Energy Consumption And Healthcare – What does treatment really cost.

The basic problem in the beginning of the conservation movement (energy) was no one knew how much energy was being used and thus how much could be saved. The same is true in spades for medicine. Think about it, how much does an xray cost? No one knows. So how much energy does an xray take? When you ask you get answers like this…

http://greenanswers.com/q/72578/science-technology/how-much-energy-does-it-take-make-x-ray

seanm (881) 3/10/10 10:37am

This is a good question and the answer varies depending on the type of X-ray machines you’re talking about. Traditionally X-rays have only been possible with a high voltage generation, which takes a lot of energy, anywhere from 30 to 150 kV. By comparison, high-voltage electric transmission lines operate at about 110 kV, so we’re talking about a lot of power. However, X-rays can be exposed in tiny fractions of seconds and since the 1980s technology has advanced to make X-rays even faster so as to reduce the exposure of operators and patients to radiation. I could not find specific energy consumption ratings on various X-ray machines, but there are efforts afoot to replace traditional X-ray machines with digital ones, which in addition to eliminating the need to keep film and developer on hand will reduce energy consumption by up to 78%.

Citations: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-ray_tube
http://www.gereports.com/picturing-the-benefits-of-digital-x-rays/

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say what…

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or an mri (they routinely charge 2 to 3 thousand $$$)???

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080908210925AA26KhC

How electricity does an Xray or MRI machine use per scan? How much does it cost the Hospital?

My brother insists that it takes a LOT of electricity in order to power and Xray or MRI machine just for one scan. He thinks it uses more than a normal household uses per month. I doubt that. Does anyone know how much is used or how much it costs? No guesses please…my other brother loves to answer questions with guess-answers because he thinks he’s probably always right…conveniently nobody ever has a computer when he gives these questionable answers and nobody remembers what he said

answer1

Best Answer – Chosen by Voters

The amount of energy used will always be constant on the machines the only way to solve this problem is to determine where the machines are used to get kilowatt costs as they are more expensive in some areas of the country. Once you determine that factor it will be easy to solve the equation.

answer2

Here is a listing of a typical “open” MRI Model describing the power consumption:
Manufactured by Esaote S.p.A.; a low field open MRI scanner with permanent magnet for orthopedic use. The outstanding feature of this MRI system is a patient friendly design with 24 cm diameter, which allows the imaging of extremities and small body parts like shoulder MRI. The power consumption is around 1.3 kW and the needed minimum floor space is an area of 16 sq m.

So it uses about 1.3kW to run. The usual power outlet is 480 volts/3 phase/125 amps. It uses more power (up to 2kW) when the magnet is on. Keep in mind that this is considered a ‘small’ MRI machine. Larger units weigh up to 12 tons and are assembled on site in phases.

Typical US 3-prong outlet is 125 volts/15 amps.

A typical US household uses approximately 8900 kW per year. So one MRI scanner consumes approximately several dozen households worth per year depending on how often it’s used.

Source(s):

RN

answer3

X ray machines draw a lot of power for a very short time, a few seconds. So overall power consumption is low. MRI is no different.
Overall, the consumption would depend on how much it is used. If the X ray machine is being used for 1000 films, the consumption would be equal to a household consumption.

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The point being that we have no idea what our healthcare costs and doctors want to keep it that way.

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Green Medicine – How to save energy by never using it in the first place

Funny I just saw a report on PBS that relates to this:

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/latin_america/jan-june10/peru_03-31.html

The vast majority happen in remote areas, 99 percent of them in developing countries. In Peru, a new national strategy to turn those numbers around is taking shape. And the program is being seen as a model for Latin America and the developing world.

Here, in the remote region of Ayacucho, 12,000 feet above sea level, sits the village of Vilcashuaman. Many hours from the nearest airstrip, it’s a town so remote that even the impressive Inca ruins draw few tourists.

A casa materna, or birthing home, was built for women late in pregnancy to live in as their due date nears. And it’s a centerpiece in the government’s new strategy.

Dr. Oscar Ugarte Ubillus is Peru’s health minister.

DR. OSCAR UGARTE UBILLUS, Peruvian health minister (through translator): We detected that one of the critical problems is the amount of time and distance it takes to get attention when complications arise in childbirth. So, we have created 450 waiting homes throughout the country.

RAY SUAREZ: At the casa materna in Vilcashuaman, pregnant women bring their children. They make their own meals with ingredients from a hospital garden, and live as if at home.

Twenty-nine-year-old Eulalia Centro is here with her 1-year-old daughter. Eulalia had her first child at home without complications, before the birthing home existed. But she lives in an area with no roads. It takes a full day on horseback just to get to Vilcashuaman.

So, Eulalia chose to have her second, then her third child at the birthing home.

EULALIA CENTRO, mother (through translator): Pregnant women are always dying at home, so that is why we decided to come here.

RAY SUAREZ: The birthing home is occupied nearly every day of the year. Pregnancies in the region are tracked with a simple felt map. The circles represent each pregnant woman’s home and the number of hours it takes to reach them.

