Vera’s Top Ten Wish List for 2012

As I’ve been feeling relatively optimistic lately, my last post of 2011 will look to the future – not only of existing new technology, but also a vote of confidence in the entrepreneurs of the world to fulfill a wish list. I hope that you, my 3,000 readers, will help be my eyes and ears and keep us all linked in to the innovations posted all over the world, from manufacturers, tinkerers, and any other creative brainpower. So, my wish list for 2012:

1) Building Science and Energy modeling - EVERY building should be designed or remodeled with knowledgeable building science analysis, energy modeling, and energy efficiency testing. For this, we need to train an army of experts, create a progression of certification and degrees, integrate energy modeling with design and construction. And, ALL Architecture and Construction degree programs should be grounded in good building physics - not just for structural loads, but for moisture, durability, and thermal wall assembly. And while we are at it, establish engineering degrees in structural and energy design.

2) Integration - My wish for 2012 is for interoperability of software used in residential construction. A data cloud where you could enter the common data points which could then be read into the multitude of design software – REVIT, ACCA Manuals, energy modeling, and ResCheck. The follow-up wish is an HVAC contractor in every town who can support a collaborative effort, actively participate in the design and commission his work at three points: before sheetrock, at project completion, and at one year of occupancy. I know a few of these guys are out there – but how do we clone them?

3) Renewable Energy CoGen Systems for near Net Zero Homes - Something along the lines of the combined heat and power (CHP) Cool Energy solar thermal heat and electricity via a Sterling Engine. Maybe with an option of a simplified, SMALL geothermal system. AND an electric on-demand heater which can respond to a 1 degree ΔT. Oh – and I’d like this all in one system – one installer.

4) Air Conditioning - Indirect Evaporative cooler - Two-stage evaporative coolers can reduce energy consumption by 60 to 75 percent over conventional air conditioning systems - with NO additional humidity. These can stand alone – or be combined with AC units using natural refrigerants such as CO2 and ammonia, which are trending in Europe and will hopefully migrate to North America. Let’s see this technology bundled, complete with a knowledgeable service provider.

5) LED technology – let’s hope it gains enough volume to come down in price. LED replacements for T8 fluorescent tubes are just starting to hit the market and are “down” to around $50. But they are 60% more energy efficient, and last 3 – 10 times longer. Check out the ROI with this nifty cost savings calculator. As for LED Big Screen TV’s, by the time they reach parity with existing plasma or LCDs, we might be linking in TV in from our laptops, with separate screens to serve as TV/ Computer monitors.

6) Refrigerators - Vacuum insulation panels, VIPs for short, insulate ten times better than conventional insulation of the same thickness. But so far – this insulation is only available on high end fridges from Europe. I also recall some other super high R value insulation experiment – to be used for refrigeration. Also on the wish list, a SMALL countertop depth French door fridge. Not an energy thing – I just need one for my remodel.

7) Energy rebates for installation of HVAC monitoring equipment. An initial amount could be applied at time of install (government sponsored) and another amount based on percentage of energy saved (utility sponsored).

8) Energy rebates - to be based on modeled/ commissioned base load (HVAC) savings over code minimum. This rebate could be structured to pay for energy modelers, and another portion paid out after a year of energy use. This would both help create a job market for energy modeling (or engineering), but also incent them to do a good job.

9) For double wythe brick interstitial retrofit- a high R-value (10 or so would be great) slow expanding foam which could also help provide some sheer strength in a seismic zone. Yes – this is asking a lot – but also part of my next remodel project…

10) A jeep which is entirely fossil fuel independent so I can disappear for weeks on end into the dessert. I’m thinking solar powered, solar thermal, Stirling or Magnetic engine…. Also check out the Radiant Battery Charger which may be the answer to the expensive battery replacements on electric cars…

These are my wishes for next year. Some of these are on the cusp of technology, some need an economic boost, and others a total paradigm shift. But as quickly as the world is changing, I am hopeful and accept the challenge to contribute to the best of my own innovative talents.

Adapting to our Environment

Thank goodness for National Parks and the ubiquitous guided walking tours. It allows us to learn, and relearn the lessons so easily forgotten in our concrete jungle cities. In this most recent foray into the Southwest deserts, we are reminded how well desert plants adapt to the climate changes. Not only plants, some of the desert rat nests have material which dates back over 1,000 years. Run the calcs on that Life Cycle Analysis…

Many of the plants, such as the teddy bear cholla, send taproots deep into the earth in search of pockets of water, as well as establishing a very extensive network of surface roots to collect any rain which might fall. By the same token, they are very well protected against the waste of any of the previous moisture due to evaporation, as the thick covering of spines protects shade from both radiant heat, as well as trapping an air layer to provide thermal resistance to convective heat.

