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Archive for August, 2008

With the rush to install as many renewable energy generators by the end of the year in the US, there are more and more stories popping up about great steps being made. However, sadly, with an increase in the good, there is also an increase in the bad, and it looks as though some people have a major bone to pick regarding the installation of wind turbines.

More often than not, in our efforts to bring environmental news to attention, we find ourselves as writers having to step back a bit, divorcing ourselves from the story to just portray the facts of the matter at hand. This often leaves us with a lot of pent up aggression and anger, often focused towards those seemingly doing all that they can to hurt the environment.

Well no longer, I say, or at least, not for the next 10 minutes. I have had enough of the petty machinations of men and women who are literally attempting to deceive people into an environmentally unfriendly way of life.

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One of the great things about green building and living is that it takes the “over there” of traditional environmentalism and brings it home. Saving our last great wild and remote places around the globe is critical, but the only way we’re truly going to get there is if everyone can see the benefits right at home. Using FSC-certified reclaimed wood, for instance, not only saves orangutans in Sumatra but also can be used to build a stunning and unique home.

Unfortunately, our oceans are not benefitting in as significant a way from green building, and there’s increasing evidence that they are getting worse. We’ve written before about “dead zones” in the ocean created by excessive fertilizer runoff into our rivers and streams, but a recent study highlighted in the New York Times shows just how bad this problem is becoming — the number of dead zones in the ocean is doubling every ten years, and they are appearing right where they do the most damage, in the incredibly important marshes and estuaries where rivers and streams enter the ocean. That’s not the only bad news. Even though the low oxygen levels that produce these dead zones can be seasonal, the damage that they do isn’t. Once you’ve killed off the worms, clams, etc that form the basis of the marine food chain, they rarely recover.

The composition of the worldwide oceanic ecosystem is also changing due to rampant overfishing and the chemical and temperature changes driven by global warming. Who benefits? Jellyfish and other primitive forms of life that can deal with less-than-ideal ocean conditions. Who loses? Sharks, tuna, marine mammals and the other large predators that make up the top of the food chain (and an important and increasing part of diets around the world). Coral reefs are also in decline and may be gone by 2050 due to the climate-change-related acification of the seas.

Such huge problems are daunting, but there are things we can do in our daily lives that can help. If you’re particularly worried about our oceans, consider taking these steps to help out:

• Buy organic foods & produce. Dead zones are caused by the over-application of concentrated industrical fertilizers. In general organic agriculture uses less and lower-strength fertilizers, so buying organic produce will encourage better use of fertilizers and pesticides.
• Eliminate stormwater runoff from your yard if you live in an urban area. With stormwater runoff, even clean water leaving your yard can do damage. It will pick up pollutants in the streets and storm drains between your home and the ocean. Consider installing rain barrels and rain gardens, two relatively inexpensive ways to capture rainfall on your property. If you have a higher budget, investigate using a cistern to capture rainfall and reuse it for irrigation.
• Buy seafood that has been certified as sustainable. Figuring out what seafood is both healthy for you and won’t harm ocean ecosystems is a very difficult process. The same fish or shellfish can be great if purchases from the right source and very harmful if not. Salmon is a good example - wild-caught Alaskan salmon good, farm-raised salmon generally bad. Check out this sustainable seafood guide.
• Fight global warming. Almost all problems in the ocean have at least some link to global warming, whether it be changes in wind patterns contributing to dead zones or coral die-offs due to acidification.  Click here to learn what you can do to reduce global warming.

Wind turbines are a fast, efficient way to produce renewable energy. They’re good for the environment, the power grid, and local communities. But some residents who live closest to the turbines complain about the noise, and limited data suggests it might be more than a nuisance.

Wind turbines have grown quieter with improvements in technology, but the fact remains that they generate noise. At night in particular, the atmospheric conditions change so that turbines are more likely to generate audible sound. Beyond causing annoyance, some residents have started to complain about health effects. They claim to suffer from exposure to “infra-sound”.

This sound is so low that the human ear can’t detect it, but that’s doesn’t mean it can’t impact the human body. After all, we can’t see UVA or UVB light rays, but you feel them in a sunburn. The question is how and to what extent? Is it serious enough to be a concern?

This is where research into the topic becomes tricky. It’s one thing to find a report or article online that discusses the topic; it’s another to find reputable research that  provides (unbiased? conclusive?) evidence. It’s an emotional subject, so reliable information is hard to find. Some sources made nasty accusations against an opponent (government, industry, organization, etc.) without any evidence at all. The conclusions I was able to draw are pretty straightforward, and they fit nicely into two points.

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We have already written about the innovative folks at FreeGreen, who are providing free green home plans online.  (You really need to check out their plans– they’re amazing!)  And now they are going a step beyond and offering a contest by which you can win a CUSTOM green house plan.  Seriously!  I know you’re skeptical, so read on….

“We have created this contest to interact with you and create the next evolution of the American Home. Rather than doing this in a prescriptive manner, we felt that it would be best to allow you (our great FreeGreen users) to help us. We invite each of you to enter our contest, tell us about your new and ideal Green Home, win a free custom home design from FreeGreen, and help us shape the future of residential dwelling in this country.”

There are only three main requirements to enter this contest:
   + You must own land and be prepared to build a new home in the United States
   + You must be prepared and plan to build your new home in 6 months from the end of the design process
   + You must be willing to share your design process, design story, and construction\finished home photos with other FreeGreen users

If you fit the bill, hop to it!

Related Features:

Green Condos Coming to a City Near You
Green Condos in the West
The $100K Green Home Project
Find a green architect near you
Find a green builder near you
Find a green interior designer near you

Solar air conditioning has so far been the holy grail of the solar energy world, but now SolCool seems ready to make the dream a reality. With air conditioning being the heaviest user of electricity in many parts of the world, the 600-watt maximum average usage level of SolCool units will significantly alleviate strains on the electric grid. And, SolCool units can run on wind, solar, generator, electric grid, or any combination of these.

SolCool has sought to create demand for its products by installing its direct current heat pump systems in critical care facilities, communication equipment rooms, schools and restaurants. Now it will begin larger-scale production of the units in Guangzhou, China, to serve anticipated growing demand worldwide.

“Clifford Sutton, Vice President of Sales and Marketing stated, ‘Over the next 45 days we will be shipping SolCool.net systems to various regional dealers in North America, the Pacific, the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, West Africa, Australia and Asia.’ Mr. Sutton added, ‘Our production capacity can expand to approximately 3,000 units a month by the end of 2008 with three and five ton systems available in May 2009.’” Renewable Energy World, 8/13/08