Q+A with William Lord Owner of Maine Solar House in Cape Porpoise

From the July 2011 Bright-Minded Home column in Maine Home + Design:

Having lived in one of Maine’s older solar homes for 17 years now, William Lord and his wife like to refer to themselves as “solar groundhogs,” watching for the sun each morning to power their home. The solar panel-covered south-facing roof of their home, which was designed by architect Steven Strong and built by Tim Spang, generates both hot water and electricity.

Q: What have been the best benefits of your solar setup?

A: The solar thermal panels, which provide hot water for domestic use and radiant floor heat, have paid for themselves already, and our home requires just a small amount of propane for backup heat in the winter. The other half of the roof consists of a 4.2 kilowatt photovoltaic array that on a sunny day generates more electricity than we use, exporting that surplus to the grid, which we draw from at no cost at night and on cloudy days. Our monthly electric bill is less than $8 during late spring through early fall.

Q: Are there any systems or products you’ve found less useful than others?

A: The only weak link we had in the system was in the early 1990s when the inverters, which convert DC electricity from the panels into AC household current, were less dependable. Today our inverters are smooth, cool, and reliable.

Q: Are there any new technologies out there you’d like to try?

A: Both of our systems work seamlessly without “adult supervision” required from my wife or me, so we do not, at this juncture, see any new technologies that will replace others or significantly enhance our home. Come see it for yourself during Northeast Sustainable Energy Association’s Green Buildings Open House Tour on Saturday, October 1, 2011.

Learn more at solarhouse.com.

Q+A with Peter Troast, Owner and Founder of Energy Circle

From the June 2011 Bright-Minded Home column in Maine Home + Design:

Not only does Peter Troast feature energy-monitoring devices on energycircle.com, but he’s tried them all in his once-drafty, but now well-sealed and insulated farmhouse in Freeport. I wanted to glean some knowledge from him about these tools.

Q: In your experience, what are the best energy monitors out there?
A: There are two main types: single-number devices like the TED 1000 ($125), which provides a real-time reading of watts per hour for the whole house, and the more granular Emonitor ($699), which divides up usage on a circuit-by-circuit basis and includes an internet connection for extensive data retention. If the TED is reading 1,100 watts in the middle of the day, we know that lights and fans might have been left on in bedrooms and are reminded to turn them off. Although you have to log in to see it, the Emonitor takes it one step further by telling you exactly where the power is being used.

Q: What have been the biggest benefits of using an energy monitor?
A: Energy monitors give you a tool to make a behavioral change. When you can see your power usage in real time you’re empowered to make the changes needed to keep your home running as efficiently as possible.



Q: What other energy-saving tools do you recommend?
A: The Smart Strip provides one of the highest returns on investment. If your entertainment center is plugged into it, the vampire loads of the stereo, Wii, and DVD player are turned off with the TV. This $28 tool can save you as much as $12 every month in unnecessary energy usage.

See energycircle.com for more information.

Q+A with Maine Huts and Trails about Going off the Grid

From the May 2011 Bright-Minded Home column in Maine Home + Design:

Maine Huts and Trails’ three off-the-grid wilderness lodges in Western Maine provide year-round accommodations and meals to hikers and skiers by using a combination of solar, hydro, and wood-generated energy to power the radiant floor heating, lights, water pumps, refrigeration, and fans for the kitchen and composting toilet.

How is power generated at each hut?

The Poplar Stream Falls Hut has a wood-fired boiler for heat and hot water, a 2.7 kWh solar array tied to 24-volt battery storage, and a 5 kWh low-head hydro also linked to the batteries. As long as there’s water, the hydro can produce up to 120 kWhs a day, while the solar produces a quarter of that due to size and dependence on sun. The Flagstaff Lake Hut and Grand Falls Hut also have wood boilers, and 5.2 kWh and 5.9 kWh solar systems, respectively, tied to 48-volt battery storage. Both average 25 kWh per sunny day. All huts use propane generators for back up, but if there’s sun and water the generators can go days without use.

How would you compare your electricity producing systems, and what’s next?

Hydro is the hare, solar is the tortoise. While the low-head hydro produces a quicker pay back (assuming a reliable water source), there are fewer variables and maintenance issues with a solar array. We plan to build another hut in a year or so using the systems above, plus a solar thermal system for domestic hot water. 

See mainehuts.org for more information, and share your thoughts here.

Tips from the Conservationists of Art

From the April 2011 Bright-Minded Home column in Maine Home + Design:

Fine art is as worthy of conservation as are natural resources, so I asked some art conservators and the director of a photography gallery for tips on keeping photographs and paintings in good shape for the long haul.

Photographs  

• Direct sunlight is any photograph’s biggest enemy. To protect the photograph from fading/discoloring in any light, invest in conservation glass or museum glass (non-glare, very clear conservation glass). The photograph should never touch the glass, so a mat or spacer must be used.
• All framing materials and anything that touches the photograph must be archival, meaning the materials will retain their original properties over time and not leach harmful chemicals into the photograph, causing spots (foxing)

Art

• Watercolors, drawings, and paintings should never be hung in areas with high moisture content. A constant humidity of around 50 to 60 percent is best. Changes in humidity can be even more detrimental than variations in temperature.
• If the canvas is buckling, get it keyed out. Most framers and all conservators can do this quickly, and a taut canvas will minimize environmental damage.
• Attach foam core or card to the back of a painting to prevent the collection of dust behind the stretcher bars. Dust attracts moisture, which in turn swells the canvas, which loosens the paint, causing it to flake.
• Flaking paint should be remedied as quickly as possible, and if the painting is punctured or torn don’t wait to fix it as the canvas threads will distort over time, making what might have been a simple repair into a costly procedure.

What are your thoughts or questions on art conservation for our experts?

Heather Frederick/VoxPhotographs | Portland and Belfast | 207.323.1214
voxphotographs.com

B.D. Mattozzi Fine Arts Conservation and Restoration | Portland | 207.871.1678
bdmattozzi.com

Anthony Moore Painting Conservation | York | 207.363.1794
anthonymooreconservation.com

Q+A with Rick Renner About His Retrofitted LEED Loft in Portland, Maine

From the March 2011 Bright-Minded Home column in Maine Home + Design:

One of the big uncertainties about green building is how well the new practices will perform over time. To find out which systems and techniques are proving smartest, I’ve been asking owners of notable projects around the state what they’ve learned.

Architect Rick Renner's Pleasant Street Loft

Rick Renner

Rick Renner is the principal of Richard Renner Architects, a Portland firm with a focus on environmentally responsible design. Renner lives and works in a late-1800s brick building on Pleasant Street that he retrofitted to LEED Platinum standards in 2007, with architectural offices on the ground floor and personal living quarters upstairs.

Rick Renner

 What’s been the most successful component of the building?

The effort we put into creating as tight a building envelope as possible from an existing structure was critical and very effective. We used closed cell and cellulose super insulation and Accurate Dorwin triple pane fiberglass windows. As a result, the 1,400 square foot loft apartment costs only $320 a year to heat . 

What’s been the least useful?

We were surprised to find that appraisers didn’t give as much value as we expected to a building’s efficient features. This is something that will change as the market, and therefore, appraisers become more familiar with green buildings. 

What’s new on the horizon?

Using a theater fog machine, we’ve started testing the integrity (air tightness) of building envelopes earlier in the construction process, before the final blower door test. Instead of pulling the air out and noting weak areas with a thermal camera, you push fog into the building to see where the fog is escaping, then tighten up those areas.

Let us know what you think about this project and please suggest others you think we should look at.