Backyard accessory dwelling units (ADUs) such as this one by Portland, Oregon, builder Hammer & Hand, are part of the trend towards greater urban density. (PRNewsFoto/Earth Advantage Institute)

Earth Advantage Institute, a nonprofit green building resource that has certified more than 12,000 homes, announced its annual prediction of 10 green building trends to watch in 2012.

The trends, which range from a boom in certified multi-family construction to the advent of consumer friendly home energy technology, were identified by Earth Advantage Institute based on discussions with a broad range of audiences over the latter part of 2011. These sectors included policymakers, builders, developers, architects, real estate brokers, appraisers, lenders, and homeowners.

“While the economy has not been kind to most new home builders, we have seen a surging interest in home energy management and energy improvement among homeowners,” said Sean Penrith, executive director, Earth Advantage Institute. “Those builders and remodelers who have adopted a transparent green message have been quite successful.”

1. Urban density. Filling in the spaces is the name of the game as homeowners and builders opt to create more living space through the construction of accessory dwelling units (ADUs), laneway homes (bordering the back lane behind the main house), and build on infill lots. All this because the younger crowd and the empty nesters are opting to settle in the city where they can be closer to cultural activity, mass transit, more sustainable lifestyles, and other like-minded people.
2. Green multifamily homes. As a corollary to the urban density trend, Earth Advantage Institute has seen a large spike in Northwest multifamily building certifications this past year. The increased interest by building owners and operators in energy efficiency savings coupled with 2011′s 17% growth in multifamily homes (McGraw-Hill) means that we can expect to see a rise in certifications in this sector, especially in progressive regions.
3. Energy upgrades start to drive home remodels. Builders and remodelers who are plugged into changing consumer preferences (smaller homes, reduced energy bills) have been able to capitalize on energy upgrade work. They have moved into the energy audit and residential retrofit market by either expanding their service offerings or, in the case of large West Coast remodeler Neil Kelly, creating entirely new service groups. In the Northwest, demand has increased, leading to significant new energy improvement business for these firms. Remodelers see such work as a driver to help bring in more remodel leads.
4. Deployment and testing of new materials. Although architects and builders are eager to try new energy-saving materials and systems, these products require significant testing to ensure that the materials and benefits will last the life of the building and to avoid litigation. As a result, national labs and university research departments are partnering with builders to create test beds and sensor-filled buildings that log the energy performance of new materials and equipment. Portland State University‘s mechanical engineering department recently partnered with a local builder to measure the effects of phase change material used as insulation in a duplex passive house, while Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories is constructing a test bed that will track all performance aspects of new materials and equipment.
5. Consumer friendly home energy tracking devices. The introduction of the Apple-like Nest Learning Thermostat, and Belkin’s Conserve Insight energy use monitor that tracks energy use by appliance, are two of many sensor-based energy and water monitoring products for the home that are easy to use and help save money. Large electronics players like Fujitsu and Intel are also developing products, among others.
6. Energy education for commercial tenants. The growing adoption of commercial building energy disclosure (New York, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Seattle, Austin) has building owners/operators and utilities seeking effective ways to educate tenants on saving energy. Technology can only go so far in conserving energy without tenant participation.
7. Transparency in home marketing. The increasing use of smart devices by consumers to instantly access information at a home site means that buyers are much more informed and can see through any greenwashing claims. Those builders, remodelers, and real estate professionals who can clearly educate their clients about the benefits and features of energy efficient, green homes will be those who earn the buyers’ confidence.
8. More accurate appraisals. The old-school appraisal criteria based on a drive-by look at a home – view, approximate square footage – no longer holds. The ability for sellers and buyers to ask their banks for a green-certified appraiser (Certified Residential Green Appraiser) means that the lending community will buy into the idea of the additional value and return on investment offered by new certified homes and remodels.
9. Broader adoption of residential energy ratings for homes. Energy labeling systems are appearing in many states, offering a miles-per-gallon style estimate of a home’s energy consumption for homebuyers and homeowners. The Energy Performance Score and the Department of Energy’s own Home Energy Score have been rolled out in different climate zones across the U.S. to encourage homeowners to compare energy use and undertake energy upgrade work.
10. Smart grid-compatible high-performance homes. According to Smart Grid News, household appliances (heating and cooling systems, refrigerators, electronics, hair dryers) account for 60 to 90 percent of the residential electricity consumption in the U.S., depending on whose reports you read. Increasing numbers of those appliances are becoming “grid-aware” and are gaining the ability to monitor and report their own usage and to increase or decrease their electricity usage by remote command.

via 10 Green Building Predictions for 2012 from Earth Advantage Institute — PORTLAND, Ore., Jan. 17, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ –.

