By Loretta White

Want to save money on heating this winter? Here are five steps you can take to keep the heat in.

The previous post in the Simple Ways to Save Money This Winter series focused on with exterior walls.  Here we discover five other insulation solutions that are not only inexpensive but can be done in a short amount of time and don’t require you to tear down walls to accomplish.

Save money and heat with these easy insulation tips:

To determine the best place to start in your home, take an energy audit.  You can either find a local energy auditor, or take your own free energy audit.  Once you’re ready, here are some of the quickest, easiest, and least expensive places to insulate.

1. Plumbing:

Inadequate insulation can create substantial heat loss, in and around your plumbing.

• Stuff steel wool in gaps around the pipes using gloves and a chop stick or fondue fork to push in. Then fill with fiberglass or foam insulation
• Caulking afterwards will give the project that “finished” look.
• Add foam covers to hot water pipes. This will save on the loss of heat as the water travels to its destination. Of course, tank-less water heaters are the greenest way to go, and most luxurious!
• Gas pipes should be checked as well.
  

  Tip: Look under sinks, in the laundry room, in cellars, and around anywhere else that plumbing comes out from the wall.

2. Duct work:

Seal around heat ducts and AC vents. The cellar is a good place to start here.

• Stuff steel wool in gaps around the pipes using gloves and a chop stick or fondue fork, then fill with natural fiber, fiberglass or foam insulation.
• Caulking afterwards gives the project a “finished” look.

3. Sill:

This is the area where the ceiling meets the floor of your first floor.

• Go around the sill plate and fill in gaps with natural fiber or foam.

4. Seal foundation with moisture block:

Foundation repair can be very expensive if left untreated.

• Consider using liquid rubber waterproofing to keep moisture from damaging your foundation.

5. Attic door or hatch

• Place a blanket on fold-down stairs, making sure the blanket is touching the edges. When closing the stairs, you create a insulated seal.
• Bead or squirt caulking or use spray foam around the gaps in the hatch.
• Use fiberglass to insulate around the hatch.

Remember: Choose natural insulation whenever you can. As you can see, there are many options to fix these areas.  If you have other ideas, please add them in a comment. We’d love to hear your heat saving solutions.

About the author:  Loretta White is a respected member of the global manufacturing industry and brings over 20 years experience in consulting. Loretta lectures on: Sales, Business Development and Green Business practices and is a published author on sustainability techniques.

Credit to:

http://green.yahoo.com/

Static and dynamic insulation

In static insulation the insulation value of static air is used. The principle requires the use of a porous material with the greatest possible number of air pockets. These have to be so small that no air can move within them.

In dynamic insulation air is drawn through a similar porous insulation material. When the fresh air is led from outside through the surface of the wall, rather than through small ventilation ducts, it picks up heat loss flowing out of the building. Besides achieving a prewarmed fresh-air flow into the building, the heat loss through the surfaces is reduced to a minimum.

The optimal materials for such a wall should have an open structure with pores across the whole width, plus good heat exchange properties. A high thermal capacity is also an advantage, so that sudden changes in the outside temperature are evened out. Dynamic insulation is still being introduced into construction and has been used in only a few buildings.

The technical demands of an insulating material (excluding the reflective layer) are usually as follows:

1. High thermal insulation properties

2. Stability and long life span

3. Fire resistance

4. Lack of odour

5. Low chemical activity

6. Ability to cope with moisture

7. Good thermal exchange properties (for dynamic insulation)

The thermal insulation property for static insulation is usually called lambda ( ) and can be measured with special equipment:

= W/(m°k)

Mineral wool has a lambda value of 0.04, while a woodwool slab has a value of about 0.08. This means that a double thickness piece of woodwool gives the same
insulation value as a single thickness of mineral wool.

