Ok, I got something to share. As I sat here, late on a Friday evening, partied out from the night before, listening to Herbie Hancock, looking through some geeky pictures from a trip for work, I felt compelled to write my feelings. I recently travele
oldie but goodie
oldie but goodie
The Leaf is Nissan’s leading environmentally-friendly, affordable, family car. It is a trend setting type of engineered battery car. Its battery pack estimated at (£6000) which is $8,896 raises a lot of interest as well as reasonable pricing that is drawing tons of reservation. The Leaf is a tough competition with the Chevy Volt in terms of driving range.
The argument among Nissan fans is whether the Volt is a true EV.
The Leaf has been designed to be self-sustaining. Annual car maintenance does not apply to this vehicle except yearly brake pad inspection, and its navigation system is globally connected especially to find re-charging stations. The Leaf offers more with its new technology and afford-ability with all things considered which include pricing for 5-car seater, driving range, and up-keep.
Good:
- This is a real EV. A 100% electric car
- 8 Year with a 100,000 mile warranty
- $349 Lease program
- Federal, state, and other credits can knock off significant $$ on this vehicle
Other things about the Leaf:
- Like any EV, after 100 miles, your car is dead. Theses are your options; plan your schedule with an electric station in mind for emergency cases, charge your car at home as you would do with your i-phone before you sleep at night, and/or simply be aware about your driving situation by planning your trip accordingly.
- Price: $32,000
- Weight: 3,500lbs
The Chevy Volt is a car that can run up to approximately 40 miles emissions free. However thanks to its range-extending gas generator, it produces enough energy to power the Volt for hundreds of miles. The body of the Volt is slightly bigger than the Prius with a modern look and feel interior. The Volt has a nice on board system that keeps you up to date with your fuel capacity, letting you know if you are running on electric or gas.
Good:
- Goes up to 40 miles on pure electric. After that the gas kicks in extending it to more miles.
- 8 Year with a 100,000 mile warranty
- $349 Lease program
- Federal, state, and other credits can knock off significant $$ on this vehicle.
Other things about the Volt:
- Is this a true EV or a suit-up Hybrid? The controversy remains… On 40 miles, one can say it’s an EV. The rest of the way, it appears to function as a superior Hybrid to my opinion, powered on gas. My guess is as good as yours…let the controversy remain.
- Price: $41k
- Weight: 3,700 lbs
Summary
Hopefully other manufacturing car companies can follow suit and compete to bring the best of clean energy to the United States as well as getting back to leading in manufacturing, which interprets as more long lasting green jobs. Interesting enough there is mention that the Leaf will be produced in Tennessee (currently in Japan) in the next two years. Not that’s a good start.
Article References, Pictures, and more Information: Battle EV Supremacy, Nissan Showing New Leaf, & Toyota Hybrid Recall? No. Chevrolet Volt Display.
Tags: car incentives, chevy volt, nissan leaf
This entry was posted on Friday, December 24th, 2010 at 1:23 am and is filed under Featured Content, Green Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
For the past two and a half years, John has been commuting back and forth from Washington DC to Baltimore, a 100 mile round trip. Until one day home, John got into a car accident. (Don’t worry he was not hurt.)
After the accident, he was trying to figure out how much he would save by just taking public transportation, a much cleaner alternative than driving.
So one day he drafted the following questions along with his responses to analyze the cost of public transportation vs driving. The follow is his analysis:1.) What time does my job start and end?
John’s response: 8am to 4:30 pm.
2.) Are there bus routes, rail, or combo-metro routes leading from my home to work?
John’s response: Yes. I can take the DC metro, bus F4, from Prince George’s Plaza Station to New Carrollton Station (MD). Then from New Carrollton, I can take the Marc Train to Baltimore Penn Station.
3.) Is the cost of driving a new car effective anyway?
Cost of Driving:
- Cost of comprehensive insurance per month: $200.00 (before the accident)
- Cost of fuel per week given 100/mile day commute: $40.00
- Cost of monthly parking pass: $110.00
- Other factors for John to consider:
- Purchase a minimal, new reliable car: $vary
- Maintenance and service on new car: $vary
Total monthly cost to work by car, not including vehicle purchase or M/S: $390.00
Cost of Public Transportation:
- Monthly transit pass (Bus + Rail + Marc included): $250.00
- Other factors to consider:
- ZipCar: Rental for $7.00 an hour for after work activities.
Total monthly cost for John to take public transportation to work: $250.00
This is a difference of $140.00 that John would save if he rode public transportation.
Have you carefully looked at your own commute from a financial perspective? How much would you be saving or spending?
