RMIT's Design Hub To Go Solar

The façade of RMIT’s Design Hub building in Melbourne is about to get a major solar facelift.

Officially opened in 2012, Design Hub’s current façade consists of 17,000 semi-translucent, sandblasted glass cells; which contribute to energy efficiency and a high quality indoor atmosphere. The cells not replaced with Building Integrated PV (BIPV) will also be upgraded.

The upgrade is part of realising the original concept for the building to have “smart-skin” façade.

“The entire façade will be fitted with high performance interlayer toughened laminated glass, an initiative that will also improve the façade’s performance in terms of health and safety by addressing the issue of a small number of discs breaking since the building’s completion,” said Pro Vice-Chancellor Design and Social Context, Professor Paul Gough.

“As well as generating power for the building, the BIPV will act as an applied learning and teaching showcase and a research test bed, advancing practical solar research.”

The Bendigo Advertiser reports RMIT hopes the solar façade may eventually generate enough electricity to power the entire building, and surplus could be stored on-site using battery systems.

According to Energy Matters, the Melbourne city area receives solar irradiation levels of around 4.12 kilowatt hours per square metre daily.

“The Design Hub was always intended to be beacon of what is possible in design and sustainability,” Professor Gough said.

“This latest initiative will enhance the building’s already strong ESD credentials as well as taking advantage of breakthrough innovations in BIPV – the futuristic cousin of traditional rooftop solar panels – and in power storage.”

The Design Hub façade project is expected to be finished by February next year.

Formed primarily out of glass, concrete, steel and black rubber, Design Hub is also designed for rainwater and storm water harvesting. The building also incorporates a grey water treatment facility and a computer-based control system monitoring the building’s mechanical and electrical equipment.

The upgrade is part of RMIT’s $98 million plan to slash energy and water use and greenhouse gas emissions across the institution.

The Sustainable Urban Precincts Program (SUPP) has a goal of cutting electricity use over eight years by an estimated 239 million kilowatts, resulting a 30,000-tonne reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Water use will be reduced by an estimated 68 million litres; enough to fill 27 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Last year, RMIT joined the Melbourne Renewable Energy Project; an initiative involving 16 organisations across the city using their collective buying power to purchase renewable energy from sources such as wind and solar power at competitive pricing.

RMIT"s Design Hub To Go Solar

Design of Hopewell Precision fix nears completion

Funding for $27.5 million system remains uncertain

This map shows the layout of the proposed Hopewell North Water District proposed for the Hopewell Precision Superfund site. The district extends primarily southwest from the site of the contamination on Ryan Drive, with Route 82 running along its eastern edge.(Photo: EPA)

HOPEWELL JUNCTION – Design of a water system for the Hopewell Precision Superfund site is nearly complete.

But the long-sought remedy is taking longer than expected and will cost nearly $9 million more than originally estimated.

Nearly 13 years after the contamination of groundwater in one area of Hopewell Junction became widely apparent, Hopewell Precision remains the last Superfund site in Dutchess County without a permanent fix.

EPA officials said design of a system that would pipe clean water from a well field across the street from East Fishkill town hall is 95-percent complete. The design is being reviewed by state, county and federal agencies.

THE POUGHKEEPSIE JOURNAL

East Fishkill approves Hopewell Precision water district

“We do anticipate all comments (from those agencies) to be adequately addressed so as to enable the design to be 100-percent complete and approved by this summer,” Lorenzo Thantu, project manager for the EPA, said in a statement.

Once the design has received all of its approvals, the EPA will need to find money to pay for construction costs. In 2008, the agency estimated construction would cost $18.9 million, a figure that was based on water sources that would have been closer than the well field across from town hall.

Last year, it lowered the estimate to $14 million.

The tab now is $27.5 million.

Thantu said last year’s estimate was “a very, very rough estimate.” It was lower than 2008, he said, partly because the EPA believed some of the components, including a storage tank, would be provided by the town.

He said the current estimate factors in all the necessary components and accounts for inflation since the 2008 estimate.

In 2012, the Town of East Fishkill bought about 150 acres across the street from town hall for the purpose of developing a freshwater well field. The water will serve as a source for the Hopewell Precision site, once federal funding is in place. In this 2013 file photo, Stacy Stieber, a senior hydrologist at Leggette, Brashears & Graham, takes a backup reading of the water level at a test well. (Photo: Darryl Bautista/Poughkeepsie Journal file)

The 2008 estimate was based on three potential water sources. Each was rejected.

• The town passed on one site because it would have been too expensive to acquire.


• Hopewell Precision customers expressed concerns over water quality from another source, the pipeline that delivers treated Hudson River water from Poughkeepsie.


• And customers within a third source made it clear they would have voted against a measure required to allow the EPA to tap into their water. 

Some 291 residential and 28 commercial properties lie within the Hopewell Precision site where groundwater is contaminated with trichloroethylene (TCE) and trichloroethane (TCA).

