Practical Eco

Water conservation becoming more and more important

One of my regular reads, Treehugger, carries a post today titled A New Era of Water Conservation, and it makes specific reference to North Carolina.

That puts me in the mind of an excellent product, Brac grey water recycling systems.  There are simply no other viable competitors in North America for what they offer, apart perhaps from Aqus, which is simpler but doesn't offer nearly as much savings or as much safety. Brac's systems not only capture water from sinks, baths, showers and even laundry if needed, but they have state of the art purification in place to deliver clean water to be used for either toilet flushing or irrigation.

It should, and may someday, become mandatory to have such systems in place for new construction. Certainly builders today have every reason to consider using either a grey water recycling system like Brac or a rain water collection system, like Brae or both.

Vented Attics?

I've spoken to quite a few homeowners recently about insulating attics with spray foam insulation like Icynene.  Many worried about keeping the attics properly ventilated.  Here's another area where the building science has evolved. Particularly here in the South, ventilating attics is not necessarily the right thing to do, as with crawl spaces. And, attic fans are not helping either.

The better thing to do is seal the attic and insulate the roof deck with spray foam. With new construction a radiant barrier like TechShield should also be used.

The basic thinking has been to cool the attic with ventilation. But what we now realize is that almost all of the heat transfer into the attic space is through radiation directly through the roof deck. Vents will do nothing to stop this. And when it's hot and humid outside all vents do is draw humidity into the building envelope.

For a good article on this see "Joe's Top Ten List of Dumb Things to do in the South", on the Building Science website. A great general resource.  And take a look at Arnie Katz's article on this subject at the Advanced Energy site. Another great resource.

Making your square feet work harder

I've been thinking quite a bit lately about our general trend toward larger homes. Why do homes keep getting bigger? "McMansions" is a wonderfully appropriate term I've heard used. My guess, and it's not particularly researched, is that people see their peers buying larger homes and are sucked into "keeping up with the Joneses".  To some extent home builders are to blame for starting the trend and for not pushing back against demand for bigger homes by educating buyers or showing them how a well designed smaller home can deliver greater benefits. Whatever the reason, more and more builders are now starting to realize that investment in good design yields many tangible benefits including better value for money, part of which is appropriately right-sized homes.

In my idle web wandering I stumbled across this excellent article on Oikos Eighteen Design Principals to Make  Square Feet Work Harder, excerpted from the wonderful book The Art of Natural Building. If you don't already have the book, the article is a good read on its own.

Nov 3rd is the National Day of Climate Action

This November 3rd has been declared the National Day of Climate Action in a campaign organized by Step It Up, which is a small team based in New Hampshire.  Hundreds of local actions are being encouraged and posted on their central site so you can fine one near you.

Around the Triangle there are two events. One in Carrboro at the Town Commons from 2-4 pm and another in Raleigh at Blue Jay Point County Park from 12-2 pm. So it's possible to attend both.

While I think it's vital to do everything we can to reduce CO2 emissions, I worry sometimes that this is taking some of the limelight away from the many other pollutants that are the result of our high reliance on petroleum. It also seems to drive some people to conclude that Nuclear is the answer (but don't get me started on that). Basically, and I say this as someone who worked with the oil industry for many years, oil is completely poisonous. The many byproducts and pollutants have permeated our lives over the past 60+ years that we've been growing wildly. And people wonder why cancers, asthma and so many other illnesses increased over that period. Well, I had my little rant so now let's go out and cut some carbon emissions.

Climate Change a Boon for NC?

Today's News and Observer ran a story about a new study from Appalachian State University which asserts that fighting global warming could be a boon for North Carolina's economy.  If the state implements a host of strategies to cut greenhouse gas emissions, more than 325,000 jobs and $20 billion could be added to the state's economy by 2020, says the study.

The findings were part of a study that will help state lawmakers decide whether to join 17 other states that have set standards for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The N.C. Climate Action Plan Advisory Group, one of two statewide panels studying the issue, last week recommended a set of 56 strategies that would return the state to 1990 levels of greenhouse gas emissions within 13 years. The strategies include reducing tailpipe emissions, tightening efficiency standards for new buildings and appliances, upgrading to cleaner technologies at power plants and preserving farm- and forestland.

Read the full story in the News & Observer here.

UNC Campus Sustainability Day this Friday Oct 26

The UNC Campus Sustainability office has invited everyone to come help them celebrate their accomplishments over the past year.

