Practical Eco

Lucious counters and sinks from recycled glass and ceramic cement

VitraStone is a new sustainable sink and countertop material made from a blend of 70-85% recycled glass and natural minerals. A wide variety of sink and counter designs exist, but the makers will also do custom designs, colors and inlays to achieve more unique looks. 

It has an incredibly high compression strength and durability owing to the ceramic cement (not Portland cement) used in its manufacture. That also means a lower carbon footprint and that the finished product doesn't need additional water reducers, plasticisers or acrylics as are often added to other products.

The finished product won't off-gas, won't shrink, is integrally colored, is resistant to scratching, chipping, freezing, thawing, acid and mold. So it can be used indoors or out.

Care and maintenance is a breeze because they seal their surfaces with a deep penetrating sealer that protects them throroughly. Waxing is entirely optional. A clear carnauba paste wax gives countetops a nice feel, or just leave them as they came.

Contact me directly for more information.

Sep 18th event: Geothermal in Wilmington

Sapona Green Building Center is hosting a free evening event about Geothermal energy from 5pm-6pm on Thursday September 18th. The event will be at their show room in Anderson Sq, 4113 oleander dr. Wilmington, NC.

Speaking will be Paul and Bryan Donaldson representing WaterFurnace, makers of some of the most efficient, energy-saving heat pumps available.

Wherever you live, whatever time of year the temperature below ground stays fairly consistent all year. Geothermal systems tap into the free energy of the differential between air and ground temperature using an earth loop (pictured).

Geothermal systems use the earth loop to extract heat from the ground. As the system pulls heat from the loop it distributes it through a conventional duct system as warm air or it can be used for a radiant floor system or domestic hot water heating.

In its cooling mode, a geothermal system reverses the process extracting heat from the building and back into the earth loop, or used to preheat water in your hot water tank.

Progress and SunEdison plan 1.2 Mw solar in Wilmington

Progress Energy has signed an agreement with SunEdison where SunEdison will build, own and operate a 1.2-megawatt solar energy project near Progress' L.V. Sutton coal-fired power plants near Wilmington.

SunEdison will build the solar pv array on about 10 acres at the L.V. Sutton Plant site. Progress will lease the land to SunEdison, which will in turn sell the energy generated to Progress for distribution to its customers.

Progress Energy needs to meet the requirements of a state law, passed in 2007, that requires Progress to provide 3 percent of its total energy sales from renewable sources and energy efficiency by 2012 -- and 12.5 percent by 2021.

The SunEdison deal is the second megawatt-sized solar plant Progress has announced this year. Software company SAS is building a 1-megawatt solar plant at its Cary campus and selling the energy back to Progress Energy.

One megawatt is enough to provide power to roughly 700 homes in North Carolina.

Both the SunEdison and the SAS projects are expected to start producing energy late this year.

<also take a look at the story in the News & Observer here about how NC is out front in solar development - for now at least>

E-Wall makes for a stronger tighter building

The Efficient Wall Systems, or E-Wall, solutions makes for strong and tight buildings that go up quickly and are easy for trades to finish.  This system is growing rapidly in Texas and Florida. A lot of builders here in North Carolina are now interested in E-Wall because it can save costs, reduce waste and deliver a better, tighter building. It's as practical for residential or commercial construction and can go up several floors in height.

The basic concept is a panel construction a bit like SIPs, but the walls are hollow to be filled with concrete on site, like ICFs. The fact that it's filled on site provides a tight monolithic structure which means you don't have to spend a lot of effort to seal gaps. The insulated panels provide for a finished wall with R14 or more. 10 of that comes from the 2" blue foam board, which can be doubled if needed for an R24+ wall.

Combine this shell with a spray foam insulated roof structure and you've got a tight well insulated house with minimal effort and at a very reasonable cost.   

The building owner or resident can save 30% or more on energy costs. Plus, they can save on insurance because the structure is fortified. And there are savings in pest control because the monolithic concrete structure is pest resistant and termite proof.

LED lights are here and practical

We've been hearing for a couple years that LEDs would someday replace incandescent and fluorescent lights with their dramatically lower energy needs and longer lifespan. That day is here. Already you can get light fixtures for all the typical domestic needs including candlabra and globe lights, even dimmable light and rope lights.

And a wide range of commercial requirements are catered to. In fact it's the commercial side where the greatest uptake is being seen. Partly that's because they can see the economic sense of spending more today to save big over several years. Plus, commercial clients see the savings in the longer bulb lifespans.

The City of Ann Arbor MI has begun trying out LED street lights. Downtown globe lights with LED lights have received positive feedback from citizens. Now the city hopes to cut its $1.39 million street lighting budget in half by switching to LEDs. And that's just the energy savings, not the maintenance crew savings, which should be substantial and allow crews to focus on more important projects.

Another benefit of LED lighting for commercial applications is the range of colors that can be achieved though software controls. The managers of the Empire State Building are considering a proposal to light the tower with LEDs now for that reason. It will enable them to change the colors remotely, more easily, and they'll have a palette of millions of colors to work with.

A further example of what can be created with LEDs is a Hybrid solar street light we now offer. It comes with a solar PV collector and batteries to store daylight energy in the day. Plus is can be fitted with 120 volt power that it will automatically switch over to if the battery runs down.

We now carry a full range of retrofit bulbs for medium bases including high lumen dimmable bulbs and a variety of floods as well as T8 strip lights to replace fluorescent tubes. We've even got LED pool lights and rope lights for architectural accents. All use minimal energy, produce negligible heat and offer excellent light quality.

IBM to create green data center in RTP

IBM plans to renovate a building on its RTP campus in North Carolina to create one of the most technologically advanced and energy efficient data centers in the world. It will will reuse up to 95 percent of an existing building and meet stringent environmental standards.

The project is expected to cost $360 million, and received a $750,000 incentives package from Durham County commissioners this June. The new data center will be the first in the world to be built with IBM's New Enterprise Data Center design principles. 

This new RTP data center is a key component in IBM's Project Big Green initiative to dramatically increase energy efficiency in the data center, as companies face escalating energy costs and the requirement to handle a rapidly rising amount of data. It is expected to be a core part of delivering a technology known as cloud computing, harnessing a network of computer systems around the world.

See the full IBM press release here.