Tags: DC Metro, MARC, New Carrollton, Prince George's Plaza, SmartTrip, ZipCar
This entry was posted on Friday, December 31st, 2010 at 1:14 am and is filed under Environment, Featured Content. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
people need to do the math to see if it's worth the convenience...
Several months ago, we wrote a blog highlighting the solar lease as a way for people to get a solar installation without incurring any upfront costs. Today we are introducing you to the solar Power Purchase Agreement, or sPPA: another viable alternative for getting solar panels without any upfront costs.
What’s a sPPA?
Ok, you do want them solar panels on your home or office building but you don’t like the upfront cost. You also don’t want to lease them like we mentioned above. That’s where the sPPA option comes in.
With this alternative, you let the solar company put panels at your site, but you do not pay for the installation. You simply pay for the electricity that these panels generate.
The Benefits
Because you don’t technically own the panels, you save a boat-load of cash by not paying for the installation or maintenance. The cost of the electricity from these panels is usually the same amount or lower than what you were already paying PEPCO or BG&E, or whatever utility company you have. Your contract with the solar company will state what the agreed rate per kilowatt-hour is. This rate will usually go up by 1% to 5% per year, but it is designed to remain below the typical annual rate increases from your utility company. Your contract with the solar company usually lasts about 6 years, and at the end of the contract, you can agree to another contract, buy the solar panels, or get them removed.
Here’s an example. Imagine you signed a sPPA contract 6 years ago, in 2004, for solar panels that generate 20% of your home’s electricity (you still pay the regular utility company for the remaining 80%). Let’s assume your household uses an average of 1000 kW-hours of electricity per month, and if we use the 2004 average US national rate of 8.95 cents/kW-hour, your total electric bill would be $89.50 per month. In January 2005, the average national electricity rate went up to 9.45 cents/kW-hour, but your sPPA rate goes up by 1% according to your contract, to 9.04 cents/kW-hour. If we do the math, you now pay $75.60 for 80% of your electricity (800 kW-hours) to your utility, and $18.08 for the remaining 20% (200 kW-hours) to the solar company. That’s a total of $93.68 for January 2005.
Now we’re in 2010, reaching the end of your 6-year contract, and how much have you saved so far? If you never got solar panels, then you spent a total of $8,854.80. However with the sPPA model, you spent a total of $8,633.31. Your total savings over the the last 6 years are $221.49. Wait, did you just say that’s not a big deal? Let’s give you a couple more reasons:
- the utility’s electricity rate (red line) jumps up in an unpredictable fashion, while the sPPA rate (green line) is predictable because your contract tells you exactly what you’ll be paying over the 6 years of solar power. Knowing your electricity cost in advance is a huge benefit for planning and budgeting.
- over the 6-year period, you prevented your utility company from generating 14,400 kW-hours of unclean electricity, because you had your own clean version to use. That’s the equivalent of 11.7 metric tons of CO2 emissions, or in plain English: you stopped 2 cars from emitting pollutants for a year.
- Let’s not forget the “I got solar panels on my roof” statement you can use freely at every cocktail party; that’s some major cool points right there…
Just remember this: the whole thing cost you nothing to setup. You simply chose a different path to get your electricity and become a good citizen of the environment.
The “Bad”
There’s nothing bad about going green, hence the quotation marks. However here are the changes that you might have to deal with by going solar with a PPA model:
- you will not cash-in any of the government tax credits or state rebates for using solar, because you don’t own the panels
- you will not be able to receive cash for any solar Renewable Energy Certificates (sRECs), again because you don’t own the panels
- if you are short-term leasing your place, the lease may prevent you form getting a PPA because you need at least 6 years for the contract. In addition, your landlord may not want you to make changes to the property, so your solar panels may not be installed in the ideal location, if any at all
- you may save money by buying the solar panels outright, especially if you consider the government-backed incentives
- your property taxes may go higher if your property gets reassessed after the solar panel install
- taxes and other surcharges by your utility company may take up the amount of money saved, so you may not save anything financially
Ok, now that you have a picture of the good and the “bad,” please remember that you are doing this not just to save money, but to help the environment. What’s next? Why not explore the different solar installation types? And as always, let us know if you need FREE quotes for a solar installation from our list of wonderful contractors.
