January 18, 2012
Eco friendly is the way to go these days; even vegetarians are now referring to their eating preferences as eco friendly eating. But with eco friendly homes still amongst the minority it’s time we started seriously paying attention to the benefits a green home has, not only for the environment, but for our health too. Here are several simple tips to help you on your way to an eco friendly home, and eating.
Eco friendly home
- Recycle your old furniture that you’re thinking of tossing out. There’s no need to throw something out unless it’s been eating by termites or been burnt to smithereens. Restored furniture is the new trend, and if you don’t have any furniture take a look around some thrift stores for good deals. You’ll find gems in second-hand stores.
- Thermal curtains are great for eco friendly homes. They keep the heat in during winter and the rooms cool during summer. It’s the perfect way to naturally heat and cool your home.
- Electricity rates are going up and solar heating is becoming more and more popular thanks to the fact that we can’t be charged to use the suns energy. Consider it, because it’s just as effective, if not more so, than manually generated electricity that’s hurting the planet.
- Replace your old appliances. They were designed and made during a period that didn’t know, let alone care, about eco friendliness. There are plenty of ways to be eco friendly at home, and this is a big one. Old heaters, toasters and ovens are infamous for emitting green-house gases, so send them on their way.
Eco friendly eating
- Be Proudly South African and support local vegetable and fruit suppliers. Most frozen products have been shipped to us and have remained refrigerated for their long journeys which mean the carbon footprint from the ships is quite substantial. They also can’t touch the tastiness from home.
- What’s wrong with tap water? Nothing, in most parts of the country. The fossil fuels used to produce and ship bottled water, which is excessive and pointless when you have perfectly good drinking water in your house. Bottled water is obviously the better option when holidaying in places that don’t have access to drinking water, but make an eco friendly decision to only use it when necessary.
- Eating less meat also makes a huge difference towards an eco friendly home and diet. The amount of water, petroleum and plethora of natural resources that are used to groom livestock for slaughter is huge. Eating just one meatless meal a day can make a huge difference for a planet that needs more eco friendly homes and diets.
There are plenty of options to consider when you’ve decided eco friendly homes are the way to go. Everything from LED lighting, to solar panels and water saving shower heads, it’s all done for you and all you have to do is decide to make that change.
October 7, 2011
Network Rail is currently building a new rail link in London to ease congestion on the daily commute and along with it, a green bridge concept for the future. This amazing new eco construction project is taking place in East London to build the largest ever solar power bridge in the world. With the potential to produce enough to cover 50% of the stations required power, from the led lights through to the booms and communications systems, the eco construction project aims to use materials of 4000 photovoltaic panels along the roof of the bridge which will span the River Thames.
The eco friendly project under construction will provide power to the systems in the station in the same fashion that your household solar heating systems do. This is all part of the Blackfriars route upgrade being conducted by Network Rail and will provide 24 more trains per hour to ease commuter woes on the route, but always in mind of the managers has been to make the materials and system green. Construction must look to the future to be sustainable as well as efficient, and in conjunction with the solar panels, rain water collection systems and natural lighting are areas of focus for the eco construction team.
The importance of having a spacious and modern station is still of high importance to the project. Costs will be reduced for Network Rail in the long term and the Blackfriars Station should be finished in 2012 to make use of the British Summer. The benefits of eco construction will reduce the emissions, the power needed for the station and importantly, set a benchmark to the efficiency of green construction.
January 18, 2011
In Hawaii, a new law has come into effect that forces homeowners to install solar power heating systems and for certain homeowners – twenty percent of all homeowners in Hawaii as a matter of fact, they discovered a loophole in the system that allows them to disregard the law and continue their lives without solar heating devices. Last year on the first of January 2010, the government issued a mandate on over two thousand homes – with four hundred sneaking under the radar thanks to certain laws that were incredibly easy to circumvent.
