Just got back from attending the Energy Center of Wisconsin's Better Buildings Better Business Conference Wisconsin Dells.
Boy was that place buzzing with great ideas! Just a quick wander through the trade show area was enough to make your head spin - and the gears inside that head start spinning with possibilities. To list just a few resource-saving innovations:
* The Green Switch, a brand-new device that saves you having to individually unplug or turn off all your power strips, appliances and lights when not in use in your most power-hungry rooms
* Structural Insulated Panels - basically big styrofoam sheets sandwiched between pressboard, which eliminate the need for studs. They're supposed to result in leak-free constuction and result in a 50% more efficient building. It's available in 4 thicknesses with R values from R-18 to R-40.
* The Solatube, a high-tech skylight that effectively brings daylight into hard-to-reach places
* Rain catchment and greywater recycling systems; super-efficient windows; a souped-up Prius (a plug-in hybrid equipped with lithium-ion batteries such as you'll find in the newest power tools; it's a fleet car owned by WPPI Energy; financing options for homeowners considering energy-efficient upgrades (more on this in future posts); and a whole lot more.
By the way, the Kalahari resort, where the conference took place, is home to Wisconsin's largest solar thermal installation. We figure this impressive project is saving the Kalahari about $15,000 per year in water heating expenses. (The picture above shows just a few of the 104 panels in the installation.)
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2 comments:
I am not sure the information you received is correct on the Kalahari savings. Let's do the math on that information. $400,000 in savings and let's say they pay $1.25 a therm of NG (that is a high number) they have 104 collectors total, so $400,000 divided by $1.25 = 320,000 therms saved/year, divided by 104 collectors = 3,077 therms saved/collector, divided by 365 days = 8.43 therms saved/collector, x 100,000 btus/therm = 843,000 btus output of each collector on average every day. That does not work. I think those collectors are made by Solar Skies SS-40 and SRCC says under the best conditions they will put out only 52,000 btus/panel/day. So you may not want to pass that misleading information on?
Hi!
You're right. I was misinformed. I apologize. (That's what happens when the member of the team who's not good with numbers does the posting!)
I had Dan crunch the numbers and he figures they're probably saving about $15,000 per year.
Thank you for bringing this to my attention - I'll be sure to double-check before passing on information in the future!
Anne
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