Red felt represents pregnant teenagers, at greater risk for death in childbirth because their bodies haven’t fully matured. Twenty-four-hour staff are trained to deal with obstetric emergencies, like breech babies, placenta blockage, and hemorrhaging.

Josefina Montes Perez is an OB-GYN at the casa.

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They did not try to build an air conditioned hospital, with a helicopter pad filled with 1.5 million $$$ a year doctors. They made it a place where they grow their own food, heat water with the sun, use natural herbs for labor and have an an ambulance, with blood and someone who knows how to control the bleeding if there is a problem. They cut the mortality rate by 50%. You can supply healthcare to people cheap. You can not supply industrial healthcare cheap…what got me to thinking about this?

http://www.greenmedicine.net/

MISSION

The mission of Green Medicine™ is to investigate and support research efforts on medicinal substances and medical foods from Peru.

ABOUT GREEN MEDICINE

GREEN MEDICINE is the website for information on Dr. Williams’ research in the upper Amazon under the Institute for Amazonian Studies (IAS), which he founded in 1996, and the Pino Center for Traditional Healing in 2004. His intention is to advance the mission of Green Medicine by working closely with Peruvian research organizations, individual investigators, universities, socially and environmentally responsible businesses, and traditional tribes of the upper Amazon and Andes for the purpose of exploring the following areas of study:

Evolutionary Biology in Tropical Rainforests:

  • Fragmentation of natural ecosystems
  • Robustness of plant and animal evolution and behavior
  • Complexity theory in natural ecosystems

Basic Research in the Therapeutic Value of Natural Compounds from Plants and Other Biological Substances

  • Development of rainforest botanical and biological medicines and extracts from natural products including antiviral, anticancer, immunomodulatory, and health promoting adaptogenic substances

Healing Methods and Medicines of Traditional Tribal Peoples

  • Ethnobotanical investigation for new plant medicines
  • Ethnomedical investigation of indigenous healing practices in addition to plant medicines
  • Consciousness exploration among indigenous people involving natural entheogenic compounds and medicinal plants

Dr. Williams has been working in Latin American since 1969 and in Peru since 1996.
For information on his books and integrative medicine practice, visit www.drjewilliams.com.
To view his site on shamanic healing, go to www.andeancodex.com.

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Healthcare Is Not Prepared For Peak Oil – In fact it throws our money out the window

This article is about a year old and it makes points that have been made before, such as:

1. The medical field is not prepared for Global Warming. Our Healthcare system world wide will not be able to cope with the shift in and increase in what are largely thought of as tropical diseases today.

2. Medical Communty’s contribute to Global Warming through inefficiencies.

They also make the point that whether you believe in Peak Oil or not,  Healthcare is addicted to Oil.

3. The pharmaceutical industry’s dependence on Oil would cause it to collapse if oil supplies became restricted or suffered a huge price increase.

4. Hospitals are dependent on electricity (coal) for their medical practices and have very little flexibility built into their practice. eg. No xrays, then what?

But the most telling part for me is the following.

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http://www.greens.org/s-r/45/45-05.html

Medicine at the Crossroads of Energy
and Global Warming

by Dan Bednarz, Ph.D., and Kristin Bradford, M.D., M.P.H.

The difficult thing now is there’s no [longer any] low-hanging fruit. — Roger Elliott, St. Joseph’s Hospital, Chippewa Falls, WI, on efforts to reduce hospital energy costs.

[A]ny field … should be judged by the degree to which it understands, anticipates, and takes action in regard to changes in society. — Bernard Sarason, The Making of an American Psychologist

dot dot dot (as they say)

A given in hospital operations is unlimited inputs of energy and resources; this results in waste in the name of hygiene, insurance and regulatory considerations, and “the best” care. However, the fact that worldwide “energy demand is accelerating” and on its current pace “will double by the year 2050” will soon burst upon medicine.

Turning specifically to energy usage, the Health Care Energy Project tells us that hospitals “use twice as much energy per square foot as office buildings…” In addition, hospitals consume large quantities of petroleum-based, processed, and transported products ranging from aspirin to jells and lubricants to plastic dinnerware and gloves to pharmaceuticals, syringes, IV and dialysis tubing, to name but a few. And most of these items are produced for one-time, non-recyclable use. Petroleum derivatives are also found in many computer parts, electronic equipment, furniture, and so on.


… hospitals “use twice as much energy per square foot as office buildings…”


As noted, hospital administrators are somewhat aware of and responding to the rise in energy costs for heating, cooling, and lighting, primarily by locating the problem in the domain of facilities management. Therefore, controlling energy costs in a hospital largely is confined to electricity and natural gas bills.

As the costs of oil and natural gas have risen in recent years facilities managers are trying to make their buildings more energy efficient, hoping that such savings will offset price rises. Yet, a 2006 survey of hospitals found:

More than 90% … reported higher energy costs over the previous year [2005], and more than half cited increases in double-digit percentages.

