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Energy Tough Love Blog – A weblog from Community Energy Systems

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

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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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Global Warming – Tundra melts releasing Methane by the ton and Pelicans refuse to migrate

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Anybody that says there is no proof of Global Warming is either being paid off, blind or lying.

http://e360.yale.edu/content/feature.msp?id=2229

11 Jan 2010: Report

Arctic Tundra is Being Lost
As Far North Quickly Warms

The treeless ecosystem of mosses, lichens, and berry plants is giving way to shrub land and boreal forest. As scientists study the transformation, they are discovering that major warming-related events, including fires and the collapse of slopes due to melting permafrost, are leading to the loss of tundra in the Arctic.

by bill sherwonit

During the summer of 2007, lightning strikes sparked five tundra fires on Alaska’s North Slope. Two of the fires — rare events north of the Arctic Circle — began in neighboring drainages, only a couple of days apart. That, in itself, might have gained the attention of tundra researchers. But the 2007 fire season would ultimately burn a record swath across the North Slope, while reshaping the way scientists think about the Arctic’s response to global warming.

Researchers have known for years that the Arctic landscape is being transformed by rising temperatures. Now, scientists are amassing growing evidence that major events precipitated by warming — such as fires and the collapse of slopes caused by melting permafrost — are leading to the loss of tundra in the Arctic. The cold, dry, and treeless ecosystem — characterized by an extremely short growing season; underlying layers of frozen soil, or permafrost; and grasses, sedges, mosses, lichens, and berry plants — will eventually be replaced by shrub lands and even boreal forest, scientists forecast.

Much of the Arctic has experienced temperature increases of 3 to 5 degrees F in the past half-century and could see temperatures soar 10 degrees F above pre-industrial levels by 2100. University of Vermont professor Breck Bowden, a watershed specialist participating in a long-term study of the Alaskan tundra, said that such rapidly rising temperatures will mean that the “tundra as we imagine it today will largely be gone throughout the Arctic. It may take longer than 50 or even 100 years, but the inevitable direction is toward boreal forest or something like it.”

Alaska
iStock
With temperatures increasing across the Arctic, the Alaskan tundra as we know it could be gone before the end of the century, some scientists predict.

Dominique Bachelet, a climate change scientist at Oregon State University, forecasts that by 2100 tundra “will largely disappear from the Alaskan landscape, along with the related plants, animals, and even human ecosystems that are based upon it.” She made that prediction in 2004, and now says “the basic premise still holds, but the mechanism of change may be different than we thought.” Instead of long-term, incrementally complex changes caused by gradually warming temperatures, “extreme events will be the important triggers for change.” Hot-burning fires or slumping hillsides tied to melting permafrost could “clean the slate and allow new species to establish themselves,” Bachelet said.

The transformation of the tundra — the word comes from the Finnish, tunturia, meaning “treeless plain” — will have a profound impact on the creatures that live and breed there, including grizzly bears, wolves, foxes, and many species of waterfowl and migratory songbirds. Especially hard-hit could be caribou, which depend heavily on lichen as a food source.

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This is an amazing article. More amazing because Sarah Palin has lived through this for the last 10 years and still does not admit that it is even happening. Then there is the methane and the frozen Woolly Mammoths that keep popping out of the ground.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/14/arctic-permafrost-methane

Arctic permafrost leaking methane at record levels, figures show

Experts say methane emissions from the Arctic have risen by almost one-third in just five years, and that sharply rising temperatures are to blame.

David Adam, environment correspondent

guardian.co.uk, Thursday 14 January 2010 19.00 GMT

Article history

Arctic tundra in SiberiaPermafrost in Siberia. Methane emissions from the Arctic permafrost increased by 31% from 2003-07, figures show. Photograph: Francis Latreille/Corbis

Scientists have recorded a massive spike in the amount of a powerful greenhouse gas seeping from Arctic permafrost, in a discovery that highlights the risks of a dangerous climate tipping point.

Experts say methane emissions from the Arctic have risen by almost one-third in just five years, and that sharply rising temperatures are to blame.

