Renewables NB

NBCC-Bathurst, Active Solar, Combined System, Geothermal & Wind (to be installed)

admin — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 15:24:27 +0000

The design has incorporated alternative energy sources principally using geothermal heating and cooling with the addition of solar PV, solar thermal collectors and wind turbines with opportunities to learn of these technologies. Of note the wind turbine has yet to be installed and the full array of solar panels is not yet complete. The main story here is the innovation and diversity of energy and energy demonstration projects for purposes of education as well as energy efficiency. This is illustrated in a variety of lighting methods in classrooms with real time energy monitoring to assess comparative energy requirements. Lighting quality for learning is another factor considered. A “cut-away” section of concrete in the building trades section shows (through a plexi-glass panel) the in-floor circuit of glycol lines delivering geothermal heat from 20 wells at 400 ft. depth. Training in solar PV, solar thermal collectors and wind turbines is to be developed in the trades’ curriculum. Each of the trades will have opportunity to benefit from these applied technologies as they work with and around them at their college. 100 more students & plus expansion wing for training in the trades, (i.e. electrical, plumbing, pipe fitting, construction)

Solar PV Array

Geothermal

Utility Room

Woodstock, Ground Source Heat Pump

admin — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 14:46:12 +0000

The owner has Asthma and finds the air quality very good thanks to the efficient Heat Recovery Ventilator, airtight construction, and the Ground Source Heat Pump. R-2000 insulation, insulated concrete forms, and advanced framing allow for more insulation (R-30 value). The home is certified R-2000 and the owner claims the extra costs paid for themselves in 6-7 years and has achieved an Energuide rating of 86. The 16-year-old heat pump was recently replaced. The new heat pump cost $13,000 and he should receive $3250 in grants from Efficiency New Brunswick and the former Federal ecoENERGY program. Their power bills are never over $300 a month, including home, domestic water, pool heating and all appliances. They are considering installing a solar hot water heater to cut down on power bills and reduce emissions.

4.5 Ton Bosch Ground Source Heat Pump

Woodstock, Crossfire Masonry Heater

admin — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 14:37:24 +0000

The owner built the fireplace around an existing home; he says it would have been much easier to build the house around the fireplace. The owner went from 5 cords of hardwood to burning 2 cords of soft wood and scraps, but an addition to the house was also completed during the same time period. Because the heat lasts for so long, less time/labour is spent filling the fireplace with wood. The owner decided that a masonry heater would best suit his needs, after looking at several different types they decided on the Crossfire 2100 pound insert (Model number CF-2100-BO). A concrete pad was poured in the basement to carry the load of the fireplace; the insert was then covered with 5 tonnes of local Granite. The insert can be covered with any masonry material from adobe brick and to river rock. A cold air intake was added so that the fireplace was not drawing air into the home through openings. One firing will provide heat for around 10-12 hours and the insert’s efficiency is 75% or greater. The owner also went with the optional bake oven that is used as a slow cooker.

Crossfire Masonry Heater

Bathurst Chaleur Regional Hospital (Biomass Combined with Oil)

admin — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 13:46:26 +0000

One large boiler will soon be on line to produce 98% of the annual hospital energy needs (including heating and cooling) using biomass as the energy source. The boiler will produce steam for the production of electricity. On normal months it is expected there will be a small net surplus of power that, through net metering, can be returned to the grid. This will result in virtually a self-sustaining facility at a much-reduced cost. This boiler replaces three older boilers. An oil-fired boiler can be used as a backup during a shutdown for maintenance and cleaning.

Innovative funding for this costly project has much to do with this success story. Funding has been arranged through the Chaleur Regional Hospital Foundation. The Foundation is funding the project with the stipulation that a % of the energy saving costs (i.e. the difference between the cost of biomass and the oil) are returned to the foundation until the project costs are covered. More specifics of the financial deal are not available until the Memorandum of Agreement is signed. The Hospital continues to benefit as these funds are dedicated “to help finance initiatives proposed by the Chaleur Regional Hospital..” (The Acadie-Bathurst Health Authority web site). For reasons not understood by our contacts other hospitals seem unwilling to try this funding strategy.

Roy Consultants have provided much of the technical advice related to this project.

Biomass used at 64 tons wood residue (mostly chips) per day or 20,000 to 30,000 tons per year.

