Practical Eco

New Visitor Center At Cliffs of The Neuse State Park is LEED registered

The NC state parks system is beginning a 7,000-square-foot $2.4 million green visitor center at Cliffs of the Neuse State Park in Wayne County.  The project is registered as a LEED project with the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) and will incorporate as many features as possible to make it energy efficient and sustainable.

Some of the planned features include active and passive solar energy systems, low-energy, water-source heat pumps and a highly reflective roof surface to reduce summer heat gain. Also, the building's sidewalk will feature a cast model of the Neuse River.

The designer of record is Schema Architecture of Raleigh, and general contractor is Blue Ridge Enterprises of Mount Airy. The event is open to the public. The state park is located 12 miles southeast of Goldsboro on N.C. 111.

A groundbreaking will be held at the park at 11 a.m. April 3 with the Tuscarora Nation of North Carolina helping to mark the event with a Ceremonial Blessing.

Similar to visitor centers built at 18 state parks and state recreation areas since 1994, the facility at Cliffs of the Neuse will offer a unique design reflecting the park's character and will feature an exhibit hall, teaching auditorium and classroom along with administrative offices for both the park and the state parks system's east district.

Most hotels have potential to benefit from solar thermal

A recent article in GreenerBuildings.com explores the growing potential for hotels and resorts to save by installing solar thermal solutions. The Proximity Hotel, in Greensboro NC, which I've written about more than once, is heavily featured. Its 100-panel installation covers 4,000 square feet on the LEED Platinum building delivering about 5,000 gallons of hot water each day. This is saving the hotel about $16,000 per year , according to Dennis Quaintance, of Quaintance-Weaver, the company that owns the property.

The company expects to recover its investment in the system within five years. When you total up energy savings, renewable energy credits of $20,000 a year, a 30 percent federal tax credit, 35 percent state tax credit, and accelerated depreciation it's a rapid return on investment. The solar hot water heating system is backed up by a natural gas system, but has been meeting 60 percent of the hotel’s domestic hot water needs.

An even larger system has been installed on the Hyatt Regency Scottsdale Resort and Spa. This one goes to 166-panels heating 100,000 gallons of water each day. The installers estimate the hotel's owners should get a return on their $550,000 investment in less than three years. In this case, Arizona Public Service is offsetting 60% of the cost through its purchase of RECs.  The hotel owners are now planning a possible additional 212 panels, which would make it the largest solar thermal installation on any hotel in the United States.  The heated water from phase two will be used for the resort’s restaurants, laundry and pool. Because so much water is used for these, payback time on phase two will be just six months

Hotels are clearly catching on to the sizeable savings they can gain from solar hot water implentations. And it seems to work in almost every part of the country.

EcoDrain cuts down hot water use in showers

In a recent post on inhabitat I came across a brilliant concept that recaptures the heat from your shower water as it runs down the drain. That heat is then recirculated back to the shower mixing valve, thus cutting down your use of hot water from your water heater. Just plain clever. I'm wondering how feasible it is on a retrofit though. More likely it's a feature for new construction.

See the full story on inhabitat here.

Concentrating solar for home lighting and heat

Practical Solar is a computer controlled heliostat (mirrors) system that directs the sun's rays from your lawn or garden into your home. A single heliostat directed through a window or skylight can deliver the equivalent of 40 100-watt incandescent bulbs.  Two systems can directly heat a room with 600 watts of thermal energy.

The system comes with software that runs on a standard pc and can individually control up to 200 heliostats with unique targets and timer settings for each one.

It's a very intriguing and novel idea. I have to commend the designers on coming up with such a simple way to harness solar energy for practical uses. On the other hand, it looks like it will take up a fair bit of lawn space with not particularly handsome equipment. And I have to wonder what it's like to look out your window at mirrors that are focusing the sun right back at you.

Raintube gutter protection with Cradle-to-Cradle Gold certification

I've long felt slightly skeptical about gutter protection systems. A couple years ago I got a price for my house that was around $3000, and I've heard higher prices quoted from other systems for similar sized homes. Considering it cost me less than $100 to have some guys come clean out my gutters (Or I can do it myself in about 3 hours) and assuming I do that twice each year, it would still take about 10-15 years to pay back my initial cost. Plus, the systems out there are anything but green.

Until now that is. The Raintube claims to cost half of what other systems cost, which brings it into the realm of reasonableness. Plus, it's made from 100% recycled HDPE which is virtually indestructible and comes with a transferable lifetime warranty.

