smart green design

The Zero Energy Home

jchait — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 01:41:47 -0400

It's actually possible that we'll see many zero energy homes in our near future - and if not our future, hopefully our children's.

What is the Zero Energy Home (ZEH)?:

A ZEH is a home (or it could be any structure) that produces more energy than it uses. So, not only does the home sustain itself, but it makes enough extra energy for another use, or to save, as well. There are ZEHs around, but they're not common; not yet.

A ZEH is able to cancel it's own energy out - which is very cool. To get this sort of innovative home, you need to combine completely energy efficient construction with one or more renewable energy systems, such as solar water heating and wind generated electricity or any of the other systems available. With smart green design you'll end up with a house that consumes zero energy from the utility gird.

According to the U.S Department of Energy, a Zero Energy Homes optimizes and includes the following design features:

Climate-specific design
Passive solar heating and cooling
Energy-efficient construction
Energy-efficient appliances and lighting
Solar water heating system
Small solar electric system.

Few prototype ZEHs have been constructed and researched up to now, but you don't need more research to know what a great idea these homes are. Zero energy homes are not unheard of. There are already people achieving this by being efficient and using alternative energy sources.

To learn more about ZEHs, read Seven Important Steps to a Successful ZEH.

Green Building Link Love - RiverWired Style

jchait — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 03:35:23 -0400

This week I decided to shine some link love on some of the other cool beans bloggers around RiverWired. However, I wondered, would anyone be discussing green house topics? Yes, as it turns out. Check out these nice finds.

Videos I like:

Grassroots: Collecting Rainwater: Collecting rainwater is something easy you can do at your own home to conserve water and reduce your water costs. This is a nice video explaining all the basics.

Eco-Bunnies: Way too fun. Also, although, don't quote me on it, I'm pretty sure that this video is by the same guys who made this tofu video that I'm obsessed with. (It sounds like them).

Posts I adore:

Hot News About Water Heaters: To learn what could save us millions in water costs check out this post.

Sustainability with a Sense of Style: Not exactly home building related, but I am a green interior junkie, and these bamboo pieces are great.

Checklist for a Green Home: Love checklists, love green homes, so, what's not to love?

Green Design Gets Groovy: A great resource if you'd like to design green & hip.

Which Solar Energy System Saves the Most Money?: You know you want to know.

Green is the New Gold – in the Real Estate Market: All the more reason to build or renovate green.

News you need:

Find The Eco-Career of Your Dreams: Home related jobs included, but more this is just a really cool top ten list.

Hey, by the way, did you hear that Earth Day is coming? I bet you did. Hit this link to find out what the RiverWired team is doing to celebrate and let us know what you'll be doing as well.

What cool links are you reading this week? Leave a comment and let me know.

Green Design Gets Groovy

kbutler — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0400

As I was checking out the latest issue of Popular Mechanics in my dentists’ office (not at all because the latest issue of People was taken up by a surly-looking woman with a swollen jaw) I came across an interesting entry. In their latest issue, Pop Mech (cuz that’s how it looks in my head) provides a list of the top smart green home designs out there. And let me tell you, there’s some cool stuff. As the article lays out green design: “The principles are simple: Use materials wisely, conserve water and energy, save money in the long term, and create surroundings that are safe and healthy.” From soybean sealings to rescued wood floors to green beer (and no, I’m talking a St. Patrick’s Day tradition), this is a list essential to anyone building a green building or doing a green remodel. Apparently while drunk, but that’s beside the point. Here are some of the goodies laid out for us:

Amazon Environmental accepts all types of water-based paints for reprocessing. Half are recycled into high-quality paints, and the rest are turned into specialty additives for cement. Cool!

Smith and Fog’s Bamboo Ply-Wood is “an emissions-free alternative to pressed-wood products containing glues with toxic formaldehyde.” That and they don’t cut down trees to use it. The trees will thank you for it – especially after a night of green beer.

Helio Volts’ solar cells are so thin they will eventually making it cost-effective for even windows and exterior cladding to become power sources. It’s easy renewable energy.

New Belgium Brewing in Colorado has devised a system from hops in to beer out for designed for greater green efficiency. Not sure how this fits into green design, but it sure sounds awesomely tasty.

Props to Popular Mechanics for compiling this must-have list for the green designer. Unless you don’t want “a house that can sell energy to the grid, a countertop made from glass that would otherwise go to a landfill, and a cable that wires sunlight through solid walls.” Clearly they mean, unless you are nuts!