The facilities management response is to replace, retrofit or upgrade inefficient infrastructure —boilers, lighting fixtures, building insulation, windows, etc., and in general to “modernize” facilities — in accordance with the Energy Star Program. Some of the newest “green” hospital building approaches promise to reduce energy consumption by as much as 60% below code mandates. This is encouraging, but only a beginning.

However, new construction is done only when it makes “economic sense,” leaving many older hospitals and kindred structures too obsolete to “economically” justify retrofitting or demolishing and replacement — again energy is presumed to be plentiful and cheaper than upgrading — and no consideration whatsoever is given to its scarcity. Moreover, the costs for new hospital construction are soaring, another factor traceable to increasingly expensive fossil fuels. Dave Carpenter, summarizing a 2006 energy survey of hospitals, comments on the constraints facilities managers face:

Money-related reasons were among those given most often in response to a … question asking why recommended energy-saving measures hadn’t been implemented, including 37% who reported a lack of funds. Additionally, 31% cited other priorities, 26% said the payback period was judged to be too long, 23% said operations and maintenance budgets were underfunded and 16% cited lack of senior management commitment and support.

Given these constraints:

Facilities managers have little choice but to stay on the lookout for energy savings wherever they can be found. [One manager] says “it’s going to get worse before it gets better…”

We would argue that “it,” energy costs, will not get better. The entire health care industry will be forced to accommodate to dwindling fossil resources while simultaneously beginning to face the consequences of global warming.

This is stark because the health care system —already stressed in other ways — could begin to fail and even collapse for want of energy and a surge in patients.


… the health care system … could begin to fail and even collapse…


Finally, a word is needed on the third so-called “fall-back” fossil fuel we have barely mentioned, coal, since many energy experts offer it as a painless fix for peak oil. While the high levels of greenhouse emissions of coal are well known, what is less appreciated is that carbon sequestration to control greenhouse emissions is expensive and still an unproven technology. Second, recent reviews have concluded there are substantially less coal reserves than the commonly accepted estimates of 200–300 years supply. Perhaps as little as a few decades of recoverable coal remains, much of it low-grade and high in pollutants.

The dimensions of what we face are uncertain, but the major question undeniably is how will hospitals change given the ecological (global warming as well as multiple sources of pollution and resource scarcity) and geological (twilight of fossil fuels) state of affairs the world now faces?

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And the answer is?

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Global Warming’s Impact On Illinois – Slightly warmer wetter Springs,

Slightly cooler wetter Summers, and slightly warmer and wetter Falls with earlier first frosts. Oh that sounds so scary. But if you think about it, it is. I have said all along that the biggest early effect of Global Warming is the disruption in farming. Farmers won’t know when to plant. They will have replant and they may not be able to harvest…This will mean that we can feed ourselves but we can’t feed the world. Food riots have already happened 2 years ago, thought governments were better prepared last year.

Don’t believe me? Let’s ask the experts.

http://www.isws.illinois.edu/atmos/statecli/ElNino/elnino.htm

El Niño and La Niña in Illinois

El Niño and La Niña refer to periods when sea-surface temperatures along the equator in the Pacific Ocean are either unusually warm (El Niño) or cold (La Niña). These events typically begin in the spring or summer and fade by the following spring. A more complete description of El Niño and La Niña can be found under Other Resources below.

The NOAA Climate Prediction Center has identified a weak El Niño event in the Pacific Ocean. This event is expected to strengthen and last through this winter (2009-2010). Here is a series of maps on the historical impacts of El Niño on monthly temperature and precipitation (pdf). In general, they produced warmer-than-normal temperatures in September and during December-March. In contrast, cooler-than-normal temperatures prevailed in August and April-May. The impact on monthly precipitation was both weaker and less consistent. Somewhat wetter conditions prevailed in August, October, and December while drier conditions were found in September.  [posted September 22, 2009]

Summary of Impacts of El Niño

El Niño events vary in size, intensity, and duration. As a result, the impacts can vary from one event to the next. In addition, there may be other factors that influence our weather during these events.

  • Summers tend to be slightly cooler and wetter than average
  • Falls tend to be wetter and cooler than average
  • Winters tend to be warmer and drier
  • Springs tend to be drier than average
  • Snowfall tends to be 70 to 90 percent of average
  • Heating degree days tend to be 80 to 90 percent of average. Lower heating degree days mean lower heating bills.
  • Tends to reduce tornado activity in the High Plains and Midwest and increases it in the Sout

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He wants to blame it on El Nino, but notice later he says they have been getting weaker and weaker…What happens when they do not come?

