Today, another 20 mil. vapor barrier was spread over gravel, in preparation for the insulation and concrete slab.
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Drain and Insulation with Gravel
Finished Gravel
Vapor Barrier at CMU
All penetrations through the vapor barrier are carefully sealed.
Finished Vapor Barrier
Today, Tim, Billy and other volunteers installed a ground loop, which will be connected to the Energy Recovery Ventilator in the Mechanical Room. These pipes will be filled with water, and will allow the ERV to take advantage of the constant temperature underground while supplying fresh air to the house.
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Ground Loop
These lines will connect to the ERV.
Today the underslab plumbing was completed.
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Ground Loop, Sewer and Greywater Lines
Washer, Tub Drain, Vent, Wastewater Heat Exchanger Stub-outs in Mechanical Room
Why does energy use continue to increase despite the constant appearance of better, more efficient technology? Given that energy consumption per dollar of GDP is decreasing (energy intensity is increasing), some people might say that energy subsidies are justified, at least in the industrial and commercial sectors. So, why should energy consumption increase in the residential sector? By far the greatest single use of energy in the home (almost half) goes towards heating (only 6% goes towards air conditioning) [DOE]–and let’s face it, the climate ain’t getting colder. If we look at the residential energy use patterns over the years, a surprising trend is visible. The greatest energy-using states go from the North (in the 1970s) to the South and Midwest. Something besides a winter storm is brewing.
Price certainly plays a large role. The states whose per capita energy consumptions were the highest in the last five years of data do have some of the cheapest energy prices in the country (North Dakota, Kentucky, Nebraska, Missouri, Tennessee, Indiana, Oklahoma, and Alabama had the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th, 14th, 15th, and 24th cheapest residential electricity prices in 2007) [DOE].
Another factor to consider is the square footage of the residences, which has also been continuously increasing over the last few decades [US Census].
This doesn’t mean that price per square foot is decreasing, however. If we look at the median selling prices of new homes over the same time period (discounted to 2007 dollars), this is also increasing [DOE].
It’s no wonder that the current credit crisis started in the housing market. We’re making bigger and bigger investments on bigger and bigger houses–and then paying energy bills to keep all the extra space running. Per capita income may be increasing with GDP, but not as fast as home price is rising. If we divide median selling prices of new homes by median income, the quotient is increasing over the years.
The question is: why do we need all this extra space when household size is decreasing?
This just in from Axil. It’s a new Google search engine called “Blackle”.
The idea is that since the screen is mostly black. You use less energy while browsing. Makes sense to me. I have no idea how much BS factor is involved. I just like saying “Blackle”. Their spiel is pasted below. Or go here blackle spiel .
Good Magazine has a good graphic showing relative water use of daily activities. This is just a corner of it. Click to view the whole thing
Avoiding meat saves a LOT more water than a low flow shower head or toilet.
Growing corn requires a lot of water too:
A gallon of ethanol, depending on irrigation practices, might require up to 2,100 gallons of water to produce. While, in areas more suited to corn production, it can take as little as 100 gallons of water to produce a gallon of ethanol. The worst news of all of this, is that from 2005 to 2008 water use for ethanol production increased 246%, whereas U.S. bioethanol production has increased only 133%. This means that corn ethanol production has pushed into land that is not well-suited for growing corn, thus increasing water use far more than it increased yield.
– Ecogeek
Here we have a kilogram to kilogram comparison of embodied energy and carbon dioxide emissions during the production of some common items and building materials. (The values for gasoline are not embodied energy/CO2 emissions of production, but energy and emissions produced by burning 1 kg of gas.)
Here we move on more specifically to building materials and put them in more recognizable building units. For comparison, the energy and CO2 emitted in the production of the average American’s weekly food consumption and the energy and CO2 emitted by burning 1 gal of gas are provided.
Next, we compare wall-building materials. Here we see some growing trade-offs in embodied energy and CO2 emissions, although distinct advantages can be seen in some building materials over others. (CO2 emissions for Adobe unavailable.)
Finally, some insulating materials (adjusted to different thicknesses to achieve an R value of 10). Here there are clear winners among the alternative insulating materials. (Also notice the CO2 emissions differences between HFC-foamed and CO2-foamed polystyrene.)
Data from:
Brownie Newman and Robin Cape have proposed an innovative financing model for residential renewable energy. Basically, the city would get people wanting to produce renewable energy on their property to sign on to the program. They’d then go get a loan for the full amount that everyone would need to install their systems. The City would then repay the loan by charging the program participants higher taxes for 20 years. Read more here: Asheville renewables
In 1965, Gordon Moore, cofounder of Intel, observed that the number of transistors that can be inexpensively placed on an integrated circuit doubles about every two years. That’s held true over the last 40 years.
Shai Agassi, founder of Better Place, says that Moore’s law also applies to batteries. They double capacity every 5 years. In other words, batteries for an electric car to travel 150 miles on a charge will be 1/2 the size and 1/2 the price every five years.
