TECHNOLOGY: Opening Day For A Home Of The Future. Opening Day For A Home Of The Future

The first of six properties designed to show case state-of-the-art energy efficient housing will be officially opened on Wednesday January 30 2008 at The University of Nottingham. The house built by BASF, a major supplier of raw materials to the construction industry, is part of the Creative Energy Homes Project on University Park. The project was set up by the School of Built Environment to stimulate sustainable design ideas and promote new ways of providing affordable, environmentally sustainable housing.

Several companies including Stoneguard, Roger Bullivant Ltd, E-on, BASF and Tarmac agreed to fund the project and come up with their own innovative ideas.

There are 6 houses in the Creative Energy Homes project. Two additional houses will be built by Tarmac.

Four of the new Creative Energy Homes have already been designed. The BASF house is now finished and the Stoneguard house, being constructed by students, is nearing completion.

Brian Ford, Professor of Bioclimatic Architecture and Head of the School of Built Environment, said: "The Creative Energy Homes project, initiated by Professor Saffa Riffat, provides a platform for the School's partnership with industry to explore different approaches to low carbon house design. The BASF House is a very significant step towards the Government's goal of all new housing being zero-carbon by 2016, underlining the importance of cross-sector collaboration and the School's leading role in this process."

As well as initiating the project Saffa Riffat, Professor of Sustainable Energy Systems, secured funding for the project which is now starting to take shape.

Professor Riffat said: "My colleagues and I are delighted to work with BASF on the passive solar/sustainable research house. This visionary and exciting project shows the commitment of the University and BASF to achieving a sustainable urban environment. I would like to thank BASF for funding the project and my colleague Dr Mark Gillott for his excellent technical contribution. Our aim is to replicate the concept of the Creative Energy Homes constructed in the UK at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China so that we can promote sustainable homes in China."

Collaboration between the School of Built Environment and BASF began during a European research project which explored the application of the German 'Passivhaus' Standard to other countries in Europe. It has developed from a shared desire to explore how the results of the Creative Energy Homes project might be applied in the UK to achieve an affordable low carbon house and how that could lead to the design and construction of affordable zero-carbon housing.

The UK Government is committed to reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 20 per cent by the year 2010 but this is set against the projection of a further 4.2 million new houses being constructed between now and 2016.

Dwellings in the UK account for approximately 28 per cent of the UK total of carbon dioxide emissions through the burning of fossil fuel for heating, lights and appliances. This includes combustion on the premises, mainly natural gas for heating and cooking, and combustion in power stations to produce electricity for homes.

Space heating accounts for 57 per cent; water heating a further 25 per cent; cooking 5 per cent and lights and appliances 13 per cent. The demand for energy to run heating/hot water systems and other home appliances such as refrigerators, cookers, lighting, etc is expected to be 13 per cent higher in 2010 than it was in 1990.

The Creative Energy Homes are being designed to various degrees of innovation and flexibility to allow the testing of different aspects of modern methods of construction, including layout and form, cladding materials, roof structures, foundations, glazing materials, thermal performance, building services systems, sustainable and renewable energy technologies, lighting systems, acoustics and water supply.

Architect Derek Trowell said: "The two most significant aspects of our brief have made the house different in appearance from more conventional housing. Firstly, the house is intended to be extremely energy efficient and to have as near as possible zero carbon emissions. Secondly, the house is intended to be extremely economical and affordable. The key effect of these two important briefing considerations is that the house has a compact floor area and relies as much as possible on passive solar design to keep costs down."

In designing the house BASF has taken into consideration a number of issues currently affecting the construction industry. A low carbon emissions target has been set for the house. Energy efficient products are being used to create a thermally efficient home and renewable fuel will be used for heating. The cost of construction is being balanced against the requirement to make the house affordable to a first time buyer and with available building land in short supply. The BASF House design has the flexibility to be used for semi-detached or terraced houses.

Energy effiency will be carefully monitored once the house is occupied by university staff or students.