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http://www.aces.uiuc.edu/news/stories/news4422.html

Farmers Who Plant – Or Replant – After June 20 May See Yields Shrink By Half

Published: Jun. 10, 2008

Source: Emerson Nafziger, 217-333-4424, ednaf@illinois.edu

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A costly deadline looms for many growers in the Midwest, as every day of waiting for the weather to cooperate to plant corn and soybeans reduces potential yields. Research indicates that Illinois growers who plant corn or soybeans near the end of June can expect a 50 percent reduction in crop yield, according to a University of Illinois agriculture expert.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that corn and soybean growers in several Midwestern states are behind schedule on their planting. A cooler and wetter-than-average spring has left Illinois and Indiana furthest behind on planted corn and soybeans. Several other states are lagging behind their normal planting schedules, but by a lesser margin.

In Illinois, 95 percent of the corn is planted and 88 percent has emerged, but less than half of that is reported to be in good or excellent condition. Fully 14 percent of the acres planted are in poor or very poor condition, with another 38 percent reported as fair. Those acres in poor or very poor condition may have to be replanted.

In Illinois, the corn was 7 inches high as of June 9, compared to an average of 17 inches by this time in recent years. Illinois crop sciences professor Emerson Nafziger says cool temperatures and the third wettest January-April since 1895 in Illinois have led to delays that are undercutting potential yields.

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http://www.agpowermag.com/articles/articles.php?articleid=408

Think Twice Before Tilling Corn Ground This Spring

May, 1998

Thinking of taking a disk or field cultivator to last year’s no-till field? Agronomists warn that just one tillage pass is enough to negate many of the long-term benefits of no-till farming.

“After two to five years of continuous no-till farming, we see significant improvements in soil structure and organic matter levels,” says Jerry Hatfield, a researcher with the USDA-ARS Soil Tilth Lab in Ames, Iowa. No-till ground also resists crusting and has a higher cation exchange capacity, which is the soil’s ability to hold onto nutrients. Tillage — even just one pass – diminishes those benefits.

Once you revert back to tillage, you’re also giving up more immediate benefits like time, labor, and fuel savings, points out Mike Plumer, natural resources educator with the University of Illinois.

Despite these benefits, no-till corn acreage has leveled off nationally and declined in some eastern Corn Belt states, according to the Conservation Technology Information Center. Many blame unseasonably cool and/or wet spring weather. In Iowa, for example, last April was the coldest April since 1983 and the 16th coldest in 125 years of state record keeping. Last May was

the seventh coldest May in 125 years.

Under these conditions, no-till soils start out cooler and can take longer to warm up. That can put a strain on corn emergence and early growth.

If El Nino brings warm, dry weather to the Corn Belt this spring, no-till corn acreage could rebound, says Wayne Pedersen, plant pathologist with the University of Illinois. “No-till systems always do well in dry years,” Pedersen says. “No-till soils hold onto moisture better than tilled soils. As a result, no-till corn can tolerate a lack of rainfall — without yield loss — for a much longer period than conventional till corn.”

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I know that is 2008 analysis and comment. but like I said what if it doesn’t go away? hmmmmmm

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http://web.extension.illinois.edu/stephenson/news/news17285.html

Spring Forage Seeding Considerations

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 15, 2010

Mother Nature did not allow many graziers to frost seed red clover in late February-­early March. Wet conditions have prompted several forage producers to ask about seeding. In the recent Iowa State University Integrated Crop Management News newsletter, Steve Barnhart, Extension forage specialist addressed the topic of “wet spring forage planting considerations”. With some minor modifications for Illinois, the article follows.

Can spring forage stands still successfully be plant? The short answer is – yes, into the first ten days to two weeks of May (late-summer seedings are more successful in southern Illinois). The end of the spring forage planting season is limited by seedling development and growth into the summer months. Most forage seedlings are emerging and growing root systems

into the top one to three inches of the seedbed during the three to four weeks following germination.
The increasingly dry and hot soil surfaces in late May and June increase the risk that the small forage seedlings do not establish. So, the risk depends on rainfall and soil temperatures

from here on. If conditions turn normal or hotter and dryer than normal, the risk of late planted forage seeding failures increases. If late May and early June conditions remain cooler and wetter than normal, then later-than-desired spring forage seedings may survive very well.
Planting later than desired, adds to vulnerability to erosion and weed competition. Keep

cereal companion crop planting rates to half of a full seeding rate or less, and mow or clip new

seedings several times during the early seedling development months to allow sunlight to reach small developing legume and grass seedlings. Also scout for and manage potato leafhoppers in new alfalfa seedings.

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More tomorrow…

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What Your House Should Have Looked Like In The First Place – Last day of residential efficiency meditation

It’s Jam Band Friday – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Gpdz8INFBg

So we end this meditation where we have been for 3 days on building a house that does what it should, make your life cheap and comfortable. This all started with an Energy Audit. Could that get you to build a better home in the future? Sure it could. It just depends on how important the planet Earth is to you. It is very important to me. Other people think of it as their personal toilet.

http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/kit-eaton/technomix/your-future-homes-roof-will-be-eco-friendly-too

Your Future Home’s Roof Will Be Eco-Friendly Too

BY Kit EatonFri Oct 9, 2009

Scientists at MIT have invented a smart roofing material that takes a new thermal-management approach to eco-design. It’s a different approach to previous efforts, of which there are many. We’ve rounded them up for you, starting with the latest, below.

thermeleon

MIT’s Black and White Solution

MIT’s Thermeleon material is a composite of layers that makes it thermochromic–on exposure to heat it changes color from black to white. It works by sandwiching a common polymer between flexible plastic layers, with a black one at the back–when cold the polymer solution stays dissolved and the black rear face shows through, and when it heats up the solution condenses to form light-scattering droplets.