The discovery follows a string of reports from the region in recent years that previously frozen boggy soils are melting and releasing methane in greater quantities. Such Arctic soils currently lock away billions of tonnes of methane, a far more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, leading some scientists to describe melting permafrost as a ticking time bomb that could overwhelm efforts to tackle climate change.

They fear the warming caused by increased methane emissions will itself release yet more methane and lock the region into a destructive cycle that forces temperatures to rise faster than predicted.

Paul Palmer, a scientist at Edinburgh University who worked on the new study, said: “High latitude wetlands are currently only a small source of methane but for these emissions to increase by a third in just five years is very significant. It shows that even a relatively small amount of warming can cause a large increase in the amount of methane emissions.”

Global warming is occuring twice as fast in the Arctic than anywhere else on Earth. Some regions have already warmed by 2.5C, and temperatures there are projected to increase by more than 10C by 2100 if carbon emissions continue to rise at current rates

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And it is confusing the birds.

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/03/brown_pelicans_wont_flow_south.html

Environment, Oregon Coast, Outdoors »

Brown pelicans won’t fly south from Oregon coast and that worries scientists

By Lynne Terry, The Oregonian

March 12, 2010, 6:06PM

peli.jpgView full sizeBenjamin Reed/Los Angeles TimesA group of brown pelicans gathers at the Wildlife Center of the North Coast near Astoria. These birds were among those lodged at the center after they failed to fly south for the winter.Unlike past years, they’ve refused to return to California.

In January, scientists were stunned to see hundreds of brown pelicans that normally fly south before winter lingering on the Oregon coast.

Now it’s March and dozens are still here.

“This is a first for us,” said Roy Lowe, seabird specialist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Biologists are worried. Birds have starved to death and been pummeled by storms. Scientists are also perplexed about why they’ve altered their habits. Climate change could be a factor — no one really knows for sure.

But last week, birders counted dozens on the coast. Lowe said there have been sightings of 60 in Newport, 25 at Charleston and seven in Depoe Bay.

“Maybe some of them will survive the spring,” he said. “I haven’t heard of any moralities. They haven’t looked good for a long time, but they continue to hang in there.”

The downwelling ocean conditions off the coast this time of year do not support an abundance of forage fish for the pelicans. Lowe said they could be finding food in estuaries and lower bays, but they’re also scavenging.

“They’ve been hanging around where people are crabbing and going for any bits of fallen food,” said Deborah Jaques,  a wildlife biologist in Astoria who contracts with state and federal governments.

In the summer, flocks of about 20,000 brown pelicans live on the Oregon Coast and then fly to Southern California and Mexico before winter to breed.

Scientists said the El Nino conditions, with warmer ocean temperatures in the equatorial Pacific, could have affected the brown pelican’s food supply.

In January, many were found injured by storms or starved to death.

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Things better change soon…

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David Gergen Supports Alternative Energy And The Green Economy

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Well this brings this blog and blogger right to the environmental focus we had hoped for. I saw this Sunday in the Parade Magazine. I knew I had to post it.

http://www.parade.com/news/2010/03/14-back-page-how-america-can-create-new-jobs.html

Back Page

How America Can Create New Jobs

by David Gergen
published: 03/14/2010
Technicians install a solar panel in Malibu, Calif.

‘Our company is like many other big ones in this country,” a CEO told me recently. “We expect to create plenty of jobs in coming years, but guess what: They won’t be in the U.S.”Welcome to the “new normal.” For more than five straight decades after World War II, the Great American Job Machine cranked out jobs at a phenomenal pace—22 million in the 1990s alone. But since December 1999, there has been zero net job creation—nada, zippo. Coming out of recession, one in six Americans is now unemployed or can’t find full-time work. Worse still, some economists say we won’t be back to pre-recession levels until 2016!

What can be done? Sadly, not much in the short term. Washington can and should pass bipartisan programs that create infrastructure jobs, ease the pain of unemployment, and hasten lending for small business. But progress will be painfully slow for millions of families.