Some of the Palm Springs mid-century architecture had clearly taken a lesson from nature. Sweeping shade canopies, dramatic overhangs, and deeply recessed wall openings provide shade from the desert sun. An even closer biomimicry of the desert plants would be the exterior louvers, or shades which also create a pocket of air around the building. The other approach is to imitate the nocturnal animals, building thick walls to protect from the heat, with small windows, shuttered against the sun. This might work for survival, but I vote for capturing daylight which buffering from the sunlight heat.

The jojoba bush takes another tack in reducing evaporation, and that is to set the leaves upright so they have minimal sunlight striking the surface. In the building world, this might be akin to citing the building with minimal southern exposure, or putting thin, high windows which are shaded by the overhang.

One building which has a similar water collection and use pattern is actually located up in Boise, Idaho. Not exactly the desert, but a relatively dry area anyway. The Banner Bank building uses about 70% less water than similar buildings. The system starts by capturing rainwater as well as storm water from the surrounding streets and parking lots. This water is then used to provide water to the low-flow toilets and urinals in the building. I guess you could say the capture system is like surface roots, and the “taproot” is the tie in to the municipal system.

I suppose one might observe that thinking about architecture while walking through a National Park is just proof that I have not sufficiency unwound to really get mentally on vacation… but I like to think of it as an opportunity to reground, recharge, and rethink the interaction of man with nature. A reminder that the natural world has far more experience in adaptation and survival, and that humans are relative newcomers, who have much to learn. A fresh look toward the new year.

Rejoice - and tune up your FAN!

If America is really the land of opportunity, why do we grumble so much when faced by change? For example, the pushback to the EPA ruling to reduce mercury, acid gases and other emissions from the coal- and oil-fired plants. These are the same cries of rate hikes and job losses which we hear every time the industry is pushed to the next level of responsibility. Do we really not understand that clean air matters is a good thing for humans? Why do we Americans expend our intellectual capital in efforts of resistance, competition, antagonism, until finally , inevitably, the change becomes undisputable? At which point, we respond with bursts of extraordinary innovation, extreme enthusiasm and tremendous results.

Does it have to be this hard? Could we not stop fighting for just a moment and seize the opportunities which offer a win/ win solution?
For example, fans. Within electric usage in commercial buildings, lighting and HVAC represent the majority of most electrical consumption. Looking into this a bit further, we find that fans consume 40% of the cooling, ventilation and refrigeration energy in buildings. Where are fans on the resistance to innovation scale?

Motor efficiency was addressed by federal mandate through the US. The Energy Policy Act of 1992, which went into effect five years later, in 1997. However, there was recalcitrance in the enforcement, and by 2002, a DOE study found only 9.1% of motors in operation met the mandate. The obstacles are predictable: aversion to replacing existing fans while they are still functioning, and the lack information/ skill to make a change when replacing the fan, for example to identify the right sized fan and calculate the ROI of energy savings over first time cost.

Yet all the while, there is another opportunity, ready and available, to improve the efficiency of existing fans by up to 25%. Yup, there are these nifty little control units which use the technology of advanced control algorithms to fine tune the existing automated controls through proven strategies such as condenser water reset, cooling tower relief, and regulating the variable flow. No smoke and mirrors, no big upfront cost, and no disruption to existing facilities.

What does all this mean for energy consumption? According to a DOE study in 2002, electric motors consume 68 Billion kWh. If just 25% of these were HVAC fans, and they were tuned up and controller units added for even 10% in energy savings, that is still a savings of 1.7 Billion kWh per year, or $187,000,000 (at $.11 kWh) or enough to cool over 275,000 homes.

That is like a Christmas present, tied in a big bow to the low-hanging branches. So perhaps the naysayers utility companies can offset the rate increases they claim will happen with the new environmental controls with a promotion of fan motor controllers. The customers will be happy even if their rates go up, since their overall consumption will be reduced. And based on previous episodes of this same song, the additional “burdon” of environmental regulations will provide the push to help utilities find efficiencies and innovative technology which reduce operating expenses. Everybody wins.

