by jboullion | Feb 24, 2010 | Uncategorized
From a workshop announcement released by the Energy Center of Wisconsin:
April 21, 2010 | Green Bay, WI
April 22, 2010 | Rothschild, WI
This program provides a solid background in renewable energy technologies for commercial-scale applications. Get an overview of renewable energy, from an exploration of the benefits, to a view of technologies that work well in Wisconsin’s northern climate. Learn how renewable energy technologies fit into the LEED™ design process and the software tools used for assessing renewable energy potential. Find out about design considerations, potential system performance, and the economics of installing a system in today’s solar market.
by jboullion | Jan 15, 2010 | Uncategorized
From an article by Julie Lawrence at OnMilwaukee.com:
Back in spring 2008, Pragmatic Construction, a Milwaukee-based green construction company aimed at advancing the principles of sustainable development within the urban environment, was knee-deep in a series of development projects but was still planning its path for a greener future in Milwaukee.
Co-founder Steve Servais and his crew were just laying out the plans for two single-family homes in Riverwest that were slated to be among the state’s first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified platinum homes. . . .
LEED-certified buildings are designed to lower operating costs and increase asset value, reduce waste sent to landfills, conserve energy and water, be healthier and safer for occupants and reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions.
Two years later, the side-by-side sustainable homes at 702 and 708 E. Hadley St. are complete and now on the market. Servais says his company has really pushed sustainable building to the limit.
The house sizes are modest; 1,200 and 1,300 square feet, respectively. But the environmental impact is huge. Some of the many green features include passive solar heating, passive cooling, 96 percent energy-efficient forced-air backup HVAC, bio-based sprayfoam roof insulation, triple-pane windows, tankless hot water, reclaimed hardwood flooring, reclaimed doors, steel, fiber-cement and cedar siding, stained concrete flooring, no-VOC paints and finishes, dual-flush toilets and low-flow fixtures, in-floor radiant heat and energy recovery ventilators.
And it doesn’t stop indoors. Outside they’ve implemented rain barrels, a shared rain-garden, pervious paving surfaces, steel roofing, recycled plastic roofing, a 2.1KW PV Array (solar electric), and two flat-panel solar hot water arrays.
by jboullion | Nov 24, 2009 | Uncategorized
From a post on Tom Daykin’s blog at JSOnline:
A proposed nine-lot subdivision, showcasing homes with solar energy panels, geo-thermal heating and cooling systems, and other features designed to save energy, has received conceptual approval from the Port Washington Plan Commission.
Developer Mike Speas told me this morning that he plans to build homes with around 1,200 square feet, with three bedrooms and two bathrooms, and sell them at around $200,000.
The houses won’t have finished basements, granite kitchen countertops and other amenities featured in comparably priced houses. But they will appeal to people looking to save a lot of money on their energy costs, Speas said.
The houses also will have a traditional arts and crafts bungalow design.
by jboullion | Nov 23, 2009 | Uncategorized
From a news release issued by the Sierra Club and the Wisconsin Green Building Alliance:
Milwaukee–Wisconsin Green Building Alliance (WIGBA) and Sierra Club’s Cool Cities program today announced the launch of the Green Building for Cool Cities collaboration. The partnership will leverage Cool Cities more than 200 local campaigns and USGBCs national network of 78 chapters to encourage new and retrofitted energy-efficient buildings, a key solution to global warming and to achieving the transition to a clean energy economy.
The organizations released a step-by-step green building policy guide for communities of all sizes. The recommended policies range from basic to more advanced plans of action to address energy-efficiency and environmental sustainability through the built environment.
Highlighted policies include leadership standards for government buildings that serve as models for the community; financial and no-cost incentives to build green for the commercial and residential sectors; and improved minimum efficiency standards through energy code adoption and enforcement. The Green Building for Cool Cities policy guide is available online at www.coolcities.us and www.usgbc.org. . . .
The Wisconsin State Building Commission has already been utilizing the guidelines. The new academic building at UW-Oshkosh, designed to incorporate renewable energy sources and sustainable principals to meet a gold LEED rating, is expected to save the University more than $182,000 annually. Energy design elements include:
+ Roof-top solar collectors will provide 70 percent of domestic hot water demand.
+ Radiant concrete slab flooring for heating and cooling — the first of its kind in the Wisconsin.
+ Day-lighting of more than 90 percent of regularly occupied spaces, reducing electric energy for lighting by more than one third.
+ Heat recovery system that exchanges the heat of warm exhausted air with the fresh air intake.
by jboullion | Oct 21, 2009 | Uncategorized
Visitors stand in line to learn about Team Germany’s solar-powered house, which won the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., Sunday, Oct. 18, 2009. (Photo by Stefano Paltera/U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon)
From a news release issued by the U.S. Department of Energy:
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Department of Energy Deputy Secretary Daniel Poneman today announced the winners of the 2009 Department of Energy Solar Competition on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Team Germany, the student team from Darmstadt, Germany, won top honors by designing, building, and operating the most attractive and efficient solar-powered home. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign took second place followed by Team California in third place.
The active competition lasted for a week, with the prototype home designs open to the public through Sunday. Team Germany’s winning “Cube House” design produced a surplus of power even during three days of rain. This is the team’s second-straight Solar Decathlon victory, after winning the previous competition in 2007. . . .
Over the past two weeks, the 2009 Solar Decathlon challenged 20 university-led teams from the United States and as far away as Spain, Germany, and Canada to compete in 10 contests, ranging from subjective elements such as architecture, market viability, communications, lighting design, and engineering, to technical measurements of how well the homes provided energy for space heating and cooling, hot water, home entertainment, appliances, and net metering.
New to this year’s competition, the Net Metering Contest was worth 150 points towards the final results and was the most heavily weighted contest. It challenged teams to generate surplus energy, above and beyond the power needed to run a house, which they fed into a power grid.
Team Germany earned 908.29 points out of a possible 1,000 to win the competition, followed by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with 897.30 points, and Team California with 863.08 points.
The UW-Milwaukee team brought up the rear with 524.074 points, largely due to delays in getting the home to Washington. The University of Minnesota Team finished fifth with 838.544 point.
