GreenGeezer

Going Solar in a Condo

My friend and editor on CleanTechnica, Sarah Lozanova, shares her story on how she and her husband installed solar panels on the roof of their condo building in Chicago, in the June issue of Solar Today:

"Compared to houses, condominiums typically offer more energyefficient, eco-friendly living. Centralized water heating in our building reduces the standby losses experienced with numerous water heaters used less frequently. Shared walls lessen the heating load of
the building. Exterior lights benefit all inhabitants, reducing individual electricity consumption. And the smaller footprint of high-density buildings frees up open spaces for all to enjoy.

Despite these benefits, condo owners can find it difficult to implement narrowly supported green efforts, like a compost pile or rain barrels in the yard. I expected a solar system would be one of those cases. To my surprise, however, the other owners in the building welcomed our plans."  -- Sarah Lozanova, Solar Today

We get a lot of questions at the Illinois Solar Energy Association on how to persuade condo associations to go solar.    Sarah's article has a lot of helpful information and inspiration.  Hint: ask for solar panels for your wedding present.

Image Credit: Solar Today

Clara Cabin by HiveModular Rethinks the Cabin in the Woods

Providing a lot more shelter than a tent, but with a carbon footprint that barely registers, this modular cabin in Minnesota is a captivating example of green modular design. As profiled by the designer Bryan Meyer in his own blog:

"The only technology incorporated is a 12 volt lighting system powered by a solar charged marine battery. Two sides of the building open to draw in the adjacent national forest land and allow views to the lake. Three bi-folding doors operate independently, allowing the user to open just one or all, thus converting the interior in to a stage-like volume (and a chapel, since we were married there). Small aperture-like windows contrast the large openings and provide framed views of the surrounding wilderness."

The cabin folds up to a "mute box" when the owners leave to go back to the city.  Bryan is an architect at HiveModular.

Transition Handbook Shows How to Become a "Transition Town"

The Transition Town Movement originated in Europe but is spreading to the United States.  The movement seeks to create models of communities after peak oil.   Sandpoint, Idaho and Boulder, Colorado are taking the lessons to heart, and now others can learn how to transition, with this book published by my favorite publisher, Chelsea Green.  I haven't read it yet (it's just been released) but I can tell it's going to be important.  From the publisher's website:      

"Most of us avoid thinking about what happens when oil runs out (or becomes prohibitively expensive), but The Transition Handbook shows how the inevitable and profound changes ahead can have a positive outcome. These changes can lead to the rebirth of local communities that will grow more of their own food, generate their own power, and build their own houses using local materials.

There are now over 30 “transition towns” in the UK, Australia and New Zealand with more joining as the idea takes off. They provide valuable experience and lessons-learned for those of us on this side of the Atlantic. With little proactive thinking at the governmental level, communities are taking matters into their own hands and acting locally. If your town is not a transition town, this upbeat guide offers you the tools for starting the process."

Smart Meters Help Even Older Homes Save Energy

Image Credit: www.carboncommentary.com

A story in today's New York Times highlights the gains made in energy savings in the UK through the increasing use of Smart Meters.   Smart Meters provide real-time information on energy use so that homeowners can immediately see the effect of appliances, light bulbs, and computers on their energy usage and, their bills.   It has been shown that such feedback (as any Prius owner will tell you) changes behavior, especially as the cost of energy rises. 

In the UK, where creaking old homes vastly outnumber sleek new "green" homes (as they do in most cities of the world), Smart Meters are fostering such energy-saving behaviors as:

• Installing highly efficient windows
• Insulating under roofs
• Installing solar water heaters
• Using incandescent light bulbs little and replacing most or all bulbs with compact fluorescents
• Giving up using an electric teekettle, a notorious energy hog

Britain's Low Carbon Trust  has been a major force in making the city of Brighton and its neighbor Hove, traditional and ancient towns, into prototypes for the new green village.  The trust is sponsoring home tours  so energy-saving Brighton homeowners can share how they have transformed their older homes.

In the U.S., Smart Metering has been tried in several locations, including Chicago and the state of California. By all accounts, they are a raving success. Duke Energy Indiana  plans to install 800,000 Smart Meters starting this year.  According to Energy Design, Strategy and News:

"Some 50 million old meters in the United States are likely to be replaced by advanced meters by 2010 at a cost of about $18 billion, according to a recent analysis by Deutsche Bank. Worldwide, only 6% of electricity, 8% of gas, and 4% of water meters are even automated, according to Texas Instruments Inc, which sells a variety of chips for meters. In fact, in the electric industry alone, 500 million meters worldwide could be replaced over the next 10 years, resulting in semiconductor sales of at least $7.5 billion.."

Okay, so let's get on with it.

Nature Mill Indoor Composter

If you're like me, you're tired of throwing food down the garbage disposal.  (In our current location we don't have a backyard.)  So I have been watching the development of indoor composters like the Nature Mill.  Check it out and watch the video.  It will compost food scraps in about two weeks; you pull out a tray at the bottom and there it is.   Uses 10 watts per month at a cost of about 50 cents.

