Select Green Building/Living News
Green Building/Living News & Links we've found on the web, enjoy.
|
Cool Housing Market Makes Green Buildings Shine
n a slow housing market, many developers are looking to green features to set themselves apart from the competition. With increasing concern about energy costs, climate change, and indoor air quality, the market is ripe for green building. Market forces at work, with environmentally sound options excelling.
"There are not enough green builders out there, and demand is exceeding the homes available," says Harvey Bernstein, Vice President of Industry Analytics, Alliances and Strategic Initiatives for McGraw-Hill Construction. Meanwhile quantity of certified green homes being built is growing rapidly.
Cool Housing Market Makes Green Buildings Shine |
KSD Solar Windows: New Spin on Low E Glazing
From Treehugger.com:
Here is a neat spin on low-e windows. Normally one picks the kind of Low emittance coatings depending on your local conditions; different types of Low-E coatings have been designed to allow for high solar gain, moderate solar gain, or low solar gain. It's done by sputtering a coating on one side of the glass inside a sealed double glazed unit.
But what if you live in a temperate climate with hot summers and cold winters? You want to keep out the heat in the summer and let it in during winter. How do you get the best of both worlds?
Dr. Heinz Kunert of KSD Fenster in Germany figured it out in 1990, in one of those slap-upside-the head "why didn't I think of that" simple solutions- he put the glazing in a pivot so it can be rotated to reflect the heat out in summer, inwards during winter.
KSD Solar Windows: New Spin on Low E Glazing |
Intriguing Electric Bike: EV-X7
From Treehugger:
The intriguing electric bike seen in this video, the EV-X7, has a magnetic motor built into its rear wheel. The motor is a hybrid between a electromagnet and a permanent magnet. It was designed by the Axle Group in Japan. The bike has a range of about 110 miles on a single charge, and a top speed of about 92 mph. The company plans to start selling a mini-scooter version of the magnetic-powered bike next year, which will be priced at about $2100.
Intriguing Electric Bike: EV-X7 |
Portland Oregon Considering Green Tarriff/Reward System for New Construction
|  | |
From Treehugger.com:
Continuous, rapid progress is a must if we are to reduce our carbon footprint enough to make a difference. Portland Oregon USA has long been a pioneer and prototype test center for green ideas. We wish them luck on this one as well.
Portland's Office of Sustainable Development is drafting a proposal for a "green" building policy that, if approved, would mandate a carbon fee for all new commercial and residential buildings and major commercial remodels unless certain green building standards are met.
Those exceeding the standards would be paid an incentive by the city, funded by carbon fees paid by others...
The policy would operate on the basis of three concepts: the carbon footprint (the amount of carbon dioxide emissions that a building causes, mostly through the energy use) as well as education and technical assistance for meeting the building standards, and energy-efficiency rating and upgrading.
Portland Oregon Considering Green Tarriff/Reward System for New Construction |
Peak Bathtub Doesn't Waste Water
At a time when consciousness of water conservation is at an all time high, the Peak Bath provides a luxury bathing experience, using less water than other products. The design is contoured to more closely fit the posture we take when bathing, with a peak rising to fill the spaces below our knees, significantly reducing the volume of water needed for a deep, luxurious bath while creating a striking sculptural statement in your bathroom.
Peak Bathtub Doesn't Waste Water |
Port-a-bach Shipping Container Holiday Home
From Treehugger.com:
A bach "is the name given in New Zealand to structures akin to small, often very modest holiday homes or beach houses.They are an iconic part of New Zealand history and culture."
Cecile Bonnifait and William Giesen of atelier workshop have built a bach out of a box, a 20' shipping container.This isn't easy to do; they are narrow inside. They pulled it off by having one side of the container fold down to open it up to the outdoors; suddenly it is bright and open. (much like the All-terrain Cabin) Every inch of it is used cleverly, even the container doors become support for a bed.
Port-a-bach Shipping Container Holiday Hom |
All Terrain Cabin
From www.treehugger.com:
Take an easy-to handle 20' ISO container frame. Outfit it with folding walls and the best in Canadian design. "The result is as smart as it is efficient, suitable for a family of four and a pet to live off the grid in comfort and contemporary style. It travels by train, truck, ship, airplane or helicopter, folded up and indistinguishable from any ordinary shipping container. Once it arrives, it unfolds rapidly to 480sf of self-contained, sophisticated living space with all the comforts of home
All Terrain Cabin |
Pedal Powered Half-Track, Snowmobile, thing if you actually have snow
On the off chance that you live anywhere that actually still gets snow (it's looking like the temperature is going to be in the fifties here in Michigan for Christmas) you may want to check this thing out. Our buddies over at Engadget spotted what looks like the spawn of a three-way between a modern dual suspension mountain bike, a WW2 German half-track and a snowmobile. Maneuvering this thing through snow looks like it might be rather challenging, but if you're interested, KTrak is offering the kit at dealer pricing of $300 until the end of the year. After that the rear drive track kit will list for $400 with the ski kit another $140 in adult sizes. They also offer a kids sized kit at $200/$90. It appears from the site that the kit should fit on any modern mountain bike but your mileage may vary.