The bigger challenge is whether we rally and renew for the long run. We are facing the toughest international competition in our lifetimes, and we are no longer winning. The signs are all around us. Who can believe that the first 20 floors of the new World Trade Center will be wrapped in glass made in China? Or that the new 28-foot statue of Martin Luther King Jr. will be coming to the Mall in Washington from Chinese workshops? These should be made-in-America jobs.

It is easy to get mad; great nations get even. We shouldn’t erect trade barriers—those helped to spark the Great Depression. We have to remember what made us the most dynamic nation in the world and can do so again: education and innovation.

In their new book, Harvard economists Claudia Goldin and Larry Katz point to the fundamental truth that the U.S. became the world’s richest nation at the beginning of the 20th century because we educated  more of our kids than anyone else. Generation after generation, children finished about two more years of schooling than their parents. We created the top research universities. But then we slowed down and others sped up. In the 1960s, the U.S. had the top high school graduation rate in the world; by the early 2000s, we were 19th. Our college graduation rates of young people have fallen into 12th place. To reignite job creation, Goldin and Katz say, we must once again be the best at educating our kids.

Fortunately, we’re finally firing up on education reform. Cities like New York, Chicago, Houston, and, yes, New Orleans are pushing reforms. Arne Duncan is a first-class Secretary of Education. More than 40,000 college seniors applied this year to Teach for America, the volunteer teaching corp. Even unions are getting the message. We are far, far from where we should be—but at last there is fresh hope.

The second fundamental truth is that scientific and technological research is key to job creation. MIT president Susan Hockfield notes that investment after World War II created waves of new industries and jobs in electronics, nuclear power, aerospace, communications, and computing. Yet again, we’ve slowed relative to other hungry nations. As New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman points out, we have only a tiny handful of the top 10 global companies in emerging green industries.

Relentless global competition is here to stay. We shouldn’t be scared nor discouraged. That’s not who we are as Americans. As my favorite preacher, Peter Gomes, says about how one should handle adversity in life, “Get used to it, get over it, and get on with it.”

David Gergen is a professor of public service at Harvard and a senior political analyst at CNN. He serves on the board of Teach for America and has advised four Presidents.

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More next time.

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

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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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Earthships – Michael Reynolds and the build your own eco habitat

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There is so much about this guy and his projects. The good news is that they are finally winning the building code battles. Oh and of course they ran up against the utility companies too. They hate houses that do not use power. So these are not houses for the faint of heart.

http://www.vaboomer.com/the_portal_to_boomeranger/2009/03/earthships-part-i.html

Earthships – Eco-Friendly Houses for the Future (Now?) Part I

Biotecture – from Trash to Shelter Earthship3

Just think — a house made of discarded garbage; used tires rammed with earth, soda bottle walls.  And the cost to heat?  $40 per month in the ‘dead of winter’.

The brainchild of architect Michael Reynolds, earthships are truly the homes for the future.

An Earthship is a type of rammed-earth house, sort of a modern version of a Native American pueblo dwelling. It is a utopian type of passive solar home made of natural and recycled materials such as earth-filled tires.  The home is “bermed,” meaning that dirt is gently placed, from ground to roof line, on the northern, eastern, and western sides of the home.  The berm is about 15-20 feet deep. They’re much more than houses — they provides shelter, heating, cooling, power, water and sewage. In these very tough economic times, there are people in America living very comfortably with a zero, yes, zero utility bill. They live in Earthships, beautiful homes made out of recycled tires and bottles, built completely off the grid.

Architect Michael Reynolds

Mreynolds

The Earthship, as it exists today, began to take shape in the 1970s. Mike Reynolds, founder of Earthship Biotecture, a company that specializes in designing and building Earthships, wanted to create a home that would be sustainable, rely on natural energy sources and be economically feasible for the average person with no specialized construction skills to be able to create.