The government allowed these four hundred homes to install tankless gas water heaters in place of a solar geyser; another loophole in the system was aimed at areas that do not have sufficient sun coverage to justify the price of a $6000 solar geyser installation. With certain government rebates to the tune of $4000, the consumer is still left to pay $2000, a hefty sum that led many to the exploitation of the solar power mandate.
Regardless of the loophole, the amount of solar water heating system installations raised a by significant number. Prior to the law’s enactment, only thirty-five percent of all homes in Hawaii were outfitted with a solar solution; a year later that number has increased to above eighty percent. Those who are dodging the new solar bill are opting for photovoltaic solar heating systems, a marginally cheaper option that uses either gas or electricity in order to generate power for their water heating requirements.
Another major stumbling block in installing solar power systems into the home is that a large percentage of these solar power products are rental units only and landlords are uninterested in paying off yet another addition to their home. As an added failure to the implantation of the mandate, tenants are unlikely to install such a costly product that they cannot take with them on the day that they move home. Hopefully, the new move to rebate owners a cool $1000 the instant they purchase a solar power heating solution should end up converting more owners to this more efficient way of life.
November 13, 2009
Solar panels aren’t typically associated with luxury sailing, but as awareness for greater environmental responsibility seeps through all tiers of society, those with stake in luxury goods are turning their attention to renewable energy. Soon, if your bank balance allows, you can purchase a solar yacht that will not only indulge your every need, it’ll set new standards in comfort and luxury design.
Hermes Solar Yacht
The yacht, which has yet to be built, is the result of a partnership between French fashion retailer, Hermes, and Monaco-based design company, Wally Construct. The hull is a unique triangular shape measuring 58m x 38m and has been designed specifically to maximise the solar boat’s energy efficiency. The shape alone allows the solar yacht to save up to 200 tonnes of diesel per year, but the 900 m2 of solar panels add significantly to the boat’s green credibility.
Luxury Solar Yacht Interior
In addition to the solar panels, the solar boat also has a telescopic wind turbine to harness wind energy and a central power system that recycles thermal energy. As well as solar lights and other eco-friendly fixtures, the yacht will boast a 25m pool, 36m beach deck, spa, cinema, five guest suites and a master suite that occupies the entire 3rd floor.
Not to be outdone, Riccardo Pilurzu has designed the N-Dour, a mostly self-sustaining luxury yacht that uses wind and solar energy to create hydrogen, which powers the boat. But Pilurzu isn’t only interested in creating a sustainable ocean going vessel, his design is such that even when docked the yacht converts solar energy into electricity and transfers it to the harbour.
N-Dour Solar Yacht
Then we have the Soliloquy, a super yacht powered by solar energy. Alastair Callender, a student at Coventry University, designed the solar boat, which will be powered by Australian company, Solar Sailor who own the patent on solarsail technology. In addition to the solarsail technology, which harnesses the power of the wind and sun to drive vehicles, the company has also developed advanced hybrid marine power (HMP). The Soliloquy will incorporate both hybrid marine power and solar energy to make it one of the greenest, cleanest yachts around.
Soliloquy Solar Yacht
Turkish designers, Gürsu and Dogan have created a futuristic looking solar yacht that dispenses with canvas sails and replaces them with solar panel covered ‘wings’. The boat is appropriately named after a Mediterranean flying fish, The Volitan. The solar panels catch and convert solar energy into power to drive the boat; excess solar energy is stored in batteries. Two smaller ‘wings’ contain conventional electric motors for those days when the sun refuses to shine and the wind won’t blow.
Volitan Solar Yacht
Solar boats are a promising prospect for the future, but at the moment they cost a fortune to produce and even more to own. If money is no object, however, Hermes and Wally Construct are still need a buyer to turn their luxury solar yacht into a reality.
Solar power has great appeal in terms of being a sustainable source of energy and if you look past the initial cost of systems such as solar geysers, panels and so on, it is free. However, these systems generally come with quite a high price tag making them an option only for the wealthy. But now a high pressure solar geyser has been developed that is considerably more affordable for middle income citizens.