Eco Green

What was the single most significant breakthrough in clean energy technology this year? Smart grid digitized systems? Tidal power?

According to Interdisciplinary Committee of the World Cultural Council, it was the Grätzel Cell, a dye solar cell (DSC) that can be applied to surfaces as a coating of colored paint. The committee awarded the 2012 Albert Einstein World Award of Science to its inventor, Professor Michael Grätzel, recently, claiming that “chemistry for energy is currently one of the most important research topics for the future of our society and for mankind worldwide.”

image via Dyesol

The technology was commercialized in 1994 by Dyesol, an Australian solar company that sells various DSC products and supplies internationally. Each DSC, covered in titania (a white pigment) and ruthenium dye, is a tiny electrolyte that mimics the natural process of photosynthesis. When exposed to sunlight, the ruthenium dye creates electrons that are absorbed by the titania to create electrical current. The cells can be attached–in the form of a spray or a paste– to glass, metal, including electronics, cars, trains, and buses, and construction materials for buildings and homes, as well as various other plastics and surfaces.

As founding father of Dyesol’s technology, Grätzel serves as chairman of Dyesol’s Technology Advisory Board. Since 1977, Grätzel has been a chemistry professor at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland and has focused his research on solar energy. He has already gained international recognition for many discoveries, including his findings on light’s ability to split hydrogen and oxygen in water and currently serves as director of EPFL’s Laboratory of Photonics and Interfaces.

Grätzel has won several international energy awards, has invented or co-invented over 50 patents, has published over 900 research papers and 60 reviews and book chapters, and holds and honorary doctorate in eleven universities worldwide. While his Grätzel Cell was not the first DSC on the market, it has been lauded for its efficiency and versatility.

With the popularity of solar technology, the price of silicon has dropped globally. But DSC products are still cheaper to manufacture than traditional PV panels. It is arguable whether or not they are much more efficient, but unlike silicon-based cells, the technology has the added benefit, as does CIGS (Copper indium gallium selenide) thin film solar technology, that it can be applied to unconventional surfaces.

But perhaps even more important is that with its low cost, the Grätzel Cell marks a paradigm shift for solar power. Solar panels were once considered ugly, bulky and appropriate only for rooftops. With only a few panels on each rooftop, homeowners could not rely on the panels alone to provide all their power needs. With time, the panels became thinner and more efficient, and some manufacturers even created sleek transparent panels that could be used instead of windows or skylights. But solar spray technology can be applied onto countless surfaces, both stationary and transportable, big and small, flat and bumpy, that were never before candidates for solar power.

The military, for example, is already using a similar technology on tents that can be pitched in remote locations and provide solar-powered electricity without a connection to transmisison lines.

Image via Dyesol

Solar cells on appliances could replace the need for batteries of plugs. On cars, the Grätzel Cell could be a significant fuel source, and on homes and buildings, it could coat the entire exterior to provide a significant source of green power. Solar is no longer stationary, so let your imagination run wild!

A beautiful and highly sustainable home that requires a third of the cooling and half the heating of similar homes, the Thomas Home, set on an 11 acre site in the Cascade foothills and overlooking Mt. Rainier and Everett City in Washington state is a perfect example of passive house design.

This comes partly simply from the cube-like shape, putting a compact four stories on a relatively smaller footprint. But the Thomas Home, designed by Designs Northwest Architects, also boasts very high thermal insulation due to the construction with ICFs – two layers of rigid foam insulation into which concrete has been poured.

Thomas Home

In addition, the use of lots of glass also contributes to the home’s energy efficiency. Warming the Thomas Home in winter, and creating a solar chimney in hot weather, the glass rooms are not just beautiful but an intrinsic part of the design.

The Thomas Home employs a variety of strategies that reduce its energy use; 33% lower for cooling, and 44% lower for heating. Most importantly, a geothermal heat exchange brings up temperate air in pipes from underground to cool the house in summer.

The temperature underground hardly varies from a constant 55 degrees, summer or winter, and the pipes running through the house are able to cool the house to nearly that even in 100 degree heat outside. This means in summer, the house needs much less cooling.

Likewise, in winter, it is much easier to heat a house from a starting point near 55 degrees, than starting from the frigid temperatures outside. Materials selected are sustainable, low VOC, low maintenance materials like this flooring and durable steel banisters. But it is not all practicality and sustainability. An amusing touch in the house is a firemans’ pole. One last element of sustainable design is less tangible, but important too: the house is solidly constructed. It has been built to last. That is about the epitome of sustainability of this Thomas Home.

via homedesignidea.org

Designed by Berlin-based Studio Aisslinger, this incredibly attractive modular home was created almost 4,000 ft above sea level. Located near Bozen in Northern Italy, it features magnificent views of the Dolomite mountains, yet can be easily taken apart and rebuilt in a new location. This makes the structure perfect for the travelling nomad, all while leaving a minimal CO2 footprint.

Dubbed Fincube, the home is made entirely of local wood and the design is minimal, material-orientated and in close touch with nature. A 360-degree triple glazing is furnished with a second facade layer, giving the building a very elegant, yet modern shape.