Calculating the value of insulation

The example quoted above comparing the thermal insulation of two materials is the traditional method of calculation, making the assumption that there is a linear relationship between the lambda value and insulation/heat loss. There are limitations to the lambda values. They give no indication of the material’s structure, moisture properties or reaction to draughts (which every wall has to a certain extent). It takes no notice of the material’s thermal capacity. In buildings that are permanently heated, as in hospitals for example, there is a great energy-saving potential and improved comfort    if materials with high thermal capacity are used. The same is true for buildings where there can be wide and rapid changes in the inside temperature, for example, when opening the windows. The thermal insulation value of a material is reduced when damp. In frozen materials the ice conducts warmth three to four times better than water. This is important if using hygroscopic materials. Even if such materials seldom freeze, a lower insulation value is assumed during spring because of the higher moisture content.

Age can also affect insulation value. Certain products have shown a tendency to compress through the absorption of moisture and/or under their own weight, while others have shrunk  (mainly foam plastics). The thickness of the layers of insulation needs to be appropriate for the local climate. Too much insulation can cause low temperatures and thereby hinder drying in the outer layers, which can lead to fungus developing in the insulation or adjoining  materials. Insulation materials are sold either as loose fill, solid boards or thick matting. The latter two can result in a damaged layer of insulation, because temperature or moisture content changes can cause dimensional changes. This is especially the case with solid boards, which need to be mounted as an unbroken surface on the structure and not within it. Loose fill insulation is good for filling all the spaces around the structure, but it can settle after a time. The critical factors are the weight and moisture content of the insulation. The disadvantages of hygroscopic materials become apparent here because they take up more moisture and become heavier. Settling can be compensated for by using elastic materials which have a certain ‘suspension’ combined with adequate compression. Structures with hygroscopic loose fill as insulation need topping up during the building’s life span.
Thermal insulation materials usually occupy large volumes, but they are light and seldom take up more than about 2 per cent of the building’s total weight. Many insulation materials do, however, have a high primary energy use and use of material resources, and produce serious environmental pollution during manufacture, and use, and even as waste. The waste must often be specially treated. Only in exceptional circumstances is it possible to recycle or re-use insulation materials.

Credit to: “The Ecology of Building Materials” by Bjorn Berge

Translated from Norwegian by Filip Henley With Howard Liddell

]]> http://greenharmonyhome.com/wordpress/?feed=rss2&p=1237 5 http://greenharmonyhome.com/wordpress/?p=1210 http://greenharmonyhome.com/wordpress/?p=1210#comments Tue, 13 Jul 2010 15:25:35 +0000 uarainbow http://greenharmonyhome.com/wordpress/?p=1210 Minesto, a spin-off from Swedish automaker Saab, is developing what it calls it’s “Deep Green” technology”, underwater kites tethered to the ocean floor that could produce continuous energy from tidal flows. A single Deep Green turbine could produce up to 500 kilowatts of electricity. And tides are much more regular than winds, so that the energy produced would be less erratic and variable.

The kites have a 12m (almost 40 ft) wingspan. The kites would remain at least 20m (66 feet) below the surface, to prevent conflicts with ocean navigation and minimize visual impact. Tidal flow as low as 1.6 meters/second can be used to create the lift necessary to move the kite.

Since the underwater kite is anchored to the ocean floor, it is able to move at much faster speeds, which makes the turbine more effective, as it traverses back and forth in order to generate electricity. Although wind-based deepwater offshore power systems are difficult to install and operate, Deep Green tidal kites would be well suited for installation in deeper waters. Furthermore, the underwater kites are much lighter and easier to install than the equipment needed for other deepwater generation systems. Deepwater generating systems have the additional expense and technical hurdles of transmitting the power over a greater distance. But the higher efficiency and more consistent generation offered by Deep Green could offset those drawbacks.

The company indicates the Deep Green system offers an operating cost of 0.06-0.14 Euros/kWh, as compared to 0.15-0.30 Euros/kWh for other tidal systems, and 0.10-0.12 Euros/kWh for offshore wind systems.

A scale model of Deep Green will be tested in Northern Ireland next year as the next stage of development for this system.

Credit to: http://green.yahoo.com/

The gravel battery system would use excess capacity generated by a renewable source to heat and pressurize the argon gas and then pump it through a gravel filled silo to store energy. Then, when demand calls for electricity, the system is simply operated in reverse to generate electricity. According to the company, the system’s “round trip efficiency is over 72% – 80%.” This is comparable to the efficiency of pumped storage hydro, which has an efficiency of 70% – 85%. But gravel batteries are much more compact, and can be more readily installed in relatively flat areas characteristic of many areas with good windpower potential, such as the American Great Plains. A gravel battery can use far less land (1/300th) than that required for a pumped hydro lake, as well.

