Solar site survey: The first step to going solar and the winter Solstice is the time to do it.

While designing for solar, a solar site survey is the first step. This is the point in which you can determine just how much or little solar potential a site has. If you are considering going solar, now is the time for this survey. The winter solstice has just past and the sun is at it's lowest elevation of the year and also the shortest day of the year. ( in the northern hemisphere) No need for charts or tools, just go outside and observe how much sun reaches your home or site over the next day or two. If the sun strikes your target from 10am-2pm, at this time of the year, you have good solar potential. More is obviously better, but this is the goal you should be shooting for. If you wish to do this at any other time of the year a solar site survey is recommended. Here is a good resource for many of the tools needed to do this yourself. http://www.builditsolar.com/SiteSurvey/site_survey.htm

Don't forget about magnetic declination, this is where your compass is not pointing true north. To avoid the problems associated with declination, I prefer the solar noon method for determining true north south.

I used this during the summer and shadow cast was not as long as I had hope for. If I had done this now, during the winter solstice, the shadow cast would have been much longer. This is the best method for getting a true north/south line, all you need is the time, a long level and/or board, and the time of solar noon, the half way point between sunrise and sunset for any given day. For more accurate info check here:
http://www.srrb.noaa.gov/highlights/sunrise/sunrise.html . If you don't know your longitude and latitude, I like google earth, this allows you to zoom right in on your location and get the exact numbers.

If your thinking adding any kind of solar to your home or business, now is the time to do a quick survey to determine if solar is right for you, you may have more solar potential than you think, use all of it to your advantage. Don't forget the sun doesn't send you a bill each month and rises each day with new energy for you to harness and use.



Tom Pittsley

http://www.eebt.org/

ecobuilder@aol.com

To LEED or to lead, that is the question?

I have chosen to lead rather than LEED. For those who read this and don't know what LEED means, this is the USGBC rating system for green buildings and stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. This organization and has brought green building to the forefront and set standards for all different kinds of buildings. The guidelines they give, help people not familiar with green building, the tools needed to fully understand green building. The problem I see with the LEED system is the costs associated with it. I carefully considered having my current project rated under this system, but the cost were less than appealing. To have the home, that I am currently building rated would have cost $3,000 , just for the verification process. This does not include the time I would have to spend compiling all the paperwork involved. I concluded that, the money was better spend in improvements to the building. What does having you home rated mean anyway? I gives you bragging rights. That's it!! no big tax credit, no discounts or rebates, nothing more than bragging rights.

As for myself, I know how green this house is, the energy bills next year will speak for themselves. The money I saved by reducing the waste on the job site just makes plain good sense. Not just from the green building aspect, but makes good business sense, to save nearly $1,000 in disposal fees, let alone the amount of labor to handle all the waste.

For me green building is a lot of things rolled in to one, but it all starts with energy. No matter how environmentally friendly the products you use are, if you have to ship them half way around the world this is not green building. If they consume more energy in the production than they save in the building, this is not green building. If they are great for the environment but only last a few years, this is not green building. If working with and installing this product takes 3 times as long at 3 times the cost and adds no energy savings, this is not green. New green products are jumping onto the market on a daily basis, but you have to ask the question? What does green mean to me. We all have a different perspective on what green building means, the guidelines given by the USGBC are great to keep us all thinking in the same direction.



As for myself I chose to lead by example rather than spend money on bragging rights. The cost of building will be less and the energy bills at the end of each year will reflect the choices made. LEED if you must, but lead any way you can.

Trombe wall? Window? best of both worlds

What is it a window or a Trombe wall? Well actually it's both. This passive solar window is designed to capture and storage the suns energy in the water contained within it.

Today Nov. 17,2008 we had a daytime high temperature of 47F with a morning low of about 36F. The temperature in the house this morning was 59F with no other heat source installed as of yet. Throughout the day the window climbed in temperature reaching an afternoon high if 85F with an indoor temperature in the house rising to a comfortable 63F. It is difficult to get a good feel for the temps with the IR thermometer I am using, as it does not show the radiant heat being given of by the windows. After spending the day finishing the exterior siding it was a comfortable feeling to come in out of the cold. Most houses under construction are colder inside than they are outside at this time of the year, and never have I seen one that maintained the comfortable temperatures during construction. The geothermal heat pump will hopefully be installed within the next few weeks, but I am in no hurry to use it. If the windows continue to perform as they have over the past month and the sun continues to shine we will have very little need for any other heat source to heat this home.