Tags: power purchase agreement, PPA, solar
This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 21st, 2010 at 4:17 pm and is filed under Featured Content, Green Financing, Solar Energy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
As the entire Sobuka staff scours the interwebs and malls in search of gifts for loved ones, we decided to do a blog on some of our favorite green gifts. These aren’t just great gifts but they are also excellent for the environment. Well, without further ado, here they are in no particular order:
Plan Toys Eco Town – What’s the best way to prepare our kids for a green future? By educating them of course! …or letting them have fun with play sets like this eco-friendly town. The Eco Town features green technologies like solar panels, a wind turbine, and a grey water system (grey water is indoor waste water that doesn’t include toilets). The play set comes with cars, a doll house, and trains. Kids are exposed to the concepts of public transportation, biking, and recycling. It even has a charging station for electric cars… we’re kinda jealous (via Treehugger).
Windstream Bike Power Generator - If you’re living in the DC metro, you know how cold it is outside.Some die-hard bikers still hit the streets, but what to do for the rest of us? Enter the Bike Power Generator. This cool gizmo easily hooks up to the back wheel of your bike and generates electricity while you’re pedaling in your garage or condo, picturing a warm spring breeze running through your face. The result? hopefully a nice workout, and enough electricity from the generator’s 12V battery to power your TV (via Treehugger).
Citizen Eco-Drive Watch (His/Her) – The Citizen Eco-Drive watch for him or her is a beauty and guess what, it’s eco-friendly as well. This watch really doesn’t use a traditional watch battery because through a solar panel under the dial, it can convert light energy from the sun or any other light source into electrical energy. The electrical energy is then stored in a special energy storage cell and the charging is done in a more efficient manner than was ever before thought possible. In addition as an added benefit to the environment, the energy cell contains none of the chemicals used in ordinary watch batteries.
Zipcar Gift Certificate – The “Zipcertificate” is an awesome green gift because you can surprise someone with “wheels when they want them”. Zipcar is a sustainable car-sharing transportation solution that promotes green consciousness. Zipcar contributes to fewer cars on the road which means less congestion, less pollution, less dependence on oil, and cleaner, fresher air to breathe. Drive around town in style and green at the same time. A perfect combination.
LED TV – A Light Emitting Diode (LED) TV is a super gift not only for the person you are giving it to but also for the environment. They are the most efficient type of flat-panel TV’s available today because they use less energy than a Plasma TV’s or a standard Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) TV’s. The average plasma uses 301 watts, the standard LCD uses 111 watts, and the LED version uses 101 watts.
GNC Eco-Friendly Stainless Steel Water Bottle – This water bottle is a great gift for people you know who live at the gym, an avid runner or friends who just love the environment. It’s made from food grade, high quality stainless steel; it’s 100% recyclable and dishwasher safe. In addition, it will eliminate the need for buying packaged plastic water bottles which simultaneously saves you money and help the planet.
And it’s a wrap! Do you have any favorites? We’d love to hear from you so please let us know!
Tags: christmas, Green Gifts, holiday gift guide
This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 14th, 2010 at 11:57 am and is filed under Featured Content, green products. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
cool gift ideas
Going Green. Keeps Roofs Green.
Posted on November 30th, 2010 by admin
We would like to congratulate Shelley from Boston, MA, our big winner of November’s Green Photo of the Month contest, with a $50 prize! Shelley was in Baltimore for work and she realized that the Fairfield Inn she was staying at was a LEED-certified hotel. In fact, it is the first LEED-certified hotel in Baltimore! LEED is an internationally recognized green building certification system.
The picture depicts the hotel’s green roof and skylight for natural sunlight. Green roofs are an efficient way for absorbing rainwater, providing insulation, and helping to lower urban air temperatures to combat the heat island effect.
Thanks to everyone that participated in our contest. Keep them pictures coming for the next one!
Tags: Fairfield Inn by Marriott, green building, LEED Building, November Photo Contest
This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 30th, 2010 at 7:00 pm and is filed under Featured Content, Green Photo of the Month. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Congrats!
Going Geothermal
Posted on November 29th, 2010 by Daniel
Ever wish you had an unlimited supply of thermal energy to keep you warm in the winter or cool in the summer? Well, you’ve always had it, but it was just not connected to you. There’s plenty of heat just below the Earth’s surface, and that’s where the benefits of a geothermal system come in.
The words “geo” (earth) and “thermal” (heat) literally mean “heat from the Earth.” Depending on your latitude, if you dig about 6 to 10 feet underground, the temperature of the earth is at a constant 45 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Scorching summers or blizzard winters, the heat underground stays relatively the same. This means you can run pipes from your home to the ground, to circulate a liquid to exchange heat, and control your temperature as needed.
For example, in the winter time, a geothermal heat pump moves the cold temperature into the ground, heats it up with the surrounding warmth of the earth, and brings the heat back up to the surface to warm up your indoor environment. Similarly, during the summer, the heat pump can reverse the process by moving the heat indoors to the ground where it’s cooler, and bring it back up for to cool down your environment.