And so I rejoice – because we have not run out of options, because there are still plenty of opportunities, because we humans are amazingly innovative, resilient, and resourceful. So let the Ebenezer Scrooges grumble and complain. But for the rest of us… let out that inner Santa Claus. Tune up your fans, and deliver a little energy efficient package for the next generation of boys and girls.

Discussions on Sustainable Construction

In the universal shift to a more collaborative environment, conferences are recognizing the opportunity to modify the traditional speaker/passive audience approach to more panel discussions and roundtable forums. This makes sense on many fronts: a collaborative approach will net a greater learning environment for all those involved, and will likely result in a more elegant, holistic solution.

At the recent Greenbuild conference in Toronto, BASF held its fourth annual Sustainable Construction Roundtable. And while I did not have the privilege of attending, I did have an opportunity to peruse the report on the discussion results and the preparatory survey. For a matter of record, there was a 77% response rate among the 328 surveys (which is quite high). Respondents represented the full AEC industry throughout the USA and Canada, with a mix of market sectors and commercial/ residential projects.

One of the identified statistics in the study is that green building is solidly in the 50% mark of all non-residential construction, and is increasingly mandated by green building standards. At this point, it seems clear that the market tipping point has passed – and green is moving toward becoming the new norm. So what’s next on the horizon? Over ¾ of the respondents believe that there is a need for a durability index, and most agreed that it should be used for systems of products (63%), rather than individual products (37%). The respondents also looked to ANSI (45%) to develop this standard, which is another indication that the call is for an industry wide standard, vs a specialty market concept.

Closely linked with this need for systems durability is the consideration of Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) in the day-to-day process, informally, even while NOT engaging in the more cumbersome formal process. Another interesting indicator is the increase in those who believe that a Net Zero Energy Building is better than a LEED building (47% up from 39%). And while the use of the wording “better” is open to much interpretation, it would seem to indicate some increased level of awareness about the primary need for energy efficiency.

This all points to the need for integration, not just in the process of design, but with and within the manufacturing side of the equation. Durability index for systems of products, Life Cycle Analysis of a building system? And what more perplexing system than that of energy efficiency – which encompasses design, thermal envelope, HVAC, lighting, and user interface (and a few dozen more)..

Which brings us to the LEED 2012 credit which is viewed as posing the greatest challenge: Discovery – Analysis to Support Integrated Process. The credit calls for narrative reports of the relationships among the energy load reduction elements, the relationships among the among the water balance elements and the healthy relationships among the site aspects. And while just writing about something might seem like an easy task, I refer to the wisdom of Sir Francis Bacon:

Reading maketh a full man, conference a ready man, and writing an exact man.

A narrative about the integration of elements will defacto bring us back to the roundtable discussion, the integrated planning process which is necessary to understand these synergistic relationships in order to be able to write about them. These roundtables allow for an ongoing discussion of reaching both Net Zero and LEED, of keeping Life Cycle issues in mind at all times, of exploring the systems and their impacts. It is becoming increasingly clear that sustainability is a process and a perspective much more than a measurable outcome. This is the path to the elegant solutions. Now – if we could only get our politicians to come to the table…

Ingenuity: a Cycle of Thinking and Doing

It is often said there are two types of people: thinkers and doers. Occasionally these overlap, and result in some good ole fashion ingenuity. Take my buddy Doug. A displaced Texan who came to Virginia Tech for a Master’s degree in Building Construction, he was craving some good barbecue. Barbecue aficionados generally fall into the gooey or smoked camp. He was hankering for some good smoked pork butt, so tender and juicy it just peels off the bone.

A do-er would have hopped on down to the Home Depot, and picked up one of the very pricy contraptions which are engineered for precision barbeque. But a student’s income does not afford this option. A thinker might draw up several very intricate shop drawings which has all the right controls for smoke, air, adjustable racks… Or – he might then just switch tacks and think about how good the barbeque will taste when he gets back home. But Doug wanted some smoked meat – NOW.

Doug is a thinker AND a do-er. So a few CMUs , a sheet of plywood later, and one metal grill, and he had himself a portable backyard smoker. I could smell the hickory smoke all the way down the street. And the finished product? Couldn’t have asked for more tender and tasty meat. Now that’s what I call ingenuity.