Check out the video it shows just how well the window is working, and gives a good explanation as to how the windows is constructed.

Passive solar windows

Passive solar windows, that not only capture the suns energy, they store it as well. The windows shown in my previous video (sorry for the poor lighting) discribes the windows and gives some detail about how this window system is constructed and purpose behind it. The clip below shows how the windows are performing and how we are measuring the performance. Everyone that has had the opportunity to see this window is amazed that it contains 4" of water you are looking through along with 4 panes of glass. The optical clearity and beauty of the design is truly amazing. It is not often in passive solar design that we can incorporate such beauty with function, while making an architectural statement. The window shown is the first prototype of the window to leave the testing facility, were it as been under developement for several years. The design is still being worked on, as this system was installed several lessons were learned and the developer will continue to work out the details of the product. As a prototype, most the parts of the system were made by hand and the cost to do this would be very expensive. Through the testing of this window and hopefully other test sites, this product will continue to develop to point at which it will be ready for market. It is my hope that this will happen quickly, as the potential of the product to change the way that people look at passive solar energy, while saving hundreds if not thousands in energy cost along the way. I'll post more as the testing continues over the next year or more. We are installing a data logging system to keep track of the performance of the windows and that information will be posted when it is available.

Solar on Tom

Thermal Mass Windows

So, this is just my personal opinion, so take it as you may. The window system shown on the video has the potential to revolutionize passive solar design. Many water window systems have been built over the years, some with great success while others had limited results. None of the systems I have seen have had the features designed into this product. The ability to integrate this into existing homes, commercial buildings and new construction, with the appearance of beautiful window. If I didn't tell there was water in it you most likely wouldn't know it. The optical clarity of the window is astounding given that there are 4 panes of glass along with 4" of water within it. The tinting of the window is designed that the water captures a large portion of the solar energy, while reducing the glare and UV rays harmful to interior finishes and furniture. The exterior shades, not yet installed are designed to control the energy at any given time of the day, month or year. They will be motorized and controlled by a room thermostat to prevent overheating of the system, with the ability to change the room temperature with the simple setting of a thermostat. Although with the motorized shading, this is not a true passive solar system, I think it is the best of both worlds. A great mix of simple thermal mass, solar control, and beauty make this a truly revolutionary innovation in solar design. stay tuned I will be posting more videos demonstrating the performance of the system as the home is constructed, hopefully with some better lighting. When this video was shot it was raining outside. We had rain every day for the 9 days prior to the open house, some with a lot, some with a little.

But, when the day of the solar tour was held last Saturday the sun shined, although it was cold the window system heated up to 84 degrees F, the room temperature within the house was 65 degrees F, as we still have no other windows or doors on the house. The water continued to warm over the day and as the temperature dropped late in the afternoon you could feel the radiant heat coming off of the window. I don't know about you, but when the sun isn't shining and the temperature is 60 degrees, I have never felt a warm window that you could actually see through.

This product is patented by Wendell Colson

Thanks Tom Pittsley
ecobuilder@aol.com
www.eebt.org

Green Building Open House

On Saturday October 4th 2008 people across the nation will open their homes and invite strangers in to learn about Solar Energy and Green Building. This tour is hosted by various organizations throughout the country. Here in New England we are lucky to have the North East Sustainable Energy Association, the regional host for this event. http://www.nesea.org/buildings/openhouse/

I am proud to have 2 of the homes I have worked on open for the tour.