The upshot is that when the sun is shining a roof tile covered in the material is white-colored, scattering up to 80% of the sunlight back and thus keeping the building beneath the roof cooler. The result is a 20% reduction in cost to keep the interior at a comfortable temperature in the summer, a figure which also comes with an eco-friendly drop in the electricity supply demands. During winter, of course, you’d prefer your roof to capture as much heat as possible from the sun, which is where the black coloring is handy–the tiles scatter just 30% of incoming solar radiation then.

The team’s working on micro-encapsulating the chemicals, so that in future they may work as a paintable or spray-on coating, and then if the prices drop to match the innovation, the tech could also find much use in the developing world

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( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hs8HcICxzAU&feature=related )

Why haven’t we done things like this for years:

Dow Chemicals’ Covert Solar Tiles

If your house design calls for a shingled roof instead of a tiled one, and you live in an area where theft of expensive roof-top solar panels is a problem, then Dow Chemicals has a neat trick.

Its Solar Shingles use thin-film copper indium gallium diselenide technology to make them cheap and light, and they’re designed to be intermingled with traditional asphalt roof tiles on a roof. That makes for easy installation, and lower visibility to street-level thieves.

solar roof shingles

And there you have it: Proof positive that in the future, our building roofing will do much more for us than keeping the sun, wind, and rain off our heads. They all make good sense, of course, since traditional roofs spend all their time staring at the sun rather than harnessing its rays for energy. Now if there were only a clever hybrid of all these different ideas…

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With credits to:

http://www.physorg.com/news174209373.html

and

http://www.physorg.com/news174209373.html

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( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQyt_xy2mMQ&feature=related )

Then there is the really far out stuff:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/3351863/Eco-tree-houses-the-homes-of-the-future.html

Eco tree houses – the homes of the future

By Louise Gray, Environment Correspondent
Published: 5:00PM BST 16 Sep 2008

A model of the proposed tree house (left) and an illustration of how one might look (click to enlarge)

Tree houses grown specifically for modern living could be the eco-homes of the future.

Scientists from the US and Israel have developed the trees that can be shaped into the structure of innovative homes.

The ingenious tree houses naturally provide shade and can also be used to process waste and reduce carbon emissions.

The researchers at Tel Aviv University and a branch of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are confident the first prototype home could be ready in just ten years.

Plantware, the organisation behind the technology, have already built bus-shelters, park benches and traffic lights using the advanced techniques of airoponics, where plants are grown without soil.

Now they have built a model for a tree house to be used in cities.

The extraordinary structure is build from actual tree roots that are grown to be mallable and then hardened into a structure like steel girders. The houses can be equipped with solar panels and wind turbines to generate electricity and even convert human waste into valuable nutrient for the living tree.

Different species of trees could be chosen for different environments so for example, willows could be used in England and giant American redwoods in California.

However at the moment the tree homes would be prohibitively expensive to all but a few.

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( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqUTB5bflCM&feature=related )

This is a really long article so I will get you started and list the 3 architects. Watch out the prices will kill you, but you can do the same things without the expense.

http://property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/property/new_homes/article3203472.ece

From The Sunday Times
January 20, 2008

Building the future: eco-architecture

Home gave three leading eco-architects different budgets and one brief: to create a sustainable urban family dwelling. Our correspondent is impressed by the result

Brooke Coombes House

So, you want a stylish green home, but think it will cost the earth? Think again. Home asked three leading exponents of sustainable design to come up with the ultimate green new-build house to suit three very different budgets – and the results were spectacular.

All had the same brief: to design a home for a young part-time teacher and her husband, an IT specialist. The imaginary couple have two children, aged nine and seven, and own an end-of-terrace plot on a tree-lined street of Victorian houses. The house can’t be taller than neighbouring three-storey homes, and must be as green as possible.

Dan Burr, 40, an associate partner at Sheppard Robson, which has offices in London and Manchester, has come up with a three-bedroom, 1,500 sq ft home costing £250,000 (plus land costs). Burr was the design director on Britain’s first zero-carbon house, the Lighthouse, built in Watford last year. The building meets level 6 of the Code for Sustainable Homes, with which all new homes in Britain will have to comply by 2016.

Justin Bere, 48, principal of the north London-based firm Bere Architects, designed a four-bedroom, 1,800 sq ft home costing £400,000 (plus land costs). His residential projects include Focus House, built in 2006 in Finsbury Park, north London, which won the Riba London Region Award 2007, among other prizes. His practice is a devotee of PassivHaus, an established German style of energy-efficient construction.