Source: SPX

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ZEROHOUSE. Nuestra casa de la pradera pretende parecerse a este concepto de hogar independiente

by Manuel Torres Laveaga

Es muy probable que nuestra casa para la el campo, la montaña o similar, es decir, nuestro refugio para escaparnos cuando deseamos desconectarnos se vaya a parecer mucho a ZEROHOUSE. La cual se distingue por que requerirá la mínima atención para su mantenimiento, ya que tiene el concepto de no escatimar en la calidad de refugio a coste cero en su atención.

ZEROHOUSE es un sitio autosuficiente, 100 por 100 automático que centra su independencia con un suministro energético de autogeneración, con potentes paneles solares y un eficiente gestor de electricidad. Iluminación basada el tecnología LED de bajo consumo. Cuenta con un amplio embalse tipo cisterna para capturar y almacenar el agua que por medio de una delicada logística de distribución e irrigación podrá usarse de manera optima. Un mecanismo de reciclaje para el aprovechamiento de la basura orgánica.

Nos falta por averiguar de $ cuanto estamos hablando, ya que ZEROHOUSE, se promete como un buen concepto para particulares que aprecian la calidad, diseño, responsabilidad sostenible.

Via: ZeroHouse

ZeroHouse, sustainable home, energy efficiency

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TECHNOLOGY: The Role of LEDs In Energy Efficiency

Today, Energy Tech Stocks [ETS] has the fifth installment from our interview, outlining my LED stock picks. He quotes me at the start saying that it's "going to be a gigantic market" about LEDs. It is, but only when compared to the current size of the market... you can ramp up a lot from a very small base.

OCEANIA: Australia eyes solar

Australian Prime Minister John Howard announced he will allot nearly $300 million in green vouchers for schools to improve energy and water efficiency.

'Every school in Australia will be eligible for a voucher of up (to approximately) $44,000 to help install solar hot water systems and rainwater tanks,' Howard said in a speech, according to his Web site.

'Not only will this help reduce energy and conserve water, but it will provide students and our school communities with a first-hand lesson in how we can act locally to preserve the environment,' he said Tuesday.

However, some said the money could be more wisely spent.

'Schools are being used 200 days a year. So, for half the year that hot water`s not going to be used,' Professor Tim Flannery told reporters in the capital, Canberra.

'If you want to maximize emission abatements, you put those solar hot-water units on houses where there is a demand 365 days a year for hot water,' Flannery said, according to a report by the Sydney Morning Herald.

'Instead of spending a dollar and getting 50 cents back, you`ll be spending a dollar and getting a dollar`s worth of value,' Flannery said.

And while he allowed that Howard`s hot-water project was also educational, according to the newspaper, he qualified that statement: 'Even so, you could still look at putting solar panels on schools where you generate electricity that would be used somewhere in the grid.'

According to Howard, his hot-water initiative for schools is just the latest step in a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The series of steps, dating back to 1990, 'will prevent about 87 million tons of climate-changing carbon a year entering the atmosphere by 2010.'

'That`s a massive reduction and a tangible example of (the Howard government`s) commitment to the climate change challenge,' he said.

New Zealand also saw an uptick in solar energy activity this week, when SunSeeker Energy (Australasia) went public on the New Zealand stock exchange, NZAX. The company 'said it was now a subsidiary of the New Zealand-listed entity and expected to begin production for Asia, Australia and New Zealand this month,' the New Zealand Herald reported.

'The Australian company said it chose the NZAX after research revealed `(a) pro-business attitude ... plus the cost-effective option of compliance listing,`' according to the report.

'The move was a good fit for us and our existing shareholders, as at this early stage in the company`s development we are not seeking to raise public capital,' the newspaper quoted SunSeeker`s chairman, Geoffrey Taylor, as saying.

The company said on its Web site its 'engineers have designed a solar energy unit that utilizes segments of trough concentrator optics to focus the energy from the sun on a photovoltaic array.'

