energy-saving ideas

The Corrigan Rug Cleaners of Winchester, VA had a building that was 1375 square feet and was a traditional stick built structure. The building did not have air conditioning and they use heat to dry the rugs. Now they have a Structural Insulated Panel (SIP) building that is 4800 square feet with a drying room that is 80 % larger than their previous one.

What are SIPs? SIPs are a strong structural system consisting of Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) insulation which is laminated to oriented strand board (OSB) forming a structural panel. The panels resist warping and racking. They are especially cost effective when strength, comfort, performance, and energy efficiency are demanded by the building owner, designer, and builder. SIPs can be used for walls, roof, and floors. Here are the price differences of the two buildings. Keep in mind the new building is three times larger than the original building and has air conditioning which the previous building did not.

Month Electric Gas
2007 2006 2007 2006
January $109.81 $281.84 $202.40 $348.78
February $260.93 $207.14 $242.96 $370.48
March $231.73 $324.04 $151.69 $347.07
April $226.35 $202.34 $80.82 $235.34
May $205.41 $145.49 $23.47 $136.56
June $312.95 $148.26 $23.77 $69.76
July $223.38 $164.94 $17.66 $68.09
August $300.34 $177.06 $21.30 $34.76
September $281.50 $165.36 $19.14 $102.84

Total $2,152.40 $1,816.47 $783.21 $1,713.68

The new SIP building uses a two zone 3 ton and 5 ton radiant geothermal heating and cooling system and a radiant heated floor. For 2006 in a smaller building they spent $3,530.15 for gas and electricity. For 2007 in a building three times larger with air conditioning and a larger drying room they spent $2,935.61 for electric and gas. That is a savings of $594.54. The numbers were over the course of nine months for 2006 and 2007.

This is only one example of how SIPs can save on heating and cooling costs. Not to mention that the new building is amazing to look at. You walk into an open area with high ceilings. The Eagle Rigid Spans give the space an almost timber frame look. The SIPs had pure white paint applied directly to them. There are three garage doors that are only moderately insulated which open directly to the main area in the back of the building. Even after they have all been opened it takes only minutes to feel the temperature return to normal. There is a mezzanine overlooking the entrance which had decorative concrete imbedded with the company’s logo . This is a very impressive structure which has allowed them to grow their company without having to expand on their energy budget

The other day I was doing a post on my site about one of the Case Study Houses, the Greenbelt by Ralph Rapson (CSH#4). It's an interesting house; very simple but intriguing in the way it incorporates a green space between its public and private functional areas. It's the kind of house I go for.

I'm fascinated by an original illustration of the Greenbelt, seen here on the cover of Architecture magazine (March '05):

The image is an interesting snapshot of the naive optimism of the era. There's a commuter helicopter hovering over the house. Clearly, even as suburbia was being born, the problems of sprawl and disconnectedness were apparent. I suppose that at the time the solutions looked obvious. I also like the Jeep in the driveway, just ready and waiting for weekend fun. Even then we were fascinated with SUVs as fashion statements, expensive toys, symbolic of a new lifestyle halfway between city life and country pursuits remembered from childhood days on the farm. When you have new found wealth and freedom on Saturday you need a vehicle that can take you, say, to the nearby mountains for skiing, or on an adventurous day trip into the desert, or just up to the cabin in the woods.

But the image that gets me the most is that of the lady of the house hanging out the family's laundry to dry on a clothesline in the yard. I cannot remember the last time I saw that, but it was a long time ago. I do specifically remember from my childhood in the seventies that both my grandparents dried their clothes on a line, and so did most of their neighbors.

Those days seem to be very long gone. It's even more ironic to me to see a suburban family drying clothes on a line. I live in the burbs of Detroit, and I can say without doubt that if I did that it wouldn't be long before the neighbors started whispering and I got a call from the homeowners association. The bylaws of most subdivisions wouldn't stand for it for a minute.

Laundry is on the mind because our washer went out recently, for good this time, and we ended up buying a new washer and dryer. We bought the most efficient we could, and I've noticed a huge difference already, especially in the dryer. We're using much less water in the wash and our clothes dry much, much faster in the new dryer. But I still can't help thinking how much energy we could save by simply hanging clothes out on a breezy day.

And then just tonight I was surfing around the Web and out of the blue I stumbled on this very recent Seattle Times article: A Hip, Modern Clothesline Can Turn Your Laundry Green. According to the story a clothes dryer is responsible for up to 1,440 pounds of carbon dioxide annually, and can account for as much as ten percent of your home's energy consumption. That's a lot. If you could just dry half your clothes outside over the course of the year you'd make a meaningful difference. It's something to think about.

Of course, the Seattle Times article ends with "Before you let the family's laundry all hang out, check with your condo or homeowners association. Some associations ban hanging clothes outdoors." That's something to think about too. If we want to change our habits we need to change the rules too. That's the real challenge, and it doesn't stop with just laundry.

How far would you go? That's the question Vanessa, over at the always-entertaining Greenasathistle blog, has us asking ourselves today. Vanessa, who is a reporter at the National Post in Toronto, has embarked on a pretty inspiring (and, often, humorous) foray into the world of serious green living. Every single day for one year she is doing one thing that betters the environment—like switching shampoos and carrying her own tote bag to the grocery store.

For the most part, Vanessa's choices have seemed reasonably easy to emulate. Who isn't capable of buying Seventh Generation dishwashing liquid? But today she did something ... well, she did something extreme. On day 78 of Vanessa's experiment, she unplugged her refrigerator, and she's not plugging it back in until the year is up.

"NO FRIDGE," she writes. "Do I get green-freak status yet or what?"

Well, does she?

She'll be saving a ton of electricity and, as she points out, so many things that we stick in the refrigerator would do just as well in our off-the-grid pantry. But still, could you do it?

What are some of the green lifestyle choices you don't think you'll ever be able to make? (And don't feel too guilty, we're all human!)

Image www.sxc.hu, David Readman