January 2009 Archives

The solar panels on top of the community center at Colonia San Martin, in Sacramento, CA is the newest project of the housing nonprofit Mercy Housing California, will produce six times more power than the average residential solar electric system. This is the first solar-power system on an affordable housing complex in Sacramento, and the housing complex was built in a partnership with the AIDS Housing Alliance.

An essential part of a total energy solution is to back up solar installations with energy efficiency so that the total amount of energy required for heating, cooling, and water service is optimized...before determining the size of the PV installation required or effective.

Each low income housing unit in this exemplary solar and efficiency project, has high-efficiency water heaters and heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems. The units  also have windows, insulation and radiant heat barriers rated to reduce energy use. The energy efficiency measures exceed California's Title 24 building codes for energy efficiency by at least 25%.  And that's significant because the Title 24 requirements include a 25% savings over conventional construction!

The 12-kilowatt solar PV system will generate an estimated 18,700 kilowatt-hours per year, cutting electric bills at the complex by an estimated $2,000 per year.

The photovoltaic solar system qualified for California state rebates, and SMUD (Sacramento Municipal Utility Department) negotiated a rebate package that helped the developer install the energy-efficient equipment.

Solar panels for photovoltaic energy and solar water heating have been steadfast components of green building design and construction.  That doesn't change in the 2009 update of the USGBC's green building LEED program. 

The U.S. Green Building Council is rolling out its new Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) guidelines, updated for 2009 and newly approved by the USGBC membership.

Described as some of the most significant changes to the LEED system, LEED 2009 has re-weighted certain actions, based on scientific research, in favor of increasing energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions in new and existing buildings. It also entails a new set of regional credits, which are points tailored to match environmental priorities in certain geographic areas.

The USGBC will also introduce new processes for amending its LEED standards, including a pilot period for individual credits that can be tested and incorporated on their own.

The nonprofit USGBC organization received more than 7,000 comments on how to update its 8-year-old, much-used green building rating system before LEED 2009 passed through its 18,000-member voting ballot.

Get LEED information at USGBC.
U.S. Green Building Council

According to new employment and business forecast figures released by the Associated General Contractors of America, about two thirds of the nation's non-residential construction companies are planning to cut their payrolls.

The organization reported that AGC member companies have seen, or are planning for, declining activity in every type of construction. However, the forecast did find that planned investments in infrastructure projects, as part of the federal stimulus package, are likely to dramatically improve the employment and business outlook in 2009.

President-elect Obama has outlined his proposed plan to build a sustainable renewable energy industry that includes wind, solar and biofuels and related renewable energy technologies.

About 85 percent of nonresidential construction companies would either cancel layoffs or add new employees if states embarked on stimulus-funded infrastructure projects, according to AGC's survey. And construction companies would increase their payrolls by 25 percent if the stimulus included new infrastructure investments.

Stephen Sandherr, chief executive officer of AGC, said builders across the country are urging Congress to include infrastructure investments in the stimulus. AGC is calling for $2.2 billion to help renovate hundreds of federal facilities and for additional funds to repair crumbling schools.

Indications are that new tax incentives are being planned to encourage conversions to energy-efficient buildings, construction of renewable energy facilities, remediation of Brownfields projects and construction of new airport and commercial projects.

An Australian company, Solar24 Inc., has developed a solar thermal system that holds heat for 14 hours, long enough to sustain through a cloudy winter night.  One big problem with solar has always been the retention of the heat overnight.

While sunshine is only available during daylight hours, and no renewable energy source is without drawbacks, all forms of renewable energy can be a useful addition to the general power supply that would eventually stabilize and lower costs.

Wind farms do create a cost issue with transmission, and large commercial size solar installations can have that same drawback -- but so did natural gas and crude oil before the pipelines were built to handle distribution. Transmission solutions are just part of the challenge of energy business.

According to the American Wind Energy Association, the United States added more wind energy to its grid in recent years than any other country, and U.S. wind power capacity grew by 45 percent to 16.8 gigawatts in 2007.