Pedal Powered Half-Track, |
Create The Future: Entries to NASA's Design Contest
From www.coolhunting.com:
Roads that produce electricity from the kinetic energy of cars, DNA-scanning ballot boxes to wipe out voter fraud, superbly energy-efficient houses (pictured right) to stave off the impending energy crisis... these are some of the entries vying for the $20,000 prize offered by NASA in the Create the Future Design Contest
While the entry date has come and gone, there are literally hundreds of concepts to view. Many are blatant pipe dreams, others have some commercial appeal. None of them have been developed or are sold on the commercial market-that's one of the rules of the contest. www.createthefuturecontest.com
Create The Future: Entries to NASA's Design Contest |
Cooling System For Rooms
From Create The Future Contest:
Almost everybody saw an air conditioning installation and many of us are using these systems in summer . But these installations have few great disadvantages : - they consume a lot of current ; - they produce headache ( and sometimes serious illness) ; - they could affect the environment ( and the ozone stratum ) .
Innovation:
My idea is about a panel which is mounted on the ceiling . This panel has , in the inferior side , an aluminum sheet which has the down surface an anticondense treatment . From time to time , the nozzles throw water on the aluminum sheet . This water absorbts heat from the aluminum sheet and evaporates. The aluminum sheet becomes cool and the cold air slow downs in the room.
Contact Email: fstoicescu@yahoo.com
Profession: Engineer/Designer
Cooling System For Rooms |
Aptera Diesel-Electric Hybrid Car On Sale Now!
From Inhabitat.com:
The Aptera (Greek for "wingless") is an environmentally-friendly car that's as clean and green as it is fantastically futuristic. The three-wheeled hybrid, which offers an all-electric or plug-in hybrid option, isn't just a concept- you can reserve your own with just a $500 deposit. Seating 2.5 with plenty of room for luggage, the Aptera can get up to 230 miles per gallon at 55 miles per hour, and has an (electronically limited) top speed of 95 mph. Plus, it's just so darn cool looking, we can't resist the arthropod automobile aesthetic. www.aptera.com 821
Aptera Diesel-Electric Hybrid Car On Sale Now! |
Lot-EK Container Home (CHK)
|  | |
From Inhabitat.com:
We've raved about Lot-Ek before for their ingenious conversions of industrial shipping containers into inhabitable modern spaces. And with their Container Home Kit (CHK) project, they're bringing shipping containers to the masses with a clever and easily-adaptable system for virtually every residential context. Lot-ek's scalable system can accommodate anywhere from 640-2560 square feet, and comes fully equipped and ready to plop on-site with built-in electrical, plumbing, HVAC, and fully insulated AND furnished. It's fully-equipped conceptually as well, making practical use of the world's surplus of ISO cargo containers while exploiting the inherent structural qualities of the containers themselves.
In terms of architectural features, Lot-ek has created a system that defies the rigidity of an industrial shipping container, providing surprising flexibility in both size and functions. The CHK system comes in two different series- Compact and Loft, and boasts 8 8 floor-to-ceiling windows, built-in closets, and wood floors. The best part is its expansion possibilities- regardless of the configuration, it's easy to add on another container to accommodate a home office (or more family members) down the line.
Lot-EK Container Home (CHK) |
Solcool Solar Power Air Conditioner
|  | |
From Inhabitat.com:
Since the hottest months of the year are also the sunniest - the idea of using solar energy to power your air-conditioner makes perfect sense. In fact we're frankly amazed that its taken so long to develop such an obviously good idea: SolCool's super smart Millennia air-conditioner uses solar power to cool you down during the height of summer steaminess - cleverly making use of the summer heat instead of blindly fighting it. In fact, Inhabitat HQ could really use one of these right about now.
The basic SolCool system has the same output capacity to a two ton air conditioning system but uses 85% less energy than equivalent high efficiency air conditioners; and the dual battery/solar powered system enables the unit to run 24 hours a day, even during the most overcast of days or when blackouts occur.
One of the most unique attributes of the Millennia 4.0 is that it's powered on a direct current (DC) which allows for the most efficient use of solar energy. The use of DC also allows the Millennia 4.0 to have integrated attachments such as water purification systems, lights, and even ceiling fans. The latest version can also heat a room. All of which SolCool believes will help make-up for the $20,000 to $40,000 cost (before subsidies) of installing solar panels on the average household's roof. SolCool's unit is a way of stepping into the solar powered world without committing all at once, by integrating solar power efficiently for smaller applications.823
Solcool Solar Power Air Conditioner |
Whole House Off Switch
It is a switch that allows a user to turn off all non-essential electronic items in their home from a central switch. Push the button to turn your house on when you get home; push it again to turn it off when you leave. Aiming to make the green way the most convenient way, the House-off Switch was part of a larger project to encourage 'green' action among the environmentally disinfranchised.