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Doesn’t hurt to have a certain level of skills and can do spirit.

http://www.earthships.com/

Earthship Landing:
A Pictorial History

My name is Stuart Simmons and I built an Earthship home near Durango, Colorado. I decided to make the photo journey of my experience available to the public because there wasn’t much available in the WWW Land about alternative structures and there is quite a bit of interest in building alternatively. I used to live in the Bay Area, but due to the Rat Race and several other factors, I decided to move to Durango where I found my piece of Heaven. The pictorial history of Earthship Landing on the Internet is an ongoing process. I will start off by putting the pictures on the web as I believe this is what people mostly want to see, but over time I will add a lot more text to the pages of my experience of building the home and what it’s like to live in a house made of tires. The way I am going to set up the pages is like a book. each page will have one or two pictures two help keep it small for downloading. I am going to start at the beginning and go through the history of building the Earthship. At the end of the book I will also show some other peoples Earthships and how they have built them differently. Let’s get on with it . I would love to hear from you once you have seen these pages. If you know of another link which you think should be included in these pages, then please let me know its URL and I will include it. If you know of other styles of alternative houses, please let me know and I will include them as well. You can E-mail me at Info@Earthships.com

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I mean you have got to admire people like this. Why wasn’t I born that cool?

http://www.greenhomebuilding.com/earthship.htm

Earthships

The Earthship concept is the brainchild of Michael Reynolds, who has written several books on the topic. Near Taos New Mexico, where he has his Earthship Biotecture business, are whole communities of earthships. The basic earthship design incorporates substantially bermed, passive solar architecture. The primary retaining walls are constructed with used tires, filled with earth and stacked up like bricks. The interior surface of the tires is then plastered with adobe or cement so the tires don’t normally show. Mike has also pioneered the use of empty aluminum cans mortared into lightweight, curvable walls. Earthships often employ many ecological concepts, such as water catchment from the roof, reuse of greywater, composting toilets, indoor gardening, etc.

While some of the work of building is simple to do, it also tends to be very labor intensive. Furthermore, the wood framing required is not simple. Some of the earlier designs tend to overheat, especially in the summer, because of the slanted glass to the south. I have seen some truly elegant earthships, along with some that are pretty funky. Engineered plans are available that seem to please building inspectors, as these have been built in many localities.

Here is a 5 minute radio interview with Kelly Hart talking about Earthships:

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Please go to the above site and listen to the radio interview…we may yet survive.

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More Energy Efficient House Designs – They all look pretty weird BUT

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http://www.energyefficientbuild.com/

Energy Efficient Building Network for Your Home / Building Project

this site is continually updated — so visit with me often for the latest updates!

At Energy Efficient Building Network, we believe that working with competent and experienced design and construction professionals is essential for your dream house / building project’s successful completion in a cost-effective and timely manner.

A Successful Energy Efficient Building Project! … needs all the right decisions, a team of dedicated and experienced professionals working in concert, and a whole lot more. How to do it right every time? … We need a system, there are no short cuts, no magic wand. Energy Efficient Building Network has a system that uses the Top Ten List for successfully completing an energy efficient building project.

Every project today has energy efficiency as a key consideration — so whether you are building or renovating your house, or it is your commercial or light industrial building — energy efficiency a key requirement — good thinking — Congratulations!

It all begins with a genuine desire, a concept, a need, an idea, a dream. You want to do it right, you want a building that is energy efficient, functional, aesthetically pleasing, cost-effective, long-lasting, and that is strong, is healthy, and is comfortable — you want it all — and why not!

For an energy efficient building, efficient use of energy is not an after thought, it is a key consideration that impacts decisions at every step of the way from conception to completion. So as the decision is made to build, and the budget and schedule issues have been considered, we need to follow the steps in the …

Top Ten List …

  1. Building System… select one that has energy efficiency at its core, is state-of-the-art, and is strong in its resistant to natural hazards, is cost-effective

    2.
  2. Project Management … create a team so that every one is a team player and has experience and expertise in energy efficient construction in one’s respective discipline

    3.
  3. Foundation… design so that it is compatible with the Building System selected

    4.
  4. Walls… choose a compatible system that provides most energy efficiency, ease of building and allows for use of wall covering of your choice