Why Geothermal?
This process is a lot more efficient than using heating oil, gas, or electricity to heat up or cool down the surrounding air to a desired temperature.
According to the U.S. Dept. of Energy, geothermal heat pumps use 25% to 50% less electricity compared to regular heating/cooling systems.
The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that a geothermal system reduces the consumed energy (and related emissions) by as much as 44% compared to air-source heat pumps, and by as much as 72% compared to electric heating with standard air-conditioning. In addition, geothermal systems do a great job maintaining indoor relative humidity at 50%, making them even more advantageous for people living in humid areas.
Geothermal systems are very quiet, since they don’t have an outside condenser unit like air conditioners do. The key components are easily accessible for maintenance. Warranties on the underground piping last 25-50 years, and the actual heat pump should last 20+ years.
The Incentives
The federal government offers 30% off your total cost for a geothermal heat pump installation, in the form of a personal tax credit. At the state level, Maryland offers rebates of $2,000 (residential) to $7,000 (non-residential). The District of Columbia doesn’t have any incentives for geothermal at the time of writing. Virginia doesn’t have any state rebates, however utilities such as TVA offer loans of up to $10,000 through a 3rd-party lender at a 6%-8% 10-year term.
As you can see, geothermal is an efficient and eco-friendly alternative for heating and cooling purposes. It’s a win-win for you and the environment!
Tags: geothermal, hvac
This entry was posted on Monday, November 29th, 2010 at 6:29 pm and is filed under Featured Content, geothermal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Comments are closed.
i wish my house had this!
What’s in it for me?
Posted on November 16th, 2010 by alex
Well, there is a lot in it for you. It is an important decision that weighs on either your business or home. This trend is gaining some ground even though there may not have been as much promotions to encourage people. A multitude of people are unaware of the opportunity thus engendering paucity of ownership or prospective interest.
Just like the famed Cash for Clunkers program, the tax incentives and rebates on green projects are so well encouraged by the government that there are some quite good reason to get involved. Different undertakings such as solar, wind or geothermal installs among others, carry enticing financial offers to go along with your project. Marching along with the “green living movement” is plethora of federal, state and local government incentives – depending on where you live. I think peoples’ disappointment is the wish that the process on assistance with the rebates in going-green endeavors is more of grants than of incentives and rebates. But wait! your wish could be true, there are programs that could offer you grants – depending on your state and how it may available.
First let’s refresh by defining a few terms. From a general sense, a rebate is the returning portion of disclosed funds from a purchased price of a product within its advertised period with some conditions. Dissimilar to discount, a rebate is received after the full payment of the invoiced amount. A Tax Credit is a calculated amount authorized under the Internal Revenue Code, refunded, deducted or accepted-as-paid towards the taxpayer on either a federal or state status. A combination of these ordinances lures more renewable energy practices. A comprehensive list about incentives for prospective green investments can be found at this website.
Then there are the savings. From installing energy-efficient appliances, or insulation, to energy audits or a solar purchase, there is more that is being saved. If you conduct a point estimate for your electric bill compared to a green resource bill, you would more likely see a difference in savings. In addition, you would be either offsetting carbon footprints, reduction in fossil fuel consumption and most importantly contributing to save the environment. There is a high presence of reluctance when a recommendation for change is proposed – even with highlighted upside. Just like we have previously presented an assessment about renewable energy power provider, we wanted to inform people again about saving with renewable sources.
In addition to seizing the opportunities on federal and state rebates, there is also the return-on-investments and increased value inherited. An average pay back on wind and solar (with minimum install) is 5 – 7yrs – quite reasonable. So the incentives, tax credits and return on investments are among the things in it for you. A growing number of people are savoring these things, and counting…so find green, get green, save green!
Images courtesy of :
kennyshappysolar.com
ask.inc.comTags: Green Financing, green incentives, green investments, renewable energy options, tax credits
This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 16th, 2010 at 11:00 am and is filed under Featured Content, Uncategorized, green rebates and incentives. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Well, there is a lot in it for you. It is an important decision that weighs on either your business or home. This trend is gaining some ground even though there may not have been as much promotions to encourage people. A multitude of people are unaware of the opportunity thus engendering paucity of ownership or prospective interest.
Just like the famed Cash for Clunkers program, the tax incentives and rebates on green projects are so well encouraged by the government that there are some quite good reason to get involved. Different undertakings such as solar, wind or geothermal installs among others, carry enticing financial offers to go along with your project. Marching along with the “green living movement” is plethora of federal, state and local government incentives – depending on where you live. I think peoples’ disappointment is the wish that the process on assistance with the rebates in going-green endeavors is more of grants than of incentives and rebates. But wait! your wish could be true, there are programs that could offer you grants – depending on your state and how it may available.