RainTube is one of only eleven companies worldwide to achieve a Cradle to Cradle Gold Tier Certification and the only Eco-Friendly gutter protection product out there!  They have won some impressive awards for their sustainability work including:

• The Sustainable Product Award for the highest overall product sustainability rating
• The Global Climate Change Award
• The End of Product Life Award

The patented RainTube material is porous and fits snugly into the body of the gutter keeping debris high up out of the water where it can dry out quickly. Water flows in great volumes around and through the tube via thousands of tiny passageways. In most installations, RainTube crowns slightly above the top of the gutter creating a slippery aerodynamic surface that allows most debris to blow away in a light breeze.

This will finally cause me to rethink my stance on gutter protection systems. However, there isn't an installer in North Carolina yet. Anyone want to partner up to start one?

A Greener fiberglass insulation - EcoBatt

EcoBatt™ fiberglass insulation doesn't look like the usual insulation - for starters it's brown. That's because it doesn't use dyes like other fiberglass insulation products.

The manufacturer, Knauf, utilizes what they call ECOSE™ technology to bind it together. This converts natural organic materials into an inert polymer, binding the insulation fibers.  The technology is also up to 70% less energy intensive.

EcoBatt also contains no formaldehyde, acrylics, or artificial colors. It does however, contain a minimum of 30% post-consumer recycled glass.

It's only now becoming available on the west coast, and is due to become available on the East cost by the end of this year.

Green building materials business forecast to grow to $80 billion by 2013

The Freedonia Group, Inc., a Cleveland-based industry research firm, recently issued a study titled "Green Building Materials" estimating the 2008 market for green building materials at almost $57 billion. They forecast it will to expand 7.2 percent annually to over $80 billion in 2013. This outpaces the growth of building construction spend over the same period.  Growth will be driven primarily by the recovery of the residential market through 2013 as it rises from its depressed 2008 level. 

FSC-certified wood is expected to be the fastest growing products in percentage terms, but it's coming from a small base. 

Other products expected to see fast growth through 2013 include water-efficient plumbing fixtures and fittings, and energy-efficient lighting fixtures. Demand for each of these products is forecast to grow at a double-digit pace through 2013, but account for only a small share of total green building materials market.

The greatest absolute gains are forecast to come from green floor coverings, which is the largest green building materials market. 

Concrete made from recycled materials (e.g., fly ash, blast furnace slag) had the second largest share of green building materials demand in 2008, accounting for over 15 percent of the market total.  Demand for concrete made from recycled materials is forecast to grow 8.4 percent per year to $14.3 billion in 2013, accounting for an increasing share of total concrete used.

The Freedonia Group is a leading international business research company, founded in 1985, that publishes more than 100 industry research studies annually. This industry analysis provides an unbiased outlook and a reliable assessment of an industry and includes product segmentation and demand forecasts, industry trends, demand history, threats and opportunities, competitive strategies, market share determinations and company profiles. 

Kohl's opening new green store in Wake Forest

Kohl's has announced it is opening 18 new stores this spring including one in Wake Forest on April 1st which are built to a design that is LEED pre-certified at the Silver level.

The store's green attributes include recycled and locally obtained building materials; high-efficiency heating and cooling systems; occupancy sensor lighting for stockrooms, break rooms and offices; water-conserving plumbing fixtures and a recycling program for cardboard boxes, hangers and packaging.

I mentioned Kohl's back in Oct 07 in an item "Retailers Flocking toward Green" and it's a trend I see accelerating across the country. It's great that NC is getting some of that.

I also notice Kohl's flaunting their green credentials with a new site www.kohlsgreenscene.com.

N.C. State Design Uses Less Steel in Beams

Researchers from North Carolina State University (NCSU) have worked out a safe way to use 30 percent less reinforcing steel in manufactured concrete beams, or spandrels, used in building parking garages.

Sami Rizkalla, one of the leaders of the research team, says their new spandrel design "simplifies construction for precast concrete producers," as well as using less steel, the new design cuts labor and manufacturing time in half -- significantly decreasing costs. And the new design guidelines include a significant margin for safety such that spandrels could handle two to three times the maximum weight they would be expected to bear.

The success of the project is already drawing interest from the concrete industry, with individual companies coming to NC State to get input on how to improve their products and manufacturing processes.

For the full story on the NCSU website click here

Great Solar Hot Water Overview

Fine Homebuilding magazine ran an excellent 6-page overview of solar hot water technology which is available free - click here to view it.

The author, Scot Gibson, highlights the different technologies and the benefits of each.  He also gives a brief run down of what is involved in the installation of a typical system.

This is also a good place to remind readers that we're now installing both Solahart thermosiphon units and Apricus evacuated tube units in the NC Triangle area as well as Solahart units in the Charlotte NC area.