Renewables NB

Upon buying a new house the owners decided to replace the existing electric heaters with a more efficient Ground Source Heat Pump. They also added spray foam with an R value of 18 to the basement walls to reduce heat loss. A Heat Recovery Ventilator was also added to remove heat from stale air exiting the home and preheat the air entering the Ground Source Heat Pump. All of the above helps the home achieve an ENERguide rating of 88. The Ground Source Heat Pump provides space heating/cooling as well as domestic hot water heating for the 439 m² home. The heat is collected from 3 loops of coiled pipes that are 1.8 metres deep and 30.5 metres long, laid horizontally in a wet area. The loops are surrounded by water, which aids in transferring heat. One disadvantage with this system is that the air distribution system only has one zone. In order to cool the second floor of the house, the basement has to be cooled as well, which may not be required. Spray Foam (R18), Heat Recovery Ventilator was coupled to the Ground Source Heat Pump. In the future the owner would split the distribution system into two zones to prevent this.The system is now able to provide air conditioning in the summer, which was not available before.

Geothermal System

Closed Ground Loops System

After the first winter, the owners wanted to reduce their energy bills. The first winter cost them $4200 with an oil furnace. After the installation of the water source heat pump their heating bills dropped to $1100 a year, even after adding over a 305 square metres of living space and cooling in the summer. The owner was told that his well would have sufficient flow to meet the 18 litres per minute the heat pump needed. When the heat pump was first started it ran the well dry so they had to drill the well down another 9 metres (total depth of 49 metres) to have sufficient flow. People considering a water source heat pump should have their well tested FIRST to make sure it can supply enough water to meet the needs of the heat pump and domestic needs. After caulking and sealing the house they reduced the air leakage by 10% to achieve an Energuide rating of 78. With the help of EcoENERGY and EfficiencyNB, the owner received $4800 in grants and a $10,000 interest free loan to make the upgrades. The owner estimates the heat pump will pay for itself in 4 yearswhile providing a comfortable temperature year round.

Geothermal Installation

The owner wanted to reduce his dependency on grid electricity with a grid tied solar system, he also wanted to build his own tracking system so the photovoltaic system would always be facing the sun. Building the solar tracking system took over a year and a half and hundreds of hours of researching, but saved thousand of dollars in the process. The solar tracker uses sensors and motors to ensure the array is always pointing at the sun, which increases the output. The owner is looking for a heavy duty motor to rotate the array.

He is using 10 – 205Watt Kyocera panels that total just over 2000Watt, the photovoltaic panels are tied to a 4,000W Solectra grid tie inverter. The array produces at most 20 KWh daily. The inverter automatically shuts off when the main electrical grid is down so that workers can safely repair the electrical grid.The owner plans to add another 10 photovoltaic panels to increase his energy production.

Solar Panels

Backview

This family lived off-grid for a number of years, relying on batteries and a generator for your electricity, and learning how to conserve it. It was found that this was fairly high maintenance, and as the home owner was aging, it was decided to get grid electricity to help meet some of the lighting, appliance, and computer/internet needs.

Read more…

This 1200 square foot, two bedroom home was built with energy efficiency in mind. The owner constructed the home within the specifications of R-2000, which was difficult because local contractors were unfamiliar with this at the time of construction (1984). The home was very air tight and well insulated. It was built 4 feet into the ground, so as to keep cool in the summer and warm in the winter (though it has higher humidity as a result) – the owners find it very comfortable to live in. Read more…

This apartment owner has decided that ground source heat pumps (GSHP) are an excellent investment, and the right environmental choice for lowering emissions. Since GSHPs work best in larger structures, such as this 26 unit, 22,000 ft² (2044 m²) apartment complex, this building is ideally suited for such a system. Also, combined with the fact that this GSHP also integrates solar hot water (SHW), the system is very cost effective as a result, and easily meets all of the building’s heating and cooling needs throughout the year. Read more…

An R-2000 home! This self-installed solar hot water system (using propylene glycol) provides both domestic hot water and space heating through an in-floor heating system in the garage and house. The owner had originally considered installing oil to provide this heat, however, after looking at installation costs and the ongoing rising cost of oil, solar thermal was considered instead. They are very happy with their choice to go solar. Read more…