    5.
  5. Floors… design compatible floor system that provides for energy efficiency, occupant comfort, use of floor finish of choice

    6.
  6. Roof… design roof structure and choose roofing system that is energy efficient, is compatible with the various sub systems of the building and affords the aesthetics and curb appeal that you desire

    7.
  7. Doors and Windows… select type and style that are energy efficient, are durable, and meet your decor ideas

    8.
  8. Mechanical… choose compatible system and fixtures that are energy efficient, are state-of-the-art and have proven record of performance

    9.
  9. Electrical… design system and choose fixtures that are compatible, are state-of-the-art, meet your decor ideas and are energy efficient

    10.
  10. Appliances-Fixtures… choose such that they add-value to your energy efficient project, are durable, are cost-effective, and meet your ideas of decor, aesthetics and curb appeal

    11.

So this is how it goes …

You turn the idea into a plan — you develop a mission. You search for a suitable location. You want your building to be cost-effective and you are concerned with not only about the building’s initial cost but also its operational cost over its entire life cycle. You establish a budget and you establish a schedule.

You chart out the purpose and the function of the building. You initiate a project. You want to design it and build it so it meets all of your requirements such as form, function, aesthetics, budget, schedule, safety, security, while meeting all the pertinent rules and regulations. You want to spend your money wisely, you want to use proven cutting edge state-of-the art technology, you want your building to have a long useful life — you want to be proud of what you are going to build — there we go!

So, for example if you are building it in Rochester Hills, in the State of Michigan in USA, where I have my consulting practice, you have to meet all the local, state, and federal regulations — or if your building is going to be located in the city of Toronto, in the Province of Ontario where I lived a number of years ago, you have to comply with the local, provincial, and federal regulations — or even if your building is going to be located in New Delhi, India, where I grew up, you have to ensure compliance with all local, municipal, and federal requirements. You want your building to be designed and built right — according to applicable codes — be it International Building Code, International Residential Code, UBC, BOCA, SBC, MEC, and so on.

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Did you want me to say more…OK more tomorrow.

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After The Energy Audit – All of the things that I suggested that you do

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All of those things could have taken SEVERAL Years to complete.You have to ask yourself, “How badly must my house have been designed for me to have to do all this work”? The answer is VERY badly. The big housing push in post WWII America led to many bad practices. But let’s face it our population went from 60 million to over 325 million in 3 decades and energy was a nickle or less a kilowatt. That is just an excuse I know but it is all I got. Hostility to our environment is a genetic trait for Americans. Having a Capitalistic Economy does not help because it has a total disregard for the environment. It is in fact dismissed as an externality.  Is Capitalism psychotic? Look at how it treats the only home we have got. It defiles it.

So hear is a look at more earth friendly models.

http://scienceray.com/biology/ecology/three-extreme-eco-friendly-houses-of-the-future/

Three Extreme Eco-friendly Houses of the Future

Published by Nelson Doyle
November 9, 2008, Category: Ecology

The most extreme eco-friendly houses of the future reduces the environmental impact on the planet and demonstrates how less means more quality living.

With so much attention being drawn towards the perils of our planet and the environmental impact that a global population is causing on natural resources, some forward-thinking companies and individuals are developing new ways to solve our housing needs and the future impact to the environment once built. It requires creative people like these to develop solutions to solve critical issues like the ones we have to deal with in today’s environment.

The majority of eco-friendly houses share similar engineering characteristics such as; smaller living spaces and recycled building materials incorporated into the design. Some houses incorporate solar panels, wood-burning stoves or other energy-saving heating and cooling appliances. The potential costs saving on utility bills, property taxes, home maintenance, and furniture would more than make this kind of living ideal for single or duel family housing.

Ewok-Style Tree House

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I could post the photos but out of respect I will say please see the article for more.

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This Ewok-style tree house designed by Canadian carpenter Tom Chudleigh saw the future and built it.

