Green Building & Manufacturing Articles
The Parking Lot as 'Solar Grove'
One day early in 2004, Robert Noble, an architect specializing in sustainable design, asked himself why parking lots in the United States weren't covered in solar panels and used to generate clean energy. A few firms had been building carports with solar panels for some time, but none had acquired a major presence or branched out much beyond the residential market.
"Parking lots are this wasteland – they're the last thing that gets attention," Mr. Noble said in an interview. "Here's a market the size of Alpha Centauri that's never been tapped."
In 2005, Mr. Noble founded Envision Solar, now the country's leading developer of solar carports. The company's signature product is "solar groves," 1,000-square-foot canopies that shade parking lots while generating clean power from an array of photovoltaic panels.
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THE POWER GRID COULD END OUR DEPENDENCE ON IMPORTED OIL.
Sending the better part of a billion dollars out of the country every day to buy imported oil is NOT helping the US recover from a severe recession. If oil exporting nations were buying American goods and services for an equal dollar amount, and our trade was in balance with them, the US would benefit. But that isn't happening. Our dependence on imported oil is hurting us.
About 60 percent of the petroleum we consume originates from beyond our borders. We import both crude oil that needs refining as well as finished products like gasoline and diesel fuel.
For the U.S. energy dependence is mostly about transportation fuels. About 2/3 of the oil we consume is for vehicle fuel, according to the Energy Information Agency (EIA) of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The remainder of the oil is used for stationary purposes: heating, domestic hot water, a little bit of power generation, lubricants and chemicals.
Our electricity supply, on the other hand, is already mostly independent from the rest of the world. Most power generation in the U.S. is fueled by a domestic resource: coal.
But most does not mean all. We import some natural gas for power generation as well as for heating, hot water and cooking. Our domestic natural gas supplies seem strong at the moment.
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Dow Jones Selects SunPower to Build 4.1 MW Solar System.
Dow Jones & Company and SunPower Corp. have announced that SunPower has been selected to install a high-efficiency solar power system totaling 4.1 megawatts at Dow Jones' corporate offices in central New Jersey.
The system will include 3.6 megawatts of elevated solar panels above parking areas and a 522-kilowatt rooftop installation. When completed early next year, the system will be one of the nation's largest solar power installations operating at a corporate site, and is expected to generate the equivalent of 15 percent of current electricity needs for Dow Jones' South Brunswick campus.
At the site, SunPower is installing SunPower T5 Solar Roof Tile, the solar industry's first non-penetrating rooftop product that combines a high-efficiency SunPower solar panel, frame and mounting system into a single pre-engineered unit. Tilted at a five-degree angle, the T5 Roof Tile system approximately doubles the energy generated per square meter compared with other systems that are mounted flat onto commercial rooftops.
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Applied Materials: Summer Solstice Survey Shows U.S. Consumers Want More Solar Energy.
A new survey conducted by Applied Materials, Inc. reveals that two-thirds of Americans believe solar technology should play a greater role in meeting the country's energy needs. In addition, three-quarters of Americans feel that increasing renewable energy and decreasing U.S. dependence on foreign oil are the country's top energy priorities.
According to the survey, 67 percent of Americans would be willing to pay more for their monthly utility bill if their utility company increased its use of renewable energy and 49 percent of consumers polled would be willing to pay $5 or more each month for an increased amount of renewable energy-a 14 percent increase from the results of Applied Materials' 2009 survey.
"Americans are becoming more aware of the need for responsible energy solutions, like solar power, and increasingly want their government to drive policy and investment aimed at finding alternative ways to power our homes and economy," said Dr. Charles Gay, president of Applied Solar, a division of Applied Materials. "With the right energy legislation in place, the U.S. could reap the benefits of one of the biggest economic job engines of this century – the clean energy revolution."
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Toshiba to Build Electric Drive Motors in the U.S.
Toshiba Corporation will expand manufacturing capacity at its plant in Houston, Texas for production of high-performance drive motors for hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and electric vehicles (EVs).
