GO SOLAR (formerly heating) | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: Ross M Donald (rnnworld.std.com) | |
Date: Thu, 17 Nov 94 13:09 CST |
Re: New View Cohousing, Acton MA Dear List People, I've been letting the discussion on heating systems pile up in my files for a while now. ...and, well, if nobody else is going to be the advocate for dispersed solar, site specific renewables, and small scale sustainable energy, I'll try. Jim, Nancy, and others (?) from New View are mightily interested in heating systems. The group, I'm sure, has hired competent design help, so I won't debate their opinions. Also, I do not want to carry the whole weight on this topic, or be the sole spokesperson for saving the planet, as if, I cared any more than anybody else about these matters. ("...we're all doing what we can." - J. Lennon) I would, however, like to share with the list what I'm hearing and what I've experienced. => ...enery efficiency, the chance (eventually) for =>some households to go off-grid, the use of renewable or =>at least lower-polluting energy sources... Stewart Brand has a book out about How Buildings Learn, which is most interesting - about evolutionary design, rather than visionary design. Nevertheless, it has been my observation that well-intentioned owner- builders and new house builders, who "outfit" their construction to be "solar ready" (pipe runs to the roof, etc.) NEVER get around to adding the collectors later, "when the cost of collectors comes down," or "when we can afford it." This halfway approach is usually intended to accommodate the "environmentalist" in the group (the one spouse or building partner, who wants solar). I have NEVER in twenty years seen such a lukewarm commitment, fulfilled with a completed system EVER. On the other hand, those who have managed to scrape together the initial installation costs up front, have enjoyed a positive return on the investment in subsequent energy savings. Solar energy systems up and running since the 70s and 80s have been, now, in 1994, bought and paid for long ago, and are actually delivering, after all these years, the free solar energy that everybody wants. Ross --------> <RNN> Renewable News Network rnn [at] world.std.com
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GO SOLAR (formerly heating) Ross M Donald, November 17 1994
- Re: GO SOLAR (formerly heating) Roger Diggle, November 17 1994
- Re: GO SOLAR (formerly heating) Roger Diggle, November 20 1994
- GO SOLAR (formerly heating) Ross M Donald, November 20 1994
- Re: GO SOLAR (formerly heating) Nancy E Wight, December 4 1994
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