Mixed-Use, Affordable, Sustainable Housing in Calgary, CA

The latest issue of Eco-Structure magazine features Vento Residences, designed by Busby Perkins + Will.  Calgary, Alberta demolished its general hospital and decided to create a green, pedestrian-friendly, transit-oriented urban community where the hospital used to be.  The community is certified LEED Platinum, and the homes are performing 44% better than Canada's Model National Energy Code.  Green features include:

• increased density in the inner city and surrounding the public transut
• pedestrian oriented design
• live-work units
• solar orientation
  
• low maintenance vegetation
• construction waste management plans
• water efficient irrigation
• indoor/outdoor bicycle parking
• low volume toilets and shower heads

Affordable units are included in the mix, as are small, local businesses on ground level Wouldn't it be great if Chicago decided to initiate a development like this out of the hulk that is Cook County Hospital?

RainReserve Diverts Rainwater into Rain Barrel

The RainReserve helps solve one of the most wasteful practices in homes and business today:  using potable (drinkable) water for watering plants, cleaning our cars and pets, and for other uses that rain water can satisfy.  Used in tandem with a rain barrel, the device "allows debris to pass through the gutter.  It reduces mosquitoes; decreases maintenance, [and] manages water overflow..."   For  information on how rain barrels can help you save water, see the Rain Barrel Guide.

New Green Building Resources to Limit Buildings' Embedded Energy

Today's New York Times is worth checking out for its coverage of the following new green building resources and materials, and more:

• Transmaterial.net highlights new green building technologies and materials each week
• Calera, a California startup, is developing a concrete that can trap carbon dioxide.
• EcoRock, a zero-carbon drywall from Serious Materials.

It's exciting to see that the building industry is trying to address the issue of buildings' carbon footprint.

GreenSwitch Provides Convenient Way to Save 20-40% on Electricity

One of my subscribers is a distributor for GreenSwitch, which addresses the problem of "vampire loads"
-- appliances that stay in "standby" mode and use a great deal of energy.   Having had great success in the hotel and office arena, the product has been launched to the consumer market.

The ubiquitous Ed Begley, Jr. stars in a demonstration video. 

How it works:

• All appliances (except those that need to stay "on" such as fax machines) are programmed into the wireless monitor.
• GreenSwitch provides one switch that can be flipped on when leaving the house.
• Designated light switches and wall plugs will automatically turn off.
• Air Conditioning/Heating System is automatically set to the unoccupied mode allowing for more energy efficient operating temperature range

Some comments on the TreeHugger site grouse about the cost (around $1,100) and point out that one could just turn off the switches, but the point is do they?  No.  That's why a product like this can be a real energy-saver.

Image Credit: Good Magazine and Cnet.com

Will Rising Gas Prices Kill Suburban Sprawl?

When the award-winning film The End of Suburbia was released in 2004, it was considered an amusing but exaggerated view of what Peak Oil will do to the suburban way of life.  As gas prices approach $5/gallon, it doesn’t seem quite so shocking.

As a passionate enemy of suburban sprawl, I listened intently to an interview this morning on NPR with Brookings Institution demographer William Frey in which he notes that housing prices are falling faster in the areas outside cities.  Is this a permanent correction that is making "exurbs" less desirable overall?  And how are gas prices influencing this loss of home value? Mr. Frey was cautious in his answer, saying "the jury is still out" and that Americans have a history of moving outward from cities in order to buy more housing for less, seeing long commutes as an acceptable trade off.

However, it doesn’t take a genius to see that, when a commute costs more than one is saving on housing, while sucking up hours of one’s valuable time, (and as the saying goes, “They aren’t making more of that”) why would one buy a home in the far suburbs? 

Sperling's Best Places did a survey two years ago when gas prices were at $2.90 a gallon. The following were the most expensive cities in which to commute and listed the average annual commuting cost:

City                                    Annual Commuting Cost (2006)

1.  Atlanta                            $5,772
2.  Birmingham, Ala.             $5,464
3.  Orlando, Fla.                   $5,404
4.  Jacksonville, Fla.             $5,360
5.  Pensacola, Fla.                $5,173

So, if gas prices reach $6.00, Atlanta’s commuting cost would be over $10,000 per year.  Yikes.   

A posting on  Wall Street Journal’s online edition reports that even the conservative International Energy Agency is moving toward the Peak Oil Pessimists’ camp.  The conclusion is that it’s not speculators making oil go higher but simple capitalist principles like the law of supply and demand – developing countries are going to be driving up demand for many years to come. 

So will this result in an end to sprawl?  Will avoidance of driving cause the demise of the ugly, cookie-cutter mini-mall blight that has mushroomed around our cities like an invasive species?  Let's hope so.