The modular aspect of Fincube allows it to be embedded into a variety of landscapes including forests, meadows and mountainsides. The combination of long-lasting design and the option of changing its location make the Fincube a flexible home or hideaway, and a lifetime companion. To top it off, Fincube is a smart house, with all vital functions being controlled by a central touch panel.

Studio Aisslinger’s website
via [Homedsgn]

A beautiful, green architecture building was designed by Mu Architecture in the hillside of Cap-à-l’Aigle, Charlevoix, Quebec, Canada. This house, Malbaie V Residence, is very elegant with its wooden materials dominated the house’s construction. Beautiful scenery is an added value.

This eco construction was built very beautiful as a hilltop residence that faces the ocean.  The house has 4 bedrooms with simple rectangular shape. The openings are set from the east side to west side, to maximize the daylighting around the day. The beautiful view can be accessed from big open windows.

This sustainable architecture building is dominated with wooden materials, especially  red cedar. Wooden materials are also dominated the interior, including floor, ceiling. This provides a natural feeling and creates a beautiful blending with the environment. There is a living planted roof also, provides an insulation for the house, also maintain the rainwater catchment.

With all of these sustainable features, this sustainable house becomes a great cabin-like retreat house with visually  stunning view and high energy efficiency.

via architecture4us.com

Given how much room for improvement we have in making our buildings more sustainable, we should certainly welcome the efforts of companies to release more green building components. Recently, business has been good. The slow permeation of sustainability into the culture of design and construction has brought new products to market every year for nearly every stage of the building process. For as much as we need more opportunities, however, it makes no sense to preemptively rush a product to market just for the sake of getting more green items on the shelf. On the contrary, a faulty green product could do more long term harm than a shortage of green solutions.
In my work on a local design project nearing completion here in Manhattan, the finish materials are beginning to go up. As we saw door casings, cabinetry, window sills and countertops get installed, the question of paint inevitably arose. When it comes to indoor air quality paint can play a large role. In most of our homes paint covers a high percentage of exposed surfaces making it present in just about every room. Historically, paint is also the source of chemicals that off-gas over the life of the paint—meaning that as paint cures and ages it releases chemicals into the air that we ultimately breath in. In paints and finishes the main culprit is Volatile Organic Compounds, or VOC’s. The response to this has been the creation of Low-VOC or No-VOC paint which is now offered by most mainstream paint producers. Companies like Benjamin Moore claim to offer every color in their palette in a Low-VOC option.

In a meeting with the client and contractor I proposed the use of Low-VOC paint throughout the project. The client needed no convincing. As someone that I would say has an above-average education and awareness for issues surrounding sustainability, the client asserted her desire to avoid all possible sources of airborne chemicals in her home. I felt pretty good at this juncture because the client is often the hardest one to convince. But a look over to the contractor found him with a half smile and a shake of his head.

According to him, the painters he worked with had developed a stark aversion to Benjamin Moore’s “Aura” line—the companies first foray into the Low-VOC world.  Aura uses waterbourne colorants to create its tints and replace sources of VOCs that have been used to date for increasing strength and durability. A valiant goal, but according to the tradesmen that are responsible for applying it and assuring its quality, it doesn’t actually perform perfectly. Our contractor claimed that the workability of the paint was low. Reportedly, the paint’s composition shortened drying time which made painters speed through coats, often resulting in uneven finishes that required sanding and more coats than traditional paint options. In short, the painters would not guarantee the same level of finish with Aura paint.

This was certainly discouraging. While I deeply respect and appreciate companies like Benjamin Moore that strive to be leaders in changing the standard for how we finish space, the replacement products have to work. Otherwise, we run the risk of turning off newcomers who are trying to branch into more sustainable practices. Despite the momentum that sustainability has accumulated over the past decade it still has a ways to go before its place in building standards is secured. I would argue that sustainability has yet to reach the level of the populace that marks the transition from a new trend to a cultural norm. In the Law of Diffusion of Innovations, pushing past this forecast level of 15-18% of the population is known as “Jumping the Chasm.” Until we pass that point, sustainability is still in a fragile state in danger of being cast off by people that are lead to believing it is a marketing ploy because they received a sub-standard product.

I then asked our contractor, “Well how about their Natura line?” Also available in every color that Benjamin Moore produces, Natura is a newer product line revolving around sustainability. Despite not knowing about it before hand, it seemed as though Natura could have been the company’s answer to the negative response of Aura paints. The contractor wasn’t familiar with the product, but after checking with his painters days later, he reported that the painters said Natura was a head-and-shoulders improvement over the Aura line and they were happy to use it on the job.