The production will be Toshiba's first overseas manufacturing base for automotive propulsion motors which are currently produced in Mie Prefecture, Japan. The decision follows the awarding of a major contract to supply drive motors for hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles for Ford Motor Company.
"We welcome Toshiba's decision to locate this new production in the United States," said Sherif Marakby, Director, Electrification Programs and Engineering, Ford Motor Company. "This key technology will help build U.S. capacity and supply of components to further enable vehicle electrification in the North American market."
Toshiba will begin construction for the expanded capacity in January 2011 in Houston, Texas, on the site of Toshiba International Corporation. Production of the automotive motors would begin in 2012.
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NIBS Becomes Green Building Council Education Provider
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has recognized the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) as an Education Provider - a third-party organization offering green building education and training that has been peer-reviewed and approved by USGBC. The Institute received the status for courses on its WBDG Whole Building Design Guide web site.
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A Solar Bulb May Light the Way
Nearly 130 years after Thomas Edison created the first marketable incandescent light bulb, nearly two billion people around the globe still live their lives without a steady supply of electric light. The problem is not light bulbs, of course, but living off the grid.
To generate light, these people do what those without electricity have always done: burn something, mostly kerosene. But kerosene is a dirty fuel: studies show that breathing fumes from indoor kerosene use is the equivalent of smoking two packs a day.
The cost of producing light, when compared to electricity from the grid in any American city, is also astronomical: $3 to $11 per kilowatt hour. Aggressively expanding the electric grid in Africa, Asia and South America would solve the problem, but that is unrealistic, at least in the near future. Yet there is another solution: decentralized renewable electricity systems. For lighting, solar panels can charge batteries and power conventional lamps. But there are other solutions, too, like a solar light bulb recently unveiled by Nokero, a Hong Kong-based manufacturer.
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GE to double investment in energy efficiency
General Electric Co. said Thursday that its plan to pour $5 billion in investments into energy efficient and environmentally oriented projects has been met a year ahead of schedule.
It also said it is committed to spend an additional $10 billion by 2015.
General Electric, based in Fairfield, Conn. said in its annual report that its investment in its "ecomagination" program is paying off.
GE said revenue from these products and services increased 6 percent to $18 billion in 2009 and that it has reduced emissions of greenhouse gases blamed for global warming. The company's revenue totaled $156.8 billion last year.
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Record Growth in Photovoltaic Capacity and Momentum Builds for Concentrating Solar Power
An estimated 7,300 megawatts (MW) of new solar photovoltaic (PV) power capacity was installed in 2009-20 percent more than was added in 2008.1 With this record addition, global installed PV capacity surpassed 21,000 megawatts, producing enough power to satisfy the annual electricity use of about 5.5 million households.2 In addition, 127 MW of solar thermal electric power plants came online in 2009, bringing the total operating capacity of such plants to 613 MW.34 Solar energy harnessed by PV and thermal electric plants now meets about 1 percent of electricity demand in Germany and more than 2 percent of demand in Spain.
Europe continues to be the center of global PV demand, installing 5,280 MW in 2009, equal to 72 percent of the global total.5 (See Figure 1.) Germany alone was responsible for more than half of global PV
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Retrofitting Suburbia - Video
Ellen Dunham-Jones fires the starting shot for the next 50 years' big sustainable design project: retrofitting suburbia. To come: Dying malls rehabilitated, dead "big box" stores re-inhabited, parking lots transformed into thriving wetlands.
Ellen Dunham-Jones teaches architecture at the Georgia Institute of Technology, is an award-winning architect and a board member of the Congress for the New Urbanism. She shows how design of where we live impacts some of the most pressing issues of our times -- reducing our ecological footprint and energy consumption while improving our health and communities and providing living options for all ages.
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Manure Provides Higher Returns Than Chemical Fertilizers, Economist Says
ScienceDaily (June 29, 2010) - No significant differences in corn yield were found between organic and chemical sources of nutrients, but a Texas AgriLife Research economist said manure generates higher economic returns than anhydrous ammonia.
Dr. Seong Park, AgriLife Research economist, recently had his research published in the Agronomy Journal. The work was from studies he conducted in the Oklahoma Panhandle while at Oklahoma State University and finalized while in his new position at Vernon.