First let’s refresh by defining a few terms. From a general sense, a rebate is the returning portion of disclosed funds from a purchased price of a product within its advertised period with some conditions. Dissimilar to discount, a rebate is received after the full payment of the invoiced amount. A Tax Credit is a calculated amount authorized under the Internal Revenue Code, refunded, deducted or accepted-as-paid towards the taxpayer on either a federal or state status. A combination of these ordinances lures more renewable energy practices. A comprehensive list about incentives for prospective green investments can be found at this website.
Then there are the savings. From installing energy-efficient appliances, or insulation, to energy audits or a solar purchase, there is more that is being saved. If you conduct a point estimate for your electric bill compared to a green resource bill, you would more likely see a difference in savings. In addition, you would be either offsetting carbon footprints, reduction in fossil fuel consumption and most importantly contributing to save the environment. There is a high presence of reluctance when a recommendation for change is proposed – even with highlighted upside. Just like we have previously presented an assessment about renewable energy power provider, we wanted to inform people again about saving with renewable sources.
In addition to seizing the opportunities on federal and state rebates, there is also the return-on-investments and increased value inherited. An average pay back on wind and solar (with minimum install) is 5 – 7yrs – quite reasonable. So the incentives, tax credits and return on investments are among the things in it for you. A growing number of people are savoring these things, and counting…so find green, get green, save green!
Images courtesy of :
kennyshappysolar.com
ask.inc.comTags: Green Financing, green incentives, green investments, renewable energy options, tax credits
This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 16th, 2010 at 11:00 am and is filed under Featured Content, Uncategorized, green rebates and incentives. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Where else can you test-drive electric cars, come across some interesting eco-friendly products, eat delicious organic treats, and do yoga? the Green Festival of course! Held this past weekend (Oct. 23-24) at the Washington DC Convention Center, the event showcased the present and future of what you can do to go green.
Interesting Cars
Upon arrival, we set off to test drive the 2012-13 Ford Escape Electric Hybrid (left image). The car features a pretty smooth drive, with an eerily quiet electric engine, and if you need that extra power, the gas engine kicks right in.
In addition to the Ford Escape Electric Hybrid, Ford showcased some additional vehicles like the mean looking electric Ford Focus (top right).
Ford wasn’t the only company with cars on display; when was the last time you heard about a car that runs on wood pellets? yea.. wood pellets! Beaver Energy modified this old Mercury Cougar (bottom right) to run on wood pellets. They say it runs 1 mile on 1 pound of wood-pellets, or a total range of 30-40 miles depending on driving conditions. The gas generated from burning the pellets powers the engine. Did we mention they hold the world land speed record for a wood burning vehicle?
Amazing Products
How many of you would like to grow fresh vegetables in a very small area of your house or yard? How about saving 22% of your water usage by not flushing the toilet after a #1? Or maybe you would enjoy showing off your new cork-bark hand bag with the matching shoes?
The Tower by Sustainable Garden Supply (left) allows you to plant a seed, put it in a small pot, connect the pot to water, and place it in their vertical tower. It’s like a bookshelf of vegetables, how cool is that? You can grow a variety of vegetables depending on where you live, and it’s modular enough to be deployed as a residential or commercial system.
Another interesting product we saw was the goflushless spray by EcoCommand Inc. (middle). Ever heard the saying “If it’s yellow, let it mellow?” no? Ok, this may sound weird for some, but this product allows you to NOT flush after taking a #1 in your bathroom. Simply spray the goflushless a couple of times into the bowl to eliminate odors and sanitize. The end result? you can save up to 22% of your home’s water usage!
What other uses do you have for the cork of your wine bottle? shoes? hand bags? Ok maybe not your specific cork, but did you know that cork bark can be transformed into a variety of product finishes? APCOR (Portuguese Cork Association) had a nice exhibit featuring a variety of cork-bark products (right image). Most importantly, it’s eco-friendly! From sexy natural cork shoes by Manolo Blahnik, to a variety of handbags, and beautiful cork flooring, the possibilities are truly endless!
Educational exhibits
We also came across some very insightful exhibits, especially the one by the U.S. Dept. of Energy’s EERE (Eenergy Efficiency and Renewable Energy) branch.
