New Passive Solar Domestic Hot Water System Debuts

There’s a new passively pumped solar water heating system
that greatly simplifies the typical cold climate domestic hot water (DHW)
installation.  http://www.sunnovations.com/

For me, the holy grail of solar DHW is a system with almost
everything missing:

1.  No pumps
2.  No controller
3.  No sensors
4.  No electricity required
5.  No valves
6.  No stagnation or overheating problems
7.  No chance of freeze damage (freeze tolerant, at least)
8.  PEX  allowed
9.  No heat exchanger
10. No antifreeze
11.  Can use a storage tank purchased at Home Depot

 This system provides 1-8, but it does have an in-tank heat exchanger and propylene glycol.   I’m not on my knees, but this is  not bad!

 It operates by resurrecting the Copper Cricket style geyser pump.  They solved overheating with a steamback-like method, and can use anyone’s  harp style collector.

Prices are  taboo on the company's website.

 The CEO, Matt Carlson, explains that  "the installed cost varies by region.  It is influenced by the cost of labor, competition, shipping cost, configuration of the home, permitting costs, and distributor pricing, etc."

 Ballpark prices can be obtained through direct contact, though:

http://www.sunnovations.com/forms/contact-us

Here’s another discussion of how the Copper Cricket worked:

http://tinyurl.com/popsci89

And why it fizzled:  http://www.heatinghelp.com/forum-thread/133419/Steam-Pumping


The patent can be viewed at  http://www.google.com/patents/about?id=f0LWAAAAEBAJ&dq=7798140

Xcel Drops PV Rebates!

Edit:
The rebates have been restored after a 5 week moratorium.   (Bad move, Xcel, sudden moves like lifting the rebate can kill an entire industry overnight)

Original post:

This is critical to green residential design in Colorado.

An email from COSEIA:

URGENT: Xcel has suspended its solar program & the market is now 100% frozen. Can you help spread the word about this asap? Feel free to forward (or customize) the following email... Neal --- Clean energy is under attack. We urgently need your help.  Last week Xcel Energy suspended its solar program, destabilizing the market for clean energy.  This move has effectively frozen solar sales while customers wait for a possible program restart - with a devastating impact on small businesses and the Colorado economy. We can't let a monopoly choke off competition and curtail clean energy.  That's why we need your help.  Mark your calendar: join the Rally for Clean Energy Jobs at the state capitol (west steps) in Denver THIS FRIDAY, 2/25 at 12noon.  We need to see you there to help fight back against Xcel's outrageous activities - and to send a clear message that a monopoly shouldn't be allowed to control the fate of Colorado's clean energy industries and put thousands of jobs at risk. Can you help spread the word about this event?  THANKS! Here's some background on this important issue - and why Xcel's actions are so concerning: - Colorado voters have sent a clear message that they want to increase clean energy and help promote economic development. Building on the success of Amendment 37, there are now 5,300 solar jobs and more than 400 solar businesses in Colorado. Colorado is now the #2 state in the U.S. for solar jobs per capita.  - Xcel Energy is using its monopoly to disrupt the market for clean energy and choke off competition. Xcel is now the 2nd major utility to suspend its solar program. Black Hills Energy in Pueblo suspended its solar program in October, which led to a 90% decrease in solar sales and significant job losses while customers wait for incentives to return. The Colorado economy can't afford a devastating similar crash statewide. An estimated 2,000-3,000 Colorado jobs will be lost by the end of the year unless there is a rapid restart to the state's successful solar programs. - Every industry needs a stable marketplace to compete. Xcel's Solar*Rewards program was on schedule, slowly ratcheting down incentives as solar costs decreased. Incentives were reduced nearly 50% during the past two years as solar electric costs decreased by 40-50% during the same period. The program has been working. The key was that program changes were predictable, incremental and transparent so consumers and businesses could react.  - Xcel Energy administering its own solar program is a conflict of interest. As a monopoly utility, Xcel has a financial stake in disrupting and destabilizing the clean energy marketplace. A monopoly shouldn't be allowed to pull the rug out from under Colorado's small businesses and put thousands of jobs at risk. - Xcel is exhibiting a blatant double-standard. If Xcel was forced to change its business model in less than 24 hours without advanced notice or due process it would be crying foul to policymakers and the public about the injustice. - Colorado needs an independent 3rd party administrator to oversee its solar program. Xcel Energy and Black Hills Energy have demonstrated that they are either incapable or unwilling to ensure a stable marketplace for healthy competition. That's why other states have implemented an independent solar program administrator to avoid these conflicts of interest. Colorado should too. - The Public Utilities Commission should deny efforts to gut clean energy programs. The PUC should seek to restart Xcel's and Black Hills' solar programs quickly, before any more economic damage is done, and begin a fair and transparent stakeholder process to ensure stable marketplace.   Attend the Rally for Clean Energy Jobs this Friday, February 25 at 12pm, at the Colorado State Capitol building, (west steps) and show your support for clean energy in Colorado and for future generations. Please forward this email to your friends!  Best regards, Neal Lurie Executive Director, COSEIA

Finally a Consumer Friendly Home Energy Rating System

I've finally found my dream house rating system, which is just like an EPA rating label for an appliance or a car:

http://www.ecohomemagazine.com/news/2011/01-january/energy-labels-a-powe...

I've been saying for years that as consumers get more educated about energy efficiency in homes, the demand for efficient homes will increase, and the selling price of those homes will increase.

Well, I'm tired of waiting*, so this rating system gives the consumers what they need to know NOW.

NOTE: this is a rating system, and by definition, can only be measured on a house that has been built. This will prevent the most insidious types of greenwashing, like advertising a LEED rating before the home has been built.