This newer home was built next to their family farm, and is set into a south facing hill. The owners took advantage of this feature to include passive solar design elements, such as large windows on the south side of the home, and with large overhangs to provide shade during the summer. The north wall of the basement is buried by the hill, and the south-facing walk-out basement leads into the yard. The family finds this home very comfortable and efficient. Read more…

Mount Carleton Provincial Park has relied upon propane and diesel fuel to provide power to its facility, as it is too far from the electricity grid. However, in recent years, the price of these fuels has been steadily rising, leading to increasing costs for the park. As a way to simultaneously reduce long-term energy costs and meet environmental sustainability goals, the Park has decided to invest in solar energy. Read more…

This new, passive solar home is built with a South-Southwest orientation, which is best for collecting heat and light from the sun. This home has large, efficient windows (double pane, low e) gathering heat all day, which is trapped by this highly efficient house (lots of insulation and tight building envelope). This makes the home very comfortable, with it being hot inside on days of – 30 °C or lower. On cold days with no sun, a wood pellet stove provides backup heating. Read more…

This car wash uses a large volume of hot water for serving roughly 20,000 vehicles per year. This large solar thermal system was installed to aid in the production of hot water, and to offset the primary heating source – an oil furnace. Read more…

Solar evacuated tubes

This was one of the first systems installed by Sunwave. It was originally installed to provide water and space heating. However, it produced all of its heat in the summer, when the space heat wasn’t needed. The system was oversized for the users, leading to ongoing problems with overheating, etc. Several components of the original system were not appropriate, such as a water tank that was not CSA approved. Read more…

Flat plate solar hot water collectors

This solar hot water system, likely the largest such installation in the province and perhaps the oldest, was installed in the early 1980’s as a result of government incentives to help with high energy costs at that time. Because of the age of the system, record keeping, and a change in management, much of the information relating to installer, costs, etc. have been lost. Read more…

3.5 kW Raum Energy wind turbine

This is the second such turbine installed in Canada. The turbine is intended to be near zero maintenance by using the latest technologies (gearless, brushless, permanent magnet), so as to be easy to operate. Read more…

Wood Stove

This Pioneer stove, equipped with the capability for hot water heating, provides all of the family’s cooking and space heating needs (including in-floor heating), and most of the hot water needs. Read more…

Wood stove for heating water

This stove, equipped with the ability to heat water, was installed when the house was constructed in 1980, and has worked great ever since.

It is used for all cooking and space heating, and most of the water heating. It has proven to be reliable, very comfortable, and reduces electricity use. Read more…

• This is a net-metered house. It is a new construction, begun in 2008.
• The owner is also considering solar energy addition in the future.
• The house was rated 85 during the energy efficiency test.
• Propane is used to heat water.
• The owners also use energy star appliances and put insulated concrete form (ICF) for all exterior walls (10 inches, 2 inches of Styrofoam on both sides of 8 inches of concrete). Read more…

Wind Turbine

This net-metered house takes advantage of a good wind site, high above the river valley. It is newly-constructed, begun in 2008.

Its 2.4 kW Skystream wind turbine was installed by Grun-Sol Technologies Ltd. Read more…

This system was installed to help offset the large amount of hot water that is used in this apartment and office building, which is currently heated by an oil furnace.

Three 60 gallon tanks were attached to the 9 banks of Sunrain Evacuated Tubes (for a total of 180 tubes). Read more…

Solar panels

The Centre utilizes many forms of solar energy. The main PV systems are: 520W Shell Solar, 450W and 200W ARCO solar systems. The 520W Shell Solar system is part of a net metered system, the first in New Brunswick, which helps offset the Centre’s electricity use. Read more…

The Centre has three turbines, a 400W Air X turbine, a 450W NPP Sprite, and a 3 kW Whisper 175. The 3 kW turbine is part of a net metered system, the first in New Brunswick, which helps offset the Centre’s electricity use. Most of these systems were installed by staff at Falls Brook or as part of a demonstration/workshop. Read more…