Blink charging stations at Seattle's Qwest Field (Photo courtesy ECOtality)

Seattle’s Qwest Field, home of the Seattle Seahawks football team, is now also home to the city’s first publicly available EV charging stations. This coming season, Seahawks fans can charge their EVs as they’re watching the games.

“The need to drive and the demand for driving is going to remain, but we need to give people more efficient options and better options for clean energy,” Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn said Thursday at the unveiling of the charging stations. “We’ll do all we can to make sure Seattle is eco-ready.”

“By the end of the year, more than 1,000 publicly available charging stations will be installed in Washington State, many of them in Seattle,” said Mayor McGinn.

Washington is one of six states participating in the public-private EV Project headed by ECOtotality, Inc. The company is in the process of installing 14,000 of its Blink charging stations nationwide.

Over the past few weeks, the company has begun to install Blink Pedestal chargers in commercial and publically accessible locations in Arizona, Oregon and Tennessee in addition to Seattle.

The Blink Pedestal is a Level 2 EV charger (240V) that features an interactive seven-inch color touch screen and web-based delivery via the Blink Network.

“Charging stations like the one at Qwest Field represent our first step toward a greener, cleaner transportation future,” said U.S. Congressman Jim McDermott, who represents Seattle. “In the not too distant future, federal investments in public-private projects like this will return immense rewards and really revolutionize the cars we drive and what fuels them.”

“It’s appropriate that some of the first charging stations in the nation are here in Seattle,” said McDermott. “We’re a city of innovation and have a track record of embracing the future.”

via Seattle Gets Its First Public Electric Vehicle Charging Stations.

Open Source Ecology is developing and testing the Global Village Construction Set, a set of tools to build replicable, open source, modern, off-grid resilient communities. By weaving open source permacultural and technological cycles together, we intend to provide basic human needs while being good stewards of the land, using resources sustainably, and pursuing right livelihood.

With the gift of openly shared information, we can produce industrial products locally using open source design and digital fabrication. This frees us from the need to participate in the wasteful resource flows of the larger economy by letting us produce our own materials and components for the technologies we use. We see small, independent, land-based economies as means to transform societies, address pressing world issues, and evolve to freedom.

via Open Source Ecology – Open Source Ecology.

“We got a couple ‘Oh my gosh’s,” said Bob Reynolds, county facilities manager.

One focus of the audit findings was the county’s Information Technology building.

“This is your most critical item,” said Gary Potratz, project director of McKinstry, a consulting, construction, energy and facility services company that did the audit. “This is the livelihood of your entire system. It is what makes your county work nowadays.”

Poor cooling technology in the IT building, where computers that serve the county are housed, has already resulted in a system failure in 2010, Reynolds said.

Potratz also said the air-control system in the jail should be a top priority for the county. The system is not only wasting energy, but also affecting the comfort of people in the jail building. Reynolds said the system is so outdated the county lost its contract with a mechanical contractor that repaired the system.

“They won’t work on the jail because it’s too old,” Reynolds said.

McKinstry was contracted by the state Department of General Administration Facilities Division. Whitman County commissioners signed an agreement with the state in September to begin an energy-saving process that has already benefitted many other public entities, including Washington State University.

For the past three months, McKinstry officials have been working with Reynolds and other county staff to observe county buildings in operation. Next, McKinstry will determine how much the county wants to spend on energy efficiency projects and how much it would like to save on its energy bills.

Officials will meet with McKinstry March 14 to discuss prices. McKinstry will not charge the county for its services until it designs a energy efficiency project that meets the county’s standards.

