Tag:Green That Saves Green
A Good summary on Green
Often I cruise YouTube when I’m eating lunch at my desk. The other day I found an interesting video from Belinda Carr titled The Hypocrisy of Being GREEN.
As I’ve discussed here before, I strive to sell Green that Saves Green, i.e. I’ll sell you a green option if it saves you money, not just greenwashing. I could very much identify with her comments towards the end about things that are added to projects to get green points on a score sheet that are actually wasteful and don’t advance any value to the building. If you’ve got 10 minutes to take a look, I think it’s worth listening to her explanations. She has some good points.
Sand Hill Farm 3D
The First 3 wall panels installed February 16, 2018
As we all know, this winter has been challenging to say the least. Four 50+ degree swings so far this year. Despite that we’ve muddled along and made some progress at the Sand Hill Farm site. Most of the work has been underground, but as of last Friday, wall panels have begun to stand up on the building pad. We;re now in 3D! The erection crew worked over the weekend and about half the first floor is framed. At this rate they will make quick work of things and we’ll be weathered in before we know it.
In the picture you can see that the first three panels at the Southwest corner are in place. The panels are 2×6 framing with OSB exterior sheathing. The 2×6 framing allows for additional insulation. The 2×6 studs are on 24″ centers to reduce the areas of heat transfer for energy efficiency. California Corners (Green That Saves Green 101) were used to increase insulation as well. The window and door openings are pre-framed, so once the panels are up and the house wrap is installed, the fenestrations (our big word of the day) will be filled quickly too.
Fire Hydrant at the Southwest corner of the Building
Note the fire hydrant in the lower right of the picture. The main water lines are in place as well. We have a fire hydrant waiting on the Town to bring water to it. My understanding is that the street and utilities project should go out for bid within 2 weeks with bids due in around 6 weeks. We’ll be needing that soon! They’ve promised installation by the 1st of June.
The building will be sprinkled, so we already have the riser in place in the maintenance room for fire protection. Rough-in for that will begin once framing is complete so we can get things placed prior to drywall installation.
It’s great to see things coming together after some of the earlier struggles.
Solar Eclipse
As the hype grows, I’ve been thinking about the solar eclipse on August 21st. Thanks to Waffle House, I found this handy map (see right) in case you want your eclipse viewing “Smothered & Covered”. I heard on the radio that Krispy Kreme was planning competing events. Chocolate Glaze! Unfortunately, Indiana will be mostly bypassed for the total eclipse. We’ll only get a side view. That should still be cool and weather permitting, I’m sure I’ll step out side to check it out.
Picture of Sanford Stadium from ajc.com article
My friends around Atlanta are planning parties and events. Any excuse for a party and a day off work, right? The University of Georgia is planning a party in Sanford Stadium. (Article here) Do you tailgate for an eclipse? Knowing the Bulldogs, the answer to that will be a resounding YES! Ha!
Nest Thermostat asking to activate their eclipse rush hour savings
One of the other interesting tie-ins I saw was with the Nest thermostats. I’ve talked about them before here. They’ve been through a few updates since then and I chose to install one in my home. So far I’ve been pleased. More than similar devices, I have observed Nest really trying to make the green connection and not just personal energy cost savings. They send out a report on how many “leafs” you earn each month for energy savings along with a comparison to other Nest owners. There is a running total on their website showing their estimate of how many Kwh of energy that has been saved by their devices.
The tie-in to the eclipse is that in their blog, Nest repeats a report that suggests the solar eclipse, as it blocks out solar panels, will reduce green energy production by as much as 9,000 MW resulting in traditional systems coming back on line to pick up the slack. “At Nest, we think of these high-demand times on the energy grid as rush hours.” They suggest that if you opt in, their thermostats will automatically cool your home a little extra before the event so that it can reduce the load during the event. Personally I think that’s as much marketing as an actual need, but it’s still an interesting concept and it’s another reminder of how the Internet of Things continues to find new ways to work for us.
For those of you in Culver, there is going to be presentations this Saturday at the Culver Union Township Public Library at 10:30 and noon talking about the eclipse. (The noon event was added after the flyer came out.) Dr. Angela Meyer from Culver Academies will give the presentation. Those that attend will receive NASA approved viewing glasses for Monday’s eclipse. This should be an informative event!
Maybe I’ll see you out in the semi-darkness on the 21st. That is if I don’t accept an invitation to go to Atlanta and get the full effect! While I doubt this will be any kind of life changing event, it is one of those cool and rare physical phenomenons of which we should all take advantage. Hopefully for most of us it’s not literally a once-in-a-lifetime event, but it is pretty rare… And unlike most astronomical events, you don’t have to get up in the middle of the night to see it! Bonus!
Solar Shutters
Plantation shutters are useful for keeping sunlight out, but they can also be adapted to harvest solar power… at least that is the vision of the San Diego company called Plug ‘n Save Energy Products. Placing these shutters on the windows on the south side of your home will do double duty reducing heat gain from sunlight while collecting the solar energy. Connect the photovoltaic panels on the louvers to an inverter that plugs into an outlet and returns power back to your electrical system.
Picture Source: latimes.com
Net Zero Energy Walgreens in Evanston, Illinois
Imager borrowed from evanston.patch.com
Combining efficient energy use with wind and solar energy production, the new Evanston Walgreens will have net zero energy use. See the article here.
Too bad the new WECS ordinance being considered for Culver would stop a store like this from coming into Culver. (A Walgreens would best fit in a C-2 Zoning District which does allow for the use of a WECS, but the further restriction that no WECS maybe located within 1500 feet of an R-1 Zoning District would make it virtually impossible to place such a store within Culver’s Town Limits.)
Evanston is north of Chicago which generally would put it in a latitude where solar energy collection has diminished returns. It’s proximity to Lake Michigan does make it likely to receive fairly consistent winds.