Underground compressed air storage is another technology that has been suggested, but that requires the presence of underground caverns, which are not always present where you might want to put a power storage facility. In addition to being able to be located anywhere, gravel batteries could be relatively inexpensive because they do not need costly materials. Costs could be as low as $55/kWh, and $10/kWh at scale for large installations.

Credit to:  Philip Proefrock

Photo: Green Passive Solar Home

Set on a south facing slope, the house takes advantage of natural daylight. A south-facing glazed Green House absorbs sun to heat the house during the cold winters, relies primarily on convection to move heat from the sunny space to other adjacent rooms. The clerestory located high in a central wall near the eaves allows additional daylight into a building interior, and may be used for ventilation and solar heat gain. As the sun travels across the sky, its rays hit and reflect through the glass at different angles for an ever-changing spectrum of color and shape.

To understand how a passive solar home design works, you need to understand how heat moves and how it can be stored. As a fundamental law, heat moves from warmer materials to cooler ones until there is no longer a temperature difference between the two. To distribute heat throughout the living space, a passive solar home design makes use of this law through the following heat-movement and heat-storage mechanisms:

• Conduction

• Conduction is the way heat moves through materials, traveling from molecule to molecule. Heat causes molecules close to the heat source to vibrate vigorously, and these vibrations spread to neighboring molecules, thus transferring heat energy. For example, a spoon placed into a hot cup of coffee conducts heat through its handle and into the hand that grasps it.
  

  Convection

• Convection is the way heat circulates through liquids and gases. Lighter, warmer fluid rises, and cooler, denser fluid sinks. For instance, warm air rises because it is lighter than cold air, which sinks. This is why warmer air accumulates on the second floor of a house, while the basement stays cool. Some passive solar homes use air convection to carry solar heat from a south wall into the building’s interior.
  

  Radiation

• Radiant heat moves through the air from warmer objects to cooler ones. There are two types of radiation important to passive solar design: solar radiation and infrared radiation. When radiation strikes an object, it is absorbed, reflected, or transmitted, depending on certain properties of that object.
• Opaque objects absorb 40%–95% of incoming solar radiation from the sun, depending on their color—darker colors typically absorb a greater percentage than lighter colors. This is why solar-absorber surfaces tend to be dark colored. Bright-white materials or objects reflect 80%–98% of incoming solar energy.
• Inside a home, infrared radiation occurs when warmed surfaces radiate heat towards cooler surfaces. For example, your body can radiate infrared heat to a cold surface, possibly causing you discomfort. These surfaces can include walls, windows, or ceilings in the home.
• Clear glass transmits 80%–90% of solar radiation, absorbing or reflecting only 10%–20%. After solar radiation is transmitted through the glass and absorbed by the home, it is radiated again from the interior surfaces as infrared radiation. Although glass allows solar radiation to pass through, it absorbs the infrared radiation. The glass then radiates part of that heat back to the home’s interior. In this way, glass traps solar heat entering the home.
  

  Thermal capacitance

• Thermal capacitance refers to the ability of materials to store heat. Thermal mass refers to the materials that store heat. Thermal mass stores heat by changing its temperature, which can be done by storing heat from a warm room or by converting direct solar radiation into heat. The more thermal mass, the more heat can be stored for each degree rise in temperature. Masonry materials, like concrete, stones, brick, and tile, are commonly used as thermal mass in passive solar homes. Water also has been successfully used.

Credit to:

US Department of Energy

http://www.energysavers.gov/

According to a recently released study of children affected by Hurricane Katrina published in the Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the estimated prevalence of serious emotional disturbances (SED) among residents of the affected areas was 14.9 percent. Of those, 9.3 percent of youths were believed to have SED that was directly attributable to Hurricane Katrina. Characteristics of SED include inappropriate behavior, depression, hyperactivity, eating disorders, fears and phobias, and learning difficulties for children younger than 18.

