion tank, C-100 Independent Energy Control, and a one-third horsepower pump. In line water filters protect the potable exchangers from water corrosion. The Bray oil eliminated the necessity of frequent anti-freeze changes but was more difficult to install than glycol. The size and cost of the solar system was reduced by conservation measures such as flow restrictors and water-saving fixtures. A preheat system for the dishwashing hot water was specified utilizing the waste heat from the rinse cycle of the dishwasher. TWO ACRE SOLAR GREENHOUSEA two acre (88,000 sq. ft.) energy-conserving greenhouse was designed utilizing two sophisticated thermal simulation software programs (SUNCODE by Palmiter/Wheeling, SUNDAY by Straub— available from Ecotope Inc. Seattle). Simulation allowed testing of various conservation and passive solar design options for performance and cost savings. Depending on the operation and crops to be grown in the greenhouse, energy consumption could be reduced to one tenth that of a standard commercial greenhouse of the same square footage. Glazing is Exolite Acrylic structured sheets on the roof and Exolite polycarbonate sheets on the vertical walls. This double glazing was installed in 4 foot X 25 foot long sheets in an aluminum and EPDM gasketed glazing system that allowed for thermal expansion, quick installation, and longevity. Passive venting was accomplished by utilizing commerical greenhouse ven extrusions to open large areas of the north and south walls and high vents set into “steps” in the roof. Forced ventilation utilized 40 large fans on the south wall and 440 lineal feet of evaporative cooling pad on the north wall. Micro-processor controls allow' for a gradual proportion! opening of the vent actuators for passive cooling and a stepped increase through power venting and evaporative cooling stages as dictated by environmental conditions. Heat retention curtains are also controlled by the micro-processor and could also provide shading for certain crops. SUNCODE showed that in structures this size the relative importance of glazing angle decreased. Conservation measures such as highly insulated and solid north walls, in-sluating heat retention curtains, double glazing, air tight construction with controlled ventilation, and efficient HVAC control strategics were effective. The latent heat contained and released by the transpiration of the plant crops proved to perform as a huge thermal storage system, rendering other solar storage strategics to a minor role. Simple solar/conservation strategies such as proper orientation and perimeter insulation had important benefits in reducing the load of the structure. For anyone interested in viewing these projects and others first hand, Rajneeshpuram is open to the public with tours conducted every day. |
(Please note: We assume that the above letter is still copyrighted, but we regard its historical interest to constitute a Fair Use exception for publication in this wiki.)