The contamination occurred when workers at Hopewell Precision Inc., a privately-owned fabricator of sheet-metal products, dumped waste solvents on the ground decades ago when the plant was located across the street from its current site at 19 Ryan Dr.

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The Environmental Protection Agency said it has begun an effort to seek payment from Hopewell Precision Inc., and the company’s former owner, as responsible parties for the contamination that led to the Hopewell Precision Superfund site. The company’s is located on Ryan Drive in Hopewell Junction. (Photo: Alex Wagner/Poughkeepsie Journal)

Residents first became aware of the problem in 2003. It was named a Superfund site in 2005. The EPA has paid for air and water filters in homes with unhealthy levels of the chemicals, as well as regular testing.

Hopewell Junction resident Nancy Foster, 66, lives within the site and has both water and air filters in her home.

“If it happens,” she said of the fix, “it will be a surprise to us because it has been so many years.”

THE POUGHKEEPSIE JOURNAL

EPA renews effort to make Hopewell Precision pay

Last year, the EPA and the Justice Department renewed efforts to collect some of the costs from Hopewell Precision and John B. Budd, the company’s former owner. That effort is continuing, Thantu said.

Rick Skeen, president of Hopewell Precision, said the company is continuing to negotiate with the DOJ.

“It basically comes down to what we can afford to pay,” Skeen said. “We’re a small company with 25 employees.”

Skeen said those negotiations could be resolved within the next few weeks.

Regardless of how much the responsible parties contribute, taxpayers likely will pay the majority of costs. Once the design is finalized, Hopewell Precision will be weighed against other Superfund sites that are shovel-ready.

And that is where the cost becomes a concern, since the pot of federal dollars is limited.

A year ago, Walter Mugdan, head of the EPA’s regional Superfund program, said he was cautiously optimistic the funding would be approved by the end of 2015.

Thantu said the EPA hopes “to have some certainty” about funding by the fourth quarter of the current federal fiscal year, which ends on Sept. 30.

“But,” Thantu said, “(we) cannot be certain.”

John Ferro: 845-437-4816; jferro@poughkeepsiejournal.com; Twitter: @PoJoEnviro

Read or Share this story: http://pojonews.co/1TE9pus

Design of Hopewell Precision fix nears completion

Wind Turbine Design and Testing

You will use this hands-on activity to help elementary students learn about the engineering process while exploring wind power. You will introduce students to the history of wind power and how it is used today to generate electricity. Students will work through the engineering process by designing, building, testing and modifying wind turbine blades. 

To prepare for your classroom visit, about two weeks in advance, review the information in the Engineer Guide and the materials provided for this activity. Contact the teacher and provide them with the list of materials you need the class to gather for the hands-on experiment. 

Wind Turbine Design and Testing

Fall Mountain students design solar project for local animal hospital

Fall Mountain Regional High School students turned a class project into a real-world experience.

This spring, Jay Fisher’s environmental studies class worked with local businesses to learn about renewable energy. The project culminated in a plan to install solar panels at the Claremont Animal Hospital.

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Fall Mountain students design solar project for local animal hospital

Construction, design professionals offer homeowners energy-, cost-efficient houses

Justin Fairbairn, left, looks at flooring as Steve Weise, center, talks with Matt Barker about environmentally-friendly floor covering during a Jan. 14, 2015 class Weise presented to area contractors on “green” home construction. Fairbairn and Barker both work for MB Flooring. Weise works at the Leading Force Energy and Design Center in Yakima. (GORDON KING/Yakima Herald-Republic)

Phone: 509-577-7674
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If you go

WHAT: Open house at the Leading Force Energy and Design Center

WHERE: 17 N. Third St., No. 101, in Yakima

WHEN: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday

MORE INFORMATION: 509-571-1351 or www.leadingforceedc.com

How green is your home?

Is your home energy efficient? How clean is the air inside? Were materials from construction recycled? Were old-growth trees cut down to create your wood floors?

Those are not critical questions for everyone, but a growing number of homeowners around the country and here in Yakima County want to live in homes that match their values, said Steve Weise, who’s been building homes in the area for decades, including the area’s first five-star green home in Selah in 2009.

And he’s betting on that demand. Weise and his wife, Stephanie, just opened a new storefront in downtown Yakima, in partnership with six other home-building professionals, to provide environmentally conscious products and services to local homeowners and professionals.

The Leading Force Energy and Design Center showroom features everything from high-tech air filters and home-automation technology to reclaimed wood cabinets and toxic-chemical-free paint and carpet.

“When a person walks in, we can connect them with resources for every part of the house,” Weise said.

Although definitions and certification standards vary, the basic “green” building practices include energy efficiency, good indoor air quality, low-impact site design, and conservation of natural resources.

Over in King County, the Master Builders Association says 30 percent of new homes built in the area are green. In Yakima and Kittitas counties, about a dozen homes are built to meet Built Green standards every year, said Carly Faul, director of the Central Washington Homebuilders Association. That’s out of hundreds of homes being built.

