Category Archives: ReBlogs

5 Steps to Designing a Net Zero Energy Building

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traciesimmons's avatardesignrealizedblog

Net zero energy buildings are really just becoming a reality. According to a 2012 Getting to Zero Report by the New Buildings Institute (NBI) and the Zero Energy Commercial Consortium (CBC), 99 commercial buildings have been identified from around the country that are net zero energy performing, zero-energy capable, or are in construction and on their way. And this is just what they know about.

As the industry continues to embark on net zero energy buildings, architecture firms are learning a lot about what it takes to make them reality. San Francisco-based EHDD is one such firm. For nearly a decade they have been designing with net zero in mind.

Sample breakdown of a building's energy use from EHDD. Sample breakdown of a building’s energy use from EHDD.

According to Brad Jacobson, a Senior Associate at EHDD and recognized leader in sustainable design, “Working on sustainability doesn’t have to be at all about sacrifice. It’s about finding solutions that…

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Bitcoin is not just digital currency. It’s Napster for finance.

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Natural landscapes: autumn white – Banff National Park

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moraineweb1Banff National Park – Natural landscapes: autumn white.

Photographer:  Frank King

http://bit.ly/19J6rx7

Asbestos – Best Practice Approach To Roof Refurbishment

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Excellent article on legacy asbestos insulated roofing systems and remediation methods.

Specifier Review's avatarArchitecture, Design & Innovation

For any demolition, refurbishment or repair project, the presence of asbestos in the building can have far reaching cost and health & safety implications. And it’s not an uncommon problem. Asbestos was widely used as a roofing material right the way through to the 1970s thanks to its durability and fire resistance benefits at low cost.

The use of asbestos as a building material is a legacy of the built environment that today’s roofing contractors are often tasked with tackling, as those roofs originally specified in the 1950s, 60s and 70s fail and need to be replaced.  Sometimes, there may be no other option than to remove the asbestos roof and incur the project delays and added costs that specialist remediation involves. However, while the Control of Asbestos regulations 2012 ensures that building owners are accountable for preventing any risk of exposure to asbestos fibres from their building, contractors do…

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A different kind of pipe

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Fracking chairman: shale gas not going to cut prices

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Rennie Campbell's avatarenergy & water insights

Lord Browne, former head of BP and current chairman of the UK’s largest shale gas company Cuadrilla, said this week that fracking is unlikely to reduce gas prices. In a speech at the London School of Economics he also said that…

  • the recent strike price agreed between the government and EDF for nuclear power was “very, very expensive”
  • oil and gas currently receive more subsidies than renewable energy, which he described as “like running the heating and air conditioning at the same time”

The economic, geological, regulatory and social differences between the UK and US mean it is highly unlikely that the shale gas revolution being experienced in North America can be translated across the Atlantic, with even modest production unlikely before the mid-2020s according to most in the industry.

Despite repeated assurances from David Cameron and George Osborne that shale gas will reduce prices, Browne has recognised…

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Lessons in Energy Saving, a guest blog by Roger Hunt

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>The energy saving measures are being retrofitted during a wider refurbishment project. They range from secondary glazing, draught-proofing and new energy efficient boilers to roof insulation, LED lighting and the installation of wood burning stoves. There are also low volume baths, dual flush cisterns and heat recovery systems in the bathrooms. Full details of the Buscot and Coleshill refurbishments and a short video can be found at the SuperHomes website.<

Green financing for industry still a problem in the UK

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Existing Building Energy Consumption: Current Situations, Trends, Legislature and Solutions …

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mce68's avatarMichael C. English's Blog

After all this talk about how great energy audits and retro-commissioning is, let’s take a look at a case study which shows the power of these tools in action. We worked on a historic 555,000 sf museum, originally built in 1897. After an energy audit and retro-commissioning study, the facility will save approximately $520,000 in annual energy savings with a simple payback of a little over 2 years.

Major energy conservation measures (ECMs) that were found in the energy auditing process include: retrofitting gallery light fixtures from incandescent and halogen to CFL/LED lamps, upgrading the old pneumatic controls to direct digital controls (DDC) for AHUs and implementing several control strategy upgrades, such as gallery VFD speed optimization, economizer controls and demand control ventilation.

Through the retro-commissioning process, HEA determined several key retro-commissioning measures (RCMs). A selection of issues found include: non-functioning hand-off-auto switches, inactive BMS points, improperly wired supply and…

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What Actually Happens As We Move Away From Coal as an Energy Source?

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