The long-term experiment involved the use of pig and beef manure on irrigated corn fields, he said. The testing was conducted in part due to a rapid growth of animal population and density in that region, as well as the northern part of the Texas Panhandle.
Park said when swine manure, which is normally stored in open-air lagoon systems, is properly applied and the economics figured, the effluent can be used as manure with minimal environmental and nuisance concerns.
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Small Solar Power Sail Demonstrator 'IKAROS' - Successful Solar Sail Deployment
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) began to deploy the solar sail of the Small Solar Power Sail Demonstrator "IKAROS" on June 3 (Japan Standard Time). On June 10 (JST,) we have confirmed that it was successfully expanded and was generating power through its thin film solar cells at about 7.7 million km from the Earth.
The IKAROS was launched on May 21, 2010 (JST), from the Tanegashima Space Center.
We will measure and observe the power generation status of the thin film solar cells, accelerate the satellite by photon pressure, and verify the orbit control through that acceleration. Through these activities, we will ultimately aim at acquiring navigation technology through the solar sail.
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Study: Sprawling cities experience hotter summer temperatures
The rate of increase in the number of very hot days in sprawling cities is more than double that of compact cities, a study published in the Environmental Health Perspectives journal has found.
A team of Atlanta-based scientists studied the number of very hot days in 53 sprawling metropolitan regions between 1956 and 2005, each of which had different climate zones, population sizes and rates of growth.
The scientists found that the annual number of very hot days in sprawling cities increased by 14.8 days, but cities with the least sprawl increased by only 5.6 days.
Those cities with the highest increase in the number of very hot days include Atlanta, Greenville, Greensboro, Raleigh, Tampa and Grand Rapids, Brian Stone, lead author of the study and associate professor at Georgia Institute of Technology, said in an interview.
Two major principles contribute to hotter temperatures -- rising greenhouse gasses and urban heat island effect; however, Stone said greenhouse gas emissions would consistently raise temperatures across the nation, not in individual cities.
Urban heat island effect -- which includes cutting down trees and replacing them with parking lots, roads and buildings or putting dark shingles that absorb heat onto buildings -- has more of an impact on cities, he said.
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GREENGUARD Unveils Interactive, 3-D Virtual Home Tour as Tool to Educate Consumers about Indoor Air Pollution Sources and Solutions
Virtual home tour helps "visitors" identify common sources of chemical emissions and simple, inexpensive ways to improve their home's indoor air quality
(Atlanta, GA)-In an effort to help people understand indoor air pollution and the simple ways they can combat it in their homes, the GREENGUARD Environmental Institute (GEI) unveiled today an interactive animated house tour online, which allows users to take a virtual "walk through" of a family residence while learning about common sources of indoor air pollution.
The computer-generated, two-story home features a fully-equipped kitchen, living room, den, bathroom, master bedroom, and nursery, as well as an basement that's undergoing renovation-each furnished with common household products and materials that are known to emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Once a user "enters" a room, he or she can scroll over the various products to learn more about their chemical emissions, as well as other sources of indoor air pollution, and discover straightforward solutions.
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Stability and Utility of Floating Wind Turbines Shown in New Study
ScienceDaily (June 29, 2010) - Wind turbines may be one of the best renewable energy solutions, but as turbines get larger they also get noisier, become more of an eyesore, and require increasingly larger expanses of land. One solution: ocean-based wind turbines. While offshore turbines already have been constructed, they've traditionally been situated in shallow waters, where the tower extends directly into the seabed. That restricts the turbines to near-shore waters with depths no greater than 50 meters -- and precludes their use in deeper waters, where winds generally gust at higher speeds.
An alternative is placing turbines on floating platforms, says naval architect Dominique Roddier of Berkeley, California-based Marine Innovation & Technology. He and his and colleagues have published a feasibility study of one platform design -- dubbed "WindFloat" -- in the latest issue of the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, which is published by the American Institute of Physics (AIP).
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Loan Giants Threaten Energy-Efficiency Programs
SAN FRANCISCO - The Obama administration is devoting $150 million in stimulus money for programs that help homeowners install solar panels and other energy improvements, which they pay for over time on their property tax bills.