Augers & Wood Chips

Conveyors of Sawdust

Furnace

Passive Solar, Heath Steele

admin — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 18:05:21 +0000

This is a retirement home on the NW Miramichi that the couple spent decades on designing and refining. The building is supper insulated, the bermed side walls (on 3 sides) calculated to have R52. Passive solar design reduces the cost of heating and four-foot overhang reduces problems with overheating in summer. The home has 4 zones served by infloor circuits with glycol, the mixed dark and light tiles purposefully for heat absorption (dark) and reflecting light (white) to balance heat and light absorption. The building is 72’x36’ and designed to allow light to reach the back rooms throughout during winter days. No negative side except in finding contractors with the courage to work the unconventional. The owners recommend paying attention to the contractors because of the unusual installation. Generally they found their home to be very comfortable and cost effective despite relatively high cost of propane (used rarely to supplement) for both heating and cooking. Air conditioning is installed but is rarely used.

Note both dark and light floor.

Homeowner on front (south) showing extensive glass with many windows.

Side and back (east and north) showing extent of berm

Cultural and Sport Centre, Cormier Village (Ecoparc)

admin — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 17:01:50 +0000

The Ecoparc includes a nine- acre Acadian forest woodlot along the Kouchibouguac(Kagibougouet) River. In partnership with Vision H2O and with the assistance of a Roland Chiasson, a biologist a naturalist, educational trails have been established.

Plans call for a minimum two- acre sustainable landscaped and demonstration area.

Included will be an organic vegetable garden, native plant and shrubs, sustainable water management demonstration to mention a few of our plans.

This project has been two years in the planning. The residents in Cormier Village have been consulted in depth as well as many consultants in energy efficient construction and representatives of the other communities in our area.

The community centre will be like no other that exists. The building will be the centrepiece of a 12-acre Ecoparc aimed at providing recreational and learning opportunities for residents of Cormier Village, surrounding communities, the Province of New Brunswick and beyond. The long term aim of our new community centre is to provide a centre for community activities while creating the basis for learning how to cope with the many environmental issues that face us, energy conservation, water management, the development of practical energy alternatives, and the general care and improvement of our local environment.

This nature centre is a 7,000 square-foot (650 metres squared) building with a passive solar design with most windows (double pane low-argon) facing south. The walls of the building are made of an insulated concrete with high R-values and a high thermal mass. The floor is a 4-inch (10 cm) floor slab and the ceiling is of a R-60 insulation. The ground-source heat pumps and the evacuated tubes use a 100-gallon hot tank and an auxiliary tank. Floors are heated with hydronic (water circulation) radiant floor slab heating and cooling divided into 7 zones. Eight 1.5-ton wall-mounted fan-coil units are used for heating and cooling. A two panel SolarSheet solar air heated is regulated by a fan motor and thermostat using electrify from a photo-voltaic panel. The building uses Energy efficient fluorescent lighting and energy efficient, dimmable LED pot lights.

A REHAU energy monitoring and management system is used to determine what energy source would be most effective at any given time.

Ecoparc Community Centre Front Entrance

Beginning of Trails

Solar Hot Water Collectors

Solar Wall from the Outside

Solar Wall, from the Inside

Interieur

Geothermal

Biomass – Port Elgin

admin — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 14:06:02 +0000

The owner decided to install this type of stove instead of a wood stove because the wood pellets were made from wood industry by-products. However the pellets she purchases now are made from whole trees. In comparison to a wood stove, the pellets appear to be dustier. And the pellets also create more waste because they are delivered in plastic bags. The owner burns 140 bags per year to keep her 140 squared metres home heated. The stove requires little attention, other than keeping the stove hopper full, every 24 hrs and cleaning the ash out ever week. Fire ash is very fine and makes a mess because as you remove the ashtray, the ash flies everywhere. The pellet stove is constantly on during the winter. The owner uses electric baseboard heaters as a back up. The owner believes her pellet stoves to be safer than woodstoves.

Pellet Stove

Hoppers

Gauges

Rodd Moncton – Solar Hot Water

admin — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 13:40:47 +0000

This large solar hot water collector system is mounted on the Rodd Moncton Hotel roof. Oriented perfectly toward the southern sky, it is an enormous array. However, very little information about the manufacturer and initial installation are available, because it was installed in 1975, when the hotel was built, making it one of the oldest solar hot water installations in the province. The manager has observed that the pipes coming from the collectors were at one time hotter than they currently are. The collectors appear to be worn with some leakages around the panels and the pipes. Hot water collected from the two-dozen or so collectors on the roof is pumped to eight hot water tanks. The hotel pool draws on that stored energy during the summer months to raise pool temperatures to a comfortable level. The system is drained each year before winter to prevent freezing. Although they may be in need of a refurbishment, the fact that the collectors still function after 35 years of service is a testament to their durability and cost-effectiveness.

Storage Tanks

Solar Collectors

Rodd Park House Inn Moncton

Insulated Pipes

Glycol Pump

Geothermal Heat Pump – North Lake

admin — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 18:25:06 +0000

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

Burtts Corner – Geothermal

admin — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 17:59:07 +0000

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