Medium Green Project - FSC certified Wood Tiles

I put in a small hot tub earlier this year. I've mistreated my back in years past and from time to time I'm reminded of my past transgressions, so I convinced my wife a hot tub would be therapeutic and voila! A short soak and a good glass of vino is a nice way to unwind in the evenings, but I digress. I realized after a couple of months that I needed a patio covering that is easier on the feet than concrete and didn't let me track grit into the house. I had seen wooden tiles on a DIY show, but wasn't sure where to get them. A few internet searches later and I found these. They are FSC certified eucalyptus wooden tiles from Vifah manufacturing. They snap together and can be taken apart and re-assembled just about anywhere. They have a plastic plaform that raises the wood above grade to let the water shed away, and since they are installed on our back porch there is already a slope away from the house to shed water. The tiles are oiled from the manufacturer and as you can see from my pic they need to be sealed once a year or they will weather grey. Use any wood sealer such as what you would use for your deck. FSC stands for Forest Stewardship Council. It is a non-profit organization advocating and certifying wood products that come from responsibly managed forests. The tiles are about $3.50 per square foot. They are a little expensive but wear well and look great. You can also find refurbished tiles cheaper and they are sold in larger lots at a discount.

Here are a few links if you are thinking of wooden tiles:
http://www.fsc.org/ - Forest Stewardship Council website
http://www.decktiles.org/ - Vifah's retail website

Small Green Project - Recycled Rubber Path

I have a stepping stone path around my shop that leads from our patio to the trash and aluminum recycling cans. Rather than putting in an organic mulch around the pavers that would break down and need to be replaced, or rock that would retain heat and be less comfortable to walk on, I decided I would try a relatively new product available at most home-improvement stores: recycled rubber mulch. It is available in 2 colors, red and earth tone (dark brown). It is soft to walk on and is guaranteed to last and be colorfast for 15 years. It is made of 100% recycled rubber. I haven't been able to find what the rubber source is,but nontheless it is recycled rubber and whatever we can keep out of the landfills the better. It is more expensive than traditional mulch, running around $12 per bag, but you don't have to re-mulch every year. Wal-mart and sam's club have started carrying the mulch and it is priced cheaper than the home improvement stores. I've been pleased with the mulch so far this year and am planning on a rubber mulch walkway around my raised beds next year.

Here are a couple of links if you are thinking of recycled rubber mulch:

http://www2.dupont.com/Garden_Products/en_US/products/mulch.html  - DuPonts Mulch product page

http://www.internationalmulch.com/ - another rubber mulch manufacturer

http://www.americanrubber.com/mulch/ - here is a rubber mulch that is made from recycled tires (sold at sam's clubs)

Medium Green Project - Solar Attic Fan

Well, I've done it. I cut a hole in the roof today and installed a 10 watt solar powered attic fan. I already have a 10 watt solar powered gable vent fan, (earlier post) but the gable vent fan wasn't quite enough ventilation for the hot attic air. 1 -20 watt fan or 2 -10 watt fans are recommended for my roof size and pitch. My roof it L-shaped and the gable vent fan is installed at the top of the "L". The attic fan I installed today is in the middle of the bottom of the "L". That allows the fan to expel hot air from that section of the attic and pull in fresh air from the north and south gable and soffit vents. Like the gable vent fan, the attic fan has a thermostatic switch controlling when the fan turns on. When the attic air temp rises above 80 degrees the fan switches on and switches off when the temperature falls below 70 degrees. That should allow the fan to run most of the year but stay off in the dead of winter. As I wrote in the gable vent fan post the ideas behind adequate attic ventilation are lower energy costs for cooling,because the temperature differential between the inside and outside temps are lower, as well as slowing the deterioration of the roof from the lower temperatures and lower humidity in the attic. While I was in the attic today I located a spot above our kitchen where I can install our tubular skylight. Look for that post soon! The total time to install was a couple of hours and the cost for the fan was about $320. The fan does qualify for a 30% tax credit for photovoltaic systems.