At the same time, the two government-chartered agencies that buy and resell most home mortgages are threatening to derail the effort by warning that they might not accept loans for homes that take advantage of the special financing.
The mixed messages have alarmed state officials and prompted many local governments to freeze their programs, which have been hailed as an innovative way to help homeowners afford the retrofitting of a house with solar panels, which can cost $30,000 or more before incentives.
"The thing that is maddening is that this is having a real-life impact with companies laying off people and homeowners in limbo as all these projects are stalled," said Clifford Rechtschaffen, a special assistant attorney general in California.
Under the financing programs, a local government borrows money through bonds or other means, and then uses it to make loans to homeowners to cover the upfront costs of solar installations or other energy improvements. Each owner repays the loan over 20 years through a special property tax assessment, which stays with the home even if it is sold.
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Fuel-Cell Research Is Worth Risk, Says National Academies Report
A government-industry collaborative research program on advanced automotive technologies should continue to work on fuel cells and other far-off technologies, in addition to more immediately promising transportation options such as electric vehicles and biofuels, according to a review by the National Academies.
The FreedomCAR (Cooperative Automotive Research) and Fuel Partnership -- which includes the Energy Department, major automakers, five major oil and gas companies and two electric utilities -- performs a range of research and development on vehicle technologies.
Created in 2002 by the George W. Bush administration, the program initially focused primarily on fuel-cell systems that would use hydrogen to store energy. But in 2009, the Obama administration proposed zeroing out funding for the related DOE program -- a cut that Congress reversed through appropriations -- and pushed the FreedomCAR and Fuel Partnership to look at other emerging vehicle technologies.
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A pilot project starting Thursday pays customers to generate solar power
It seems such a simple idea, one that has spread solar power across Europe. Put solar panels on your roof, wire them to the electrical grid and recoup your costs -- and then some -- thanks to monthly checks from your power company.
Oregon embarks on a similar approach today. Portland General Electric, Pacific Power and Idaho Power begin accepting applications from Oregon customers as of 8 a.m. for a pilot project that could produce enough solar energy to serve the equivalent of 2,500 homes in a year -- funded by electricity-rate increases of perhaps one half of 1 percent.
But America is not Europe. During months of negotiations, Oregon officials stepped gingerly through thorny federal regulations to devise a first-in-the-nation program that is more complex and less robust than solar advocates had hoped.
Homeowners and businesses accepted to the program will be eligible to enter 15-year contracts to receive checks at above-market rates for energy they generate and consume. But Oregonians won't get paid -- as Europeans typically do -- for any extra power they send to the grid.
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A 4300 SF House in the Suburbs Is Not a "Statement of Sustainability"
It started with the title: "Statement of Sustainability" where Ian Harvey writes in the Star about how
Victor Kam is going green and he's putting his money where his mouth is: He's embarking on a million-dollar gamble to design and build the most practical, sustainable home possible just north of the city.
It goes downhill from there, an example of everything that is wrong about "green building" and "sustainable design" as practiced by so many today. Where do we start?
Construction on his 4,300-square-foot, two-storey home started in earnest last fall and should be complete by this summer. Built on a 150- by 100-foot lot just east of Yonge St. and north of John St. [in Thornhill, a low density suburb]
When it Comes to Green Building, Does Size Matter?
4300 square feet. Now Mr. Kam is accommodating his parents in the house, so it is housing a lot of people. But still, that is double the current average size house in North America.
He has already spent $480,000 to acquire the lot, demolish the typical 1950s brick bungalow on it and dig out the new foundations.
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Taking flight
The birds that flock nearby provided design inspiration for this edgy solar-heated home in Falmouth, Maine.
The architect who designed Jeanne McDonald's home calls it the Falmouth Flyer, and its setting helps explain why. Located across from Maine Audubon's headquarters, the property is a haven for shorebirds and offers panoramic views of Mackworth Island (a designated bird sanctuary) to the south and other Casco Bay islands to the east. McDonald purchased the approximately 1-acre pie-shaped lot – with 274 feet of undeveloped shoreline along its widest side – in September 2006 and quickly opted to tear down the existing, poorly sited 1940s ranch-style home and start anew.