This somewhat ambiguous description has led critics to question the decision to list the company so early: 'Frankly, there is hardly any information available and that makes any assessment of the company`s prospects, even at the most basic level, difficult,' Bruce McKay a director of niche banker Saffron Capital, wrote Wednesday in Wellington, New Zealand`s Dominion Post.

'Clearly, the plan is to raise capital to build manufacturing capacity, sales and marketing channels and the necessary company and administration facilities, but how much is an open question. The ... product is a new technology and there is no information as to how this might be received by potential purchasers,' McKay said.

He said: '(SunSeeker Energy`s) only asset is a 32 per cent shareholding in a company called Sun Seeker Energy (UK) Ltd, a British-based company that holds the rights for the marketing and manufacture of SunSeeker`s products in Australasia, and is negotiating to acquire the rights for the British market.'

According to the New Zealand Herald, the company`s technology is not yet patented.

Via: Monster & Critics

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Blogalaxia Tags: Australia

Tags: SunSeeker Energy, UK, Australia, New Zeland, solar energy, energy efficiency, John Howard, Geoffrey Taylor, NZAX, photovoltaic

CANADA: Environmentalists, NDP urge government to take action

by MELANIE PATTEN

An international report that paints an ominous picture about the consequences of climate change has prompted strong calls for action from Canadian environmentalists and opposition parties. The document, released Friday in Brussels by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, warns of major threats to the planet and humankind.

Federal Liberal Leader Stephane Dion said Prime Minister Stephen Harper should take immediate steps to combat climate change by endorsing a revised version of the Clean Air Act.

Climate-change report a wake-up call

The revamped bill, forged by opposition parties, would require Canada to meet its emission-cutting commitments under the Kyoto protocol and provide new ways of reducing smog and promote energy efficiency.

"The Conservative government does not take its responsibilities seriously," Dion said in a statement.

"History will judge Canada harshly if we continue on Mr. Harper’s course of undermining international efforts instead of contributing to them."

But while the Opposition used the report to slam the Conservatives for their inaction, federal Environment Minister John Baird insisted the report justifies what the government has done to address climate change. Baird released a statement that said the report underscores the urgency for action on climate change, which he insisted his government is already doing.

"The IPCC has presented further scientific evidence on the challenges Canada and the world is facing and will continue to face with climate change," said Baird, who wasn’t available for further comment.

"But this government hasn’t waited to act."

Baird noted the $4.5 billion earmarked for environment and climate-change programs in the recent budget, and said Ottawa will announce targets for mandatory reductions of greenhouse gases and air pollution in the coming weeks.

But federal NDP Leader Jack Layton accused the Conservatives of playing political games with the bill, which some speculate could lead to an election.

"Nothing is perfect, but it’s a heck of lot better than standing still," Layton said of the bill during a phone interview.

"Pointing fingers back and forth between parties to say who’s best is just resulting in our standing still in the onslaught of climate change."

Environmental activists argued developing and fulfilling a plan against climate change is no longer a political issue, but a moral one.

"It’s not . . . a choice about public policy," said Joslyn Higginson of Greenpeace Canada.

"Within the next 10 years if we don’t act . . . the impacts of climate change are going to be devastating and irreversible."

The 23-page report, which was approved by an international conference on global warming, is a summary of a much larger document written and reviewed by hundreds of scientists.

The document is the second in a series of four reports detailing the effects of global warming on the Earth and its population.

Some scientists expressed anger Friday and argued their findings were being watered down after government negotiators changed some of the summary’s wording.

Still, the report, which is intended as a policy guide for governments, foreshadows a bleak future. It says North America can expect more hurricanes, floods, wildfires and droughts. Heat waves will last longer and become more frequent and intense. Rising sea levels will swamp coastal areas.

The report also says a longer growing season could boost crop yields by five to 20 per cent, but that figure would drop significantly with a rise in temperature of about 13.8 C.