The project searches for a kind of 'environmental everyday' where people take up 'green' behaviours because they want to rather than because they think they should. An everyday where 'being green' doesn't imply sacrifice.
A more expensive version of the same concept has a central switch that also allows the inhabitant to leave some items plugged into safe sockets around the house which can be left on for security or peace of mind when everything else has been turned off at the central switch.824
Whole House Off Switch |
DIY 9 Volt LED Light
9 VOLTS cleverly takes advantage of the terminal points of a 9V battery and is an ideal modern alternative to the classic tea light. Simply clip the LED light to a 9 volt battery (supplied). 9 VOLTS also incorporates a tilt switch, stand up to turn on and lie down to turn off. 9 Volts works with regular or rechargeable batteries. 825
DIY 9 Volt LED Light |
Duh! Using Sink Water To Flush The Toilet
|  | |
Large scale LEED projects sometimes install massive systems to treat and re-use greywater (water from sinks that has been used for washing, as opposed to sewage waste, which is termed black water) for flushing toilets. Now, you can do the same thing in your very own home!
The Aqus system collects the water from a bathroom sink and filters and disinfects it before it gets re-used as flush water for an adjacent toilet. (There is nothing that would prevent this from being used in a large-scale LEED project either.)
"Our system is expected to save between 10 and 20 gallons of fresh water per day for two person bathrooms with normal activities. This represents between 3,650 and 7,300 gallons of fresh water saved per year. An equal amount of wastewater cost is also saved." This would mean an annual savings of $40.88 to $81.76 (based on an average rate of $5.60 per 1,000 gallons) from using a device like this.
The Aqus system can be retrofitted to an existing toilet without great difficulty (the company likens it to the difficulty of installing a new toilet and/or an over-the-stove microwave oven). It can be connected to a standard 1.6 gallon two-piece toilet. 825
Duh! Using Sink Water To Flush The Toilet |
Detergentless Washing Machine Cleans Clothes & Rivers
Yes, it sounds impossible, but apparently they've done it. A washing machine that doesn't use detergent. It's patented, of course, and it would seem that this machine converts water into a kind of detergent. Any chemist knows that soap, really, is just a way of making water wetter. And by breaking water into H+ and OH- ions, the Wash2O is able to clean clothes with a slightly basic solution, and then sterlize them with a slightly acidic solution. Then, before dumping the water, everything is mixed back together to pH neutral.
It's a pretty fantastic idea. If you could get on in America, it would set you back about $1000, but remember that you'd never have to buy detergent again, and you wouldn't have to feel bad about dumping phosphates into the rivers.826
Detergentless Washing Machine Cleans Clothes & Rivers |
Honda Bringing 62.8mpg Diesel to US In 2010
|  | |
From Treehugger.com:
These aren't words TreeHugger has ever had the pleasure to put in the same sentence before: diesel, Honda, United States, 62.8 miles per gallon, the year 2010. Ahh, that feels good. If this report from CNET is to be believed, it's all true: Honda plans to bring a clean-diesel Accord to the States by the year 2010, where it will get 62.8 mpg (on the highway, give or take) and pretty much kick ass.
The problem, mostly, to this point, has been that diesel engines produce and emit too much pollution to pass air-quality & emissions tests. That all started to change with the introduction of ultra-low sulfur diesel to the States, but automakers have been slow to assimilate. The introduction of a car like this is great news for TreeHuggers in the US: consumers can get hybrid-like (or better!) mileage from a conventionally-priced car and can further curb greenhouse gas and particulate emissions (and say so long to foreign oil) by pumping some biodiesel into the tank. Could the US be the new Europe (where half the cars run on diesel)? This could be the first step in the right direction. 827
Honda Bringing 62.8mpg Diesel to US In 2010 |
Windows With Water Reduce The Need For Cooling By 70%
|  | |
From Treehugger.com:
We all know double glazing drastically reduces heating and cooling costs as well as noise levels. Still, glass heats up in the summer which is far from attractive when you're inside a glass building. However, nobody wants to give up the beauty of such building from the outside nor the luminosity they provide inside and so glass is becoming more and more popular in modern architecture. The fact that glass heats up causes big problems in hot countries like Spain, especially in the summer, and leads to more and more air conditioning, not a very eco installation.