“For some people, the certification just means peace of mind,” Faul said, but she added that data from the west side show that newly built certified green homes also sell faster.

Wiese speculated that the concept may be slower to catch on here in part because environmentalism can be a dirty word in some conservative circles. But, he said green building is really a set of practical options for homeowners.

“No one likes paying Pacific Power; everyone wants to save money; why not do something good for the environment, too?” Weise asked. “There’s no reason not to do this.”

The green standards were designed for new construction, but Weise said he’s eager to work with people planning to retrofit or remodel as well. One of his partners, Don Jordon Energy Systems, offers energy audits to see how much heat escapes the home and where, to help homeowners plan smart improvement projects.

Green homes have a reputation as being expensive, but Weise disagrees. It’s a way for people to pay for what’s important to them, he said, citing as an example a home he built for a family with asthmatic children. Good indoor air quality — achieved with high-tech air filters and products without the volatile chemicals commonly found in paints and glues — was worth paying for.

“It’s really what you value. It has less to do with money and it’s more about your values,” he said.

Paul Smith, who owns heating and cooling company Air F/X, said he joined Leading Force because he shares the vision that the homes of the future are going to be far more energy efficient.

Other partners include Ellensburg Solar, smart-home company E3 Solutions, and two architects.

Smith said that working together as a team to design a home from the outset leads to better buildings.

“For me, after 30 years putting AC in new homes, it’s nice to be involved in the beginning phase, rather than trying to figure out how to put a system in a house that’s already been built,” Smith said.

Weise agreed that collaboration is key to successful green building and that’s why one of his main goals for Leading Force is to introduce other local builders and subcontractors to green concepts and available products.

“You can’t know all this stuff, so we need to work together,” he said. “I would rather give the jobs to people I can work with here than bring experts in from the west side.”

In a recent class for construction contractors, Weise sounded a bit like a cheerleader as he discussed methods to reduce construction waste and use well-placed windows to help control temperature inside a home.

“I guarantee that there are more of these houses coming, and I want us to build them,” Weise said. “This is the future, period.”

Construction, design professionals offer homeowners energy-, cost-efficient houses

Photovoltaics: Design and Installation Manual

Producing electricity from the sun using photovoltaic (PV) systems has become a major industry worldwide. But designing, installing and maintaining such systems requires knowledge and training, and there have been few easily accessible, comprehensive guides to the subject.

Now, with Photovoltaics: Design and Installation Manual, a world-class solar energy training and education provider—Solar Energy International (SEI)—has made available the critical information to successfully design, install and maintain PV systems. The book contains an overview of photovoltaic electricity and a detailed description of PV system components, including PV modules, batteries, controllers and inverters. It also includes chapters on sizing photovoltaic systems, analyzing sites and installing PV systems, as well as detailed appendices on PV system maintenance, troubleshooting and solar insolation data for over 300 sites around the world. Used worldwide as the textbook in SEI’s PV Design & Installation workshops, topics covered include:

The basics of solar electricity
PV applications and system components
Solar site analysis and mounting
Stand-alone and PV/generator hybrid system sizing
Utility-interactive PV systems
Component specification, system costs and economics
Case studies and safety issues

Photovoltaics guarantees that those wanting to learn the skills of tapping the sun’s energy can do so with confidence.

Solar Energy International (SEI) has the nonprofit mission to respond to the need for renewable energy education. Based in Carbondale, Colorado, and active around the world, SEI is a link between people and renewable energy resources, providing information, education and training to people who want to shape a sustainable future. SEI is recognized by the National Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) as dedicated independent provider of PV training programs that may be used toward attaining PV certification. Also, SEI is recognized as an Accredited Institution to offer PV training by the Institute for Sustainable Power (ISP).

Click Here For More Information

Photovoltaics: Design and Installation Manual

Photovoltaic Design and Installation For Dummies

The fun and easy way to get a grip on photovoltaic design and installation

Designing and installing solar panel systems is a trend that continues to grow. With ‘green collar’ jobs on the rise and homeowners looking for earth-friendly ways to stretch their dollars and lesson their carbon imprint, understanding photovoltaic design and installation is on the rise.

Photovoltaic Design & Installation For Dummies gives you a comprehensive overview of the history, physics, design, installation, and operation of home-scale solar-panel systems. You’ll also get an introduction to the foundational mathematic and electrical concepts you need to understand and work with photovoltaic systems.

• Covers all aspects of home-scale solar-power systems
  
• Viable resource for professionals, students, and technical laymen
  
• Can be used to study for the NABCEP exam

Whether you’re a building professional looking to expand your business and skills to meet the growing demand for solar power installation or are seeking a career in this rapidly expanding field, Photovoltaic Design & Installation For Dummies has you covered!

Click Here For More Information

Photovoltaic Design and Installation For Dummies