NEW YORK (AP) — Sean Walsh returned to his mother's San Diego home after the October wildfires to find it charred to its foundation. He says he plans to help her rebuild the trilevel, five-bedroom abode — happily used to host 19 grandkids — exactly as it was, only g
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Networking and sharing ideas with natural builders around the world.
Videos
What's Your Renewable Energy Potential?
Find out if a solar- or wind-electric system is a good option for your home.
March 3, 2008
By Megan Phelps
t's easy to get excited about solar and wind power. Choosing to produce your own electricity with rooftop solar panels or a backyard wind turbine is not only a great, sustainable option, but it can save you money, too.
That’s because tapping these renewable resources instead of fossil fuels reduces greenhouse gases, as well as mining wastes, and many other sources of air and water pollution. And renewable energy from the sun and wind is completely free. Once you purchase the initial system, you don’t have to spend money on the fuel to run it. Those savings add up quickly!
But how much solar and wind energy are available where you live? The fact is that some locations are much sunnier or windier than others. Without a steady supply of either wind or sunshine, generating your own electricity at home may not be a practical option. So how do you find out whether a home solar- or wind-electric system will work for you?
One Quick Estimate
Fortunately, it's getting easier to learn about renewable energy thanks to handy online calculators and other resources.
A good place to start is the MyWatts Estimator. This is a free service provided by ChooseRenewables.com (a company that provides the estimates free, but does sell related products and services.) Just type in your location, and you immediately get a map and short summary of the solar and wind resources in your area.
This is a rough estimate, but it's a good starting place. For example, you can quickly see that your wind power resource is “good,” while your solar power resource is merely “average,” or vice versa.
Next Steps
At this point, you might want to look at some of the resources specific to solar or wind. The sites below have much more background information about these options, and they also can help you locate renewable energy professionals in your area who can give you a better estimate of the costs specific to your situation.
Click Here for the Full Story
March 3, 2008
By Megan Phelps
t's easy to get excited about solar and wind power. Choosing to produce your own electricity with rooftop solar panels or a backyard wind turbine is not only a great, sustainable option, but it can save you money, too.
That’s because tapping these renewable resources instead of fossil fuels reduces greenhouse gases, as well as mining wastes, and many other sources of air and water pollution. And renewable energy from the sun and wind is completely free. Once you purchase the initial system, you don’t have to spend money on the fuel to run it. Those savings add up quickly!
But how much solar and wind energy are available where you live? The fact is that some locations are much sunnier or windier than others. Without a steady supply of either wind or sunshine, generating your own electricity at home may not be a practical option. So how do you find out whether a home solar- or wind-electric system will work for you?
One Quick Estimate
Fortunately, it's getting easier to learn about renewable energy thanks to handy online calculators and other resources.
A good place to start is the MyWatts Estimator. This is a free service provided by ChooseRenewables.com (a company that provides the estimates free, but does sell related products and services.) Just type in your location, and you immediately get a map and short summary of the solar and wind resources in your area.
This is a rough estimate, but it's a good starting place. For example, you can quickly see that your wind power resource is “good,” while your solar power resource is merely “average,” or vice versa.
Next Steps
At this point, you might want to look at some of the resources specific to solar or wind. The sites below have much more background information about these options, and they also can help you locate renewable energy professionals in your area who can give you a better estimate of the costs specific to your situation.
Click Here for the Full Story
Blog Posts
Guidelines For Designing and Building a Timber Frame Home
These are some of the things I've come to feel strongly about in the design and building process. I welcome any corrections, suggestions, and additions that may make this list more useful to those in the design or building process.
Guideline #1: There is a solution to all problems. Start by seeing problems as obstacles or hurdles.
Enjoy the process!
Guideline #2: If you do anything, do this! You will be glad you did. Find your timber first and then begin the design process. Don't waste time de… Continue
Posted by michael hollihn on March 2nd, 2008 at 10:16pm —
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Build Your own Passive Solar Water Heater
A passive solar water heater can be simple to construct and reduce your utility bills. We’ll explore the various types of solar water heaters, and learn to build an easy and affordable model.
For the do-it-yourselfer seeking an inexpensive, easy-to-build solar water-heating system, the integral passive solar water heater (IPSWH, pronounced ips-wah) is a dream come true. All you need to build this down-to-earth water warmer is a discarded electric water heater tank, a homemade insulated plywood… Continue
Posted by John Stoner on February 13th, 2008 at 1:37pm —
No Comments (Add)
Insurers Paying to Rebuild Greener Homes
Posted by John Stoner on January 16th, 2008 at 8:37pm —
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websites
Hi there just thought I would share a couple of informative sites.
www.goodworkscanada.ca
it contains job postings, events, courses, internships,....mostly all relating to a greener world and sustainability...you can sign up to have all the new postings emailed to you daily. I usually get anywhere from 5 to 10 green job postings a day.
and.....
www.planetfriendly.net has a calendar page that lists numerous events all over the country.
Enjoy
Tanya
Posted by Tanya on January 15th, 2008 at 1:06pm —
No Comments (Add)
Timber framer that promotes and used sustainably harvested timber
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