energy saving

CherryPal's 'Green' Computer Finally Ships Next Week

jplatt — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 10:07:48 -0400

Months after it was first announced, I'm sure many people had given up waiting for the CherryPal, a desktop PC with no moving parts that promised to use just 2 watts of power.

Well guess what? The CherryPal SSD C114 ships next week -- at a bargain-basement price of just $249.

It will take some time for reviews to come in, but until then, let's look at the innovations that are expected with this tiny-but-powerful machine:

It uses just 2 watts of power -- 98% less than the 114 watts used by the average desktop computer.
It has no moving parts, so the company says it will last for up to ten years.
It uses 80% fewer parts, so less waste is created in its manufacture.

The CherryPal has a few other features of note. It boots up in just 20 seconds (no more wasted time and energy during the start-up phase). Most of the software isn't located on the hard drive; it's on the Internet, so you have fewer worries about upgrades and downloads (good luck using the PC if your Internet is out, though). It comes with a wide range of open-source programs, so it's ready for use right out of the box. And it doesn't make any sound, which is something I wish could be said of all computers.

Obviously, with a price of just $249, the CherryPal doesn't come with a monitor, and you can't seem to buy one directly from CherryPal, so that's one more item that needs to be packaged and shipped, but if you're buying a green computer, you probably have a green monitor in mind, too.

Worth a look!

Green Audit Your Yard & Garden

jchait — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 02:45:40 -0400

This week we've been going over some easy green audits you can try at home. So far we've looked at:

Tonight let's look at our last green audit of the week - your yard. Following are some tips you can use when green auditing your yard and garden.

Do you use a green lawn mower.

Are you using smart water tactics?

Watering in the early morning or at night.
Keeping your water where it needs to go, not running off into the street.
Consider having less grass, and more bark, patio space, or soil.
Mulch plants and trees to conserve water.
Plant like with like - you don't need to plant water loving plants among plants that conserve water. You'll waste water when watering.

Are objects in your yard and garden recycled and sustainable - think about decorations and planters you may have.

Use recycled bags for clippings.

Toss out any toxic chemicals and pesticides and use natural fertilizer, weed control, and pest control options. To learn more read:

Reduce Your Fertilizer Use with Grasscycling

Natural Ways to Get Rid of Garden Pests

Plant organic seeds and organic plants.

A big part of proper green gardening and yard tactics has to do with where you live. There are general tips you can follow, but water conservation is going to be different in New Mexico vs. Oregon, so it pays to learn regional tactics. Visit the National Gardening Association and check out their regional site which will connect you with a regional newsletter and regional gardening blogs.

Visit Mother Earth’s Garden to learn all about green gardening.

Green Audit Your Closets

jchait — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:52:16 -0400

As you may recall we're talking about green audits this week. So far you can read about:

Today we'll look at closets. Most people don't think about green auditing their closets, but it's actually a place that can create a big impact environmentally. Following are some issues to consider during a green home closet audit.

Clothing materials: Synthetics like polyester, acrylic, rayon, and nylon; and materials like wool, fur, and plastics in clothing are bad for the environment. These are not green materials. It's much better to look for natural fibers like hemp, or buy organic cotton when you buy new. There's some controversy about thrift store finds. Personally I think thrift stores are a good thing, yeah, some of the materials may be bad, but face it, the clothing has already been made, and by reusing it, you're saving on production of new clothing (a process that takes energy and resources). There is a camp that believes you should never wear bad materials, even used, but I think that's sort of silly.

Ivory: You shouldn't buy ivory. Ivory turns up in odd places too - jewelry, hair clips, buttons, and more. Ivory production is responsible for hundreds of elephant deaths daily. It's not worth it.

Other animal materials: Stay clear of shells, skins, and items like coral - all are from animals and don't need to be wardrobe accessories.

Air fresheners: You don't need to use toxic moth balls, or other chemical air fresheners in the closet. Try to place Cedar blocks or shavings in your closet. OR you can stuff a small pouch with dried lavender, cloves and cinnamon, or dried citrus sprinkled with essential oils, to keep your closet smelling great.

Make sure hangers are made of recycled material.

Green Audit Your Bathroom

jchait — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 16:34:44 -0400

This week we've been taking a look a green audits for the home and garden. So far we've seen:

Today we're going to take a closer look at how to green up your bathroom. The bathroom is a great room to green audit because you use it daily, many times daily in fact, so it's a room where small changes can create big differences.

Look at your water habits: Do you take 30 minute showers? You really shouldn't; that's pretty wasteful of water. If you find you’re having trouble taking shorter showers you might want to try a timer. Place a basic kitchen timer on your counter, and set it for ten minutes - how fast can you wash.

Do you take baths?: Baths can take up more than twice the water of a typical shower. Saving water will save you both energy and water.