Why is it that this appeals to me so much? You know the saying “Measure Twice, Cut Once? “ In principle, I agree with this – and am very inclined to ponder a problem and come up with just the right solution. I will also admit to being one who jumps in blind and launches into projects without so much of an ounce of forethought. This generally was because I really didn’t have the gumption, or belief that I could accomplish the project – so I just started – knowing that I could always somehow muddle through. So I admire those whose approach is somewhere in between. Those who understand the fine line of getting enough knowledge to start, and then understanding that the best way to refine the project is by the doing of it. Sort of a design/build approach.

There is perhaps one more perspective to add to this – whether the thinking/doing action is a solitary endeavor or a collaboration of many minds. There is another great saying in there, about putting heads together. Using the many sources to gather enough information to proceed to the next step, thinking /doing/ more thinking about what you did (check) and then do. And that is very much like the Shewhardt/ Deming Cycle of Management which is now part of the Lean approach: Plan, Do, Check, Act. So it seems that ingenuity takes thinkers and do-ers, in a cycle of continuous improvement. Thanks, Doug, for showing us the way!

Elegant Solutions

The best kept secret of conferences can often be found in the hallways of the trade shows. Product innovators can get a foot in the door by boothsharing, or offering a short seminar. This is the “street” where real people innovate. This week’s blog harvested ideas from a Dutch green roofing company, an Australian air conditioning wizard, and a Scottish build science engineer.

The problem: Buildings need roofs, but flat asphalt/gravel roofs give off heat, and create a hazard in high wind situations (being addressed in the 2014 IBC). Elegant solution?: Green roofs. Not only does it make sense from the perspective of the building’s energy load and positive use of space (see Adaptive-Reuse – Rooftop Gardens), but is also turns out that vegetative roofs could help address the problems of cities which still have combined sewer system (CSS), developed before 1900. For example, one -third of the District of Columbia is served by this system conveys which combines both sanitary sewage and storm water in one piping system. Under “normal” conditions, the treatment plant can handle the load. However, during high peak rain events, the combined sewer overflow is discharged directly into the tributary rivers of the Chesapeake Bay. Vegetated roofs can absorb up to 1” of rainfall, thus reducing the surge into the raingutters. Many older American cities are plagued with this problem of aging infrastructure. Greenroofs are a win/win solution which can help address the solution now.

Another interesting elegant solution involving green roofs came up in relation to a development in the Hampton area of Virginia, and the particular “problem” of canebrake rattlesnakes. These vipers are an endangered species in Virginia, but their habitat has been encroached upon by human settlement with little chance of peaceful co-existence. On the other hand, the snake venom is valuable for medical research, in the fight against cancer and Alzheimers. So an elegant solution was proposed for the new development to provide a green roof, with a snake enclosure, in which the snakes could be protected, and bred for the venom. Though the concept met initially with jitters, the proposal is quite solid. Snake enclosures are proven technology, and we had recommended a wall system of ICFs, with a pre-cast roof, so it would be easier to protect against points of penetration. Besides, the entire site is crawling with rattlers, anyway.   The green roof enclosure would provide a place to relocate captured snakes and meet the intent of the state protection.

Elegant solutions often lie at the intersection between trades or disciplines. I interviewed one construction team who addressed this opportunity by having an “outside party” as part of the core team. This person’s job was to look for connections, overlaps, and opportunities outside of the box. The committee’s job was to offer an open-mind, and consider these wild-card suggestions. Some ideas may just turn out wild, but they may also kindle a path of thinking which leads to future innovations.

High Performance meets High Tech

Checking in from the Ecobuild America conference, which is actually several overlapping conferences simultaneously executed. And since the topics are mostly about integration, interoperability and a host of other “inters,” it is a bit like Shakespeare’s play within a play. And yet…

There is an educator’s track, networking and learning from each other’s experiments to create a successful learning environment where students will be excited and motivated to push through the initial learning curve, and spend the time necessary to learn the BIM software. While there are several variables of teaching methodology, there seems to be a growing consensus that students need to spend the time to gain a level of proficiency, so that they can start to understand the strategy behind the use of the tools – essentially to get past the mesmerization of the tool.

Other conference rooms contain the geeks – both those developing the software, and the champions for software integration into the AEC firms. There is an amazing array of applications in this family of software – from energy modeling to daylighting, pedestrian flows to classical clash detections. These folks seem to be converging on a common language of data storage on a remote SQL site. In other words, regardless of the application, the software people seem to have a method of working together.

