RED systems employ technologies and develop built spaces that
1) minimize or counter the pollution of or improve air, water, and soil quality
2) operate in a directly carbon neutral manner
3) minimize or transform waste into an obsolete material
4) can be sustained over time either indefinitely given the laws of gravity and solar input or for limited times given geothermal budgets
5) use non-toxic and recycled building materials
6) minimize or improve the impact on the built upon environmen
7) mimics nature’s pattern
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- Small solar panel
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- Practical Solar
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- Small Wind Saco Maine
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- Hull MW Turbine
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- Solar Panels
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- Austin, Texas
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- Solar Panel Roof
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- Whitins Mill Dam
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- Whitins Mill Art Gallery
Currently the most common form of renewable energy systems(heat and electric) include wind, solar, small-hydro, and geothermal. Locally, in Massachusetts, wind projects have been limited to sole installations or small farms of a few turbines. Hull, MA as two turbines (1.8 MW and 660kW) in two locations, the latter one is adjacent to town’s high school. The town’s wind website is a great resource with links http://www.hullwind.org/. The town of Princeton is working on 2, 1.5 MW turbines on the western side of Wachusett Mountain. And right next to WA, Holy Name is completing a turbine that will provide nearly all of its heating and electricity demand. Cape Wind remains a strong possibility and would be the 2nd largest wind farm in the U.S using 130 turbines with a capacity of 420 MW (predicted capacity factor output of 170 MW). The largest wind farm in the world, Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center, spreads across two counties of Texas, and has a rated capacity of 735.5 MW. Overall wind turbine design has improved though monopole versus lattice tower use, longer blades with lower, quieter rpms, flexibility for adapting to wind direction, and blade form efficiency (adjusting pitch etc.)
There is enough wind for harvest in the world to provide 72 TW of power according to a Stanford study ( click stanfordworldwindstudy or go to summary news articles at http://www.renewableenergytoday.net/rea/news/story?id=32617) A 20% efficiency rate would be nearly equal to total world energy demand of 15.48 TW’s in 2005. Potential versus infrastructure, energy transfer logistics is separate matter, however.
Solar energy input into the Earth’s atmosphere (which creates wind) is 174 petawatts (340 watts/sq meter), which is 174,000 times more energy than humans use. However, 50% of it does not reach land due to atmospheric absorption and deflection through albedo effect. Most solar panels remain under 20% efficient, though rates are improving, as are costs through the use of different materials besides silicon in photovoltaic production.
Applications of solar power range from watt rated panels on lights (see WA’s fly pole light), to 1-4 kW arrays on homes, to larger farms such as Nevada Solar (64 MW). Nevada Solar is part of a collection of solar farms in the southwestern US that capitalize on a geographic area that receives up to 7,500 watt-hours/sq meter/ day of solar radiation input- twice the amount in Massachusetts- and produce 354 MW. New England’s largest solar farm is in the city of Brockton with a capacity of 425 kW. Issues with solar include lower power output compared with fossil fuels and nuclear as well as storage and transportation of energy. Solar energy can also be used for heating water to provide heat or steam for electricity generation.
Geothermal energy (23 TW) is from stored heat under the Earth’s surface. Wells are drilled to various depths to either circulate water for cooling in the summer and warming in the winter or to pump water down far enough to absorb heat enough to create steam which in turn powers a turbine for electricity generation. The Geysers, a geothermal powerplant 70 miles north of San Franisco,CA, has a capacity of 1360 MW. In comparison, see posting on the Whitins Mill for a smaller scale application of geothermal energy for heating purposes.
Hydropower, using the force of gravity to power a turbine with water, provided about 6% of world energy use in 2005 (20% of electricity). Three Gorges dam in China, could be completed by 2011 with a 22.5 GW capacity, making it the largest hydroplant in the world. In contrast the Hoover Dam has a capacity of 2 GW while in many areas of New England and elsewhere, so called “small hydro” power systems with capacities up to 20-30 MW have grown over the years and avoid significant altering of river ecosystems and flow as well as displacing people from their homes.
William McConough presents concepts and projects illustrating cradle to cradle and RED strategies.
For more information on Design view the Whitins Mill post and/or click on the Crade to Cradle Link.
May 18, 2008 at 2:20 am
years ago, architects did not take into consideration how the design of a building can have a positive or negative impact on the environment. heating, cooling, lighting, and electricity are all provided to most buildings by fossil fuels. many buildings don’t have enough exposure to natural light and don’t take advantage of any of the sun as a natural resource. most buildings are constructed out of materials that were not recycled and wood that was the product of a company that does not practice environmentally friendly lumbering. instead of using sustainable design to give something back to the environment, most homes and buildings take away from it.
there are ways to make a building more environmentally friendly. by having many large low-e value windows and lots of exposure to the southern sky, you can increase natural light and decrease the need for electric lighting. there are also “hoods” that can be put on the top of windows that work to help insulate the building in the winter and reflect sunlight in the summer. solar panels can also increase the use of the sun’s energy and reduce pollution. other renewable energy options would be geothermal wells and heat recycling fans. geothermal wells can discretely be put under parking lots and use well water to heat and cool the building. heat recycling fans can be placed on the ceiling of the top floor and circulate the hot air to the lower levels to create a more even temperature throughout the building. ways to give back to the environment could be to have green space. green space where flowers, trees, and other plants grow absorb water run-off and carbon dioxide. they also give off oxygen, and their roots help to stop soil erosion.