Portable Martin House-To-Go

Honestly, this has to be the most practical house on the planet that is eco-friendly to the extremes. Live anywhere and change your scenery when the mood strikes in your own portable house. The Martin portable house-to-go is built to the highest building standards and is weatherproofed with NASA-approved insulation to endure in extreme weather conditions.

Dome House

The Japanese are amazing engineers in both housing and technology, so it shouldn’t be too surprising that a prefab home manufacturer Japan called “Japan Dome Housing Co., Ltd., developed an amazingly energy-efficient, extreme weather durable, Styrofoam expandable modular igloo-shaped kit house. Oh, yes, it’s true. The house of the future that can be purchased and assembled by you and two or three of your friends in just a matter of 3-days if you work around the clock or about a week if you take your time.

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More tomorrow.

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An Energy Audit Leads Directly To Wind Generation – People get the bug

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It is true. Not everyone will get the bug. Where you stop after your energy audit could many times be with good thoughts. A liberal bastion such as Boulder, has to hire people to go door to door to install Compact Flourescent Lighbulbs.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748704320104575015920992845334.html

Even Boulder Finds It Isn’t Easy Going Green

By STEPHANIE SIMON

BOULDER, Colo.—This spring, city contractors will fan out across this well-to-do college town to unscrew light bulbs in thousands of homes and replace them with more energy-efficient models, at taxpayer expense.

City officials never dreamed they’d have to play nanny when they set out in 2006 to make Boulder a role model in the fight against global warming. The cause seemed like a natural fit in a place where residents tend to be politically liberal and passionate about the great outdoors.

Instead, as Congress considers how to encourage Americans to conserve more energy, Boulder stands as a cautionary tale about the limits of good intentions.

“What we’ve found is that for the vast majority of people, it’s exceedingly difficult to get them to do much of anything,” says Kevin Doran, a senior research fellow at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

President Barack Obama has set ambitious goals for cutting greenhouse-gas emissions, in part by improving energy efficiency. Last year’s stimulus bill set aside billions to weatherize buildings. The president has also called for a “cash for caulkers” rebate for Americans who weatherize their homes.

But Boulder has found that financial incentives and an intense publicity campaign aren’t enough to spur most homeowners to action, even in a city so environmentally conscious that the college football stadium won’t sell potato chips because the packaging isn’t recyclable.

Take George Karakehian. He considers himself quite green: He drives a hybrid, recycles, uses energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs. But he refuses to practice the most basic of conservation measures: Shutting the doors to his downtown art gallery when his heating or air conditioning is running.

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NONETHELESS

Many people get the bug to the point where they want to make their own which ain’t very hard to do. Ed Beagley Jr. makes his with a bicycle generator.

http://www.magnet4less.com/index.php?cPath=8&gclid=CMT6sKTjqaACFQTyDAod6i0xeg

Residential & Home Wind Turbines
WindMax is the Exclusive Distributor in the US for HYenergy wind turbines. HYEnergy Residential-Home Wind Turbines feature High performance, high efficiency, high reliability and superior workmanship. Patented, twisted high efficiency blades with extremely efficient aerodynamics design, brushless generator, electromagnetic overspeed control and aerodynamic blade speed limitation make the whole system maintenance free, fully automatic and providing higher energy output. HYenergy wind turbine patent was awarded in March of 2004. CE certification was awarded in July of 2005.

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Wind Turbine Generators with Inverters

Wind Turbine Generators with Inverters
Wind Turbine system with inverter included. WindMax wind turbines have high performance, high efficiency, high reliability and superior workmanship, designed to work from low to high wind speeds.: High performance, high efficiency, high reliability and superior workmanship, designed to work from low to high wind speeds.We also are the leading manufacturer of top quality, excellent performing, and long lasting wind turbine blades.

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Hybrid Wind Turbines w/Solar Panels

Hybrid Wind Turbines w/Solar Panels
The advanced wind-solar hybrid system generates electricity using both solar panels modules and WindMax wind turbines at the same time at all conditions. The hybrid system features high efficiency, high reliability, and high sustainability. It is light weight, easy to install and has electromagnetic over-speed control which more reliable than traditional furling system.

