BCIT survey - Sustainable homes

[RabidRat]

Originally Posted by t-o-o-MUCH

You're doing a project on sustainable living, but you show us a picture of a house with all the the lights on and nobody's home? =p

[Death2Theft]

Geothermal is not needed at least not the way they are doing it now, way too complex and costly. For REAL sustainable homes youtube the "garbage warrior" movie.

[bananana]

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

geothermal heating is basically a pipe-dream as well, its like buying a hybrid

The future is in photovoltaics.

[Nightwalker]

Damn, already purchased a home.

[RabidRat]

Originally Posted by Death2Theft

Geothermal is not needed at least not the way they are doing it now, way too complex and costly. For REAL sustainable homes youtube the "garbage warrior" movie.

My coworker's putting in geothermal right now. He said there were enough rebates that it actually made it worth it.

Originally Posted by bananana

The future is in photovoltaics.

I dunno about that.. lead, mercury, and cadmium in the panels, and then more lead and mercury in the batteries? You put that crap on every house and I'd hate to see what happens once they start wearing out and piling up in landfills.

[t-o-o-MUCH]

wow, greatly appreciate eveyone who filled out the survey, yeah some of these questions I didnt personally design, it was pooled by my whole set. as for the picture, i just threw it in there for some visuals lol, even if you end the survey early, doesnt mean your survey doesnt count, still valuable information.

[Great68]

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

geothermal heating is basically a pipe-dream as well, its like buying a hybrid

Not exactly,

Two big advantages of geothermal vs air source heat pump systems:

A) No noisy condenser fan on the outside of your house
B) Not affected by low ambient outdoor air temperature (Air source heat pumps are pretty much useless when outdoor air temperature is less than 5 degree celcius). Air source systems need a backup heater (Electric, gas) in such conditions, meaning the geothermal is much more energy efficient in the winter.

If you have the space and money to do it, it's a way better system.

[melloman]

Culverin: Vancouver Convention Center roof, leaked the first day they did the tests. Added a TON of money to perfect it and make it the way it is now. If you/someone digs up the records, it'll show they went overbudget because of costly mistakes with the vapour barrier and drain mats.

Geothermal energy:
Geothermal energy is a good resource up until a point. Look around BC, do you see any big geothermal plants? I've talked with a co-worker here at my firm, and he told me of 2 way up North.

The big DOWNSIDE to geothermal energy is maintenance to the main pipeline.
-First you have to find the heat source in the ground, that is capable of lasting long enough to make it sustainable.
-Second, the main pipeline likes to get clogged. You may think it is only steam coming up through the pipe. Yet with the steam you bring up small rock particles aswell, these rock particles will attach to the inner lining of the pipe and will harden. About every 5 years the pipe is so clogged with material that they need to pull out the pipe, and replace it with a new one.

Why a replcaement and just not clean out the existing? Supposedly when the rock hardens, it is practically as hard as normal bedrock (because that what it is..) so you would have to drill down through the pipe. So why not just rip the pipe out of the ground and put a new one way. It allows production to keep moving with a shorter downtime.

Locally, the best source of renewable energy still is, hydro. We don't get enough sun throughout the year to justify solar panels, yet BC has tons of water, and because we're a mountainous province, the water is always flowing.

[Great68]

Originally Posted by melloman

Culverin: Vancouver Convention Center roof, leaked the first day they did the tests. Added a TON of money to perfect it and make it the way it is now. If you/someone digs up the records, it'll show they went overbudget because of costly mistakes with the vapour barrier and drain mats.

Geothermal energy:
Geothermal energy is a good resource up until a point. Look around BC, do you see any big geothermal plants? I've talked with a co-worker here at my firm, and he told me of 2 way up North.

The big DOWNSIDE to geothermal energy is maintenance to the main pipeline.
-First you have to find the heat source in the ground, that is capable of lasting long enough to make it sustainable.
-Second, the main pipeline likes to get clogged. You may think it is only steam coming up through the pipe. Yet with the steam you bring up small rock particles aswell, these rock particles will attach to the inner lining of the pipe and will harden. About every 5 years the pipe is so clogged with material that they need to pull out the pipe, and replace it with a new one.

Why a replcaement and just not clean out the existing? Supposedly when the rock hardens, it is practically as hard as normal bedrock (because that what it is..) so you would have to drill down through the pipe. So why not just rip the pipe out of the ground and put a new one way. It allows production to keep moving with a shorter downtime.

Locally, the best source of renewable energy still is, hydro. We don't get enough sun throughout the year to justify solar panels, yet BC has tons of water, and because we're a mountainous province, the water is always flowing.

If your post is directed at me, I was talking about Geothermal heat pump systems (Which are something you're likely to find in residential/commercial settings in BC), which are something COMPLETELY DIFFERENT than what you're going on about.

[Death2Theft]

Hmm Mountains = wind as well.

[melloman]

Great68: I see that now.... =|

Originally Posted by Death2Theft

Hmm Mountains = wind as well.

Funny enough not all the time. Just finished a wind mill project up in Chetwynd BC, right when we finished and powered them up.. no wind for 2 weeks.

[GLOW]

fastest survey ever - didn't qualify lol

[Hondaracer]

Originally Posted by Great68

Not exactly,

Two big advantages of geothermal vs air source heat pump systems:

A) No noisy condenser fan on the outside of your house
B) Not affected by low ambient outdoor air temperature (Air source heat pumps are pretty much useless when outdoor air temperature is less than 5 degree celcius). Air source systems need a backup heater (Electric, gas) in such conditions, meaning the geothermal is much more energy efficient in the winter.

If you have the space and money to do it, it's a way better system.

oh i completely agree for the right applications such as single family homes etc. and the home owner/builder with the commitment to do it right has great potential

unfortunately the most common and accessible geothermal applications seem to be being employed in multifamily townhouse developments where it's being used as a big-selling point for the units, and because of this these units are typically running 30-50k more than basically the same unit without the geo setup

the problem is not so much the theory or practice behind it, it's the marketing and information regarding the implementation of the system, the ignorant consumer walks into these units thinking they will save money instantly through electrical etc.

IMO the -BEST- outcome for the -BEST- geo setup is simply to offset costs of heating

people walk into thinking their heating bill will be $0 each month

which is why i used the hybrid analogy in my original post, sure it's a good theory and enviromentally ethical, but your looking at a longggg term picture in terms of any actual savings.

[Great68]

^Yeah, It should be a crime how some of the "green,sustainable" shit is marketed these days.