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Home Energy News
A Village Takes On Global Warming
Each big storm with a high tide and an onshore wind takes a big bite out of Sarichef. Photo by Shishmaref Erosion and Relocation Coalition In an email this week from John Woodward, an Alaska builder and Home Energy author, he wrote, “I put together a working/management group to manage the relocation of the community of Shishmaref sustainably. They live on Sarichef, a barrier island that global warming is wiping out.”Shishmaref is home to a small community of Inupiat, a Native American tribe. John is working with the Inupiat Tribal Government, the City of Shishmaref, and the Shishmaref Erosion & Relocation Coalition, to salvage as much of the village as possible before it goes under water and move it, along with the island inhabitants, to a new plot of land in the interior of Alaska. The Army Corp of Engineers gives the island about 5 or 10 more years of livability. But as the ocean and permafrost warm and the ocean rises, unpredictable storms take a heavy toll on the island. “Each big storm with a high tide and an on-shore wind takes a big bite out of Sarichef,” says Woodward. The community is seeking funds for a comprehensive alternative energy plan, an anaerobic pump/methane generator, and the retrofit of all existing buildings, including more than 110 homes, community buildings and a school. The homes will be retrofit to use less than 5 Btu per square foot to heat. Heating load calculations can be pretty complicated, but in general, contractors recommend furnaces that can provide 30-50 Btu per square foot to heat homes in the Bay Area. To reach such a high level of energy efficiency, the Shishmaref homes will have the insulation installed on the outside of the structure, a technique that Woodward has successfully used in the past. The new village will have the look and functionality of the Inupiat culture as defined and designed through community planning. “Our community planning process involves community charettes with the whole community gathered in the school gym,” say Woodward. “The goal of these meetings is the rough-out of a comprehensive community plan for sustainable relocation of the existing salvageable infrastructure and the development of the new village site.” The Inupiat will build their new village to suit their needs and lifestyles, to be efficient, and to be in harmony with its surroundings-in other words, sustainably. Let’s keep an eye on our northern neighbors, who may teach us some valuable lessons. How long before whole towns in California will have to relocate because of water shortages? We all witnessed what happened in New Orleans a few years ago. How long before towns and cities on the coast of California will have to move inland or be seriously reconfigured because of the rising Pacific Ocean? You can e-mail John Woodward with questions, comments, ideas, and offers of help at panuktuk@yahoo.com.
Publ.Date : Tue, 17 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0500
November/December 2008 Editorial: Heat Pump Water Heaters—Another Prius in the Basement?
It was good news to learn that Energy Star has finally announced specifications for water heaters. The specification for heat pump water heaters is particularly welcome, since these products have an unusually large savings potential. A heat pump water heater can reduce water-heating energy by half, which translates into over 1,500 kWh per year in many homes. Nearly 40% of American homes use electric water heaters, so the market is huge. This market is unlikely to be tapped soon, however, because there are no significant American manufacturers of heat pump water heaters. This situation is likely to change, since major refrigeration manufacturers—GE, for example—have announced plans to begin production.
Rapid progress? Not really. Japanese manufacturers are already producing half a million heat pump water heaters a year (see “A Cute Water Heater,” p. 12). You can be sure they are looking for export opportunities. Have American manufacturers missed an opportunity and allowed another “Prius” to dominate the market? To be sure, the Japanese ECO-CUTE heat pump water heater has some attractive features. First, it has a remarkably high reported efficiency, with a seasonal coefficient of performance (COP) approaching 3. The few existing U.S. models have achieved only a modest COP 2, so the ECO-CUTE squeezes 50% more hot water out of each kWh consumed. Second, the ECO-CUTE uses CFC-free CO2 as the refrigerant. Thus the ECO-CUTE is doubly green, by combining efficiency and zero CFCs. Is there a downside? You bet; these suckers are expensive, at over $6,000 in Japan.
How do Japanese consumers justify buying a million of these expensive products? The answer is a useful lesson in economics and culture. First, Japanese homes use lots of hot water—more, in fact, than most American homes. Nearly all of it goes to the famous Japanese baths. Second, the ECO-CUTE can also provide hot water to an in-floor heating system, which fits in particularly well with the Japanese lifestyle. Third, the ECO-CUTE is designed to operate only at night and during periods when electricity is cheap. ECO-CUTE owners get a special tariff, which is far below the normally very high residential electricity rate (about 24¢/kWh). Thus the cost savings are substantial. Combine that with a $420 government subsidy to purchasers of ECO-CUTEs, and the payback time drops from centuries to under a decade.
The environment in the United States would appear to be less favorable to sales of the ECO-CUTE. But this could change quickly. For example, modest redesigns might lower the cost without sacrificing all of the efficiency advantage. And one of the new energy bills being contemplated in Congress could easily add a tax credit for heat pump water heaters. Suddenly, there’s another Prius in the basement.
Publ.Date : Sat, 8 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0600