The event takes place Friday October 26 from 8:30 am to 1:30 pm in the Johnston Center for Undergraduate Excellence in Graham Memorial Hall on McCorkle Place, off East Franklin Street.

At 9 a.m., the 2007 Campus Sustainability Report will be presented to Chancellor James Moeser, who will speak. Then at noon, state Sen. Janet Cowell will discuss new high-performance building and renewable energy legislation.

There will be staffed exhibits on a wide range of sustainability topics from stormwater management to recycling to social justice. There will also be free Segway rides and refreshments.

See Cindy Shea's Article in the Chapel Hill News.

New Solar PV material based on Carbon nanotubes

A new process for manufacturing thin film solar panels is being employed by Vanguard Solar Inc. in Sudbury MA.

Vanguard says its process for growing flexible solar material -- using carbon nanotubes -- means that its thin-film material can be manufactured in almost any roll-to-roll printing plant.

By changing the cost structure of producing solar materials, Vanguard officials say they can make solar a much cheaper source of energy for commercial and residential buildings.

See the full story on Mass High Tech. News.

Germany wins the Solar Decathalon competition

The winners of the Solar Decathlon competition were announced today as the German University, Technische Universität Darmstadt. See the full report on Inhabitat here.

NC Energy Star Conference

November 15-16 in Durham NC at the Civic Center Marriott will be this year's NC Energy Star Conference, a gathering of building professionals and people interested in energy efficient building practices.

The event features a full day of presentations on a wide range of topics, exhibitors, a keynote presentation from Danny Parker of the Florida Solar Energy Center and a reception Thursday evening. For full details see their website.

Apricus Solar Hot Water featured on 9 Solar Decathalon homes

Apricus Solar Hot water systems made with evacuated tubes are incredibly efficient because their design captures sun throughout the day and because the vacuum insulates so well. That's probably why 9 of the 20 teams competing in this year's Solar Decathlon have selected Apricus collectors for their houses. The Solar Decathalon is an international competition between 20 collegiate teams who plan, design, build, and operate unique houses that incorporate high energy efficiency products powered by solar thermal and PV (photovoltaics).  All 20 houses are being showcased on the National Mall in Washington DC October 12-20.

One of the main advantages of the Apricus evacuated tube collectors is that they can achieve very hot water even in cloudy or overcast conditions. Their higher efficiency makes them best suited to the climate from North Carolina and Northward, where we experience some cooling and some overcast conditions during Winter. Areas like Florida and Texas are better off with traditional flat plate collectors because they get strong sun year round and so it's not worth the extra premium for them.

 

Natural Homes Design Build - timber frame green homes

Joi and Ron Tannert who run Natural Homes Design Build are earnest and passionate about building quality homes. They also build very elegant homes that don't skimp on luxuries. Joi's interior design experience means they can deliver the whole package with interiors if that's what you want. Ron's 30 years of construction experience means they really know their stuff.

While they're not fitting solar panels the house I saw was solar ready, which is very smart and will save someone a bit of money if they want to fit solar hot water later on.

They certainly do build them tight and insulate them well which is great. And while the timber frame components are typically shipped from the West Coast with all that embodied energy, that might be something I would live with given the sheer beauty and luxury that they create.

Forbes' Greenest States Rankings

I'm seriously disappointed that North Carolina came in smack in the middle of the rankings table at No.26. Forbes' ranking of States for greeness is constructed from six equally weighted categories: carbon footprint, air quality, water quality, hazardous waste management, policy initiatives and energy consumption. Their full table puts us above our neighbors to the South and West but just a few notches below Virginia. We should be making an all out effort to increase our standing in this table over the next few years. Anyone want to float this idea to the State Senate?

Off-Grid.net 20 ways to eco-pimp your home

Off-Grid.Net just ran and article titled "20 ways to eco-pimp your home" The title made me laugh, so I had to read it and pass it on. Though much of the article is very UK-centric and some of the points, I'd argue with, it's a nice piece with some good tips. 

Of course the bias was for heating rather than cooling climates, but the best tips I thought were:

1. low energy bulbs or CFL
2. turn your thermostat down (or up in Summer)
3. turn off monitors/pcs when not in use and unplug TVs etc.
4. get Solar Hot water
5. insulate your attic more/better

Recycled cotton fiber insulation

UltraTouch Natural Cotton Fiber insulation is made from 85% post-industrial recycled natural fibers. Much of that from denim manufacturers which makes for that characteristic blue shade.