Luckily it seems innovation has entered those glass facade windows by adding water. A group of researchers at the Polytechnic University in Madrid (UPM) are developing a system to cool the windows by adding a 1cm slot through which the water circulates on the inside to absorb the heat of the sunbeams. The spin-off project of the UPM is called Inteliglass. With its installation, buildings with glass facades could save up to 70% on air conditioning. 828
Windows With Water Reduce The Need For Cooling By 70% |
DayRay Flexible Lighting
From Treehugger.com
If we are going to design interior spaces without windows, systems that bring in natural light can be a big help. We have shown the European Parans system before, but now DayRay of Australia is offering a system "made up of flexible polymer light fibres that carry daylight to the inner core of a building. The discrete collectors can sit anywhere on an external wall or on a roof, and will capture light, even on cloudy days. DayRay collectors work without having to track the sun and are effective wherever there is a source of natural light available."829
DayRay Flexible Lighting |
Alternatives To Air Conditioning
|  | |
Face it; air conditioning is an unholy abomination. While we all have some point in the summer where we can do nothing more than hug our air conditioning units in gratitude, most of the time, provided we do not live in Arizona, we can do without it. We keep our houses at walk in freezer temperatures while we spend the day at work, making power grids crash on the hottest days. There are plenty of ways around having air conditioning. I speak to you as a veteran and apostle.
Find a well-sited abode. Next time you are looking for a place to live ask yourself, does this house or apartment get a cross breeze? Does it have ceiling fans? Is there a way to keep this place cool with curtains? That is the place you want to live.
Get screens and fans. Your goal is to create a wind tunnel like effect in your house or apartment.
Stock the freezer. Keep a 3/4 bottle of water in the freezer and use it during the day as your ice water. Always good to stay hydrated. Make popsicles. Get some extra ice trays. Make ice tea.
Cook outside. In ye olden days houses would have separate "summer kitchens" to keep the main house cooler during the day. Now we have barbeques. Use that grill, eat cold foods or eat out.
Dress appropriately. Wear a sun hat, get sunglasses. Dress in light colors. Keep yourself cool with your apparel.
Embrace siesta. Hot weather makes you tired for a reason. Slow down. Change your mindset. Try to schedule your summer around the weather. Run errands early in the morning or in the early evening. Try to lay low for the afternoon. Don't fight the hot.
Stay wet. Run cold water over your feet. Carry a spray bottle. Wet your hair. It all helps.
Shower in your underwear. I take a shower in my underwear before going to bed and the cold wet underwear would be unpleasant under other circumstances is great for the dog days of summer.
Freeze your pillowcases. I don't actually do this but I have heard that nothing is sweeter than falling asleep on a cold pillowcase.
Go to the movies. When all else fails a few hours in a movie theater will revive you.830
Alternatives To Air Conditioning |
Do It Yourself Root Cellaring
|  | |
Your makeshift cellar needs to have three key features:
1. It has to be cool (or preferably, cold).
2. It has to be dry.
3. It must be dark.
Heat, moisture, and light are the enemies of proper food storage. Always keep your stuff cold, dry, and in the dark.
I live in an apartment on the fifth floor of a low-rise. My first instinct for storing vegetables in the city has been to keep them in my basement storage locker. It is not heated and it's fairly easy to access. Not every building has storage though. So look around for a suitable space under a stairwell, or in a cool corner of the laundry room, basement, or garage. Similarly, if you live in a house, try an unheated garage, furnace room, basement, or shed.
You want the temperature in the space to be above freezing, but it doesn't need to be much colder than a refrigerator. Some moisture in the room where you're storing your produce is fine, and it is probably inevitable since cool places tend to be a little damp. Basically, you want to be sure to keep the goods from getting wet.831
Do It Yourself Root Cellaring |
Cob Building- Go Ahead, Call It A Comeback
|  | |
From Treehugger.com:
For hundreds of years, those living in Ireland, England, and Wales mixed dirt, straw, sand and water to make mud walls, which when compacted and placed on a foundation formed a type of dwelling called cob buildings. Industrialization brought the widespread use of stone, wood, brick and steel in many buildings in these areas, and the traditional techniques of cob building for some time fell by the wayside. However, during the last 20 years, there has been a resurgence in interest for cob building techniques - much of this interest stemming from the building style's claim as one of the most affordable eco-friendly building methods around (cheap as dirt one might even say). So, why hasn't cob building been plastered all over the TreeHugger pages or the U.S. Green Building Council's site? Well, frankly, most of the building in the cob revival have been downright ugly, compared most often to Hobbit homes or mushroom palaces. Cob building's mainstream comeback might be in the works, though. Cob building methods are starting to be used in buildings that (gasp!) even look cool. First it was buildings such as the incorporation of cob into houses such as the Cobtun House, which was awarded the Royal Institute of British Architect's sustainability award a couple years ago. Now, plans are in the works for a contemporary green home in Victoria, British Columbia, that will be "the first code-approved, load-bearing, high-occupancy two-storey cob house in North America."832
Cob Building- Go Ahead, Call It A Comeback |
PowerPod: Small Green Prefabs Form A New Powerhouse
|  | |
From Treehugger.com:
Powerhouse is a new name to us in the green prefab biz; the Lawrence, MA company's President Quincy Vale previously was involved in the Massachusetts Green Buildings Program, and its design principal , John Rossi, is LEED accredited, so they have serious credentials. They are building some relatively conventional sized and designed projects (see installation of one here) with green materials, solar power, and radiant floors.