Another track are the building scientists. This still seems to be set apart – possibly due to the nature of the group as primarily focused on residential construction – and possibly because they are using different software. For example, the majority of residential construction is not likely to be designed in 3D nor go through an array of energy modeling. The money just isn’t there. Yet the need is very strong.

So that is the ultimate play within the play. Can the software be scaled for residential? Can it be simplified, aligned and linked to the existing and ongoing building science knowledge? And who will be the party to deploy this information? For now, it is enough that these conferences are co-located, that these groups are beginning to interface, and that the brains are churning. It was a good day.

Space Debris – Junk Gone Wild

Space Debris

If there is still doubt that we are living in an interconnected “flatter” world (Friedman), one only has to look at the incident last week when a StarTrek scenario was played out when a space station narrowly escaped colliding with a piece of “space debris.” This wasn’t some enemy invader ship, but a small 4” piece from a destroyed weather satellite which triggered the emergency procedures for astronauts to seek shelter. Mankind has overcome the odds to put a man on the moon and create a space program, only to create a “no-fly” zone created by its own junk.

There are a few points to consider in this issue:
1. Garbage begets garbage. In space, this occurs when two pieces collide at high speed and fracture into the estimated hundreds of thousands — or even millions — of smaller, non-trackable pieces of debris. Back on earth, waste dumps beget more waste in the form of methane gasses. The hauling and disposal of waste consumes resources and contributes to CO2. And human nature being what it is, the very availability of throw-away products creates more waste. Think of paper plates or paper napkins. For centuries, people managed to eat without throwing away their plates…

2. The generation of waste has hit a tipping point. A report released by the National Research Council, which called on NASA to find ways to better monitor and clean up the orbiting junk threatening active satellites and manned spacecraft. With more than 250 million tons of trash created in the United States each year, the garbage business in America is beyond big.

3. Waste is a global problem. One of Hong Kong's biggest problems is finding places for the mountain of muck. China, who was once notorious for its “night soil” is now facing ever growing waste from the increasing affluent society mimicking the wastefulness of the Western lifestyle. Meanwhile, back in the US, barges of garbage get shipped around looking for a place of rest. The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) says we will run out of landfill between 2015 and 2019. Landfills are now pleased if they can identify a lifespan of just 20 years…. That places the problem squarely in our kid’s laps.

4. Solutions . “ Reduce, reuse and recycle “ can certainly reroute much of the potential waste. A quick look at waste generated in America shows over 35% is paper, which can be economically converted into new paper products. Seattle residents recycle about half of their waste. But the rest goes off to landfills. Over 500 of the landfills in America capture the landfill gas to generate power for residential use. Or, in the case of the McCarty Road Landfill in Texas, the gas supplied more than 55% of the fuel demand to generate steam energy for the Anheuser-Busch brewery’s power plant. Some also capture the leachate to help accelerate the decomposition, to reduce the quantity of fill.

The longer term solution is to make a paradigm shift and look for ways to extract value -- energy or materials -- from the waste stream. An emerging industry is being developed around the gasification of waste which can be turned into useful products like electricity, ethanol, methanol or bio-diesel. Using waste as a resource for recycled material goods calls for the need for a steady stream of clean, separated sources of the specific waste product. This calls for public / private cooperation to set up an appropriate infrastructure.

5. Economic Opportunities. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Waste recycling is often best accomplished by the entrepreneurial poor. For example, many towns have curbside cleanup weeks designated by neighborhood. But before the city hauls this off, much of the waste gets picked up by metal recyclers, wood haulers and regular citizens, looking for a freecycle. In some Latin American countries, waste pickers are allows to work through the incoming waste to pull out the recyclable materials. Some construction and debris waste is processed by a conveyor belt through a picking line, with magnets pulling out the metal waste, and work stations designated to pull out other material categories. Could the landfills have similar approaches to waste sorting, depending on the waste source?

Clearly, this is a problem of enormous significance, but is starts with a simple paradigm shift. Taking the perpective of Cartesian economics, regard materials with the first law of thermodynamics. Material can be transformed, i.e. changed from one form to another, but cannot be created nor destroyed. It cannot be thrown “away,” and it has continued value. Perhaps even the stuff we will scoop up from space will have transformed into some super hard composition which will fetch a high price in the marketplace, and provide the economic support for the clean-up efforts. The world we live in is the world we create for ourselves - with or without junk.