June 18-20 Solar PV Design Workshop...

Solar PV Design Workshop, June 18-20th Hosted by: NW Eco-Building Guild Space is limited to 10 participants, so go ahead and reserve your space–email us at classreg.ecobuilding@gmail.com today!   Workshop cost is $250 for all 3 days, with a $50 discount for the first 3 registrants. June 18-20: The Northwest EcoBuilding Guild is sponsoring a 3 day Solar Photovoltaic Design and Installation Class.  This class will present how to design, and install residential-sized, code compliant, battery-less and battery-based grid-tied PV systems. This class will provide...

Incandescent Lights Out...

There are certainly differing opinions about light bulbs these days, for example rarely do we hear someone sitting on the fence about their feelings toward the relatively modern energy-efficient compact flourescents (CFL). The energy efficient part is hardly the question… but the qualitative experience of conducting life under the glow of a CFL is widely debated. Conversely, environment be damned… we all love the warmth and strength (and lack of flickering) of the incandescent bulb. The incandescent bulb has been around in some fashion since the mid...

The Electric Grid – How does the B...

Though it’s not about design or construction or cool new interior products, if you are an information junkie like me, you may find this interesting in this age of hyper energy awareness. National Public Radio covered a provocative story earlier this year examining the costs, the politics and other challenges of upgrading our country’s electricity grid. The series covers the big issues surrounding the nations transmission lines from the immediate need for new lines to how renewable power interacts with the current system. Listen to the series here. NPR also created a...

Solar Tutorial Part A – The Very B...

Creating electricity from the sun has been around since 1954, but using the sun for heat energy has been around since the dawn of time. Have you ever leaned against a rock late in the evening that had been ‘cooking’ in the sun all day and discovered it to be warm? That’s solar thermal energy being stored in the rock or ‘thermal mass’. The ancient architects were all over that one! Despite it’s long history “solar energy” is still a mystery to many. Good Questions: Are there different types of solar energy? What is insolation? How viable is solar in...