Their Anatomy of a House setup has a cut-away wall (left) that shows you all the different insulation that is commonly available, and you learn that Closed Cell Foam insulation is waay better than the others. It has an R value (measure of thermal resistance) of 32 compared to the Fiber-glass Batt’s 19. Lastly, we found out exactly how hard it was to generate enough power for an incandescent bulb (right), good thing we have compact fluorescent lights (CFLs). A pair of CFLs only needed 24 watts, and we had to pedal harder to get 100 watts to light up the incandescent bulbs (needless to say our legs felt it..). A fun day overall at the festival.
Related posts:
Tags: aquaponic farming, cork flooring, electric hybrid, ford, goflushless, Green Events, green festival, wood pellet car
This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 27th, 2010 at 3:24 pm and is filed under Featured Content, Green Events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
UMD Solar Decathlon…off to the races!
Posted on October 22nd, 2010 by alex
Imagine you are part of a team or associated with an organization guided through privileged academia, involved in a nation-wide competition on developing innovative technology based on solar power. Well, let me introduce you to Solar Decathlon. Since its inception in 2002 birthed from the U.S Department of Energy, Solar Decathlon is a program that sponsors collegiate competition in the best design, construction, and operation of solar-powered houses – graded on affordability, architectural appeal, and energy efficient engineering.
Their efforts have gone as far as establishing 90 plus collegiate team pursuing course curricula or programs geared towards designing solar-powered houses. They are also recognized as one of the recommended educational programs for colleges. The program is now expanding to other academic levels such as K-12 students.
Solar Decathlon works to educate associated students about conservative means while promoting clean-energy resources. They also try to inform the public about available energy efficient appliances that are very much useful to average home owners.
The University of Maryland Student Solar Decathlon team, champions to the 2005 competition, is participating in another Solar Decathlon competition. Represented as WaterShed, University of Maryland is designing a “mini-ecosystem that captures and fully utilizes the energy of the sun, wind, and rain. It [is intended to] make use of household “wastes” that retain valuable energy and nutritients.”
This design is inspired by Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay watershed, which is plagued by urban sprawl and poor environmental practices. The pursuit of WaterShed is grounded by its core principles on harnessing technology and illustrate the strategies to achieve efficient sustainable performances and advancements – Net Zero.
A brief description from the team coupled with these pictures about the engineering design show that: “One roof will have a photovoltaic array and the other will have a green roof. The house will also include an edible wall and garden for production of food. WaterShed will utilize solar orientation, overhangs and glazing, thermal collectors and an energy recovery system in order to achieve its goals.”
It is such an enlightenment to have University of Maryland chosen as one of the few to engage in this fascinating modern technology which would be applied to their municipal infrastructure – Maryland. Not only does this endeavor initiate newer energy efficient resources within the DMV, it builds a base to develop renewable energy culture from the younger generation. So let us cheer to the efforts and “pulse” UMD Decathlon has created.
Related posts:
- University of Maryland is GREEN
- Using solar for desalination
- Leasing solar power. Another option to go green.
- Solar Car Wash in College Park, MD
- fly around the world on solar power
Tags: Clean-energy Resources, Modern energy efficient technology, Net-Zero, Solar Decathlon, Solar engineering, solar-powered houses, U.S Department of Energy, WaterShed
This entry was posted on Friday, October 22nd, 2010 at 12:51 pm and is filed under Environment, Featured Content, Green Technology, Solar Energy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
beautiful!
Smart Meters are coming…
Posted on October 6th, 2010 by Sulaiman
Smart meter technology is being implemented all over the world and now it’s becoming more and more popular here in the states and I ask myself the question why? The short answer I came up with was that the utility companies are trying to save money and address a problem at the same time. So what’s the problem?
The problem
The U.S. electric grid is an “aging infrastructure” made up of a network of complex independently owned and operated power plants/transmission lines and when combined with a rise in domestic electricity consumption it puts a strain on the electrical system (grid). When there is a strain on the electrical system (grid) or when electricity demanded surpasses the electricity supplied the utility company must respond. Utility companies can respond in a few ways; purchase more electricity/build new infrastructure to handle the load or implement “rolling blackouts” or “brownouts” to reduce the load.
A rolling blackout is a deliberate interruption of service produced by utility companies in order to take stress off of the system’s energy load and prevent a “blackout” which is a complete interruption of power in a given service area. Rolling blackouts are usually intended to affect only a specific service area, and the energy provider will typically spread them among several service areas to insure that no specific area suffers substantially more than any other.
Brownouts are also deliberately produced by energy providers as an emergency measure to prevent the system from failing completely (blacking out). Typically, a utility company will decrease system voltage by 10-25%, usually for a short period of time.
In addition, electricity pricing is a problem. The problem is that electricity prices usually peaks at certain predictable times of the day and the season. In particular, if generation is constrained, prices can rise from other jurisdictions or more costly generation is brought online. Since the inception of electricity deregulation and market-driven pricing throughout the world, government regulators have been looking for a means to match consumption with generation. Traditional electrical meters only measure total consumption and as such, provide no information of when the energy is being consumed.