http://www.nesea.org/buildings/openhouse/googleMaps/detail.php?id=1088
Directions http://www.eebt.org/Mapto101tispaquinst.html


http://www.nesea.org/buildings/openhouse/googleMaps/detail.php?id=1222

My current project, which will be under construction at the time of the tour, allows for people to see some of the inner workings of an efficient home. The most predominant features will be Structural Insulated Panel wall system, along with our Warm Light Wall. What is a Warm Light Wall, you may ask? The WLW is a prototype window system for capturing and storing the suns energy in your window. This home will have 150 sqft of this window system installed along the south side. This is no ordinary window! The use of advanced glazing's to insulate and allow for max solar gain is just one of the elements within the window system and yes this is a window system not just a window. The exterior shading is another part of the system, which allows control of solar gains when they are not needed. By shading the exterior of the glazing, you stop about 75% of the heat which would other wise reach you window and heat you home, adding an additional burden on your cooling system during the summer months. Many solar home features large overhangs to protect the windows from exposure to the sun. While they work well in many locations, they do not allow for shading in the morning and afternoons when the sun is low in the sky. They also tend to be rather large and sometimes gaudy looking. These shades allow us to design with standard overhangs, used on thousands of homes throughout New England, after all we don't want it to look like a solar home. The main element in the window system is the water blocks used to store the suns energy. Built in a way in which they look like individual window panes, which they are, well actually two with some water in the middle. TheWLW is project under development by Wendell Colson, The vise president of research and development for Hunter Douglas. I am personally pushing for this product to come to market. I have seen the system work in their test buildings and now for the real test, THIS HOME. This will be the first installation of his latest design, and if all goes well we may all have them available in the next year or so. When I first met Wendell at the NESEA building conference I had no idea I would have the opportunity to work with him on such an incredible project. We worked together on the MIT Solar decathlon project where he generously donated the previous version of this system along with a tremendous amount of help and guidance. I personally feel that his window system could be the innovation passive solar design, that will bring it into mainstream. Saving people hundreds, if not thousands of dollars in energy costs annually. Time will tell all, and I will continue to post more information along with photos once the window is installed next week. The total system will not be in place, as the shades will need to be measured for after installation of the windows. Once completed we will be having another open house for people to come see the finished product. I hope that you can come and learn about green buildings and solar energy, if you don't live in this region there will be tours in most neighborhoods across the country for a complete list of tours from ASES click here http://www.ases.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=257&Itemid=58

` Tom Pittsley
ecobuilder@aol.com
http://www.eebt.org/

Structural Insulated Panels installation

Here is a video showing the SIP's panels being installed on the house. Sorry for no action photos, but it's kind of hard to video while lifting panels into place. One of the things which made this installation go as quickly as it did, was the prefabricating of the panels from the manufacturer. While designing the building I utilized standard panel sizes to minimize waste of materials, as well as money. 8' walls are an efficient use of the panels, as they are built as 24' panels and then cut down to size. The ceiling sections of panels were designed at 24' to use one single panel to extend from the exterior wall to the bearing wall. The less connection points used to make the panels work is always recommended, less joints equal less air leakage.

So why would you use SIP's to build with? There are several reasons, the first being the increased R-value of the wall system. The 6-1/2" SIP used for the walls of this house have an R-value of 24.5, the total R-value of the wall system is R-26. The ceiling panels have an R-value of 40. A typically constructed building using the stick frame methods would have walls with an insulation value of R-19, but that is not the true R-value of the wall. The lumber contained within the walls has an R-value of 5.5, creating a thermal bridge points within the envelope. SIP's, although they have some lumber, located for structural load points have a continuous R-value throughout the wall section. One of the other reasons for using them is the decrease in air leakage. Air leakage into a building can contribute as much as 40% of the total heating and cooling energy loss within a structure. One other reason is the ease of construction, once you become familiar with the methods of installation the system goes together easily, this is also reliant on a good design and fabrication. So the roof is going on tomorrow and the next few days as we push towards getting the building weather tight and ready for our (Warm Light Wall) system to be installed next week. Stay tuned
Tom

