Summing up a Green position on SSPS

A related link on Healthy Houses which are mostly self sufficient or at
least use very little resources compared to the average -- a spinoff I
think from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC's) Healthy
House effforts:
http://www.economad.com/
http://www.oceta.on.ca/profiles/economad/economad_tech.html

I think this unit is supposed to be priced around $15K - $25K (from a
PDF file I saw elsewhere). Essentially it uses a diesel generator for
cogeneration of power and heat, and also includes a wind tubine, PV
panel, Solar hot water panel, and water treatment systems.

This is the kind of thing that SSPS has to compete with long term. Any
plan for SSPS development which does not take these building and
rennovation trends into account will be problematical.

"The Eco-Nomad provides combined utility services to off-grid buildings
used for a variety of residential, commercial, and industrial
applications. Examples include rural and remote residences / cottages,
co-housing / multi-unit developments, remote tourism / commercial
facilities, temporary mining and logging camps, army deployment,
disaster relief, remote airports, and weather stations. Designed for
extreme winter weather operation, the Eco-Nomad is well suited to
applications in circumpolar countries. Installation of the
pre-fabricated and factory tested Eco-Nomad is virtually non-intrusive,
making it ideal for developments on permafrost, bedrock surfaces, or in
environmentally sensitive areas. Developing countries can avoid the high
costs of new infrastructure with an Eco-Nomad designed for the local
environment. Figure 2 shows integration of the Eco-Nomad into a
single-family residential dwelling. Canada Mortgage and Housing
Corporation (CMHC) and the National Research Council (NRC-IRAP) are
providing support for the development, pre-commercialization, and
in-situ testing of the unit. CMHC is integrating the Eco-Nomad into the
development and construction of the Northern Healthy House in the Eagle
Lake First Nations community near Dryden, Ontario. Architectural &
Community Planning is also developing retrofit applications, where the
self-contained unit operates outside of the existing building structure.
Multi-residential, commercial, and industrial applications are under
development for capacities of both 6-8 and 20 users per day.

The Eco-Nomad can be put on line temporarily or permanently as it is
reliant upon neither a specific dwelling nor a specific site location.
In standard configuration, the utility container houses a minimum of
nine distinct mechanical systems that can operate independently, but
operate more efficiently when integrated. The core of the Eco-Nomad
concept is the efficient use and system integration of a micro
co-generation engine used to generate electricity and heat for use in
space heating and/or domestic hot water applications. The micro
co-generation engine provides the base load of electricity, while solar
PV panels and / or a wind generator are used in a supplemental manner. A
power centre and battery banks are additional components of the
electricity system. The heat produced by the internal combustion engine
is captured through a series of heat exchangers; supplemental heat is
generated by means of solar collectors. Heat is stored in the hot water
tanks, providing domestic hot water and space heating. A radiant, in
floor heating system is preferred but for retrofit applications, a
forced air heating system can be adapted. Water for potable uses can be
sourced site specifically from groundwater, lake water, rain water, or
trucked supplies. Stored in an insulated tank located in the Eco-Nomad
subfloor, it is treated using a sand filtration system and either
iodinated resin, UV, or membrane technology. A modified septic tank in
conjunction with the Waterloo Biofilter system provides primary and
secondary wastewater treatment respectively. Recycled, clear,
non-potable water is then re-circulated for use in the toilet and
washing machine, reducing net water consumption by up to 30% and
reducing effluent treatment accordingly. Table 1 summarizes the
mechanical sub-components used for single-family / multi-residential
housing structures and small commercial / industrial applications. For
optimized operation of the equipment the R2000 insulation standard is
preferred, especially in cold climate locations. Troubleshooting is
handled through the remote monitoring system. Standard, factory
construction of the container assures quality and uniformity, while the
design allows site specific upgrades and/or modifications. An
interactive CD ROM based Operation and Service Manual for the Eco-Nomad
is under development."

Granted, it still uses some diesel fuel. Although some of that can come
from biomass. (And maybe some from SSPS derived hydrogen. :-) Or
centralized PV carbon sequestering oil producing farms. It obviously
doesn't have quite the same level of energy independence as the Toronto
Healthy house -- but it does have the advantage of modularity and
retrofitability and adresses some maintenance issues. Less integrated
systems using just PV and generators are things like Sunwize's Power
Station:
http://www.sunwize.com/products/pwrsta.html

Other links on Canadian housing:
http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/homadoin/excaprex/cahoex/cahoex_001.cfm
"In Canada, where the temperature can range from +35C in the summer to
-40C in the winter, Canadian builders have learned to build homes that
can withstand extreme weather conditions. That's why Canadian-built
homes are in demand around the globe. Cool in the summer, warm in the
winter, Canadian homes are comfortable and energy-efficient all year
round. In fact, the high quality of our housing is one of the reasons
the United Nations ranks Canada as the best place in the world in which
to live. Our national building code is one of the strictest in the world
and we've learned to build a wide range of housing to this
standard-everything from high rise apartments to single family homes.
We're experienced in a variety of building techniques, including wood
and steel frame, and masonry."

A Healthy House renovation planner:
http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/burema/repi/hehorepl/hehorepl_002.cfm
(Two chapters online for free -- looks like a fee based booklet.)

So, looks like the US is falling behind in yet another area of
technology... Energy efficient buildings. (That Healthy House in Toronto
was built around 1996-1997.) Although there are US initiatives (The New
Alchemy Institute had some once upon a time when it was active) so that
may be too strong a statement. Some of these efforts are in the US:
http://www.umanitoba.ca/academic/faculties/architecture/la/sustainable/links.htm

Perhaps people in the US are simply afraid to talk about how obsolete US
building practices are in terms of precipitating another housing price
drop? Or is it just that (male) contractors think putting in proper
vapor barriers and insulation with attention to precise detail is
somehow not manly enough as much as just wackign 2X4s together? Is this
an area where other nations, without a huge investment in obsolete
infrastructure will leapfrog the USA, such as when a country like India
jumps directly to cell phones instead of land lines? Does the USA (or at
least its ruling Powers) have just too much invested in old technologies
and old ways of thinking to make a move forward to something better
anytime soon? Yet, it is true SSPS fits better into this older mental
paradigm (just pipe in more power collected far away and let it leak out
a drafty old house.)

In any case, this sort of technology is available now (although
sometimes upfront pricey, but sometimes not). People will shift to it,
in the US or elsewhere. Right now it is relatively quirky and expensive
and hard to understand -- like homebrew personal computers were twenty
five to thirty years ago. In twenty to thirty years from now, these
sorts of integrated local Healthy House energy systems may be the
dominant paradigm that SSPS needs to adapt to (if it can). This is the
same as like most people these days don't even notice there is a
powerful personal computer in a $199 PlayStation 2 way beyond what
homebrew PCs used. In thirty years, most people might not even notice
all the technology providing their local power from local PV etc. It
will just work. I'll admit there is some handwaving here when I refer to
the evolution of future technologies, but SSPS has its share too.

--Paul Fernhout