Plans are simple and straightforward. Materials are sustainably sourced. It has active solar, rainwater collection, SIP walls, and radiant floors, which are terrific if you are going to build on piers instead of a basement, but an expensive decision. And we like piers; they are less destructive to the landscape and need less site work.
The modular green prefab biz is full of difficult choices and tradeoffs. The Powerhouse people appear to have thought about them carefully here. Small, green, just drop it in place, what could be better? 833
PowerPod: Small Green Prefabs Form A New Powerhouse |
How To Make Sustainable Housing Happen
In North America, the developers offer you monster houses on tract lots. If you want to buy small or green the pickings are thin, and you often have to do it yourself, in the middle of nowhere. Financing? Good luck. Young without an inheritance or a job as a hedge fund manager? Forget it.
Or, you could live in Britain, where there are development companies like Living Space 21 with mission statements like "Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs" and offering "really affordable, contemporary new homes ideal for First Time Buyers" that are designed to fit on 400 square feet of land. Furthermore, unlike anything in North America, they come with a bank that will finance 95% of the project, including land purchase and will finance you even if you build it yourself. Don't have land? In Britain they have Plotsearch, set up specifically to help people find lots on which to self-build.834
How To Make Sustainable Housing Happen |
Make A Solar Water Heater For Under $5
|  | |
From Treehugger.com:
Instructables user, TheNaib, has written a tutorial on how to create a solar thermal water heater for under five dollars. It will involve a fair amount of DIY, but nothing too complicated. It's designed as a fun project, but with some tweaking it could see real applications, "Its a great way to learn about using the renewable energy of the sun to produce useful effects, in this case hot water. You can use these instructions to build a device that will actually heat enough water to use in the home, but it would require modifications."
Not only is it creating hot water using completely renewable energy, but it is also created from recycled scrap parts like the coolant grill from a refrigerator. If you do try this out, be warned that it can really heat up water quickly, and to quite an impressive temperature, "A word of warning, this panel works VERY WELL. We tested it on a very sunny day and within seconds the water coming out of the panel was hot enough TO SCALD. I burned my fingers. This very hot water is only formed when the water inside the panel is allowed to sit for about a minute without moving. If the water is moving (do to the gravity siphon) the water exiting the return pipe is about 110 degrees, and while hot, will not burn you." 835
Make A Solar Water Heater For Under $5 |
$30,000 Electric Car In 2009: The XS 500 by Miles Automotive Group
|  | |
From Treehugger.com:
Ever since we first heard about the Tesla Roadster, folks have been drooling over its sexy looks and lamenting its six-figure price tag. While that works for Jay Leno and Condoleeza Rice, many of the rest of us are left to smile nicely and hope that someone will come up with a battery-powered, zero emission (while it's driving, at least) car. While ZAP has promised a few, one is a 644-horsepower SUV and one isn't even a car (it has three wheels), so the market is still missing the sub-$30,000 electric sedan...until now (maybe).
Miles Automotive Group, featured recently at CNN Money, is promising the $30,000 Miles XS 500 to reach a top speed of 80 miles per hour and a range of 120 miles at 60 miles per hour; six hours of charging in a normal wall socket will top the batteries off. Founder Miles "Per Gallon" Rubin says he'll have 6 prototypes of the XS 500 by the fall, but they still need tinkering to get safety approval from U.S. regulators, plus do additional battery testing, meaning that the real deal could be here by 2009. "The cars will speak for themselves. You can PR it to death, but if it doesn't perform well, it's dead on arrival," he says. We'll just have to wait and see how true that will be. ::Miles Automotive Group via ::CNN Money836
$30,000 Electric Car In 2009: The XS 500 by Miles Automotive Group |
Woman Happy Living In 84 Sq Ft Home
From Treehugger.com:
Dee Williams wanted "a simpler life, time, more money. I don't have a mortgage. I don't have a big utility bill." So she built herself an 84 square foot house- "Not much to it. Simple. Small. A dream house tinier than a parking spot." Her monthly heating bill is $6 bucks and electricity is free from the solar panels.
Dee built the tiny cabin herself out of salvaged material. She picked the door out of a dumpster and retrieved the floors from a house fire. Dee's new tiny home sits in her friend's backyard.837
Woman Happy Living In 84 Sq Ft Home |
Nanoflex Coatings Can Increase All Lighting Efficiencies
The nano optical coating on Nanoflex provides ideal diffusive and reflective surface to capture light rays from any light source including fluorescent lamps to enhance illumination by 50% on average, both for retrofits as well as new fixtures, enabling the reduction of the number of fixtures.838
Nanoflex Can Increase All Lighting Efficiencies |
Myers Motors NmG Now Available
The NmG is America's only all-electric, highway-legal, personal vehicle with 70+ mph speeds that costs under $30,000. Single-passenger vehicle has range of 30 miles, with full recharge time of 6-8 hours.839
Myers Motors NmG Now Available |
New EV Battery Unveiled
A San Francisco-based company says it's scaling up to deliver a new, longer-lasting electric and hybrid vehicle battery pack in volume.