The solution
A “Smart Electric Grid” and one component of that smart grid is “Smart Metering” which provides an economical way of measuring real-time energy consumption, allowing price setting agencies to introduce different prices for consumption based on the time of day and the season.
It is believed that billing customers by how much is consumed and at what time of day will force consumers to adjust their consumption habits to be more responsive to market prices. Regulatory and market design agencies hope these “price signals” will delay the construction of additional generation or at least the purchase of energy from higher priced sources, thereby controlling the steady and rapid increase of electricity prices.
Many utility companies worldwide are now beginning to implement “Smart Meters”.
What are smart meters?
Smart meters are “digital” devices that allow wireless two-way communications between your home or business and your local utility company and unlike traditional “analog” meters they have the ability to transmit and receive data in real-time.
Smart meter benefits?
Customers
Smart meters track the energy use in your home on an hourly basis and send this information automatically to your local utility company. By automating the meter-reading function, smart meters deliver a number of benefits:
- Enable special pricing options for customers to save energy and money.They support the implementation of Time-of-Use prices. By time-stamping your consumption data, local utility companies will be able to determine how much electricity was used during off-peak times and how much was consumed during on-peak periods. This capability allows homeowners to find electricity savings by shifting their electricity use. The Sobuka team blogged previously about how consumers will be able to see and control their energy usage in real-time thanks to smart grid control systems. The blog is “smart-grid-technology-for-your-home“.
- By tracking electricity use remotely, all bills will be based on real-time consumption – eliminating the need for estimated bills.
- Provide customers with enhanced energy information through the online My Account service, enabling them to better manage their energy use and costs.
Utility customers only save money when smart meters help them to cut their energy use. A good way to do that is by raising the price of electricity when demand is high, such as during the middle of a summer day, when high rates of air-conditioning use push the electric grid to capacity. Under such a scenario, known as dynamic or real-time pricing, it’s expected that customers adjust the temperature of their air conditioners a few degrees to save money. Consumers might chose to run their washing machine late at night when demand is lower and save even more.
Utility
- Greater operational efficiencies in the management of local distribution systems.
- Make it easier to integrate renewable energy, such as wind power, and plug-in vehicles into the electric system.
- Help improve customer reliability and outage management.
- Improved outage detection, restoration, two-way communications can be used to “ping” a meter when the system detects an outage or when a customer calls regarding an outage to determine whether or not the outage is on the customer’s side of the meter, thereby avoiding a field crew dispatch. In the case of storm related outages, crews can be dispatched to the outage location or site of the problem as opposed to searching for the problem.
- Remote meter reading reduces labor, no need for manual meter readers. Instead there will be drive-by or walk-by meter reading which is faster and quicker. However, the utility companies say there will be no layoffs planned, employees currently working as meter readers will be offered other job opportunities and training. Although a meter reader will no longer be reading the meter, utility companies will still need to have access to your meters for safety and regular maintenance. For quality assurance purposes, after the initial installation, a meter reader will continue to read your meter for billing until the new meter has confirmed its reading reliably in the system. This may take up to three months.
- Eventually, utility companies will able to control the strain on system during peak hours by controlling “smart thermostats” purchased by customers who agree to allow the utility company to control their heating and cooling during peak time to receive financial rebates. Heating and cooling amounts to almost 50% of an energy bill of a typical single family home.
Environment
- Reduces the need to build power plants, or avoiding the use of older, less efficient power plants as customers lower their electric demand.
This is beneficial for all utility customers because the costs of building new power plants or relying on older, less-efficient power plants are eventually passed on to customers in retail rates. Building power plants that are necessary only for occasional peak demand is very expensive. A more economical approach is to enable customers to reduce their demand through time-based rates or other incentive programs. When the utilities avoid the use of “peaker” plants to meet high demand, the environment benefits because peaker plants typically have higher greenhouse gas and other air emissions.
The Department of Energy (DOE) estimates that if the grid were merely 5 % more efficient, the energy savings would equal the fuel and greenhouse emissions from 53 million cars. As the United States accounts for 25 % of the world’s greenhouse emissions, this change could go a long way toward reducing the effects of climate change.
