Chiras - The homeowners guide to renewable energy: achieving energy independence through solar, wind, biomass, and hydropower

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T his book has been made possible by many other hard-working and dedicated individuals who have spent a lifetime exploring, teaching, installing, and writing about energy efficiency and renewable energy. Many of their names and the names of the organizations theyve helped to build grace the pages of this book, especially in the Resource Guide at the end of the book. Without them, this book never could have been possible. Without them, renewable energy would still be a wishful dream. So, a world of thanks to all of you! Keep up the hard work, and thanks a million for your efforts.

I am also deeply grateful to the people who answered my many questions on renewable energy and energy efficiency when writing and revising this book, among them Jeff Scott, Henry Rentz, Mick Sagrillo, Ian Woofenden, Johnny Weiss, Randy Udall, Marc Franke, and Steve Andrews. A special thanks to Johnny Weiss, Marc Franke, Dan New, Mick Sagrillo, and Randy Udall for reading portions of the first edition manuscript, offering helpful comments and advice, and helping to ferret out inadvertent mistakes. Many thanks to those who provided the photographs for this book.

I would also like to express my thanks to the many generous individuals who helped me establish The Evergreen Institute Center for Renewable Energy and Green Building, my educational center in Gerald, Missouri (evergreeninstitute.org). There, I have gained considerable knowledge about renewable energy and honed my skills. My teaching at The Evergreen Institute and through other organizations has opened my eyes to a wealth of new information, much of which has been incorporated into this new edition of TheHomeowners Guide to Renewable Energy.

First and foremost among those who helped me build a world-class energy and green building education center is my friend Rocky Huffman at Kansas-based Primo Sustainable Products and Sustainable Energy Products. Rocky super-insulated our 2,400 square foot classroom building and our staff headquarters; he also donated many buckets of lime putty, which we used to plaster our straw bale cottage and parts of the classroom. Rockys family salsa (Momma Salsa) made its way into many after-class parties, too.

Many thanks also to local excavator Dan Boman of Custom Power Excavating who performed countless valuable tasks, including all of the excavation for our solar electric and wind energy systems and our straw bale building. He also helped weld the frames for our solar electric systems. And he even helped us with our erosion control efforts. Dan has been an extremely valuable ally.

Thanks also to my friend Jeff Scott of Sol Source in Denver who donated solar modules and a solar attic fan I use for demonstrations. Jeff supplied one of our two solar electric systems that today help The Evergreen Institute produce 100% of its power.

Many thanks to my brother Jim who helped remodel our classroom building for example, the new wiring and framing that allowed us to super-insulate the building. Jim also donated office equipment and lots more!

Many thanks to Don Cary who donated countless hours to help remodel our classroom building. Don did nearly all the drywall, mudding, and taping. A world of thanks to my friend and confidante, Tom Bruns, an engineer who helped install tile and pipe, gave advice on foundation design for our newest PV system, and helped design and build the roof for our straw bale cottage where students can now stay while taking classes. Tom continues to be a valuable asset to our center and I look forward to many years of productive collaboration.

Many thanks go to Mike Beerbower who traded his time to help us build the straw bale cottage, tile the floor in the classroom, and much more. A world of thanks go to Henry Rentz of Missouri Valley Renewable Energy who helped install our wind system foundation and two solar hot water systems, and who has provided advice on our newest solar electric system and helped any time we needed assistance. Many thanks to Bob Solger, former owner of the Energy Savings Store, who donated our Skystream 3.7 Wind Turbine and to Joe Steenbergen of Victor Energy who traded the tower pipe for our 126-foot tilt-up guyed tower. Many of these folks and others, like Pete Veronesi and Mark Schueneman gave freely of their time or traded services and materials for training.

Thanks also to all the students who helped install our various renewable energy systems during workshops and who helped build our straw bale cottage and remodel our classroom building.

Finally, I would also like to express my appreciation to my dearest friends Chris and Judith Plant at New Society Publishers who signed on to this book many years ago and have remained cordial, enthusiastic, and supportive throughout the revision and production of this book, the revised edition, and all of the other books Ive written for their amazing company.

I would also like to thank all of the dedicated staff at New Society Publishers, including my friend Ingrid Witvoet; copyeditor Linda Glass, for her thoughtful and skilled copyediting; Jill Haras and Anil Rao, Ph.D. for their excellent drawings; Sue Custance for handling the countless production details; Greg Green for his expert design and layout; and Sara Reeves for her considerable efforts to publicize this book.

F or years, Kara Culpepper and her family held season tickets to the Denver Broncos, attending every home game, like tens of thousands of avid fans. Those were good times, despite the fact that the family often had to endure some of Colorados most bitterly cold winter weather to watch their favorite team. But after taxpayers built the team a new stadium and ticket prices went through the roof, Kara and her family decided to give up their season tickets. It was just too costly. They didnt give up on their team, however. They decided to watch games on TV at home. Trouble is, their modest suburban home, which was built in the 1970s, was an icebox in the winter. Their home was woefully under-insulated and full of leaks that allowed cold air in on blustery winter days like millions of similar residences throughout North America, indeed the world. To watch the games, Kara and her family had to bundle up in jackets and sweaters or huddle under blankets. Ironically, it wasnt a whole lot different than a cold December game at the stadium. The only difference was that in the stadium, you could actually get sun rays, remarks Kara. So they were a bit colder at home.

Fortunately, those days have ended. Today, Kara and her family watch the Broncos games in comfort, no longer bundled up like the Inuit on a cold Arctic night. Their home is no longer just bearable, it has become quite comfortable thanks to an extensive home energy retrofit. The energy retrofit was made possible by a generous grant from their local utility (Xcel Energy) and a nonprofit organization, the Colorado Energy Science Center, a leader in wise energy use in Colorado.

This all happened because Kara and her family qualified for a complete energy makeover, worth over $25,000. Her home was selected as one of two winners in a statewide competition. Among an applicant pool of 10,000, her home was judged to be one of the two most energy-inefficient homes. The judges believed that retrofitting her home would provide significant energy and cost savings. Being voted as owners of one of the most energy-inefficient homes in the state of Colorado is not a great distinction, but Kara and her family were able to look past that dubious honor. The extensive energy retrofit they received has dramatically cut their heating bills and increased their comfort levels beyond their wildest imaginations.