Most households would welcome information on how to save money on heating and cooling their homes. As a handyman, you could offer your own home energy audits that identify those problems that impact energy efficiency. (more…)
Earthmind
Earthmind is the idea for an alternative community taking shape. This nonprofit group is at present composed of three people—Mark Dankoff, Michael Hackleman, and Vanessa Naumann—who, as researchers, writers, and educators, want to share their findings and thoughts with others as concerned as they are with alternative energy.
A visit to the Earthmind temporary headquarters in the Sierra foothills near the gateway to Yosemite Valley, California, is an immediate visual experience. Perched atop what resembles a crooked tower is a 1500-watt Wincharger electric wind generator. The octahedron-module tower is based on the geodesic dome principle, and like the dome, derives its strength from the eight triangles that make up each octahedron module. (more…)
Solar Pioneers
Before coming to New Mexico, Peter had been deeply involved in the prewar Decentralist movement and wrote extensively on a variety of related subjects, including the small-scale biotechnic theory, which advocates the redistribution of population into smaller, more humane, and more efficient communities.
He dropped out of architectural school because he felt that what was being taught was not relevant to the urgent problems of the near future. (He doesn’t think the situation has changed much in the last forty-seven years.) He lived for several years aboard his ketch, and then during his first homesteading venture on the borders of the Everglades in southern Florida he fabricated and erected solar water heaters. (more…)
Home Energy consumption
We use far too much energy and, worst of all, we waste most of what we draw from main supplies anyway. Since it costs only one-tenth as much to save energy through conservation measures as it does to produce more of it, this is obviously the place to make a start.
An average-sized, older-style house uses 20,000 to 30,000kWh of energy each year. Of the total amount spent on energy, between 40 and 60 per cent (depending on climate and the level of insulation) goes on space heating, 20 per cent on hot water, and 15 to 30 per cent on cooking, lighting, and electrical appliances. The remainder goes on maintenance and standing charges. By improving insulation and draughtproofing and by using better controls, it is possible to save at least half the money now spent on heating and hot water. (more…)
Life Systems continue…
Integrated environments
In many ways, our homes act as extensions of our senses and, like a “third skin”, also serve to protect us from the world around us. Internally, the home can be likened to the human organism, with organs to process energy, water, food, and wastes. The house can be made “intelligent”, too - not by expensive and complicated high-technology computers, electronic monitors, and control devices, but much more simply - by using the natural mechanisms of air, sun, water, and materials. These, together with the best computer available - your own brain - and the most sensitive monitors yet devised - your own senses – complete the process. As American architect Malcolm Wells has said: “the only water-saving shower head worth having is the one between your ears. That’s where all the real savings begin.” (more…)
Life Systems
“The more you know, the less you need.” Old Australian Aborigine proverb
Animals, birds, and insects respond to a far greater range of natural stimuli than do people. Dolphins, whales, birds, butterflies, and many other creatures can all detect electromagnetic energy and use this “supersense” to navigate and guide them in their migratory routes. Beyond our visible spectrum, insects use ultraviolet to see food-bearing plants and snakes use infrared to detect their prey. Although our sensory awareness is not as acute as this, our own senses were once far sharper.
Our move indoors, out of the wild and into cities, coupled with the effects of pollution, have dulled our senses, as well as altered the emphasis we place on them. In a world beset with noise, unpleasant air, and bad smells, amid the dominance of visual information, TV, and advertising, we have come to rely heavily on sight and have pushed into the background sensory input from our ears or nose (let alone the subtler messages of electromagnetism to which we may also be sensitive). These “sensory blind spots” have had their effect on our homes. (more…)
The energy-efficient home continue…
Hot humid
Shade the house as much as possible with a high canopy of deciduous trees planted nearby. You can increase air movement by facing the house into cool prevailing winds and siting it high up slopes. In the same way as this Malay house, elevate the structure and make rooms and verandahs open to the wind. Light-toned walls and roof help.
Hot arid
Have most shade in the late morning and all afternoon and allow trees to overhang the roof Site the house to catch the summer winds and moisten the air with water and vegetation. With hot/cold extremes — day and night, summer and winter — a courtyard house of heavy materials to store heat and protect against the cold is ideal. Use light colours. (more…)
Home Energy Conservation continue…
EMFs and ELFs
Of particular concern is our continual exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMFs) and, in particular, to extremely low frequency (ELF) electromagnetic fields in our homes and workplaces emitted by mains supply alternating current pulsating at 50 or 60 cycles a second. Although studies are still at an early stage, there is enough evidence to suggest that all living organisms react to even weak electromagnetic ELF stimuli. It is this continual exposure to these sources and the effects they may be having on us that are of present concern. (more…)
Home Fuel and Power, Get rid of oil crisis
After the shock of the oil crisis, there was a surge of activity from governments and industry in the fields of conservation and the use of alternative energy sources. But the recent oil glut and the fall in oil prices have lulled many back into the old belief that cheap energy is here to stay.
At present, three-quarters of world energy consumption comes from nonrenewable “hard- energy” sources - a third of this amount is oil, a quarter coal, and the rest from natural gas. The other quarter of world usage is supplied by amixture of nuclear power, hydropower, and biomass. In developing countries, however, there is heavy dependence on biomass, and the burning of fuelwood and animal dung is resulting in serious environmental destruction. (more…)
Whole-house Air Control Systems
How you balance air quality and energy use will largely depend on climatic conditions. If you live where it is hot and humid, for example, or where it is cold for long periods and energy saving is paramount, you may have to choose mechanical systems that, ideally, incorporate heat-recovery features. In newly built Scandinavian and North American low-energy houses it is now the norm to have integral whole-house mechanical ventilation.
In more temperate climates, where houses are less tightly sealed, you should aim to continue to rely on passive ventilation. Such a system uses the “stack effect” principle, where, due to differences in inside and outside temperatures and pressures, and the height of the stack itself, fresh air is drawn through the house. (more…)
Lighting and health
Ultraviolet radiation
Of all radiation from the sun, the ultraviolet (UV) end of the electromagnetic spectrum has the most significant effects on your health. At low levels of exposure it can be beneficial, but exposure to high levels for long periods can result in premature aging of the skin, melanoma, and eye damage. But there is no real agreement among medical experts on where to draw the line between healthy and hazardous exposure to UV radiation, mainly because so much depends on the type of skin you have (light or dark), climate, altitude, the amount of time you spend in the sun, and your age (children being more susceptible).
One thing researchers are agreed on, however, is that the depletion of the ozone layer, which shields the planet from the worst effects of UV, will allow more of the highest-energy radiation (UV-C) to penetrate. Thus, both moderation and proper protection are thought to be even more essential than ever before. (more…)
