EnviroLink Forum

I was just looking at a new book specifically on zero energy houses (that term was part of it's title). The preamble was interesting but never said anything new to me. What I really wanted was a whole book on specific topics only mentioned in one paragraph or not at all. Some of my favorite solutions to extreme efficiency were not even mentioned. Instead, the discussion was primarily better uses of fuel and electricity for a "net-zero" energy home (makes more electricity then the energy it uses and sells it to the grid to balance out to not be using more energy then it makes). If I want a book on true zero energy homes (no utilities, no fuels), looks like I need to write my own. One example of a complete loss of an important topic was radiant heating. Radiant heating results in lowered costs of heating by a factor of 2 in many situations (especially in well-insulated buildings)... not even mentioned. Solar thermal heat... only mentioned for hot water production and then only a few sentences... no mention of choices of transfer fluids. Absolutely no mention of batteries as the author assumed everyone is grid-tied. Air-to-air heat exchangers was given a few sentences and even cast doubts as to it's usefulness... for me it accounts for close to half the energy savings narrowly beating insulation and totally eclipsing all other aspects. I have taken the courses for certification as a Canadian heating system designer and took their formulas and recommended methods to the extreme of not needing a furnace and the numbers show that a better heat exchanger and thick enough insulation can eliminate a furnace... or pull back slightly and a thermal solar system with radiant heat (and in the walls) will result in substantial cost savings.

Got to write that book right away as it is needed badly.

From what I have read of your education, you have come quite a ways. I'm with Illinois Renewable Energy Association and we had on display the 1 watt house. It's only suppost to loose 1 watt/M*2 I assume per hour. The walls were one foot thick with foam insulation. There is one guy in the area I know of and he may be more of a hobbyist. His profession is designing and marketing his company's LED lighting. The passive house is the house of the future and is needed to accelerate now.

If this crosses a line that looks like spamming let me know and I will be happy to delete my post.

You are good.

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“Intellect is invisible to the man who has none”
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"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits."
Albert Einstein

yeah, my education is 90% interest and reading, 5% HVAC and heat pump workshop courses, and 5% post secondary in industrial instrumentation (mostly control systems for the energy industry) and a few university courses (mostly chemistry is the only stuff I revisit)It is actually one of the three minimum requirements of a PassivHaus certified building. Specifically it is the average flow of heat through the walls, roof, and foundation over the year over the surface area of the house (walls, roof, and foundation). (note I corrected your words from 1 watt/m*2... it is listed as 10 watt/m^2 which is close to the 1 watt/ft^2). The rest of the heat/cool losses are air leaks so the other two requirements for PassiveHaus design are 15kW hrs / m^2 per year total heating and cooling energy use (the area in this is livable floor space) and a different total energy use (includes appliances, electronics and lighting). "1 watt house" sounds more impressive then saying "PassivHaus certified".

Edit: I found a document for "1-watt house" standards and they do have a total energy requirement too (10 kWhr / ft^2 per year) but note that is more then 7 times as much as PassivHaus's 15 kWhr/ m^2 per year. Also note that 1 W/ft^2 = 10.76 W/m^2 so it is slightly laxer their too http://www.affordablecomfort.org/images/Events/22/Courses/844/MAM17_Spiegel_sec.pdf

PassivHaus saves about 85% over a new building-code-compliant building but I want to go further and cover the last 15% with better heat exchangers (heat-recovery ventilation units) and even more air-tightness. Less window area and active solar can also make the house go beyond the 1-watt house. The reason why I want to go this far is to get zero-energy house retrofits possible. Very few homes in cities have the options of passive solar (unshaded south facing windows and high thermal mass) so retrofits have to assume only the roof will get any decent sunlight... the windows are just for daylighting to reduce electric lighting needs (and building codes). Why go zero? I am an anarchist with a mission to legally pay close to zero taxes. No expenses like food and utilities mean people can work less (less income tax) and spend less (less sales tax). Making communities without distributed utilities will be the next step to reduce land taxes.

Is it about the government, industry, severe case of independence?

It started with a need as part of a religious group. First they (government organizations) tried to shut down our private school system... my dad won the case without a lawyer by using the Canadian charter of rights on freedom of speech. Then we tried to build a cabin in the middle of nowhere where we had no wind or solar (tall trees), no electricity (closest lines were 50 miles away), and no geothermal or well (bedrock only a few feet down) and all the forest was government land so no harvesting allowed. It was at this point that I realized the strategies I am still convinced are the best options for financial reasons: small, max insulation/air-tightness, shaped close to a sphere (cube is close enough), minimal windows (just for daylighting), and fuel burning done outside the building or with it's own forced air supply. It was at this time that I thought "what kind of government would GOD want humans to have?". Moses developed the rules for a form of anarchy that worked to a degree until they went with kings like everybody else. It was still never implemented as it was described. A few changes and I can see it working quite fine in our modern society as long as governments are forced to use the design strategy that they have no option of taxes. With proper rules, all social agencies can be funded by those who will (or have) gained benefits from such social agencies. Since then I have looked at every issue with governments and found anarchist ways of making them happen without the use of taxes. I also think all leaders must be paid at the rate of the average wage of those they rule. Having the right to form laws should be payment enough. Bureaucrat and leader wages should be paid for in fees for government services by businesses. Half of our current government is tax stuff so this eliminates much of government and wording the laws correctly can have most of the rest industry-administered or by non-profit organizations. Freedom in all it's forms needs to be the highest goal with security being way down the list instead of the other way around. Now I want to make films with animals and there is an unbelievable amount of red tape involved. With this constant head-banging with stupid laws and governments who have no clue except how to increase taxes... I am fighting now for the freedom of EVERYBODY. The consumer-based society we are in is a form of slavery too... we have to work to pay our bills (which are half taxes when we add everything up). Being independent allows me to make my films without getting funding (at least not for the creative parts in animated films). Making instructional materials to help others become independent too becomes almost a religious thing for me. Doing so for 3rd world countries will do far more good then all the money in the world could do. Helping domestic and wild animals to have better lives is an added benefit.