ToolBase E-News - 06/12/2007 (Plain Text Version)

Doors Open on PATH Concept Home, Online 'Concept Home Experience'

On June 6th, the Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing (PATH) held a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Omaha, Neb. for the first PATH Concept Home – a home that uses innovative building technologies to enhance its flexibility and make it more efficient to build and maintain.
More than 250 people came through the house that day for guided tours that highlighted the home’s six design principles and many innovative building technologies. But, realizing that not everyone who wants to see the concept as reality will be able to make it out to Omaha, PATH also launched its online virtual tour and video voyage of the Concept Home. With these online tools, viewers can tour the house and learn about the efficient, sustainable, and flexible elements that make it the home of the future, today. For more information about the PATH Concept Home, including downloadable, customizable blueprints for your own Concept Home experience, visit the website.

Framing Tour Shows Green 'Behind the Scenes'

On June 8th, technical experts, instructors from the Lancaster County Career and Technology Center (LCCTC), and manufacturers’ representatives were on hand to lead tours through the LCCTC Building Green residential project on the Mount Joy campus, and to answer questions about green home building. This event introduced visitors to green building products and practices for residential design, development, and construction that are being used as part of this PATH field evaluation project. Green building technologies on display included advanced framing, concrete forms, jobsite recycling, and rainwater harvesting. There was also information on the NAHB Model Green Home Building Guidelines, which were used as a baseline for the design of the green home project. Find out more about the project by visiting its field evaluation page on ToolBase.org, and check out a Pennsylvania real estate blogger’s perspective on the framing tour. [return to top]

University Scientists Converting Heat to Sound to Electricity

According to a recent release (06/04/07), University of Utah physicists have developed small devices that turn heat into sound and then into electricity, a technology that could offer a new source of renewable energy from waste heat. According to Orest Symko, physics professor at the University, the devices will be tested within a year and could be used within two years as an alternative to photovoltaic cells for converting sunlight into electricity and for other uses, such as cooling laptops. Because devices that convert heat to sound and then to electricity lack moving parts, they have a long lifespan and require little maintenance, according to the professor. To learn more about the technology, read the release. [return to top]

From Power Plant Waste to Building Blocks

A recent article in the Richmond, Va., Times-Dispatch (Greg Edwards and Alexa Welch Edlund), highlights a company that uses power plant waste to produce a limestone-like rock that can be used to make lightweight building products with excellent insulating and fireproofing qualities. Unlike other processes that burn slate or shale at high temperatures to create aggregate, the process used by Universal Aggregates, LLC does not require burning and uses far less energy, according to the company. The product is also more uniform and angular and has less of a drop-off in strength as it gets lighter, compared with other block products. Universal says it can also tailor its product to meet a block maker's particular needs. To learn more about the product, read the article. [return to top]

Follow the 'Green' Brick Road

Bricks made from fly ash (the fine ash particles captured as waste by coal-fired power plants) may be safer than predicted, according to a recent release by the National Science Foundation (05/23/07). Instead of leaching small amounts of mercury, as some researchers anticipated, the bricks actually do the reverse, pulling minute amounts of the toxic metal out of ambient air. The bricks, which look and perform like standard bricks, offer a practical solution for recycling some of the 45 million tons of fly ash that goes to waste each year. They also provide an alternative to traditional bricks, which are manufactured in high-temperature kilns – this process, according to Henry Liu, developer of the fly ash product, "wastes energy, pollutes air, and generates greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming.” Although researchers need to study the fly ash bricks further, the new findings suggest that they will not have a negative impact on air quality. To learn more, read the release. [return to top]

Growable Insulation

According to a recent press release (05/04/07), a Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute graduate hopes to help meet the demand for green solutions to global energy issues by “growing” an organic, inexpensive, and environmentally-friendly insulation. According to inventor Eben Bayer, the insulation is created by pouring a mixture of insulating particles, hydrogen peroxide, starch, and water into a panel mold. Mushroom cells that are injected into the mold digest the starch and produce a tightly-meshed network of insulating particles and vegetative filaments. The composite board has a competitive R-value and can be used as a firewall. Bayer and partner Gavin McIntyre plan to commercialize the technology, and envision modifying it to include reinforcing materials that could be used to create strong, sustainable “growable” homes. To learn more, read the release. [return to top]