The third property is a five-bedroom, 2,500 sq ft home costing £600,000, designed by the husband-and-wife team Catherine Burd and Buddy Haward, both 41. Based in northwest London, they devised the low-energy Brooke Coombes House, in Ealing, west London, which in 2002 won the Riba Manser Medal, and are designing 600 sustainable homes in the Rochester Riverside scheme at Thames Gateway.

Their EZ House has three key principles: its construction must incorporate local materials from sustainable sources and low-energy build methods; it must consume little or no energy, so conserve or generate it on site; and the flexible design must have non-load-bearing internal walls, so that it can be adapted to the changing needs of the occupants

The sectional house
£250,000

Sheppard Robson: 020 7504 1779, www.sheppardrobson.com

The PassivHaus
£400,000

bere:architects: 020 7837 9333, www.bere.co.uk

The EZ House
£600,000

Burd Haward: 020 7722 0788, www.burdhaward.com

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Next week I go back to the environment. So much has been happening on the energy and the environment front that I have been dieing to print but…well meditations go where ever they will.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7pHo9amiZY&feature=related

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Sorry My Internet Is Out – 02/22/10

I am at the Riverton public library and I could post but Cass Communication or Greene County Cable who are my service providers said they will get it up and running this afternoon. So I am taking them at their word. If they don’t live up to it by tomorrow you will hear a whole lot more about it from me. Bet on it. The library is actually a nice place and I have posted from here before but they shut down from 2-4 and it is almost 2 now…so I think I will just go home and get lunch. I need to start a meatloaf too so maybe by the time I do all that I will be up and running at CES’ headquarters. Thanks for the patience ;+]

Insulation – What a way to end the week

It is Jam Band Friday – ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JW-OU3LkM8 )

Humans burn at 98.6. If we lived in a perfectly insulated and airtight world we would have to vent our homes in the winter. Some people in colder climates have those homes, but us’ens in the uninsulated leaky drafty Midwest don’t. I tell people to put as much insulation WHEREVER they can.

( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6x8GGXrCFQ )

These people favor fiberglass and are trying to dis’ cellulose:

http://www.naima.org/pages/resources/faq/faq_home.html

FAQs About Residential and Commerical Insulation

What does insulation actually do for my home?

What areas of my home should be insulated?

How do I know how much insulation I need for my home?

What is R-value?

Where do I find R-value information when I go to buy insulation?

What are the options when choosing insulation?

How can I be sure I’m getting the best performance from the insulation in my home?

Are there rebates available for installing insulation?

If I am adding more insulation to my home do I need to remove what I already have?

What Kind of Insulation Do Builders Use on Their Own Homes?


What does insulation actually do for my home?

Fiber glass insulation keeps your home cool in the summer and warm in the winter, because insulation resists the flow of heat. Heat is a form of energy and always seeks a cooler area – flowing out of the home in the winter and into the home in the summer. By reducing heat flow, a properly insulated home uses less energy for heating and cooling.

In addition to being an energy saver, fiber glass insulation also acts as a sound absorber. When installed in walls and ceilings, it can reduce the transmission of sound from one room to another or from the outside. In today’s noise-laden environments, more and more homeowners are soundproofing their homes.

A well-insulated home increases the overall comfort of the home and adds to its resale value. Whether your home is new or old, it pays to insulate.

What areas of my home should be insulated?

Insulation is not just for attics and outside walls. Insulation should also be installed in other areas of your home such as ceilings with unheated spaces, basement walls, floors above vented crawl spaces, cathedral ceilings, floors over unheated garages or porches, knee walls, and in between interior walls (especially bathrooms), ceilings or floors for extra sound control.

How do I know how much insulation I need for my home?

The amount of insulation in a home varies depending upon where you live. NAIMA has developed recommended levels of insulation for various climate zones. These recommendations are based on recommendations from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the International Energy Conservation Code which is the model building code for the United States.

Click here to visit SimplyInsulate.com to learn about what zone your home is in and how much you insulation you need.

What is R-value?

Insulation is identified and labeled by R-value. “R” stands for resistance to heat flow. The higher the R-value, the greater the insulating power.

Where do I find R-value information when I go to buy insulation?

Insulation is identified and labeled by R-value. “R” stands for resistance to heat flow. The higher the R-value, the greater the insulating power. Manufacturers of insulation products print R-values of their products either on the bags or on the labels. In most cases, R-values are also printed on the facings of fiber glass batts and rolls.