It comes in Batt form at 16" and 24" widths, and 3.5" or 5.5" thicknesses to provide R13 or R19 insulation respectively.  Some of its advantages include great sound absorption and the fact that it handles easily without causing any itching.

Also, it contains no chemical irritants, no VOC so it has no warning labels and you can be sure that it is a perfectly safe and environmentally friendly product.

I might still personally tend to favor spray-foam in most applications, but there's a serious appeal to this product that not only appeals to the "hippy" in me but, uses no petroleum products and is probably safe enough to eat (well maybe a little tiny bite). So, I can see lot's of situations where I'd want to use this. It certainly knocks the socks off of Fiberglass batts.

UltraTouch is manufactured in Arizona and I'm still wondering why it isn't made here in NC where we've got lots of textile manufacturing, including denim, and a source of the raw material. 

But if you want to use this product, there's now a local distributor, BJ Green Insulation run by Polly and Joe Jones out of Wilson NC.

Durham Solar Homes tour

I went round the homes on the Durham Solar Homes tour Saturday and enjoyed one in particular. It turns out to have been designed by Sophie Piesse a local Carrboro architect who specializes in green building. What struck me most was the elegance of the interior spaces and how well laid out everything was for a comfortable life. Then I started noticing how sustainable all of the materials are and the solar PV and the icynene spray foam insulation. The walls are made of Agriboard an 8" thick panel of wheatstraw sandwiched between sheets of OSB - a sort of SIP really. And the exterior finish is a natural hydraulic lime stucco - a wonderfully sustainable material.

It was also very inspiring to see the work of Greenfire Development who are renovating many buildings in downtown Durham including an old fire station and next door to it the pharmacy building. They're installing a deep well geothermal system to condition the space using three wells dug 1500 feet below the courtyard between the two buildings. In addition, they're practicing many good green building concepts like minimizing waste and recycling materials.

Unfortunately the tour had some issues with their literature and the driving directions. I found myself with a glossy brochure for the larger NC green building tour but which gave me no information relevant to the immediate Durham tour, plus several other sheets that I had to juggle to find my way around and a detailed set of directions from each stop to the next. I'd rather have less paper next time guys, and a map would be very nice indeed. Sometimes one wants to skip a stop or two and/or find one's own way with a more visual reference. Had I not had someone else with me in the car I wouldn't have been able to follow those meticulous directions.

wind belt

In a conventional wind generator, gears help transfer the motion of the spinning blades to a turbine where an electric current is induced. The Windbelt is simpler and more efficient in light breezes—a magnet mounted on a vibrating membrane simply oscillates between wire coils.

Greenbridge development breaks ground in Chapel Hill

Greenbridge, broke ground this past Monday. If you’re not from around here or just don’t know, this is a mixed use residential development in the heart of Chapel Hill. It has been designed by William McDonough and will offer 98 condos and retail establishments, green roofs, solar panels, rainwater runoff systems, and a community learning center.

The six partners behind this development are all local with strong ties here. Still there has been ongoing debate about the appropriateness of a 10 story structure in this little university town. And the units carry a pretty steep price tag with 1 bedroom apartments starting at just over 300k.  However you can’t really argue the benefit of a green flagship development to attract attention to the issues.

Charlotte Energy Solutions

My latest "Green Hero" discovery is Charlotte Energy Solutions. Mark Englander, the owner, is a dedicated purveyor of environmentally sustainable alternatives for both homes and transport. 

For home energy, they offer solar hot water, solar photovoltaics (PV), tankless gas water heaters and corn stoves. 

As alternative transport they sell, Segways, Electric Scooters, and Straight Vegetable Oil conversions for diesel cars. They also have the only B100 Biodiesel filling station in the area. 

Mark started this business because he had been living a green lifestyle driving his own veg-oil powered car and heating his home with a corn stove. He finally realized that he needed to spread the word more aggressively so he opened the store which has been amazingly successful.

Green Home Building Guidelines & Certification Program

Offered by the Green Building Council of the Home Builders Association of Durham, Orange, and Chatham Counties (HBADOC)

Presenting sponsor: Newland Communities

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Registration /Continental breakfast - 8 am
Seminar - 8:45 am - 12:30 pm

Location:

NC Biotechnology Center, RTP

Fees:

HBADOC Green Building Council member - $75/person
HBA member - $100/person
Non-Council or -HBA member - $125/person

You'll learn:

• What's contained in the National Association of Home Builders' Green Home Building Guidelines
• How our program compares to other green building programs
• How a builder can get started in the program
• What the certification process involves
And more!