Check for leaky toilets: Remove the lid of your toilet tank, add some bright food coloring. Wait about 20 minutes, go back and check around the base of your toilet. If you see colored liquid you have a leak. Some leaks are easy to fix with a basic hardware store kit, and other leaks require a plumber; check at your hardware store to see which option you'll need.

Look at bathroom packaging and supplies: Are you buying organic, animal testing free, natural products in recyclable containers? Recyclable toothbrushes and razors? Do you buy too many bathroom items? Trust me you don't need eight face creams, that's just a waste of packaging.

Do you re-use your towel?: You don't need to rewash your towel every time. That's an energy and water waste.

Check your shower head: You should have a low-flow shower head installed. You'll still have a nice shower but save lots of water.

To learn more read:

[Image recycled toothbrush via Recycline]

Energy Saving Cooking Habits

jchait — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 03:13:37 -0400

The kitchen is a great place to make and meet some new energy saving goals. There's always plenty happening in the kitchen, and thus there's a lot you can change to keep your kitchen cooking as green as possible.

Follow these tips for an energy saving kitchen experience:

If it's up to you go with a gas range. Gas is far less problematic on the planet than electric. There's not much of a comparison when you consider natural gas vs. the much higher pollution producing electricity.

Match your pots to your burner size, so less energy escapes.

Never open the oven door while you're cooking. Your food won't cook any faster just because you have a staring contest with it, and lots of energy is released when you open that door. Use your timer.

Cool a lot at once. One potato in the oven is almost a crime. Cook many. Take one day and cook four days worth of meals.

Some eco-advocates note that you can keep your oven at 350 degrees no matter what, and adjust the cooking time to save energy. I've never tried this, but it's a noted tip.

Unplug any appliances that aren’t in use; your blender, toaster, etc. They all drain energy when plugged in.

Your oven vent filters should be clean and fan lubricated in order to prevent heat and energy loss.

Turn off your oven and burners about 7 minutes before a dish is supposed to be done. Cover any pots with a lid, and keep the oven door closed, and your food will use the saved heat to finish that last bit of cooking. Over a year, you'll save tons of energy with this one tip.

Hope everyone has a happy and safe 4th.

10 Reasons To Consider Building a Straw Bale Home

jchait — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 01:00:00 -0400

I really super adore straw bale homes, and am even considering straw bale for my next self-built home. There are disadvantages to every kind of home you might think to build. Including straw bale homes, but today, let's look at some advantages of straw bale building.

1. Straw bale homes are created with an overly abundant by-product of grain - if no one uses said by-products they're typically burned which of course creates pollution issues.

2. Unlike the 3 little pigs your straw bale home won't blow over. Straw bale homes, are sometimes considered "Hay" but that's not the whole truth. Straw and hay are different materials. Straw used in straw bale homes can differ in quality, but overall, with smart planning and building techniques, straw is actually quite durable and safe as a building material.

3. You can build straw bale homes that are cute, quaint, and hippie-like, traditional, classical, or even very large (although don't because why use that footprint). The point though, is that straw bale is very flexible to most designs.

4. Straw bale is a nice noise reducing material. The secret to this is the thickness of the bales factor.

5. Almost anyone can learn to build with straw bale. If you have the time and means, you could build your own straw bale with possible far less help than you could a traditional home. Workshops and training surrounding straw bale building are abundant. Just type, "Straw bale workshop" into Google, and you'll see what I mean.

6. Straw bale homes are fire proof, water proof, rodent proof, and if you plan right and keep it dry, straw bale is even resistant to decay. Some people imagine a rain soaked straw bale or the whole house aflame with the flick of one match, which is actually not true with proper building techniques.

7. Straw bale is not "A New Mexico phenomenon"; something I once heard someone say. You can build a straw bale home almost anywhere.

8. Straw bales are very energy efficient. I've seen straw bales in New Mexico summers that don't even need air conditioning to stay cool, yet stay warm in winter. It's amazing. If you build correctly, you can save 30% plus on your energy needs.

9. Straw bales are slowly becoming more popular. I suspect obtaining financing and home insurance will only get easier with this material as time goes on - which is not true of all eco-building materials.

10. The earth loves a straw bale home. A well built straw bale drains fewer non-renewable resources, uses less wood during construction, reduces pollution, and are easy (in most cases) to build locally wherever you may be, cutting transport costs.

My favorite book and DVD set about straw bale is Building With Awareness. If you see this DVD and read the book, you'll love straw bale too.

[photo - the Building With Awareness house - a stunning example of a straw bale solar home]

If you have a dollar, spend it on insulation!

ellen — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 07:23:37 -0400

Appropriately and properly insulating a home or structure may be one of the most substantial green practices you can do to get the most for your money. Paying attention to the building envelope can drastically improve the environmental performance of the systems in terms of heating and cooling the building. The ReGreen guidelines (pg 80 & 81) recommends wall insulating levels of R-30 and higher, and ceiling/roof values of R-50 and higher. I even heard Barack Obama say that we should insulate our homes so well we could heat them with a candle (of course this brings up a whole host of fresh air and indoor air quality issues - but that's a whole 'nother post).