Device Conduit Technologies says its DCT RackPack Massively Intermoduled Battery (MIB) pack can finally deliver 100 to 300 mile range to electric and hybrid vehicles at affordable prices.
The pack uses large numbers of "ordinary batteries," the company said, without specifying their quantities or chemistries, in "new energy containers managed wirelessly so that your car can talk to you and administrate your vehicle, home and portable power."
840
New EV Battery Unveiled |
New Flexible Plastic Solar Panels Are Inexpensive And Easy To Make
Researchers at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) have developed an inexpensive solar cell that can be painted or printed on flexible plastic sheets. "The process is simple," said lead researcher and author Somenath Mitra, PhD, professor and acting chair of NJIT's Department of Chemistry and Environmental Sciences. "Someday homeowners will even be able to print sheets of these solar cells with inexpensive home-based inkjet printers. Consumers can then slap the finished product on a wall, roof or billboard to create their own power stations."841
New Flexible Plastic Solar Panels Are Inexpensive And Easy To Make |
Portable Hydrogen Generator (Power on the Go)
|  | |
Think of it as a briefcase for electricity.
Houston-based Trulite is developing a portable hydrogen-powered generator, the KH4. Pour water into the unit, and it will crank out 150 watts of power, and 200 watts at its peak. While that won't run your house, it's enough to recharge power tools or a laptop or run a small appliance, according to company CEO John Goodshall.
A target audience for the device will be contractors, particularly ones who work on downtown skyscrapers. Power tools regularly sap their batteries. (That's why Powergenix and other start-ups are trying to market new types of batteries for them.)
To get around the problem, contractors either carry spare batteries, which can be expensive, or recharge them with gas generators. The fumes and noise of the gas generators, however, are often incompatible with downtown building requirements. Thus, Trulite hopes that contractors will opt to carry its unit instead.
And for those people who bring a generator to a campsite to watch TV? A portable hydrogen generator will eliminate the noise.842
Portable Hydrogen Generator (Power on the Go) |
Does A Green Building Cost More Up Front?
|  | |
Ask the Experts
by Gil Friend
September 2005
Offsetting the Cost of Building Green
I've heard that it doesn't cost more to build a LEED-certified building than the average building. Due to the extra planning effort, we're expecting it to be much more expensive, in addition to capturing the "low-hanging fruit" to get to certification. How can we keep costs under control?
Gil: Green buildings have long been an attractive investment due to lower operating costs (e.g., for energy, water, and storm and wastewater treatment) and improved worker productivity (largely from better lighting and air quality) that deliver an attractive return on investment on the higher capital cost of delivering "green." But many builders and owners jam on that higher first cost.
But as the industry moves up the learning curve, improving both technologies and design processes, the cost penalty is disappearing. As I wrote recently in New Bottom Line.
An analysis of 33 green buildings conducted for the State of California by Greg Kats of Capital E found a range of zero to two percent incremental first cost, and handsome ROI from lower operating costs, but- and this is key -- essentially no correlation between greenness and cost. More.....
843
Does A Green Building Cost More Up Front? |
Grey Water Guerrillas
|  | |
From www.treehugger.com: We have written about going off-pipe, about the problems with society's methods of managing waste water. We did not know that there was a movement, and like movements everywhere, a manifesto: Dam Nation - Dispatches from the Water Underground, edited by Cleo Woelfle-Erskine, Laura Allen and July Oskar Cole. According to the New York Times, they are "a team focused on promoting and installing clandestine plumbing systems that recycle gray water - the effluent of sinks, showers and washing machines - to flush toilets or irrigate gardens." with a mission: "It's about trying to use resources to their full potential and interact with ecosystems in a beneficial way."
This is not just using a hose to spray your garden with shower water, this is a sophisticated recovery system. the picture above shows "A pipe running from the house deposits shower and sink water into an elevated bathtub in the yard that is filled with gravel and reeds, and the roots of plants begin filtering and absorbing contaminants. The water then flows into a second, lower, tub, also containing a reedbed, before flowing into a still-lower tub of floating water hyacinths and small fish." 845
Grey Water Guerrillas |
Lightning Lithium Superbike: No Emissions
From www.treehugger.com: Remember the electric Killacycle? Lightning Motors' electric motorcycle is similar, but it's made for the street instead of the racetrack. It goes 0-60 in around 3 seconds, hits close to 100 mph at top speed, and has about a 100-mile range at cruise. The bike is a Yamaha R1 that has been modified to be powered by lithium-ion batteries. The entire engine is missing. So are the tailpipes, radiator, gas cap, transmission and clutch. In their place: a wall of yellow batteries, an AC regenerative motor, an electric throttle and a three-pronged plug, which pokes out from the frame and connects to a standard outlet.846
Lightning Lithium Superbike: No Emissions |
House Switch Off
From Treehugger.com: This is a design for a universal on/off switch for your whole house. Anything non-essential could be wired through it, enabling you to easily turn off all those standby devices in one hit.
