EnviroLink Forum

I was stunned to see that it is a bureaucratic and expense nightmare to go green in building in so many places. I would think carbon neutral buildings would be welcome everywhere, and needed to reduce HGHGs 90% by 2020. My own county is slightly on the red side but marked white. The amount of red in CA was incredible.
http://earthship.com/pockets-of-freedom ... dium=email

Correlate that with the plant hardiness zone map and the renewable power potential.
http://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/
http://www.nrel.gov/gis/wind.html
the other ones, solar, geothermal, and hydro are on the left.

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"With every decision, think seven generations ahead of the consequences of your actions" Ute rule of life.
“We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children”― Chief Seattle
“Those Who Have the Privilege to Know Have the Duty to Act”…Albert Einstein

Here is a map Ann Vole will be interested in.
http://www.nrel.gov/gis/images/geotherm ... -final.jpg

Yes, it is for deep, expensive holes to get the heat.

_________________
"With every decision, think seven generations ahead of the consequences of your actions" Ute rule of life.
“We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children”― Chief Seattle
“Those Who Have the Privilege to Know Have the Duty to Act”…Albert Einstein

The wind map it limited, too.
http://www.nrel.gov/gis/images/30m_US_Wind.jpg
But there is a lot of yellow to red solar potential, and cheaper power, on this map;
http://www.nrel.gov/gis/images/map_pv_n ... lo-res.jpg
over lay it on this map, and avoid the red areas on the counties map. Remember, there is an email to write if your county is green or red. Interesting talk by my friend Mike Reynolds.
http://earthship.com/pockets-of-freedom ... dium=email
In the USA the tests to be an inspector are hard to get and you must have a certain number of years in construction and only can work for the city, or county as an inspector, not free lance.

_________________
"With every decision, think seven generations ahead of the consequences of your actions" Ute rule of life.
“We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children”― Chief Seattle
“Those Who Have the Privilege to Know Have the Duty to Act”…Albert Einstein

Ann, do you know of similar maps for Canada?? Solar, geothermal, and wind, as well as a district by district ease of going green type map?

_________________
"With every decision, think seven generations ahead of the consequences of your actions" Ute rule of life.
“We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children”― Chief Seattle
“Those Who Have the Privilege to Know Have the Duty to Act”…Albert Einstein

Also note that there are two different technologies that use the term "geothermal" and they should not be confused. Someone adding a "geothermal heat pump" to their house is only extracting heat in the top 20 feet (horizontal) or top 200 feet (vertical) of the earth to be used for heating their house (or cooling). The "geothermal" of the maps you used are going down a mile or two for getting to rock that is 150 C (about 300 F). That kind of geothermal is where you create steam and run a turbine to create a few megawatts to add to the grid and power thousands of homes.