In summary, installation of “Smart Meters” are on the rise all other country and all over the world. The best thing you can do is become familiar with how they work and how you can benefit from their installation. For more information specifically about Pepco’s Smart Metering program use the following link. Pepco’s Smart Metering Program
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- Smart-grid technology for your home
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- Oil Spill at the Gulf of Mexico
Tags: digital meters, meters, smart grid, Smart meters, time-of-use pricing, two-way communication
This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 6th, 2010 at 2:22 pm and is filed under Environment, Featured Content, Green Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
can't wait to monitor my energy more efficiently
SG Blocks are “containing” homes
Posted on October 13th, 2010 by alex
This outta be more than a cool thing rather an amazing new wave in architectural technology topped with green initiative. Though it has been four years since its inception, their focus attests to the fact that green technology and innovation is just scratching the surface of efficient technology in construction. SG Blocks LLC is a missouri based company committed to developing greener construction in a stronger, efficient and renewable method. They excel in their construction services in Green Steel, Prefabrication and full modular construction. They primarily provide all these using steel shipping containers; which many don’t know is a good source of material that serves for a greater use than its initial purpose.
SG Blocks Development Director stated that after shipping containers is used, ranging from six to ten years, they “…recycle them into a superior building product, which requires a minimum amount of energy expenditures leaving a minimal footprint in terms of impact on the environment”. These steeled containers are reported to stand much greater amount of resistance in terms of weatherization while its duration is in the span of 50 plus years.
Compared to modified block or drywall construction, SG Block’s model is considered a preferred choice for remodeling by reduced construction of 30%, cheaper construction methods (than traditional projects) and significantly efficient as a leading transitional construction. It is amazing looking from these pictures, the design and model, structurally molded from steel containers. This grass-root innovation SG Block has created, will move to greater measures as it elevates greener construction projects and affordability. It will certainly change – if not already, the nature of modern building construction.
Besides the impressive assessment of SG Blocks technology edge, it is important to understand that green remodeling is not only a better option but cheaper – especially with rise to recycled or renewable materials. Our purpose to highlight benefits of green remodeling is to impart newer knowledge of efficient housing endeavors to both uninformed and green-minded homeowners, share new DIY tips and encourage green remodeling practices to our DMV residents.
what is the state of your home? Stressed about your high electric bill expense?We will be delighted to help for either an energy audit or wind REC transition option here.
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Tags: Green Construction and Remodeling, greener construction, recycled steel containers
This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 13th, 2010 at 4:45 pm and is filed under Featured Content, Green Construction and Remodeling, Green Technology, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
old shipping container, new eco-friendly home?
Leasing solar power. Another option to go green.
Posted on September 27th, 2010 by Daniel
Solar panels are probably the first thing we think of when we think clean power for your home. And it’s no surprise, because we know there will be daylight readily available to give us the power we need. However, most of us probably think that we can’t afford solar panels on our roof because of the up-front cost of tens of thousands of dollars. The federal government has stepped in by providing a 30% tax credit for solar installs, and states like Maryland have rebates of up to $10,000, but even after applying those, the cost can still be pretty high. So why not lease solar panels?
Here’s an example: Say that your household pays up to $175 for 1000 kW-hours of electricity per month, your highest usage during the year. You decide to install a 5.5 kW solar photovoltaic system to generate 50% of your electricity for $30,550. After applying Maryland’s $0.3/watt rebate and the 30% federal tax credit, the total cost drops to $19,440, a nice drop! But because you do not have that kind of money laying around, you decide go with the No-Money-Down lease option.
A typical lease term for a solar system is 15-20 years (yes it should be transferrable to a new owner if you decide to sell your home). Using the 15-year term, your monthly lease payments come to about $78. Since you are still paying some money to the utility company for the additional power you need at night, etc. (aka the other 50%), your average utility payment is now $68 per month. Adding the two payments, you get $166 per month, or about 5% in savings. Note that most of these deals are structured such that you save at least 10% off of your usual electric bill, so the numbers presented here vary slightly (they’re based on a residual value of $1/Watt and a 9% interest rate), but we hope that you get the gist of this option.
Of course you don’t get to collect any of the incentives and credits for the system because you do not own it. However, at the end of the lease term, the cost of the system can be more affordable, so it would make sense to buy the existing panels, instead of getting another lease agreement. From a technological standpoint, there may be better/cheaper options available at the end of your lease as well. So we’ll simply say “let’s cross that bridge when we get there!”
Overall, we think this is an excellent option for people that want to get solar panels with no money down. As long as the federal/state incentives are available, these green financing options make it very affordable for people to go green and reduce their carbon footprint. We have several solar contractors available to help you with your solar project, so request a free quote today!
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Tags: Green Financing, solar lease, solar power
This entry was posted on Monday, September 27th, 2010 at 11:37 pm and is filed under Featured Content, Green Financing, Solar Energy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
just like leasing a car, but greener