"Push the button to turn your house on when you get home; push it again to turn it off when you leave. Aiming to make the 'green' way the most convenient way, the 'House-off' Switch was part of a larger project to encourage 'green' action among the environmentally disinfranchised."
However, judging by some of the comments left on the site, these are already a fixture in some European homes. Do any TreeHugger readers have them?847
House Switch Off |
Collerado Coolers: Getting Close to Solar Powered Air Conditioning
From Treehugger.com: We are intrigued by the idea of solar powered air conditioning; it is just so logical as you need it most when the sun is blazing. Right now the heavy-handed approach is to spend a lot of money on photovoltaics to run conventional units; there has to be a lower cost, more efficient way.
The approach of warm weather (and a nudge by LEED Pro) has reminded us of Coolerado Coolers, a low energy air conditioning unit that delivers up to 5 tons of cooling while drawing only 1200 watts, a power load that can easily be handled by a solar installation. It is an evaporative cooler like the desert coolers we have shown before, but unlike most desert coolers, the cool moist air is put through an air-to-air heat exchanger so that the air supplied to the space is cool and dry, which is far more effective at keeping you cool. 848
Collerado Coolers: Getting Close to Solar Powered Air Conditioning |
Phoenix Motorcar's Rapid-Charging Electric SUV Demonstrated
Recently, Phoenix Motorcars demonstrated their plug-in electric SUV that will go on sale in 2008. The SUV uses AltairNano's fast-charge lithium-ion battery technology for power. The vehicle has a top speed of about 100 miles per hour, and its range is about 250 miles. Here's a video of the SUV in action.
Altairnano will offering the SUV for fleet use at first. The range is enough for many commercial applications. With eventual public sales in mind, though, company officials said Altairnano is already talking with Pacific Gas & Electric, California's largest utility, about a web of "rapid charge stations." With conventional 480-volt, three-phase service, they could top off batteries during a coffee stop (recharging at home, with the same 220 volts that runs the clothes dryer or stove, would take about five hours).
849
Phoenix Motorcar's Rapid-Charging Electric SUV Demonstrated |
Oregon Approves 50% Solar Tax Credit
|  | |
Oregon's legislative session has ended -- and June 2007 will be remembered as one of the sunniest month on record. Building on the momentum of its new Renewable Energy Standard, Governor Ted Kulongoski recently signed several key solar policies designed to encourage solar manufacturing and the installation of solar hot water and photovoltaic (PV) systems in the state.
"This will be remembered as a banner year for solar energy in Oregon. We have already attracted two new major solar manufacturers to the state, with more likely on the way."
-- Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski
The state's Renewable Energy Standard (RES), requiring 25% renewables by 2025, includes a provision that extends funding for the Energy Trust of Oregon (ETO) until 2025. The ETO funds programs for both solar hot water and PV system installs.
In addition, the Oregon Business Energy Tax Credit was increased from 35% to 50% of eligible renewable project costs (up to $20 million); a tax exemption for solar net metered systems passed along with a statewide public buildings solar provision requiring 1.5% of the construction budget to fund onsite solar technologies.
850
Oregon Approves 50% Solar Tax Credit |
Tech Home Builder's Glimpsing the 'Home of the Future'
I've always been fascinated by science fiction and the supernatural, so it's not surprising that I was fascinated by the results of the latest study by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) that predicts what the typical U.S. home will look like in the year 2015.
The study of 500 architects, designers, manufacturers and marketing experts asked what they expect to be prevalent in average and upscale homes in 2015. The biggest news is that home sizes are not predicted to rise anymore. The average size of U.S. homes has been consistently rising to today's 2,439 square feet, up from 1,500 square feet in 1973. But the study predicts that homes will remain between 2,300 and 2,500 square feet through the year 2015.
What does that mean for an industry built on selling homes for more money every year based on "bedrooms, bathrooms and square footage"? If the home size doesn't grow, does that mean your revenues and profits won't grow either . for the next 10 years? Maybe . unless you join the growing consensus of builders who are making a conscious effort now to offer highly profitable home technology.
It's not just me saying this; the study of experts supports that conclusion. Indeed, 55 percent of respondents in the report predict that the living room will vanish from the home of the future. Fully, 72 percent of the experts say the vanishing square footage from that living room will be transferred into a large multipurpose great room/family room. And, of course, among the key features in the great room is home technology, including in-wall or in-ceiling speakers, surround-sound stereo, a big screen television (rear-projection, plasma or LCD TV or a front projector), automated drapery/blinds/shade control and lighting control. The great room and the adjoining kitchen are already the social center of the home of the today and will be for the next 10 years, according to the study. Check out our article on page 20 in this issue on 6 ways to incorporate technology into the great room.