Influenced by modernist architects such as Tom Kundig and the Hariri sisters, the 61-year-old divorced orthodontist – who was enrolled in architecture school during the design process – wanted, she says, "a house that looks kind of like a sculpture."
McDonald chose Kaplan Thompson Architects, based in nearby Portland and known for its green-building commitment, because she also wanted an energy-efficient home that would save her money while helping to save the planet. Tasked with the design, principal Phil Kaplan relished the opportunity to create a structure in stark contrast to the traditional New England vernacular. "It was the birds I reacted to," Kaplan says. "I started to think of this [house] in terms of avian forms – activity, speed, motion. . . . It looks like it's going to take flight."
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Smart house can predict weather
With the ability to predict the weather, sense the temperature and open or close windows accordingly, a Westmere house will be more like another member of the family than just a home.
The environmentally sustainable house features a prototype climate control system where sensors in the floor and walls measure the temperature.
The information is sent to a server, which can then open or close windows to keep the temperature comfortable.
The system is also connected to a weather station which can predict the weather for several days.
Architect Niel de Jong, of ebode, says a programme is currently being designed so the house can predict the temperature and respond accordingly.
"We're trying to train the house to be intelligent," he says.
Apart from the climate control system, the house is built to be environmentally friendly with everything from New Zealand-grown timber, which is pulled from the forest by draught horses, to woollen insulation and solar panels.
Owner Ro Gravit says she and her partner were after a "happy, healthy home" for their three sons and dog.
"Sustainability wasn't initially what drove it – we liked the look of the website.
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Balancing Sustainability and Economic Reality
The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth is adopting an aggressive, all-encompassing stance to become as green as possible, recouping expenses with long-term energy savings.
The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth left no stone unturned in its most recent sustainability assessment. It's no wonder, really, considering that the is looking to become carbon-neutral (with no negative impact on the environment) by 2050. That gives the school just 39 years to get to a place where literally every aspect of its campus is green.
Tom Paine, project manager for the university's sustainability office, said nine committees, each one made up of faculty, staff, and students, conducted the assessment. The committees were tasked with a specific topic area--energy, purchasing, waste, community, or culture, for example--and examined how each area is currently being handled, ferreted out sectors in need of improvement, and came up with strategies for meeting sustainability goals."
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Ecovillages vs. Big Cities: What's Better for the Planet?
I was surprised when I first entered Earthaven Ecovillage in North Carolina during a recent weekend and immediately heard the rumbling sound of a tractor on a barren patch of land that had obviously been forest not long before. How can an "ecovillage" have heavy machinery and clear its forests? I was expecting this to be an eco-paradise!
Without dwelling much on that first encounter, my weekend at Earthaven had many aspects of an eco-paradise. I learned about the many tasty and medicinal uses for wild plants, interacted with the vibrant kids of the village, and learned the ways of humanure (yes, human manure) and urine fertilizers. Then, sitting around a campfire on my last evening, one of the Earthaven residents – Galen – asked boldly to the group, "Who do you think has a smaller carbon footprint-an Earthaven resident or a New York City resident?"
In our heads, I and the others around the fire were pretty much thinking, "Well, duh! An Earthaven resident has a smaller footprint. I mean, it's EARTH-haven!" But, as we talked about some key differences between Earthaven and New York City, the answer became less clear. Life at Earthaven requires clearing land for new homes, trucking in tanks of propane gas to keep the village "off the grid," and frequent hour-long drives to Asheville for farmers markets and laundromat visits. A New Yorker, on the other hand, has access to most necessities within a couple blocks, travels by foot or public transit, and generally benefits from efficiency of scale for all sorts of goods and services.
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The Top Green Design Firms
Sustainable design shows strength despite the recession as energy cost savings and federal initiatives spur growth
The market for sustainable design has been growing for nearly a decade. Then, when everyone expected it to fall back with the building recession, sustainable design showed that it was not a fad to be discarded at the first sign of trouble but truly a burgeoning movement.