There isn't any "embodied energy" rating here, but I think a third scale for that would start making this rating system too confusing. The embodied energy of a low energy new home is small enough to be ignored for now. If and when a carbon tax is implemented, that will be reflected in the selling price of the house.

*I realized that until Realtors understand this stuff, most consumers have no hope. I haven't yet met a Realtor who really understands the difference between a KW and a KWH.

energytrust.org_library_forms_ENH_TP_EPS_Certificate_sample.pdf

811.7 KB

Your New Construction Greenbuilding in Denver Checklist

My top home design recommendations in no particular order:

-Frost protected slab on grade - R20 min perimeter insulation
-R28 min wall, R60 min roof (many methods available, the consensus is to use cellulose)
-Design for a "conditioned attic" bonus room or no attic (flat or shed roof)
-Simple forms, rectangular or square footprint
-100% electric, no natural gas
-No sliding doors or windows, or even exterior french doors
-If you have sunshine available, high SHGC south (and north) windows, solar DHW ($3.5k max)
-Triple pane  windows if you can find them at a reasonable price
-Fiberglass framed windows for longevity and other thermal reasons
-DO hire a HERS rater ($1500 max), DON'T waste money on LEED or PH certification
-Photovoltaic system, take advantage of Xcel rebates
-Small, cheap HRV system ($1000 max total) or just a WhisperGreen exhaust fan for ventilation
-Minisplit heat pump or PTHP
-Induction cooktop, small range hood
-PEX plumbing pipe using 3/8" home runs

In a nice neighborhood, upgrades may be desirable.  A finished basement is number one, but if you're building today, it will cost a little more than its resale value.  The third floor conditioned attic bonus room is cheaper per square foot.

The Multifamily Market Heads Toward a More Sustainable Model- (Small Units in an Urban Location)

As we come out of the Great Recession, the pent up demand for housing has manifested itself in a steady drop in  vacancy rates nationwide.  Denver's multifamily market is already superheating, with small class B+  units selling at an all-time high of over $100k each.  (Don't try to do a condo split, however, no one will buy a studio condo even for $60k...it's a weird market)

Consumer demand has shifted to green, as a natural economic evolution.   Although today's renters may do a lot of recycling, and worry about global warming, but their personal bottom line rules their housing choice, not their carbon footprint.  They would prefer to live in a neighborhood close to amenities so they can do without a car, which saves a lot of time and money.  And if your neighborhood is lively, who needs a big home if you're never there?  So living greener can also be living cheaper.

http://www.multihousingnews.com/features/development/best-bet-for-building-small-units-in-an-urban-location/

As we mentioned last week, this trend will should also start showing up in the single family market since building on smaller lots has finally been re-legalized.

Denver's Zoning Now on the Cutting Edge

By now, anyone studying urban planning knows that cities brought wasteful sprawl upon themselves through idiotic policies, culminating in the "greatest mis-allocation of resources in the history of the world"

If cities are to heal themselves, we are unfortunately at the mercy of the same species that got us here, the zoners and planners.

The City of Denver recently adopted a new zoning code after a six year process.  A lot of  anti-sprawl policies were incorporated, however, some "neighborhood preservation" policies were included that tend to be anti-density and therefore pro-sprawl.

Rewriting the zoning code is difficult, because it's like answering the question, "How will our great grandchildren live, work, commute, and what do they want their city to be like?"  So Denver has taken a stab at it, and in some ways we're on to something.

A recent article predicts that the housing market will help revive our economy, but it's not your father's housing market anymore:
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2010/1011.doherty-leinberger.html

" the Great Recession has highlighted a fundamental change in what consumers do want: homes in central cities and closer-in suburbs where one can walk to stores and mass transit. Such “walkable urban” real estate has experienced less than half the average decline in price from the housing peak."   


Denver has responded to this change in the market by legalizing carriage houses for a few thousand lucky homeowners, and introducing tandem house zoning for some of the neighborhoods that used to be zoned for duplexes (R2).


During the recent real estate boom, many reasonably nice homes in gentrifying R2 neighborhoods were being demolished to make way for profitable duplexes.  Due to the limitations of the old R2 zoning, building a duplex was formerly the only way homeowners and infill redevelopers could take advantage of the changing demand.


Under the new tandem house and carriage house zoning,  a detached new home can be built to the rear or side of the lot without having to scrape the old house.  In fact, in the present economic climate, it would be very risky to scrape a performing asset and invest $500,000 to $1M in a speculative duplex.  Very few other cities now offer this new option, but those that do will have a clear economic development edge.  The livability of these neighborhoods will gradually improve, and home values should follow.

The Advantages of Neighborhood Photovoltaics

Here are three reasons to like PV mounted on Denver houses, even though it's expensive:

1.  Transmission losses - - Although grid-tied PV needs a functioning grid, most of the PV kilowatthours generated at a PV-equipped house stay in the neighborhood and aren't diminished by transmission losses which are usually quoted at 30%.

2.  Autonomy - - Let's say you are building a spec house that you want to have low net energy usage.   If you install PV, you have added value to that house.  If Xcel invests directly in wind energy, that doesn't help you or your buyer.

3.  Utility power outage avoidance - - Once PV market share reaches a crucial point, the Xcel will see the potential of outage avoidance that distributed PV inherently has.  At that point they will start providing direct inverters and distributed batteries.  Utilities receive big rewards for reducing outages.

In Colorado, Xcel is required by law to reach 30% renewable energy by 2020.  Neighborhood PV is one of the top 3 ways this will happen, partly because it's easy and incremental compared to larger, more cost effective but cost intensive measures.

Is a Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard an artificial incentive?  Of course it is, but until a carbon tax is implemented, there is no other incentive to reduce the use of fossil fuel.