Now, everyone is bound to make a mistake or two as we collectively feel our way into new territory. Part of the way we can sort between the greenwashing companies and those truly committed to sustainable goals is whether the problem is fixed once it occurs. In Benjamin Moore’s case (a company with a great history of high quality products) they addressed the problem head on and minimized the long term damage. Companies need to continue to be diligent and patient in guiding new products to market because we cannot punish consumers for trying to buy into a sustainable lifestyle.

via progressivetimes.wordpress.com

The Glenhope House outside of Melbourne is a sustainable family vacation home that can efficiently accommodate a larger group or be zoned for just two. Designed by Australian practice, JOH Architects, the four bedroom house is situated in a panoramic landscape and takes in views from all four sides. A rammed earth wall serves as the backbone for the house and two large rainwater cisterns store water for use in the house. Solar passive design minimizes energy use and natural materials are used throughout.

Read more: Rammed Earth Glenhope House is a Sustainable Vacation Retreat Outside of Melbourne | Inhabitat – Green Design Will Save the World

The Atlantic/via

Jordan Weismann of the Atlantic puts together a graph that shows how construction had the worst percentage loss of jobs in the country, over one in four jobs lost in total. He writes:

The recession and painstakingly slow recovery have absolutely slammed industries traditionally dominated by high school educated males. Both in relative and absolute terms, they’ve seen the worst of this economy. And four years after things began to slide, those workers are still in a lot of pain.

One would have thought that green building and energy retrofitting might have been a good place to do some effective job creating, and indeed that was the plan with the Home Star Act of 2010, which would have put six billion dollars into energy retrofits. It was, as Brian noted, a “complete no-brainer” of a bill. But it was filibustered and killed by the Senate Republicans, who don’t care about jobs, just their taxes.

Now we have President Obama’s plan for energy upgrades to Federal buildings ” using long term energy savings to pay for up-front costs, at no cost to taxpayers”. Brian quotes Bill Clinton: “It’s a no-brainer”.

The job loss data are truly shocking. Mining and logging are the only industries with increased employment, as Americans become hewers of wood and drawers of water for the Chinese. Construction, which is needed if we are going to do anything about the energy consumption of our buildings, and which is just about the only industry that can’t be offshored, is ignored.

Home Performance Resource Center/via

I have noted before that most building materials are still pretty much made in America, and that renovation work is about 70% labor, so that a buck spent on energy retrofits is pretty much a buck spent in the USA. President Obama and former President Clinton have both noted that energy retrofits pretty much pay for themselves. It’s time to bring back Cash for Caulkers and put these people back to work.

Not only in the US but here in New Zealand as well.

With the Christchurch Rebuild underway a fantastic option would be to provide sustainable building options.

Wood is a desirable construction material for many reasons including its low embodied energy. But, until recently, it has not been possible to build tall wooden structures because of the relative weakness of conventional wood stud construction methods. This is starting to change as a new method of fabricating wood panels, called cross-laminated timber, or CLT, is making “massive wood” construction a possibility for mid-rise construction, as well as for other construction uses.

As a building material, cross-laminated timber (CLT) is a rather new development. The first work with CLT was done in Switzerland and Austria in the early to mid 1990s.

Because the panels are lighter than masonry and hollow-core concrete plank, and since the panels can be lifted with lighter equipment, construction can be faster and thereby less expensive. It also requires a smaller crew to install and connect the panels at the job site, which allows for rapid and efficient construction.

In one example, a 9-story building saved an estimated 22 weeks of construction time by using CLT instead of concrete. The panels are prefabricated in a shop, so the benefit of controlled conditions is present, as with structural-insulated panels (SIP) and other pre-fab materials.

CLT is used for both walls and floors. The panels are made as alternating boards are laid perpendicular to one another (the same thing is done with plywood) for greater strength. Since the CLT panels are predominantly solid wood, there is far less glue in them than an equivalent volume of plywood. CLT panels have been tested for VOC off gassing from the glues, and are far below regulatory limits in that regard.

Since they are prefabricated, CLT panels can be installed with tighter tolerances and provide more plumb and true construction. Solid wood is not a great insulator, but wood is better than CMU or steel, and the building can still be insulated on the exterior or interior.

Using a massive wood structure — from a carbon cycle perspective — not only produces far lower emissions during the manufacture of the material, but the wood also sequesters carbon for its lifespan.

Although one might think it would be a fire hazard, massive wood construction is actually fairly fire resistant. For decades, building codes have recognized this for buildings constructed with large solid-sawn post and beam construction. Wood will char on the surface, but it takes a very long time for it to burn through. CLT is the same.

At present, the only manufacturers of CLT panels are in Europe, but two plants in Canada and one in the United States are currently under construction. There are a number of examples of mid-rise apartment buildings constructed with CLT in Europe. The first North American non-residential CLT structure was a bell tower completed in 2010 in North Carolina.

via eco-house.co.nz

If you’re trying to find small gift items for the holiday season, or just looking for an easier way to cut vampire energy, maybe check out the new Conserve Power Switch from Belkin. Selling for $6.99, the outlet insert does one big thing: it lets a homeowner control standby power at the plug and outlet level. The product can be used alone or in a pair and employs zero power in the off position.  When on, it illuminates to let you know what needs to power down.  The savings are small but every little bit counts.

[$] Buy a Belkin Conserve Power Switch on Amazon – $6.99.

via eco-house.co.nz