The growing market for green design can be seen in the results of ENR's 2010 Top Green Design Firms list. As a group, the Top 100 generated $3.33 billion in design revenue in 2009 from projects registered with, and actively seeking certification from, third-party ratings groups under objective sustainable-design standards. This revenue is a 16.8% increase over $2.85 billion in 2008 for the group. Domestically, green design revenue rose 12.2%, to $2.76 billion in 2009 from $2.46 billion in 2008. Overseas, the Top 100 had $523.7 million in revenue, up 34.1% from $390.5 million in 2008.
There were some market sectors that lost ground in the green design arena in 2009, mostly as a result of the recession. Retail project revenue was down 48.4%, while multi-unit residential was 14.0% lower. Other markets that were off in 2009 were health care (down 7.1%), hotels and hospitality (-16.9%), industrial process (-67.0%) and manufacturing (-4.3%). The biggest gainers among market sectors were government offices (up 58.9%), commercial offices (+38.3%) and education (+22.2%).
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Switching Off Your Lights Has a Bigger Impact Than You Might Think, Says New Study
ScienceDaily (June 30, 2010) - Switching off lights, turning the television off at the mains and using cooler washing cycles could have a much bigger impact on reducing carbon dioxide emissions from power stations than previously thought, according to a new study published this month in the journal Energy Policy. The study shows that the figure used by government advisors to estimate the amount of carbon dioxide saved by reducing people's electricity consumption is up to 60 percent too low.
The power stations that supply electricity vary in their carbon dioxide emission rates, depending on the fuel they use: those that burn fossil fuels (coal, gas and oil) have higher emissions than those driven by nuclear power and wind. In general only the fossil fuel power stations are able to respond instantly to changes in electricity demand.
Dr Adam Hawkes, the author of the new study from the Grantham Institute for Climate Change at Imperial College London, says the government should keep track of changing carbon emission rates from power stations to ensure that policy decisions for reducing emissions are based on robust scientific evidence. The new study suggests that excluding power stations with low carbon emission rates, such as wind and nuclear power stations, and focussing on those that deal with fluctuating demand would give a more accurate emission figure.
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New Technique Improves Efficiency of Biofuel Production
ScienceDaily (July 1, 2010) - Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a more efficient technique for producing biofuels from woody plants that significantly reduces the waste that results from conventional biofuel production techniques. The technique is a significant step toward creating a commercially viable new source of biofuels.
"This technique makes the process more efficient and less expensive," says Dr. Ratna Sharma-Shivappa, associate professor of biological and agricultural engineering at NC State and co-author of the research. "The technique could open the door to making lignin-rich plant matter a commercially viable feedstock for biofuels, curtailing biofuel's reliance on staple food crops."
Traditionally, to make ethanol, butanol or other biofuels, producers have used corn, beets or other plant matter that is high in starches or simple sugars. However, since those crops are also significant staple foods, biofuels are competing with people for those crops.
However, other forms of biomass -- such as switchgrass or inedible corn stalks -- can also be used to make biofuels. But these other crops pose their own problem: their energy potential is locked away inside the plant's lignin -- the woody, protective material that provides each plant's structural support. Breaking down that lignin to reach the plant's component carbohydrates is an essential first step toward making biofuels.
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Phoenix's CityScape uses new building program - BIM
An innovative software program is helping the developers of downtown Phoenix's CityScape know the building inside and out - without having to peer into every nook and cranny of the sprawling project.
The software allows programmers to create 3-D models of a building before construction and incorporates all construction information and documentation. The program not only assists in spotting construction issues but ultimately is expected to mean smoother building management and maintenance, according to CityScape project managers.
CityScape is the first project in North America to use the building-information modeling software.
Hunt Construction Group, based in Scottsdale, teamed with Artra Inc., the software's creator. Artra Inc. is a part of AEC Design Group based in Gathersburg, Md.
The software enables Hunt to virtually navigate through the buildings and find potential mistakes in the construction beforehand.
"It's like being in a video game. You can navigate through it like a flight simulator," said Ondrei Poliak, national director of building-information modeling technologies for Hunt.
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