Passive solar home construction

So, if you have seen my previous posts and video's you will know what I have been up to, building an energy efficient passive solar home. The video link on this post is the final part of the foundation system, which was the most difficult part of the project. Many people have commented on how different the foundation looked upon casual observation. If they only knew how different this was in comparison to a traditional foundation. Here in New England we are one of the few places were people feel the need to put a basement under our homes, for most of the country the slab-on-grade foundation system is conventional construction. Of course we do have some specific requirements when it comes to insulating and heating our homes in this region. This requires a different approach to building, rather than have our foundation being an energy drain on our building we actually use it to our advantage. The thermal mass contained within the foundation allows us to use it to store the homes energy at a constant rate. Once the slab is brought to temperature the energy needed to maintain this is very low, and at a very low temperature. We will be able to heat this home with water at a temperature of 85-90 degrees F. most conventional baseboard heating systems require a water delivery temperature of 160-180 degrees F. The low delivery temperature of the heating system is the key factor that allows the geothermal heat pump to deliver all of the homes heating and cooling needs.






As I am writing this, I have already finished installing most of the Structural Insulated Panels, used for the envelope of the home. I have taken some video of this as well and will post it when time allows. The SIP's showed up on the site on Tuesday afternoon around 2pm. and by this afternoon we had just 3 gable panels to finish installing before moving on to the ceiling panels. These will be in place tomorrow or is it today? The roof framing is scheduled to start on Monday with the hope of finishing it along with some trim by the end of next week. This portion of the project will continue at a fairly fast pace as we push to prepare for a open house scheduled for October 4th.






The most exciting thing we are using in this home is a prototype window system under development by Hunter Douglas. If we have our roof shingles on the roof as scheduled these windows will be installed for the open house. This window system is in my opinion the best innovation in passive solar to be developed in recent years. It contains a very specific glazing along with glass blocks filled with water to store the suns energy and regulate how it is transmitted into the home. Not only is it functional, but very attractive as well. I will continue to post videos and pictures of the project as we move forward.

more pictures of the project http://picasaweb.google.com/TomPittsley/PassiveSolarHomeUnderConstruction#

Thanks Tom Pittsley


http://www.eebt.org/


ecobuilder@aol.com

Passive Solar construction

New Passive Solar home under construction
in Middleboro MA

Video's of the project









We have begun construction of this new energy efficient passive solar home of the future.


Designed to use the natural ability of the sun to heat the home, with an innovative thermal mass window system that is the in my opinion one of the best passive solar products to be developed in recent years. This window system will allow us to store the suns energy without overheating the space. Traditional passive solar homes had large windows with large spaces and lots of thermal mass ( concrete, stone ). When the sun was shining and the house was charging itself up with the suns energy, the spaces within the house were sometimes unbearably hot and very very bright, resulting in a space that was mostly uninhabitable for much of the day. This system will allow us to modulate the suns energy while storing it within the window system, tinting options are available to control light levels for comfort. This prototype window system has been under development by Hunter Douglas for many years and this is the first real world installation of there latest design. If you want to be one of the first to see this innovative home we will be having tours at intervals during construction. As well as being part of the NESEA's green building open house http://www.nesea.org/buildings/openhouse/ .

For more info check out www.eebt.org/passivesolar.html

Features of the house

• Passive solar orientation
• 150 sqft of specialized thermal mass south facing windows
• Geothermal heating and cooling
• Insulated slab on grade foundation with integrated radiant floor heating and cooling
• Structural Insulated Panels wall system ( SIP's ) walls R-26 ceiling R-40
• SIP's allow for minimal air infiltration, on of the largest heating losses within a home
• One floor living, making the space adaptable for handicapped accessibility
• Energy recovery ventilation system
• drop down exterior window shades along south side, for solar control
• Energy star appliances and lighting
• 1,976 sqft 4 bedrooms, 2 bath, kitchen
• Stained concrete floor through, enhancing the beauty of the house while boosting the performance of radiant floors heating system.
• Primary entrance designed as an airlock system to reduce transfer of thermal loads while heating or cooling.
• Zero Energy adaptable, the roof is designed with adequate space for PV to supply the home. Once the home is up and running for at least one year the PV system will be designed to meet the homes needs.
• Centrally located utility room to reduce plumbing and electrical runs

I have set some very high goals for this home and will be recording the performance over the course of the next few years. If my calculations are correct I expect the heating costs for this New England home to be less than $700 annually. With an anticipated total energy bill of less than $1,500 annually.