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( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJCTrolF3CY )

You can use just about anything as insulation.

http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/residential/personal/new-home-improvement/choosing/insulation-sealing/materials/khi-insulation.cfm?attr=4

The Proper Choice of Insulation

The proper choice of insulation depends on its final use. In most applications, good resistance to heat flow is not the only thing you will have to consider. In specific situations, insulation may also need some of the following properties:

  • resistance to high temperatures
  • resistance to moisture flow (can it reduce the movement of water vapour?)
  • resistance to air movement (can it act as an air barrier?)
  • a fire-rated protective covering

Once you have matched the material properties with the specific application, consider the following installation factors:

  • Is it relatively easy to install?
  • Is it the best buy for the space available (either high insulating value per dollar if you have lots of open space, or high insulating value per thickness if space is restricted)?
  • Is it available locally?
  • Will it be easy to install the insulation to fill the space completely?
  • Can it conform to surface irregularities?
  • Is it rigid enough to provide support for finished materials or resist pressures against its surfaces?
  • Does one insulation require more accessory products than another (fire protection, framing, air and vapour barrier)?

In short, the choice of insulation will largely depend on how it will be used. Different types of insulation are commonly used for insulating wallsbasements and attics. Fortunately, particular insulation jobs will quickly eliminate some materials, making the choice much easier.

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( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZ_kez7WVUU )

Batt or Blanket Insulation

Loose-Fill Insulation

Mineral Fibre

Cellulose Fibre

Glass Fibre

Mineral Wool (Slag and Rock Wool)

Vermiculite

Rigid Board Insulation

Glass-Fibre Boards

Expanded Polystyrene

Extruded Polystyrene

Polyurethane and Polyisocyanurate Boards

Phenolic Foam Boards

Spray-Foam Insulation

Polyurethane Foam

Semi-Flexible Isocyanurate Plastic Foam

Phenolic Foam

( http://www.youtube.com/user/thepurplechannel?blend=1&ob=4#p/u/2/1Xm4os2ugaA )

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Just copying all the types of insulation tuckered me out.

( http://www.youtube.com/user/thepurplechannel?blend=1&ob=4#p/u/3/wok0fV4Fp7w )

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Hot Water Blankets – Stop the presses I made a mistake

When I was talking about making a list of your energy consuming equipment and taking actions like cleaning the coils on your refrigerator and your freezer, and  cleaning the filters on your cooling and heating equipment, I forgot the most easy and largest savings step. That would be your hot water heater. Like the other equipment you do need to clean it. So listen to the plumbing guy about cleaning your gas or electric water heater. They are different:

Electric

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GERpIx_QLo

Gas

http://www.ehow.com/video_4872205_clean-out-gas-hot-water.html

So was that fun or what. If you ended up with water allllllll over your basement floor, practice makes perfect. Now it is time to put on another layer of insulation. How much is up to you but R 60 is probably too much.

http://www.stretcher.com/stories/970127c.cfm

First turn your water heater thermostat to 120 no matter what this guy tells you 140 is too high unless you are a family of 5.

Most of us received our first introduction to the hot water heater blanket back in the ’70’s when conserving energy became important. They became a familiar addition to many homes. But how effective are they really? And can a heater blanket actually pay for itself if the hot water heater is in a part of the house that’s not subject to extreme weather? Let’s see if we can find out.

First, a little bit about water heaters and insulating blankets. A hot water heater is just a tank of water that’s heated to a preset temperature (generally about 140 degrees F.). When you use hot water it’s drawn from the tank and new cold water replaces it. Regardless of whether any water is used it takes energy to keep the water hot. Energy is always escaping to the colder air that surrounds the tank.

Almost all heaters have at least some minimal level of insulation to help keep the heat inside the tank. Newer models, especially those built in the last ten years, have more insulation than older models.

A water heater blanket is made of insulation contained in sheet plastic so that it can be attached to the water heater. Blankets are rated based on their ‘R’ value just like other insulation. A blanket with R-11 is recommended.

The blankets are easy to install. The only tools you’ll need are a razor knife and a tape measure. The cost is fairly modest with most running between $10 and $25.

How effective are they at reducing energy costs? The Iowa Energy Center says that a properly installed blanket can reduce energy loss by 25% to 45%. If you consider that Florida Power and Light estimates that the average family of four spends $25 each month for hot water that can be quite some savings. That’s not to say that you’ll save 25% of $25 each month. You’ll still need to heat water to replace the hot water in that shower. But a hot water blanket will pay for itself in short order.

Now let’s try to get specific about Joyce’s question. Does it still pay to install a blanket if your water heater is kept in the garage? How can you tell?

Begin by checking the owner’s manual for your water heater. Some newer models specifically recommend that you do NOT use a heater blanket. If your manual doesn’t mention blankets or you’ve lost the manual (someone please tell me that I’m not the only homeowner who doesn’t have his manual!) there’s a simple test you can do. Just place your hand on the outside of the heater. If it’s warm to your touch a blanket will save you money.

Is it possible to calculate how much money you’ll save? Well, theoretically yes. But unless you’re related to a grad student in advanced mathematics it’s probably not worth the effort. There are quite a few variables that will effect the answer. How much you pay for energy. How quickly your heater loses temperature. How efficient your water heater is in turning energy into hot water. How much hot water your family uses. Are there periods during the day when no water is being used? Remember, we’re only talking about an investment of $25 or less. We really don’t need sophisticated payback analysis here!