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Just think one day everyone might have one

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Where An Energy Audit Can Lead – We started this meditation on caulk and CFL’s

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[we are coming up on Herbie Hancock’s 70th birthday so..]

It’s Jam Band Friday – ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrgP1u5YWEg )

But the discussion leads directly to considering the use of you own generation devices. People have been trained over the years to “pay their energy bills as they go”. What if you paid your energy bill before you used it. Electricity is not a commodity and energy services are your birthright. OoopS there I go again getting all radical. But it is not radical to be thrifty. It is not radical to be kind to the Earth. It is not radical to teach your kids sustainable practices. The internal combustion Engine is primitive and must be gotten away from. The days when we could just burn large amounts of “stuff” and consume large amounts of “stuff” are over, whether we like it or not…anyway here’s some solar POWER…

http://www.andalaysolar.com/cm/Home.html

Introducing Andalay AC

The First Plug and Play Solar Power System

ANDALAY AC – GET THE WHITEPAPER! SEE THE INSTALLATION VIDEO!
 Built in Reliability & Safety Solar systems must last decades in the harsh environment of your roof. But years of sun, wind and rain can corrode the different metals and eat through unprotected wiring found on ordinary solar systems. Both lead to a failed investment.

Andalay, the next generation in solar power systems, engineered away these flaws with its award-winning revolutionary design. Protected wiring, assembly in a quality-controlled factory environment, and superior framing, grounding and wiring deliver a system that is built to provide decades of reliable solar power performance. Learn More » Maximum Lifetime Performance With Enphase micro-inverters built right into each panel, Andalay delivers decades of powerful performance. Unlike ordinary solar panels where their power production varies from hour to hour, each Andalay panel consistently operates at its maximum power potential. Additionally, these revolutionary panels continue to operate at maximum power even if one panel goes down compared to ordinary panels where the malfunction of one panel from shading or other failures takes down all of the panels. As a result, these revolutionary panels can perform 5% to 25% higher than ordinary panels. Learn More » Beautiful Appearance on your Roof In addition to its unparallel reliability, Andalay’s award winning design showcases a sleek, beautiful, design that compliments your home. With 80% less parts and fewer penetrations to your roof, Andalay’s slimmer panels, invisible electrical cabling and hidden mounting system take up less room on your roof while showing off a revolutionary design. The end result is an attractive system that ends electricity bills and fights green house gas. Learn More »

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( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hmVHhH96es )

http://www.amerescosolar.com/SolarSite/SolarSiteMain.aspx?tsid=googleppc&gclid=CMrFjcKgoqACFQMhDQodkylFag

Solar electric power, known as photovoltaic (PV) technology, makes use of the abundant energy from the sun. It can be used in a wide range of products, from small consumer items to large commercial solar electric systems.

Few power-generation technologies have as little impact on the environment as solar power.
It quietly generates electricity from light and produces no air pollution or hazardous waste.
It doesn’t require liquid or gaseous fuels to be transported or combusted. And because its energy source—sunlight—is free and abundant, it can guarantee access to electric power.
Learn More

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( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jo5GcYeh7XA )

http://www.solarliving.org/display.asp?catid=49

SLI: On-site and Online Solar Training and Certification
Promoting Sustainable Living through Inspirational Environmental Education

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About Us

Established in 1998 as a spin-off from Real Goods Trading Company, the Solar Living Institute in Hopland, CA, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational organization whose mission is to promote sustainable living through inspirational environmental education. The Institute provides practical, education by example and hands-on workshops on renewable energy, green building, sustainable living, permaculture, organic gardening and alternative, environmental, construction methods.

The Institute is headquartered at the Solar Living Center, a gorgeous 12-acre renewable energy and sustainable living demonstration site visited by nearly 200,000 people annually in the heart of Northern California’s wine country in Hopland, California. Since its inception nearly two million visitors have experienced the Solar Living Center.

The nonprofit Solar Living Institute depends upon your support to continue to offer you rich educational programs. Please support the Institute by joining our Membership Program, making a gift online, becoming an intern, or volunteering.