The ultimate goal for this home would be a total annual energy bill of less than $1,000 , we shall see, if this performance level is reached you would need a 5KW Pv array to meet the homes total energy demands. This is not an inexpensive option, but on worth fully exploring. The cost to convert this home to a Zero Energy home would be an additional $50,000, and would make it a Zero Carbon home as well. Stay tuned updates will be listed on my web page www.eebt.org/passivesolar.html

The goethermal horizontal ground loop is being installed Monday, I will post some pictures and video when it is done.

Thanks Tom Pittsley

ecobuilder@aol.com

passive solar home with a dark shade of green

Update: 6/28/08 This 2,700 sqft passive solar home located in Massachusetts had a heating bill of $700 last winter.

So what do you think of passive solar design? I personally feel it should be of some, if not the primary focus of designing a home for efficient use of energy. The home described in the blog is one that has proven to me that passive solar design works and works well, when used in conjunction with super insulated envelope systems. Here is a list of systems, materials and designs which make this passive solar home work.

Pictures http://picasaweb.google.com/TomPittsley/PassiveSolarHome

http://www.eebt.org/Rochester.html

Orientation of the home for maximum solar gains in winter
Large amounts of high solar heat gain windows on the south facing wall
Overhangs designed to provide shading of the windows in the summer
Integrated window shading system to control the flow of heat through the south facing windows
Small and few well insulated windows on the north, east and west facades
Solar hot water system to be added this fall, all the pieces are in place to make the connections

Concrete slab floor with radiant floor heating system, located for maximum direct solar gains
Thermal mass was achieved with the Insulated concrete forms, used for the first floor and basement walls.
Structural insulated panels were used for the roof, dormers and gables R-49
Cold roof system was utilized for proper venting of the roof system and longevity
Energy recovery ventilation system for providing just the right amount of fresh air 82% efficient
Baxi on demand propane fired boiler for domestic hot water and heating 95% efficient

Some green materials that were used that did not directly have a relationship with how energy was used within the home, but rather home much energy was used and save by recycling building materials. All of the exposed yellow pine structural beams and posts of this home are recycled and re milled locally, from old mill structures scheduled for destruction. Not only the posts and beams, but all of the hardwood flooring and railings are also from this source. This is not an inexpensive alternative, but the incredible beauty and strength of old growth lumber is something you cannot find at the local lumber yard ( or the depot ). There are many more features of this home that contribute to it being a very green home, but I have been long winded enough.

Tom Pittsley
ecobuilder@aol.com
http://www.eebt.org/

Pictures of the MIT solar decathlon house in Washington DC

Here are some great pictures of the MIT solar 7 project while in Washington DC last October. Courtesy of Dan from Lamtec, the builder of our warm light wall system. A few picture of the other homes as well as the winner of the competition, the German's.

http://picasaweb.google.com/TomPittsley/SolarDecathlonPicS

zero energy home

Here is some information about the MIT solar decathlon project. check out this page with links to videos about the project. http://eebt.org/Zero_Enery_Homes.html

Tom pittsley
ecobuilder@aol.com
http://eebt.org/Zero_Enery_Homes.html

Introduction

First I would like to introduce myself, My name is Tom Pittsley. I have been building for 25 years and designing buildings for 28 years. I have a passion for renewable energy and energy conservation. I have been working towards a goal of building nothing but zero energy homes, for several years. Having built my first zero energy homes last year, I have now acquired the knowledge of how to achieve this, and I would like to share it with you, and get your feedback on my ideas. I will be posting a weekly blog, sharing with you how to build this. Starting with the ground up. I founded my business Energy Efficient Building Technologies in 2005, with more than 10 years of research in building technologies and systems. Not only research, but practical building experiences of actually implementing them and monitoring the results. I served as construction manager for the MIT solar decathlon team in 2007,http://web.mit.edu/solardecathlon/construction.html and am currently working with the team from the Boston Architectural College and Tufts University on there 2009 solar decathlon project. I will share more about those and other projects in future blogs.
Stay tuned

Tom Pittsley
ecobuilder@aol.com
http://www.eebt.org/