Several other state and local government agencies have been able to work on similar projects thanks to financial assistance from the state and incentives from utility companies like Avista Utilities. For agencies undertaking energy efficiency projects, the state has made low-interest loans available. Recent interest rates are 2.95 percent for 10-year loans.

In other business:

County bridge inspectors discovered 400-500 cracks in 50-year-old Babinski Bridge in Uniontown this winter that could affect its structural integrity.

“It’s (probably) the result of cold winter weather and heavy loads,” said Public Works Director Mark Storey. “It’s not really in danger of falling, but it is in danger of deteriorating really quickly.”

Though there are no real alternate routes for this heavily used road, Storey said he plans to limit loads on the bridge to 30 tons for part of 2011. It connects pieces of Uniontown East Road and is often used by commercial truckers traveling between Washington and Idaho. Storey predicted the restrictions will hurt business in the area, so public works crews will consider ways to replace or repair the bridge. Replacing it could cost $120,000 to $500,000.

An accounting firm continues to study a cash discrepancy between the county’s ledger and bank statements. For about five years, the county’s ledger has shown different numbers than bank statements. Commissioners said they plan to write off the difference by the end of February. The county’s cash balance could take up to a $200,000 hit.

via Energy audit shines a light on outdated technology in Whitman County.

This week representatives from 20 Pacific Northwest energy utilities gathered at the Efficiency Connections Northwest conference on the waterfront in Seattle. They came to hear from energy efficiency experts and each other about solutions to energy efficiency challenges here.

“This strong showing of Northwest utilities should help dramatically accelerate energy efficiency in our region,” said Claire Fulenwider, Executive Director at the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA), which organized the two-day conference.

Speaking about a pilot program in Seattle, Welhelm said,

“The program uses peer pressure by comparing a homeowner’s energy consumption with 100 of their neighbors.”

Dana Anderson of Avista Utilities in Spokane, WA, is trying to get a head start on behavior change. She runs programs designed to help young people learn lifelong energy conservation habits.

Avista’s character “Wattson the Energy Watchdog” is on track to reach 100,000 children through entertaining shows. Teenagers have entered more than 130 videos in the “Every Little Bit Video” contest promoted through Facebook. And Avista’s latest program, launched in October, uses a video fashioned after a reality TV show to reach college renters.

via Utilities Join Forces to Share Ideas about Energy Efficiency.

Mike was also a founding member of the SHITheads — the So Happy It’s Tuesday group — that meets about once a month to share food and wine and to talk about energy use in our homes and the various projects we have going to reduce our footprints. It’s in that spirit that Sharon and Dave Tharp have started a memorial fund and are seeking to find a way to create a memorial to Mike that embraces his passion for smart energy use. Here’s a letter from the Tharps; please contact me through this site if you want to help or make a donation.

Dear Friends of Mike Carlton,

Mike Carlton at Living in the Garden, 2009. Photo: Scott Thompson

Mike Carlton moved to Palouse, Washington in 1991 to work with the Pullman Police Department and established himself as a friend to everyone he met, not only as a police officer but as a community member.  After many years as a police officer and then working with United Nations in Africa, Mike became a bus driver in Palouse.  Mike helped many students start their day with a cheerful ride to school, drove students to school events and became their friend.

Mike also became a local energy guru.  He put up a wind turbine on his Rancho Paso de Viento and produces energy for our electrical grid system to benefit all of us.  Mike helped build wind turbines for others, and helped many families conserve energy in their homes and increase their energy efficiency through his energy audits. Mike used his trailer to help friends move, roofed their homes, installed energy efficient appliances and always had numerous projects on the drawing board to help friends.  Mike and the So Happy Its Tuesday group, which Mike named, helped Dave and Sharon Tharp put up the first solar panels in Palouse.

Among friends, Mike often mentioned that although he was making the least money he ever had, he was the happiest he had ever been.  Because of Mike’s commitment to renewable energy and to his family of friends, we hope to establish a permanent memorial in Mike Carton’s name, dedicated to his ideals, dreams and hopes for promoting renewable energy from the wind and sun.