Choosing the right insulation is key for a successful installation, as well as knowing what the insulation is composed of. Many insulations contain formaldehyde, a toxic chemical resulting in poor indoor air quality.

There are a variety of insulation materials that contain high recycled content, are formaldehyde free, and are a sustainable choice for selecting insulation. Cellulose (recycled paper), cotton, fiberglass, foam and mineral wool are some of these options.

Some interesting facts:

Cellulose is composed of about 75% post consumer waste paper, having one of the highest recycled content values among insulation types. It can easily absorb moisture however, so proper sealing and installation techniques are necessary to ensure it will last over time. Check out CIMA for more information.

Cotton insulation has a very low environmental impact, due to the careful attention to processing the material made primarily of blue jeans. Bonded Logic is one company that manufacturers this type of insulation.

Recycled glass makes up 25% or more of all fiberglass. The ReGreen Guidelines states" The insulation industry is now the largest user of recycled glass in the country" (ReGreen guidelines, pg. 103) in reference to the fiberglass material contained in a variety of insulation types. Although a high recycled content, its important to research if the fiberglass contains formaldehydes that can offgas - many companies have begun to use adhesives that contain low VOC's, approved by Greenguard standards. Fiberglass also sometimes has a bad rap due to the fibers that can come loose during installation and be inhaled or cause splinters.

We're considering using foam insulation, Polyisocyanurate - and since we have trouble remembering that word, we'll refer to it more simply as polyiso for our project. This insulation material is made of a closed cell rigid foam, that comes in a variety of forms (boards, spray, etc). The ReGreen guidelines recommends a foil-faced polyiso for insulating exterior walls (using 4" thickness creates a R-40 value) and a cellulose spray for the roof. The spray form that we're considering can be sprayed in the cavities throughout our brownstone renovation. Although the material does not have the highest recycled content, the material comes highly recommended because of its potential energy saving properties, high R-value, as well as increased air sealing and we think its effect on durability far outweighs its lack of recycled content.

This link from the GreenHome Guide is helpful, going into an in-depth explanation of the pros and cons of some insulation types that are available.

Happy insulating!

www.ehapc.com

[brooklyn green] www.ehapc.wordpress.com

Can a TV Be "Eco"?

jplatt — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 01:00:00 -0400

We first heard about the new Philips Eco FlatTV back in January, when it won a coveted "best of" award from CNET at the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show. According to Philips, this new HD TV, which started shipping this month, uses less power than many other LCD televisions, thanks to a few innovations that allow the TV to adjust itself to control how much energy it requires.

First up, the TV can dim its backlight when you are watching programs with high levels of black. This improves picture quality and uses less juice. The TV also includes a sensor which determines how much light is in the room around in. In dark rooms, the TV uses a dimmer setting, which in turn uses less power. Finally, the TV uses less power during standby mode -- in other words, when you turn it off, it's almost really off (a real rarity among TVs).

All in all, pretty smart.

The Philips Eco Flat TV, also known as the 42PFL5603D, is now available with a suggested retail price of $1,399.

One Easy Home Cooling Option - Roof Whitening for Energy Saving

jchait — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 22:38:34 -0400

There are some energy saving methods that have large renovation implications and time commitments involved - whitening your roof is not one of them. Roof whitening is a mid-cost solution that can cut your home cooling costs by quite a lot.

The Florida Solar Energy Center notes that home owners can expect to save 25-43%n air conditioning costs - and that result came from tests run on poorly insulated homes. One home they tested already had decent roof insulation in place and the savings were still at around 10% when roof whitening was added into the mix.

Some feel that roof whitening costs too much; that good insulation or a radiant barrier might be a better choice to save money, but you also have to think about labor, and the money saved after the application. Real Goods reports that roof, "Coatings cost 30 to 70 cents per square foot of roof surface area." I think that roof whitening is about a mid-level cost - but of course that's going to depend on your budget.

What sort of paint to use:

Using light colored shingles may seem the same, but it's actually not as effective as basic white roofing paint. Aluminum is another light colored material that doesn't fare as well at cutting energy costs. Whitening is the best.

Hy-Tech offers a really nice guide if you're new to roof whitening. They cover what sort of coverage and type of paint you'll need for a sloped roof vs. say an RV.

You can also visit Henry or Behr, although, you won't learn as much. They do sell roof coatings for a decent cost though.

Learn more:

Read more about Florida Solar Energy Center tests on energy saving with roof whitening.

There's also an interesting read on the Influence of whitening on greenhouse microclimate and crop energy partitioning.

Or you can read a debate: Treehugger thinks, or at least posts, that white roofs fight global warming may be an earth helpful solution while Sci Guy argues against that.

I prefer green roofs - especially so far as aesthetics go. There's just something about a white roofs that's not super stylish to me. Although saving money and electricity is always in style, so... what are you gonna do?