Preparing for the cold

From November 21, 2008:

Yesterday marked the first snowfall of the year in Halifax. As I biked home through the blustery snow, I couldn’t help thinking about how fortunate I was to come home to a house with electricity and hot running water. Grabbing my thickest knit sweater and layering on some woolly socks and leg warmers, I settled down to think about this month’s Relocalize newsletter theme: heating.

What to do when it gets cold out?

Many of us live in temperate climates where winters are cold. Since we are not able to take the route of hibernating for the winter season (appealing though it might be sometimes) most of us must rely on some kind of fuel to keep us warm. Indeed we have been doing this for thousands of years, and now the rising cost of fuel is making this dependency ever more apparent. Fewer daylight hours mean less potential to soak up heat from the sun and more time with the lights switched on after the sun has gone down.

Wondering just how much of a difference taking energy saving measures will make to your home? Here are some home heating stats courtesy of Treehugger:

• 10 percent: Percentage of your heating bill you can save in the winter by using a ceiling fan, which circulates warm air from the ceiling to the floor.
• 8 percent: Amount of heat that escapes through your chimney when the fireplace damper is not closed.
• 5 percent: Amount of heating costs you save by cleaning your furnace filters monthly. Dirty filters restrict airflow and increase the amount of energy used.
• $115: Amount of money saved per year by installing an Energy Star thermostat. [What is Energy Star?]

In shifting away from our fuel dependency, we will be returning to one of the fundamental lessons that we learned in kindergarten: it’s better to share. When it comes to staying warm, inviting people over to your home is like carpooling with shared costs and shared benefits. Nothing heats up a house better than fresh bread in the oven and bodies chatting! Increasing social ties and developing strong community networks is essential to relocalization and building community resiliency. If you have an elderly neighbour or relative, keep a special eye out for them in the winter months and make sure they are safe and well.

Filed under: community, energy, health, lifestyle , Halifax, heating

Solar Energy 101

For the June 2008 Relocalize Newsletter

A little bit of history…
The Earth has been absorbing solar energy for five billion years. Humans have been using solar energy for several thousand years.

Ancient Greeks and Romans recognized and appreciated the advantages of what we now refer to as passive solar design (see below)—manipulating architecture to make use of the sun’s capacity to provide light and heat to indoor spaces. In the 6th Century AD in Rome, sunrooms in houses and public buildings were so customary that the Justinian Code initiated “sun rights” to ensure individual access to the sun. Read more on the history of solar.

What is solar energy? Solar thermal energy relates to the harnessing of light (photons) from the sun to produce heat. On a clear day, the amount of solar energy accessible at the Earth’s surface in the direction of the sun’s rays is typically 1000 W/m2. Solar photovoltaic energy is another form of solar energy, which involves converting the sun’s energy into electricity using photovoltaic cells (referred to as PV cells or solar cells).

How does one capture solar energy? Applications of solar energy fall into three main categories: heating/cooling, electricity production, and chemical processes. Within these categories, applications range from personal use to large scale commercial and agricultural operations.

Solar thermal technologies include passive solar systems for heating buildings and solar concentrator power systems or solar thermal power plants as they are known as, which use heat generated by the sun to produce steam, which then turns a turbine and generates electricity.

So what kind of solar would be the easiest (read: cheapest) to adopt? The most basic and least expensive photovoltaic systems are designed for day use only, consisting of modules wired directly to a DC appliance, with no storage device (e.g. battery). When the sun shines on the modules, the electricity generated is used directly and immediately by the appliance. When the sun stops shining, your appliance stops working. Increased power output requires higher insolation (sunshine) levels.

These simple systems are an appropriate, cost-effective option for loads operated only during the daytime. Some examples include:

• Remote water pumping with a storage tank.
• Operation of fans, blowers, or circulators to distribute thermal energy during the day for solar water heating systems or ventilation systems.
• Stand-alone, solar-powered appliances such as calculators, toys and other devices.

Another option for adopting solar in your home is installing a solar water heater. Advantage: solar water heaters do not pollute. By investing in one, you will be reduce the amount of carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, and the other air pollution and wastes created when you burn fuel to heat your household water or use power generated by your local utility.

According to the Southface Energy Institute:

“Passive solar design remains the most economical means of employing the sun to perform useful work. For example, a three-by –five feet south-facing solar electricity panel can power three, 50-Watt incandescent light bulbs. However, the “daylight” through a window of equal area placed on the south face of a home can, during daylight hours, provide more light than three incandescent bulbs.”

See the June Relocalize Newsletter for online resources to help you get started.

Feeling confident about your understanding of solar energy? Test your knowledge!

—
Solar Oven Panels, isabisa
Solar Water Pump, sissi de kroon

Filed under: energy , solar, technology

Chinese eco-city. What?

Chinese eco-city heralds revolution in urban living

By Francesca de Châtel for CNN
Find this article here

LONDON, England (CNN) — On an island off the coast of the Chinese city of Shanghai, architects, engineers and contractors are preparing to build a new city later this year. In itself, this is nothing special one would think.

With 20 percent of the world population living in China and national population figures set to hit 1.47 billion by 2020, there is always demand for new housing.

But the city that is to be built on Chongming Island at the mouth of the Yangtze River is like no other in the world: Dongtan eco-city is planned to be first truly environmentally and economically sustainable city.

Situated on a plot of land that is around two-thirds the size of Manhattan, Dongtan is surrounded by wetlands and lies beside a bird sanctuary where hundreds of rare migratory birds seek refuge.

It was these unusual natural conditions that sparked the ambitious idea of creating a new urban concept for an entirely sustainable city that would minimally impact the surrounding environment.

Planning started in 2005, after the London-based engineering and design firm Arup signed a contract with the Shanghai Industrial Investment Corporation (SIIC).

“We were asked to create an ‘eco-demonstrator’,” explains Roger Wood, Arup’s project coordinator for the Dongtan project since 2004, “a project that incorporated a number of ideas and design concepts that would increase the Chinese understanding of sustainability.

“China has known about sustainability for 20 years, but — like everyone else — it has just not been able to apply it as a concept.”

The project is to be implemented in several phases, starting with a one square-kilometer plot that is expected to be ready in time for Shanghai’s 2010 World Expo and that will house around 5,000 people. The 6.5 square kilometer start-up area will be developed to accommodate 80,000 people by 2020 and by 2050, the city is projected to cover an area of 30 square kilometers and have a population of half a million.

Building a community spirit

Filed under: building, economics, energy , architecture, China, city, community, eco-density, energy, population, Shanghai, sustainability, urban planning