Newsletters 2010
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( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6WrK7m4ZPk&feature=related )

http://www.affordable-solar.com/residential.solar.home.htm

Residential Solar

Affordable Solar takes you through the process of powering your home with solar. One-stop and turn-key, we do it all for you.

Solar 101

Learn the Basics

System Sizer

Enter your information and find your system and cost.

GT Kits

Go here to buy pre-packaged kits.

Installer Network

View our map of residential solar installers.

How It Works


Learn more about how solar works in Solar 101.

Example Systems


Example systems that are currently up and running.

Residential Solar

There are many terms for Residential Solar Energy System such as Grid-Tie (tied into the energy grid), Residential Solar, and Home Solar, but they are all the same thing: a solar electric system that provides clean and renewable power from the sun.

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Happy Birthday

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMqvDV-lYVc&feature=related

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I Am Not Going To Get Into Solar Cookers – Just this one post and we must move on

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I have done a whole 2 week meditation on solar cooking, drying and other energy light food preparation methods. That included gardening, canning, freezing and all manner of good foods that are good for you. I did not cover hunting and maybe the next time I will because  it doesn’t get more energy or cost effective than a bullet. They cost a quarter. BUT, since I mentioned solar cookers and there have been 2 huge natural disasters in the last few months in Chile and Haiti…I give you the Solar Cooker International project.

http://www.solarcookers.org/

head1.gif head2.gif head3.gif head4.gif sci logo

WELCOME!

image of a solar cook

Helping Haiti

In response to the devastating earthquake in Haiti, Solar Cookers International (SCI) has received numerous calls from donors and friends wishing to make contributions or otherwise support relief efforts in Haiti, particularly with the hopes of sending solar cookers and water pasteurization indicators (WAPIs) to the quake’s victims. We are inspired and encouraged that so many of you have recognized the vital role solar cooking and solar water pasteurization can play in these relief efforts.

SCI is now working with Sun Ovens International, Friends of Haiti Organization, and local NGO partners to bring much-needed solar cookers and WAPIs to the people of Haiti as the country begins its long road to recovery. Please contribute to this effort and help us bring simple, life-saving skills and technologies to a country suffering not only from a massive earthquake, but from never-ending poverty and lack of cooking fuel due to extreme levels of deforestation.

A $40 gift pays for a solar cooker, cooking pot, and WAPI for a Haitian family.

* * *

Food is easily and conveniently cooked with solar energy as the “fuel” in devices called solar cookers (or solar ovens). Solar cookers are an ideal addition to any kitchen wherever there are predictable hours of sun many days of the year. Solar cooking and baking are easy. Solar cookers are safe around children and provide a great way to learn about and use solar energy. Solar cookers are clean, convenient, non-polluting and easy on the environment. And, for millions of people living in arid, fuel-scarce regions of the world, solar cookers can literally save lives. Read on …

For Immediate Release February 1, 2010 Sacramento, CA – Solar Cookers International announced today that Dolores Weis has joined the organization as its Executive Director, effective immediately. Ms. Weis brings eighteen years of humanitarian management experience across many countries and cultures,…
Thank you to everyone who responded to our call to help send CooKits, Pots and WAPI’s to Haiti. The response has been tremendous. We have raised the $8,000 needed for the first shipment. We will include more Cookits in a shipment schedueled for next month. All new donations earmarked for Haiti will …
Sacramento, CA, January 21, 2010 – Solar Cookers International (SCI), a not-for-profit organization founded in 1987, today announced the launch of the Haiti Project, which aims to send one complete solar cooking kit to at least 200 Haitian families that were devastated by the recent earthquake. The …
Solar Cooker System as “Most Meaningful Carbon Offset” Campaign Launched Sacramento, CA, November 24, 2009. Solar Cookers International (SCI), a not-for-profit organization founded in 1987, announced today the launch of “The most meaningful carbon offset is also the simplest” campaign. This campa…

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There is not a whole lot more to say on the subject.

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