The 90-member Green Building Council of the Home Builders Association of Durham, Orange, and Chatham Counties has built a rapidly-growing program, with more than 60 homes certified in the first year.

Presenters:
Michael Chandler, Chandler Design Build
Randy Lanou, BuildSense
Bill Beasley, Red-B Construction
Jamie Hager, Southern Energy Management

Two homes (one at the bronze level and one at the gold level) will be used as examples during the session, giving attendees an understanding of how to participate in the program at the entry level and also at the top. The instructors will describe the different program areas (i.e., site design, resource efficiency, energy and water efficiency, indoor air quality, and global impact) and will explain the point system and documentation items needed to achieve bronze, silver and gold levels.

Questions? Contact Leigh Scott at 919-493-8899 or leigh@hbadoc.com.

 

Metropolis Next Generation Design competition

Metropolis is once again sponsoring a sustainable design competition "Next Generation Design". The 2008 competition focuses on WATER. Underlining the fact that water is a finite resource, they are calling for better design solutions that account for potable water, gray water, black water—its uses, re-uses, controls, management, efficiency, and conservation.

 

Pledge to Stop using Bottled Water

The Carbon Conscious Consumer (C3) group at the New American Dream are raising awareness of the rapidly increasing impact of plastic water bottles. I have to admit I was a bit numb to this issue until recently. After all, I can only focus on so many eco issues at one time.  But I'm now convinced it's real, relevant and takes very little effort to change.  My wife and I bought ourselves reusable water containers and have completely stopped buying bottled water.  Along side, we installed a Multi Pure water filter to ensure we've got the purest tastiest water straight from the tap.

Here are the key facts surrounding bottled water.  Americans consumed more than 31 billion liters of bottled water in 2006 – nearly 28 gallons for every man, woman, and child. Manufacturing all those bottles required 900,000 tons of plastic, which in turn required 20 million barrels of oil, and emitted as much greenhouse gas as 500,000 cars. Trucking a bottle of water 500 miles can double its climate impact – and some are shipped much, much farther. Water is a very heavy product to ship and trucks can not carry a full load of it.

We also know that both Coca Cola and Pepsi have owned up to selling tap water in their bottled waters at thousands of times the cost. Democracy Now did an interesting story on this recently, which is full of compelling facts.

So join me in rejecting bottled water and saving millions of barrels of oil and millions of tons of CO2 emissions. Take the C3 pledge.

Retailers Flocking Toward Green ?

The first one I noticed was Best Buy, then Staples and Office Depot very quickly were saying they would build stores to LEED standards. What great news. Retail may not be the worst contributors to energy consumption, or CO2 emissions but their efforts will be very visible and get good publicity for the causes of green building and energy efficiency.

Then I noticed a story that Kohl's would be putting rooftop solar PV on 63 or its 80 California stores. Hey what about NC and the other 754 stores they run?  Next I read that JC Penny is about to open a store in Denver in a LEED certified shopping center development and that they will seek LEED certification for two more stores opening over the next two years.

All great news. So it seems the new LEED for Retail program is working well. The program consists of two rating systems - new construction and major renovations version 2.2 plus LEED for commercial interiors 2.0.  It's still in pilot but the 2nd draft of the program was issued this past April.

On a related note, I came across a study on the City of Seattle website which shows that stores with increased daylighting, not only save energy costs, but enjoyed increased sales - 30% or more $/square foot improvement in fact. I found that interesting since I've heard retailers say they must have certain types of electric lighting to showcase their wares effectively and achieve better sales.

More anecdotally, I've heard of a few smaller retailers putting up solar hot water around NC, so it must be going on a lot. After all it's practically a no-brainer given the accelerated depreciation and uncapped tax credits available to commercial applications of solar, and the fairly rapid payback period for solar thermal.

Local NC countertops made with New River aggregate

I've finally found a locally made sustainable counter top solution. The New River Concrete Countertops company makes beautiful counters in Jefferson NC using local gravel and sand which is collected from the regular low impact dredging of the local dams on the New River.

The company typically takes a template onsite then makes a mold in their shop to pour the slab from a mix that includes the gravel, sand and recycled materials such as fly ash and fly ash iron oxides. The slabs are ground down to expose the beauty of the aggregate. They can then be sealed with either a no-VOC sealer, that will need regular waxing or a low-VOC sealer which requires no maintanence.

The company do installations throughout NC and VA. They are the latest addition to my growing list of building heroes who do great, local, sustainable work bringing beauty and integrity to home building.