IntelEfficient

Sustainability is generally defined as “meeting present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.”  Our abundant fossil fuel resources have been an enormous energy reserve that we’ve been able to use to build and grow with, and yet we have to recognize the finite nature of those fuels.  Debates may rage over how much coal, oil and natural gas remain to be tapped, but there’s no question that sooner or later we’ll run out if we don’t do something differently.  It’s also important to recognize that it gets much more expensive and destructive to extract these fuels as their availability declines.  This is why we need to transition to renewable energy sources.

A small farm community near Berlin, Germany has made the transition.  The 145 residents of Feldheim enjoy a mix of wind, solar and biofuels – all generated locally – to provide both heat and electricity.  Energiequelle, a company co-founded by one of the town’s residents, installed a total of 43 wind turbines in fertile fields south of the town.   These 275 feet tall turbines provide about 170 million kilowatt hours annually, most of which is sold to the grid.  To supplement and diversify their energy sourcing, a 2.25 megawatt solar farm was built on 100 acres of land, generating 3.4 million kWh of electricity each year.  The solar arrays are mounted on motorized tracking devices that are manufactured at a factory (EQ-SYS) in Feldheim. Read the rest of this entry »

Germany is once again leading the world toward a more sustainable future, introducing an ultra-efficient home capable of producing twice as much energy as it consumes.  The surplus energy can be used to charge an electric vehicle, or be exported to the grid.

The house was designed by a team lead by Professor Werner Sobek at the Stuttgart University Institute for Lightweight Structures and Conceptual Design (ILEK).  Dubbed the Efficiency House Plus, the 1400 sq. ft. home is a model for the future.  A prototype was built near Berlin, and a family of four is scheduled to inhabit the home for 15 months as part of a live test beginning in March, 2012.  Until then, the building is open to the public. Read the rest of this entry »

The Energize Missouri Homes program, made possible by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act through the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, was introduced last year to offer significant financial incentives to improve your home’s energy efficiency.  This included energy audits, insulation and air sealing, and heating and cooling upgrades.  These improvements save you money on your utility bill and enhance the comfort of your home.

We had an energy audit done, which included an analysis of our HVAC equipment, the insulation and how well our home’s exterior was sealed against air leaks.  By upgrading our attic insulation and our 50-year-old boiler and 12 year-old air conditioner, our overall energy costs would be reduced by over 25%, so we were eligible for the program.  Our initial application in December 2010 was wait-listed due to the high volume of responses, but we received an approval to proceed in August and were awarded a $7,500 rebate to help pay for the three improvements. Read the rest of this entry »

Imagine the days when, if you needed hot water, you put a kettle or pot (or several of each) on the stove and heated as much water as you needed.  Of course, you may also have needed to add some fuel to the fire, assuming it was already going.  I suspect this was a strong motivator to be conservative in our use of hot water!

As our domestic appliances advanced, we developed a hot water storage tank, where we could use an appropriately-sized storage tank to meet the demands of the home or business.  The water in the tank is kept heated to a preset temperature, usually around 120 degrees for normal use, using either an electric heating element or a burner fueled by natural gas.  As water is drawn from the tank for showers or washing, fresh cold water is drawn into the tank and the whole tank is heated to maintain that set temperature.  Tanks vary in size, usually from 40 to 60 gallons, but for larger homes larger or multiple tanks may be used. Read the rest of this entry »

With evidence of climate change becoming more prevalent, there is a growing awareness and desire to reduce our “carbon footprint.”  While there continues to be debate in the mainstream about the cause and effects of climate change, the scientific community is overwhelmingly undivided on the subject.

In America, buildings are responsible for about 39% of the country’s total carbon emissions.  This represents a significant opportunity for rethinking how we design, build and use buildings.  A team led by HOK and The Weidt Group decided to try and design a market-rate, class A office building with net-zero emissions. Using the Department of Energy’s definition, this is “a building that produces and exports at least as much emissions-free renewable energy as it imports and uses from emission-producing energy sources annually.”  Read the rest of this entry »

When GM recalled all of their leased EV1 electric cars in 2002, there was quite a bit of speculation about the conspiracy that killed the electric car.  Many owners begged to keep their vehicles, but had no choice but to surrender them to GM to be crushed or put in a museum.