But what about Joyce’s question? We still haven’t answered it. Fortunately, there is a simple way to address it. If you can feel the heat with your hand it’s wise to install a blanket no matter what the surrounding air temperature is.

Look at it this way. Suppose you keep the tank in an unheated area that’s exposed to outside temperatures. The water tank is being heated to 140 degrees. It’s 20 degrees outside. That’s a difference of 120 degrees. Unless that tank is properly insulated you’d expect to lose some heat.

What about if you have the heater in a attached garage like Joyce? It’s probably not unreasonable to guess that the temperature drops to 60 degrees in the garage. That means that there’s still a difference of 80 degrees between the tank and the air surrounding it.

So if you saved the 25% with the heater outside, you could expect to still save 2/3 of that with the heater in the garage. (80 degrees divided by 120 degrees = 2/3) Well worth the time and money you’ll spend on installing a heater blanket.

One warning that we do need to pass along. DO NOT insulate the bottom or top of gas hot water heater tanks. You need to leave plenty of room for the pilot light and for the flue draft. Be very careful to follow installation instructions. Failure to do so could be very costly and dangerous!

In addition to water heater blankets, there are other things that you can do to reduce the costs of that hot shower. You can insulate the hot water pipes. Lowering the tank temperature is another option. Many people have installed timers and low flow shower heads. If you have an electric tank and it’s in the basement you might even want to place it on a Styrofoam pad to reduce the heat lost to the cold floor.

The bottom line is that water heater blankets are inexpensive, easy to install and efficient. You don’t need to be that family of four spending $300 each year for hot water the savings can add up. It’s an easy way to stretch a few dollars for something more important!

http://www.energysavers.gov/your_home/water_heating/index.cfm/mytopic=13070

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&source=hp&q=water+heater+blanket&oq=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=3885595677729203527&ei=X3d9S_qbDpKSNqDK_N0K&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBQQ8wIwAA#ps-sellers

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Notice what he said about insulation for the hot water line. They make slit foam cuffs that just slip over your warm water pipes. If you kitchen sink is a long way from your heater, (mine is 40 feet) it can take forever to get hot water and if you turn it off for very long you are back to cold again.

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Awnings For Doors And Windows – Solar Shading

Much of the common sense that was built into our homes up until the 1950s was thrown out for what was called modernism. We here call it 20 year obsolescence and stupid. One of those Common Sense ideas was the idea of solar shading. This meant that for most parts of the temperate US all the houses would have roughly 2 or 3 foot eves. The idea being that you want the Sun during the winter and you don’t want it in the summer. Since most houses no longer have such eves and especially in the south where your eves would have to be 5 foot long, awnings have gotten popular. In Springfield IL for instance:

http://www.benmarremodeling-il.com/

Benmar Remodeling & Building Corporation

(217) 814-0278 Our goal is not to be the biggest, but rather, the best! 929 E Carpenter, Springfield, IL 62702

In addition to renovating, designing or remodeling your outdoor spaces, we offer a large selection of awnings by several different manufacturers. Choose from a variety of styles and materials, including:

• Aluminum patio covers & pergolas
• Fabric
• Fiberglass
• Retractable fabric awnings
• Retractable – manual or motorized
• Stationary

We also sell and install Joyce windows, which are all welded, rigid vinyl construction and are extremely energy efficient. All styles are custom sized and have detailed contoured framing for an elegant “wood-like” look, all the while creating shadow lines in the main frame sash that mimic real wood windows. You really have to see them to believe how beautiful they are!

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http://www.cheapawnings.com/

Retractable Patio Awnings
Welcome to CheapAwnings.com!
Don’t let the name fool you! We offer high quality, do-it-yourself awnings, canopies, hurricane shutters and umbrellas at reasonable prices with FREE ground shipping.
Convenient On-Line Shopping and Ordering
Phone (800) 422-6827 ext. 278

Canvas AwningsCanvas Awnings
View our collection of high quality and affordable Stationary Canvas Window and Door Awnings for your home or office. Custom order your awning or canopy from our available line of fabric awning colors and available sizes.

Metal AwningsMetal Awnings
Choose from our distinct line of outdoor Metal Awnings and Metal Canopies. These rigid metal window awnings and metal door canopies are ideal for enhancing exterior looks and protection from the elements.

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http://www.awninginfo.com/


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VideosHow to Protect Your Pet from Sun & Heat

Awnings Today Awnings and Energy Savings ? Awning Benefits See how awnings help reduce energy usage, and how awnings can expand living space, protect from UV Rays and beautify the home exterior. The video features an interview with John Carmody, Director of the Center for Sustainable Building Research at the University of Minnesota, discussing the Awning Energy Study, Awnings in Residential Buildings: The Impact on Energy Use and Peak Demand.

The video also features PAMA Member, Gary Buermann of G & J Awning discussing the benefits of using awnings on the home, and some of the attractive features of modern awnings including a wide selection of fabrics and remote controls.

Buying Awnings: A Homeowner’s Purchase from Start to Finish

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There you have it from the professionals

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