We are partnering with Haitian Artisans for Peace International (HAPI), a community development non-profit organization that has long-term work in the mountain village of Mizak near Jacmel.  This video was made by one of their volunteers before the quake, of the village and the work they are doing in helping impoverished families start economically viable small businesses.

Since the disaster much of their focus has been on immediate needs and they are bringing in relief, medical and construction teams to help the community rebuild.  OperationSAFE will train and supply teams that will work alongside the medical component with the children, with the goal of rapidly passing on the ongoing trauma work to Haitian locals.

Teamwork

Already we have become a team of international proportions with Japanese, Chinese, American, Canadian, French and Haitians helping.  Materials are being translated into French/Creole, and posters, storyboards and character medallions are being produced to help children remember the important lessons they will learn.  Games, songs and crafts all need to be localized and leaders need to be trained.  We are bringing in our best trainers from China, where they have been using the material for two years with children who suffered trauma in the Great Sichuan Earthquake.

Although we will not be able to accept volunteers at this time to go to Haiti, we still need your help on this team as well.  We have a very short time to prepare everything needed for the camp beforehand – nothing will be available locally in Haiti.  We also have little time to raise money before we start training in late February.

1. Your generous donation today will help us bring Haitian children their smiles back,
2. You can spread this appeal by hitting the Retweet button or the Facebook Share button.
3. You can add your comment to this post to send your encouragement to the children in Haiti.
4. You can partner with OperationSAFE — donate your passion and creativity!

With your help Haitian children will know “I am not alone”!

Thank you,

Jonathan Wilson

OpSAFE International

OperationSAFE

http://opsafeintl.com

CAD Software will let the designer:

• Switch between two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) views.
• Zoom in and out for close-up and distant views.
• Rotate images to view them from different perspectives.
• Change the scale of images: When one value changes, related values are automatically adjusted.
• Manipulate the shape of images: Changing one portion of an image automatically changes the entire picture.

CAD is also known as CADD, which stands for Computer-Aided Design & Drafting Examples. Popular CAD programs used by architects and engineers include: ArchiCAD, Graphisoft EcoDesigner, AutoCAD.

Sustainable Design with ArchiCAD

Green design has been embraced openly by many architectural firms worldwide. They appreciate the value and financial sense of developing a truly green design and architects who actively take ‘green’ decisions early on are saving their clients real money, now and in the future. EcoDesigner coupled with ArchiCAD’s open standards place the Virtual Building T at the heart of energy analysis.

Informed decisions

“Sustainable architecture” is the practice of designing, constructing and maintaining buildings in a way that their environmental impact is minimized. One of the most important aspects of sustainable design is energy efficiency – a drive to reduce the amount of energy a building consumes over its life-span. The truth of sustainable design is that approximately 80% of the design decisions that influence a building’s energy performance are made by the architect in the early design phase; the remaining 20% are made by engineers at the later phases of design. Therefore it is crucially important for architects to be able to utilise a quick and reliable energy performance evaluation at the very early stage of the building design process.

Using Graphisoft EcoDesigner we  can easily analyze, at an early stage, Green Passive Solar Homes Design for energy efficiency. Providing invaluable feedback on the building’s energy performance means we  can make better decisions on how to conform to regulations and satisfy the interests of the client and the operator of the building. Ultimately, with energy efficiency we all win!

Decided on a career in manufacturing by age 12 … loved the sheer creativity (on several levels); the precision; the blend of art and science with the applied technology.

At age 15 (1985) began invaluable corporate work experience: unhindered access as a messenger to 700+ head office staff of a major Canadian publishing firm provided a wealth of learning over the years. In particular, immeasurable insight into ‘flows’ of  information and people – dynamical systems in action; as well as business processes.

Knowledge of dynamical systems (complexity) came naturally. A startling realization about the emergent properties of complex systems occurred in my teen years.

Most important was the derivative learning – about the learning itself: that ‘scale’ is a critical aspect – the distance of my vantage point from above allowed ‘enough’ detail to be seen; and, many years of frequent viewing (time scale): in this case, ‘colonies’ of various plants could be seen as ‘wholes’ moving over the landscape … over time.