Through initial discussions with the Palouse Community Center Board of Directors and Design West, the architects for the new Community Center in Palouse, it is feasible to put solar panels on the roof of the future Palouse Community Center to generate renewable power and reduce their future electrical costs.  We would like to generate donations on Mike’s behalf for solar panels and leave a legacy that Mike can look down and say “thanks guys.”

Mike Carlton touched everyone’s life in some way in many communities and we are hoping to generate $20,000 in donations to build a legacy for Mike.  This is equivalent to asking for $100 from 200 people.  Or, Mike’s friends might want to buy a solar panel or two as a donation from an organization on Mike’s behalf.  We will be recognizing donations on a plaque in the new Community Center that will let visitors know that electricity is being generated from solar panels on the roof and leave a legacy for  Mike Carlton and a memory of a great person for all of us.

If you or a organization would be interested in contributing to this endeavor, please contact us.  At this time we are trying to determine how we can make donations to the Palouse Community Center that will go directly to this project via a bank account on Mike’s behalf.  As soon as we can we will let people know, but I am hoping friends of Mike might want to start thinking about this and saving their money! so we can put this together. Please forward this email to others who might want to partipate in developing this legacy for Mike. We all miss Mike, immensely.

Sharon and Dave Tharp

…the temperature of the Earth beneath the state of West Virginia is significantly higher than previously estimated and capable of supporting commercial baseload geothermal energy production.

The SMU Geothermal Laboratory has increased its estimate of West Virginia’s geothermal generation potential to 18,890 megawatts (assuming a conservative 2% thermal recovery rate). The new estimate represents a 75 percent increase over estimates in MIT’s 2006 “The Future of Geothermal Energy” report and exceeds the state’s total current generating capacity, primarily coal based, of 16,350 megawatts.

The high temperature zones beneath West Virginia revealed by the new mapping are concentrated in the eastern portion of the state. Starting at depths of 4.5 km (greater than 15,000 feet), temperatures reach over 150°C (300°F), which is hot enough for commercial geothermal power production.

Traditionally, commercial geothermal energy production has depended on high temperatures in existing subsurface reservoirs to produce electricity, requiring unique geological conditions found almost exclusively in tectonically active regions of the world, such as the western United States. Newer technologies and drilling methods can be used to develop resources in wider ranges of geologic conditions.

The Science News piece continues with a discussion of new technologies that might be tried on a commercial scale in West Virginia.

via Geothermal mapping project reveals large, green energy source in West Virginia.

A summary of the SMU Geothermal Laboratory report is available online (http://smu.edu/smunews/geothermal/documents/west-virginia-temperatures.asp).

the nation’s building stock plays a bigger role in energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions than many Americans might realize — accounting for as much as 40 percent of primary energy use, 70 percent of electricity consumption and nearly 40 percent of carbon-dioxide emissions.

Why? Well, one reason, according to Laura Briggs, a professor of architecture, interior design and lighting at Parsons the New School for Design, is that for most of the 20th century, the architecture and design world has remained quite separate from engineering.

“The main hurdle to seeing more energy-efficient building is a lack of knowledge,” she said in an interview last summer. “We’ve done a really bad job as educators in linking building sciences with architectural aesthetics.”

via When Green Building Is Not Green Enough – NYTimes.com.

observed that while it is already possible to generate significant amounts of power from conventional silicon-based solar panels, the cost makes it impractical on a large scale. The WWU researchers believe they can change that.

The new system they envision will rely on plastic polymers containing special dyes that capture solar energy for transport to silicon chips that turn it into electricity.

While conventional silicon solar panels collect energy only from the red portion of the sunlight spectrum, the new approach uses the entire spectrum, which enables it to convert more sunlight into electric power.

The new approach also would be much more effective on cloudy days, creating more potential for solar power in places like Western Washington.

“It’s a local solution to a local problem,” said team member John Gilbertson, assistant professor of chemistry.

David Patrick, professor of chemistry and director of the research center, called the new approach “a chemical lens to capture the light.”

via WWU researchers say they could dramatically cut cost of solar power

In a short, funny, data-packed talk at TED U, Catherine Mohr walks through all the geeky decisions she made when building a green new house — looking at real energy numbers, not hype. What choices matter most? Not the ones you think.

via TED Blog: Building green: Catherine Mohr on TED.com.