This fall, we’ll finally begin to see the return of electric vehicles (EVs) that have been long promised.  While dreams of a Tesla Roadster or Fisker Karma may be a bit elusive, the Nissan Leaf may be just the car you’re looking for.  The Leaf will be available this fall, at least for those who’ve put their names on the waiting list.  The Chevy Volt, which was only available in select markets, is also expected to be available nationwide later this year and the Ford Focus has been delayed to 2012.  The Top 10 electric carmakers will be battling it out to win the hearts of EV drivers. Read the rest of this entry »

The sun continues to rise in Missouri!  Since 2008, when Missouri voters passed the Renewable Energy Standard by a 2 to 1 margin, the solar industry has been growing rapidly across the state.  This citizen initiative created a rebate program that requires investor-owned utilities like Ameren and KCP&L to pay a $2 per watt rebate for new solar installations.  This, coupled with the broader 30% federal tax credit, has made solar a cost-effective complement to grid-based energy.

It actually started with the Easy Connection Act in 2007.  This allowed businesses and residents to interconnect a renewable energy system, like solar or wind, to a grid-tied electrical system.  The clean renewable energy produced locally is consumed first, and additional energy requirements are pulled from the grid.  If the renewable energy system produces more energy than is needed, the excess electricity flows out onto the grid, and the electric meter essentially “spins” in reverse.  This process is called net metering, and ensures that you are credited for any energy that you supply to the utility. However, if you are a net producer during any billing cycle, the utility is only required to pay you their avoided cost, which is usually less than a third of the retail price you pay the utility.

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On the eve after April Fool’s Day, all of the green people in St. Louis made a lunar landing on the Moonrise Hotel on The Delmar Loop .  While this sounds like science fiction, the Green Ball was the place to “celebrate the earth under the moon.”  The event raised thousands of dollars for the Missouri Botanical Garden’s EarthWays Center, which promotes sustainability through environmental education and improving the built environment.

Over 300 guests packed the house to listen to Hudson and the Hoodoo Cats.  While so many other green gatherings are serious efforts to educate and inspire people to live in harmony with the earth, the Green Ball was a night to relax and celebrate.  Guests were encouraged to show their true colors in the Green Fashion Contest, which included things like skin paint, a paper-plate bra and a vegetable veil.   The Green Giant made his return from last year, looking like a cross between Rambo and an Avatar.  Pictures are a must see at MetroMix and Riverfront Times. Read the rest of this entry »

Geothermal heating and cooling systems are becoming increasingly common as a smart way to heat and cool buildings.  The big reason for this is a 30 percent federal tax credit that effectively reduces the cost by that much.  They’re not for everyone, but according to the EPA, geothermal systems are “the most energy efficient, environmentally clean and cost-effective space conditioning system available today.”  

The term geothermal is also used in reference to the heat from molten magma, which in some places is close enough to the Earth’s surface that it can be used to generate steam and create electricity.  What we’re actually talking about in this article is ground-source heat pumps, much like the more common air-source heat pumps that the electric utilities like to promote. Read the rest of this entry »

Each day, as the sun rises and travels across the sky, an immense amount of energy is lavished on our planet.  An oft-cited statistic is that more solar energy falls on the earth in one hour than what is used by the entire population in a year.  In fact, most (almost half) of this energy is stored in the ground as heat.  This time of year, it doesn’t feel like there’s much warmth to spare, but you can certainly capture it and use it to heat your home.

If you’re building a home, your builder or architect could design it to take advantage of passive solar heating.  With this concept, the building is oriented so that the southern façade has lots of windows and a wide roof overhang.  In the summertime, when the sun is high in the sky, the overhang shades the windows like an awning to keep the building cool.  When the sun is lower in the sky in the winter, the sun’s rays shine freely through the windows to warm the floor.  A concrete floor with tile is an ideal surface to store the heat well into the evening.  The concrete floor can also use radiant heat as a quiet mainstay heating source. Read the rest of this entry »