With this ‘lens’ of enlightenment, my surroundings at any time was my laboratory. Since then, my field of study has been primarily dynamical systems of the urban realm – that  observed with unaided eye, including traffic patterns (cars; crowds of people); personal and group behaviour (crowds) as a function of urban structure; urban change in time.

Formal schooling in Tool Design; turned away from manufacturing career for ethical (and practical) reasons – not wanting to contribute my skills to produce war materiel; junk; etc.

Extensive independent study/research and design in a wide range of fields: systems; ecological economics; organizational design; behavioural, group psychology; eco-architecture (eco’tecture); urban agriculture, permaculture; community, urban design. And more.

http://davidnock.com/

A Pacific Northwest organization has the defined an environmentally sound structure as one that generates its own energy, captures and treats all of its water, operates efficiently, and is aesthetically pleasing

Dear EarthTalk: I recently heard the term “living building”.  Can you explain?

—Rebecca Gordon, Seattle, WA

Over the past couple of decades, architects and builders looking to green their projects turned to the addition of various piecemeal elements to save water here or cut down on electricity there. Those who added more than a few green touches could apply for and get certified by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) under its Leadership in Energy and Efficient Design (LEED) program. While these efforts have been laudable—essentially launching the green building industry as we know it today—they represent merely the infancy of what green building might someday become.

The concept of the “living building” has now emerged as a new ideal for design and construction. The Cascadia Region Green Building Council (CRGBC)—the Pacific Northwest chapter of the USGBC—defines a living building as a structure that “generates all of its own energy with renewable nontoxic resources, captures and treats all of its water, and operates efficiently and for maximum beauty.” The group has been pushing for adoption of the concept by construction industries here at home, and also helped to launch the International Living Building Institute to promote the concept internationally.

“We view our role as the organization that is meant to ask the really tough questions, to push the boundaries as far as possible,” says Jason McLennan, CEO of CRGBC. To this end, in 2006 the group launched its Living Building Challenge (LBC), a “call to the design and construction community to pursue true sustainability in the built environment.” So far 60 different projects around North America are vying to meet the high standards of the LBC, which exceed even the highest status of LEED certification.

Read more: http://www.scientificamerican.com/

Craftsmen Developers LLC

Green Land Developers, Eco-Friendly Real Estate Development Consultants, and Environmentally Conscious Builders Making a Difference in Maryland, Virginia, Washington DC, Pennsylvania, and Delaware

http://www.craftsmendevelopers.com/

http://craftsmen.wordpress.com/

Architectural (3D Rendering)

3D Renderings Gallery, Architecture Visualizer, CAD Drafting Service for Architectural, 3D Tips and Tricks, Rendering Articles

http://networkedblogs.com/p17927271

SolaRoofGuy Richard Nelson

Together we can BUILD a sustainable future

http://www.solaroof.org
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/solaroof
http://www.solaroof.org/wiki/SolaRoofGuy/Welcome

Solaripedia

is strictly an online resource to keep our footprint as low as possible. We will attempt to answer online inquiries, however.

We will also consider adding new resources if you care to send them to us.

http://www.solaripedia.com/

The Organic Home

The Organic Home is  the leader in the development of the use of organic products in the home.

We are a driven and inspired company, fiercely protecting our ideals, aiming to bring a single organic brand into the homes of our vibrant and clear-thinking customers.

http://www.achome.co.uk/theorganichome/index.php

Wall-Arts

Artistic wall painting – the best way to make your business visible!

http://wall-arts.eu/

David Nock

Extensive independent study/research and design in a wide range of fields: systems; ecological economics; organizational design; behavioural, group psychology; eco-architecture (eco’tecture); urban agriculture, permaculture; community, urban design.

http://davidnock.com/

HVRTURBOS

Henning van Rensburg

Sales and service of construction machinery, transportation machinery and other machines and devices

http://hvrturbos.com.za

Hot Tub Cover Lifter

Find the most affordable hot tub cover lifters on the market today.

http://www.discountspacovers.com/html/lifters.php

Renewable Energy

Web Site about renewable energy. Perspective and efficiency of application of various technologies in the field of reception, transformations and usage of renewable energy.

http://www.renewable.com.ua