Solar-Hydrogen System Offers Zero-Energy Solution

A New Jersey home that is powered by a combination of solar panels and solar-generated hydrogen may, over the next decade, help turn millions of American homes into fully self-sustaining power plants, according to a recent article in the New York Times Magazine (Mark Svenvold, 05/20/07). The unremarkable 3,000-square-foot home uses solar panels above the garage to generate electricity to power the house. For seven months a year, the panels generate more power than the home needs. This surplus is run through an electrolyzer that converts electricity and water into hydrogen, which is stored in outdoor tanks. In the winter, when the solar panels provide about 60 percent of the home’s power, the hydrogen covers the rest of the home’s load; it is siphoned from the storage tanks and into a fuel cell that reconfigures the hydrogen back into water and electricity. To learn more about the home, read the article. [return to top]

ToolBase.org Featured Technology—Building-Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV)

Solar power may be synonymous with environmental-friendliness and energy independence. However, homeowners may associate solar energy with the unattractive or conspicuous appearance of traditional photovoltaic (PV) panels mounted above the roof on racks. Building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV), a new addition to the PATH Technology Inventory, offer a more aesthetically-pleasing solution by integrating the PV modules into roofing or other building materials. BIPV is most often used in roofing products, but can also be used in façade materials, awnings, and covered walkways. Roofing systems come ready to install and can generally be installed by a trade contractor or electrician. BIPV systems have a very high initial cost, but state and federal tax credits, deductions, and rebates can often help ease the expense. View the PATH Technology Inventory listing for building-integrated photovoltaics to learn more about this technology. [return to top]

Hybrid Solar Lighting Making News

Hybrid solar lighting is an innovative type of daylighting that uses mirrored rooftop domes to collect sunlight and fiber-optic tubes to carry the light inside to interior fixtures. Marilyn Brown, a researcher with the Georgia Institute of Technology, discussed the technology in a recent interview that aired on Earth & Sky (Deborah Byrd and Joel Block, 05/20/07). Brown worked with researchers at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory to develop the technology, which offers energy efficiency and the appeal of sunlight. According to a recent article in CNET News (Elisa Wenzel, 05/28/07), hybrid solar lighting offers an energy-efficient solution for indoor spaces that lack windows. However, the systems are currently expensive to install, and cannot replace artificial lighting at night or on overcast days. To learn more about this daylighting, listen to the interview or read the article. [return to top]

NAHB Research Center Opens One-of-a-Kind Product Testing Lab and Market Research Facility

With over 500 people in attendance, the NAHB Research Center held the grand opening ceremony for its new, state-of-the-art product testing laboratory and market research facility on June 5th. According to a recent release (06/05/07), the specialized facility will provide building product manufacturers with the industry’s broadest array of third-party product testing, quality assurance, and market research services available under one roof. New capabilities supported by the 42,000-square-foot lab include large-scale thermal testing, acoustic performance testing, and two-story shear wall testing, and its increased size will allow for simulations of real-world forces of nature, such as wind-driven rain and wind-blown debris on whole-house models. Additionally, the integrated 1,000-square-foot market research suite and observation gallery overlooking the testing floor will provide real-time observation capabilities for focus groups and roundtables. To learn more about the Research Center’s capabilities and new facility, visit the website. [return to top]

BEES 4.0 Offers Environmental and Economic Product Performance Advice

According to a recent press release (05/10/07), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released a new version of its software program for environmentally-preferred, cost-effective building products. Like previous versions of the Building for Environmental and Economic Sustainability (BEES) program, BEES 4.0 offers builders a guide for selecting building products based on environmental and economic performance measurements with life-cycle assessment techniques. The newest version also includes 30 new products, updated data on more than 200 products, and the option of using a new set of consensus weights for scoring the environmental impact of individual building products. To learn more, read the release or download BEES 4.0 for free. [return to top]

Energy-Saving Home Works with the Earth

A recent article in the (Morgan County, Ind.) Reporter Times (Josh Kastrinsky, 05/19/07) highlights the construction of an “earth home,” an environmentally-friendly and energy-conserving structure that is covered on three sides with concrete and soil. Because much of the home is underground, the indoor environment remains at 56 degrees without any additional heating or cooling. To raise temperatures to a comfortable 70 degrees, the home will rely mostly on passive solar energy. In winter, direct sunlight will enter the home through south-facing windows, and concrete floors will help absorb heat and distribute it around the home. In summer, an overhang will prevent more intense sunlight from overheating the structure. According to the article, earth homes are low-maintenance and are tornado, mold, fire, and hail-proof, which can reduce insurance costs. To learn more, read the article. [return to top]