Here are some links if you are thinking about a solar attic fan:

http://www.solaratticfan.com/ - this is the company that makes the fan.

http://www.infinigi.com/ - this is where I got the fan.

http://www.dsireusa.org/ - Federal and State tax incentives

Small Green Project - Gardening

This post focuses on a passion for many, a chore for some, but an enjoyable pastime for me and at least some of you. Gardening is good for each of us that endeavors in the pastime. It is a low impact exercise, it provides healthy whole foods for consumption and it reduces the amount of money we pay to have vegetables shipped across the country to feed us. This spring I put in two 4' x 8' raised beds. I plan to add 1 or possibly 2 more raised beds next year. The beds were built from railroad ties and I added horse manure, topsoil and homegrown compost (post coming soon) This year we grew: grape,cherry, lemon boy, Arkansas traveler, and early girl tomatoes, as well as yellow squash, cucumbers, yellow bell peppers, cantaloupe, okra, and vidalia onions. In our herb planters we grew genovese basil, flat leaf parsley, rosemary, peppermint, and banana peppers.

I just removed our tomato plants and bought some fall plants for the garden. I am planning to plant lettuce, cabbage, Swiss chard ,and possibly broccoli . Our current weather patten has been non-stop rain, so as soon as I have a day or two that's dry I'll plant our fall crops.

Late summer this year I added 3 raised beds for perennial food crops. In those beds I planted blueberries, raspberries, and a fig tree. I also planted a couple of apple and plum trees. These long term perennials and biennials will take 2 -3 years to produce fruits so it has been an investment in our future crops. Next year I plan on adding a few more fruit trees as well as some grapevines.

Needless to say, but I've been bit by the gardening bug!
I'm growing the garden without pesticides, using natural fertilizer (compost) and watering with collected rainwater.



Here are some links if you are thinking of gardening:

http://www.uaex.edu/ - UA Cooperative Extension

http://www.arhomeandgarden.org/ - UA Cooperative Extension Home and Garden site

http://www.organicgardening.com/

http://www.garden.org/home

http://www.gardenweb.com/

Small Green Project - Clothesline

This blog entry chronicles one of my most controversial green projects to date. Not only was there a bit of controversy at the homestead about the project, but there is a national debate over the use of this device. Of course I'm talking about the old-fashioned clothesline. The same thing your grandma hung her clothes on to dry. My wife and I enjoy modern conveniences, especially those that save time or effort, so the clothesline versus the traditional dryer was a bit of a sell at our house. And since this age-old method of clothes drying requires a bit more effort, I've volunteered to hang the clothes out anytime the weather cooperates. My wife was skeptical at first, but is now coming around. Not only does the clothesline save energy, it also prevents a lot of unnecessary heat from being generated in the house, so the house has been a little cooler since we've embraced grandma's gadget. (not to mention we need less air conditioning to make up for the added heat). The nationwide controversy has to do with the supposed unsightliness of clotheslines and their prohibition in neighborhood covenants nationwide. Never did I suspect we would need a national advocacy group for the use of the clothesline, but here we are. Anyway I've included links below to read more about the controversy but here is why its green. Warning there is math ahead...
Here's my estimation:
Our dryer is all electric and uses 28A at 240v
28 * 240 = 6720 VA (volt amps)
6720 VA * .67 = 4502.4 W (Actual Power) This is the power correction
4502.4 / 1000 = 4.5 kW
4.5 kW * 4 hrs = 18 kWh per week
(assuming 4 loads per week and 1 hour drying time)
18 kWh * 52 weeks = 936 kWh per year
936 kWh / 12 = 78 kWh per month
78 kWh / 956.6 = 8 % of average household electricity consumption by our dryer

By cutting the dryer loads in half by using the clothesline at least 2 out of the 4 loads per week we save:
39 kWh per month
468 kWh per year
Depending on your average price for power that equates to a few cases of beer (or a few bottles of your favorite wine!)

The average household does about 7 loads of laundry a week.
That equates to 31.5 kWh per week,
1638 kWh per year,
136.5 kWh per month.
That equates to 14.2 % of average US household electricity consumption.
(National Average based on 2005 DOE report 11480 kWh / 12 = 956.6 kWh per month)

That's a lot of power!
We've been fairly successful with the clothesline so far this year (when its not raining) and have reduced our electricity usage and got clean fresh smelling clothes to boot! On another note, if you go all-out with the clothesline you can hang clothes inside in the winter adding humidity to the air for a more comfortable house! The clothesline we got was from Lowe's and cost about $30. Retractable lines and traditional lines can be even less expensive.

Here are some links if you are thinking about a clothesline yourself:

http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/recs/recs2005/c&e/summary/pdf/tableus8.pdf - DOE PDF

http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/recs/recs2005/c&e/detailed_tables2005c&e.html - More DOE information

http://www.laundrylist.org/index.php/faq/35-general-laundry-questions/101-kwh-year-dryer-average - average laundry usage

http://www.laundrylist.org/ - advocacy group, video clips at bottom