Other key results from the study are:
* Mood lighting-Respondents say that the industry will be recognizing the power of mood lighting, with a trend towards recessed lighting
* Fiber networks-Sixty-six percent say that the average 2015 home will have a fiber optic network, and 87 percent say that this feature will be found in upscale homes.
* Electronic features-Standards in the average home by 2015 will include programmable thermostats (78 percent), structured wiring systems (61 percent) and multi-line phone systems (59 percent). Upscale homes, by comparison, are expected to include just about every electronic feature that is available, such as multizone-controlled HVAC (88 percent); multiroom audio (87 percent); whole-home control/automation systems (86 percent); monitored burglar alarm systems (81 percent); programmable thermostats, structured wiring systems and instant hot water in bathrooms and kitchens (each 80 percent); monitored burglar/fire/toxic gas alarm systems (77 percent); and lighting control systems (75 percent).
* Green building-Participants note several trends in green building in the average home, including energy-efficient appliances and mechanical equipment (98 percent); greater use of water- or energy-conserving devises (89 percent); energy-efficient windows (89 percent); and builders seeking green certification (66 percent).
So now's your chance to set the stage for the next 10 years. The writing is on the wall . what are you waiting for? 851
Tech Home Builder's Glimpsing the 'Home of the Future' |
New Solar Homes Outpace The Housing Market
SAN JOSE, CA -- For eight communities in the Whitney Ranch residential development in Rocklin, Calif., outside Sacramento, an average of 1.9 homes have sold each month since 2006. A ninth community, Grupe Homes' Carsten Crossings, stands out with more than twice as many sales, or an average of 4.6 homes sold per month over the same time period.
Four miles down the road in West Roseville's West Park residential development, homes in Lennar Homes' Laureate, Wayfarer and Ironcrest communities are selling almost twice as fast as comparable homes in six neighboring West Park communities.
A notable difference in the homes at Carsten Crossings, Laureate, Wayfarer and Ironcrest is the inclusion of a SunPower SunTile solar power system as a standard feature on every home. The SunTile system integrates into the roof construction and features the highest efficiency solar cells available on the commercial market. Both Lennar and Grupe have also incorporated energy- efficient features into these homes, further reducing monthly home energy bills. 852
New Solar Homes Outpace The Housing Market |
Air Rotors
The magnus effect creates lift when a spherical or cylindrical object is spun while moving in a fluid, such as air:
A spinning object creates a kind of whirlpool of rotating air about itself. On one side of the object, the motion of the whirlpool will be in the same direction as the windstream that the object is exposed to. On this side the velocity will be increased. On the other side, the motion of the whirlpool is in the opposite direction of the windstream and the velocity will be decreased. The pressure in the air is reduced from atmospheric pressure by an amount proportional to the square of the velocity, so the pressure will be lower on one side than the other causing an unbalanced force at right angles to the wind.
Magenn Power Inc. seeks to harness this movement to produce energy through their rotating, foating ballons.
Air Rotors |
Have You Ever Considered A Solar Water Heater?
With a solar water heater, you'll get the hot water your household needs while saving money and energy and reducing your dependence on coal-fired power.
Article Illustration After a year with their solar hot water heater, homeowners Bob Allen and Lyle Rudensey say they'll never go back to relying on a conventional water heater. Even in gloomy, rainy Seattle, they are saving money and energy by heating all of their water with the power of the sun.
"With a lack of leadership at the federal level, I feel it's very important that we all do what we can to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and reduce greenhouse gases," says Lyle. "Solar hot water systems are a great place to start. They're not as expensive as solar photovoltaics, and they'll save you substantial amounts of energy and money." 854
Have You Ever Considered A Solar Water Heater? |
10 Things YOu Can Do To Improve The Planet
he last year has been big for us, as we have gone out of our way to try to make ourselves as green as possible without changing our lifestyle too much. I get emails all the time from people thinking that the small things they do will not matter, so why do them at all? In response, I wanted to put together a list of thing we have done (both small and large) to try to encourage others to do the same. If everyone does the small things, they will have a big impact worldwide.855
10 Things YOu Can Do To Improve The Planet |
A Kilowatt Saved Is A Kilowatt Earned (Sustainable Industries)
Michael Murray, president of Oakland-based Lucid Design Group, could be considered the Richard Simmons of energy conservation. A green building consultant and software guru, he's built a business out of helping people shed kilowatts. The Building Dashboard, Lucid Design Group's flagship product, shows building occupants how much energy they are collectively using and, in buildings with renewable energy systems, how much energy the building is producing.
The Dashboard combines data from any devices including electric meters, water meters, solar panels, geothermal systems and living machines, and translates it into a |
|
