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    21st Century Ideas: Green facilities

    Ideas for clean energy green facility

    Started by: Collette68 Raves:10

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    We want to make our new facility to run green by the year 2018. Construction will begin in 2013. What do we need to do to introduce wind and solar energy and what are the pros and cons for this source of clean energy.

    I would expect that you are already thinking of rooftop gardens, the use of upcycled materials and building materials to reduce the consumption footprint. For your case, it is important to consider where you are in the world, so as to determine whether or not solar and wind energy are really suitable for your location. Besides solar and wind energy, you might also want to consider how you can reduce the footprint of the building altogether, in managing waste and refuse and such, rather than focus solely on solar and wind energy. In addition, you might also want to think using solar-based ventilation systems instead of A/C or heating systems. All of these might suggest your energy consumption footprint.

    Is geothermal an option? Green roofing is a good start, as are intelligent materials to automatically control temperature. Are you able to provide more information?

    expanding on the roof gardens idea - has anyone tried making entire garden homes(floors,walls and roof)? I am really interested in the feasibility of the idea.

    Make sure you are collecting rainwater for non-drinking water uses. Reducing the energy your building uses is a big step on making your building cleaner. Try and get as much natural light into the building as possible, as this raises the morale of the people using the building, as well as just offering good lighting. The rest of the lighting can be smart lighting, based on sensors that gradually turn on the lights as the sun goes down. If you have decent wind in the area, see if natural ventilation of your building can augment the mechanical ventilation you will install. Even planting trees in strategic locations can help control your energy use by shading the building, keeping air conditioning and heating costs low.

    Entire garden homes sounds like what we are working toward in our earthship com. It is slow going, but finding the right vegetation for the climate as well as to naturally grow on walls etc is the key.

    Facility is about as specific as Mammal. What Type of Facility is it? Doodling arround on your SEHI Profile says Museum? Ok Lets Try That. . Museaums do two things (Please correct me If I\\\'m wrong) They are Archives of the Past and Educational Tools for Sharing those Archives in an engaging way. I suggest that, as you live in a geologically stable area, the entire museum be put underground. This gives you automatic geothermal, If there\\\'s a park or farm overhead you have a green roof and more public green spaces, I admit lighting could be energy intensive but nothing that lots of locations don\\\'t already deal with, add in a few pressure doors, and means that in case of emergency your facility will just sit there Storing the knowledge within for another day.

    We are a museum that houses historical artifacts that include paper, textiles including leather and silk (fragile to the light and environment) and other sensitive materials so we would want our building to be able to protect these artifacts as well as be energy efficient (green) so some of these suggestions would work well for our global footprint. We are located on top of a mountain with an elevation of 73,000 + feet and the current building is built partially on the side of the mt. and we frequently have problems with leaks in the building. Natural light may not be the best for our artifacts as the UV will damage most. We get a lot of wind so that could be a way to go for power to the building. Good ideas. Will have to think about a rooftop garden, what benefits does this have?

    I've been a big fan of underground living all my life. This is another area to look into depending on the environment you find yourself in.

    the benefits of a rooftop garden, or even just rooftop plantings are layered. First off, it gives you some thermal protection and it reduces heating and cooling costs, second it cheaper. Look at how cradle 2 cradle did up the GM rooftop. Within five days there were birds nesting on the rooftop covered in local infigenous grasses. I agree that going semi-underground is also a good idea. That way you can bring in some natural light for communal areas and for entrances, and keep the collection out of the damaging influences. YOu can also use fiber optics for your indoor lighting that have a UV lighting filter on the harness feeding the light to the optics. First off look into Pattern Language and design for humanity.




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