The greening of this downtown loft apartment will be a topic in this new series on how to adapt older buildings to higher ecological standards.

In my DVD video and book, “Building With Awareness,” I show the design and construction process of building a green home from scratch. With an emphasis on green building materials and the benefit of having complete control over the constructions process, you can see each stage of creating an energy efficient home from the ground up. By using a variety of natural materials such as straw bale, adobe, and earth plasters, it is possible to build an extremely green home with off-the-shelf components. For those who have the opportunity to start with a clean slate and an empty piece of land, this is an efficient way to go.

But what if you need to buy or rent a home that is already built? What if you desire to live in a city and the ability to use less-conventional materials is limited? After all, retrofitting existing buildings and homes will be an even larger industry than building new green structures. Millions of homes already exist and the majority of them need to be brought up to better energy efficiency standards.  How do you improve energy efficiency, lower your power bills, and limit your carbon footprint? (more…)

Photovoltaic panels generate clean power by converting sunlight into electricity. This article will talk about the actual—verses the rated—power output of photovoltaic panels. Do not assume that a PV panel rated at 170 watts of power will actually give you that amount. It will probably be closer to 150 watts per panel. Because of the difference, care must be used when sizing the system for your electrical needs. Otherwise, you may find that you are generating less power than you need.

Designing a photovoltaic system for your green home starts with using energy efficient appliances and lighting inside the house. My rule of thumb is that it is cheaper to buy a new EnergyStar-rated refrigerator for under $1,000 than to spend an extra $2,000 on photovoltaic (PV) panels to power an old, inefficient refrigerator. The same goes for other appliances—particularly those that get a lot of daily use such as televisions.

The photovoltaic system for my small straw bale home (featured on the BuildingWithAwareness.com website and DVD video) cost around $12,000 in equipment. Without carefully choosing the most efficient appliances and  lighting, the cost would have been dramatically higher.  (more…)

The higher a wind turbine is off the ground, the more power it will generate as the wind blows faster when not impeded by hills, trees, and structures.  That is why windmills are placed atop tall towers.

Magenn Power has developed an ingenious prototype wind turbine that is suspended in the air like a kite and airship combined. This is thinking outside the box. This lighter-than-air turbine stays aloft with helium (the same gas  used in blimps and party  balloons). As it spins, it generates clean electricity from a natural resource. The power travels down cables to the ground. Without the need for a tower, the generator can be quickly launched anywhere to a height of 200 to 1,000 feet—way beyond the height of conventional steel tower generators. It will work in winds from 4 to 60mph and the power output is 10-25kW. As a comparison, that is eight to twenty times more power than my home photovoltaic system produces.

I like the elegance of a wind generator made mostly of fabric. This greatly reduces the amount of heavy materials and avoids the problem of rigging a permanent steel tower. There is also a beauty in something that floats. It feels more temporary and non-obtrusive—like a sailboat.

source: Magenn Power