Ismael Rosales

Vacupor Availability in North America

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Several insulation materials on their way to affordability are coming to market slowly: Aerogels and vacuum panels. If I could afford such materials, it would make building much more efficient for the smallest wall thickness.

“With much interest I have been following the Passiv Haus advancements along with Solar Decathlon home entries in Washington DC, and both of these projects share in common the use of Porextherm Vacupor NT-B2 VIP products. In my next project I would like to use your VIP panels, but do not know if there are any distributors in the North American area?

My next project would require 150 square meters of 25 mm thickness VIP to cover the exterior walls of a small two story residence. I have seen the Porextherm panels in use at the Waldsee BioHaus in Minnesota, and as their concern is low winter temperatures, In the deserts of the Los Angeles area, where temperature are regularly 46 degrees C for months, we need to manage cooling instead of heating, at a similar temperature differential.

Any information you can give me in ordering products, finding a distributor, or arranging direct importation for the manufacturing facility, I would be greatly appreciative. My project begins construction this autumn 2008, so I have three months to acquire the VIP materials.

I am building a residential addition in the city of Los Angeles (LADBS), where they have rigorous building and safety regulations. For any building product, LADBS usually requires an ICC report, commonly referred to as LARR (Los Angeles Research Report). Have you had success in the introduction and installation of these products in Los Angeles?”

Panasonic DC Ventilation

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As summer ramps up, and the daily temperature is over 90°F, I’m trying to improve the natural and mechanical ventilation of this house. I got a super efficient 80 CFM continuous operation fan unit, and wanted to install a three button switch (fan, light, night light on/off separately). Of course this post WWII house cannot accommodate a new switch, so it became apparent I needed to remove the electrical boxes behind the walls and install new wiring. The older wiring is falling apart faster than I anticipated, and it may require a complete rewire and reboxing of this entire structure. Right now all the overhead lights are out of commission, while I get the switches and junction boxes sized to 2008 standards.

I figured out how this ancient house gets electricity. Instead of changing out the wire, i used a special 3M tape designed for wire insulation repair, and got a battery operated continuity tester from sears to check that the wires from the service panel actually delivered power and to what circuit.

Looking for a Refrigerator

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Have you ever wondered why there is a broad price range of refrigerators going anywhere from $279 to somewhere over $7,449 for around the same storage size? Once a year Fry’s Electronics offers a Haier 21 cu ft refrigerator for $279 (Black Friday) and on any day you can get a Thermador fridge for around $7,449. A preliminary review might determine that It’s some internal shelving or outward appearance (stainless steel over painted finish) that drive the price upward. Maybe it’s the selection of higher quality components driving energy usage down, but prices higher.

I’ve been looking into refrigeration units, and after a couple of weeks, I’ve found why some brands command super prices, while others are low, and perhaps making the argument that the more expensive unit, will in the long run save more in food quality, than in energy savings. In the USA consumers are more price sensitive, comparing price instead of features. We’ve been conditioned to believe all is marketing speak, and very little differentiates between brands. Consider “Tide” versus “All” detergents. After taking into account scents and sudsing factors, what is the distinguishing characteristic that make anyone buy one or the other? For refrigerators, I initially looked at door style, capacity, and simple features like interior lighting or glass shelving to differentiate units. But some manufacturers do more.

Some super premium units cost more for the brand of course. You need not look further than Sub-Zero or Electrolux to pay double so you can say I have that brand. In the luxury line of appliances looks overtake features as the selling point. I do wish every manufacturer would post why there units command a higher price, but i’ve had to do my own research. The basis for high prices is the number of compressors and evaporators inside the refrigerator, or in other parlance food preservation systems. Bare bone systems have one compressor and a matching evaporator (the part that sucks out the heat to cool either the freezer or refrigerator). Midline systems have a single freezer compressor, but use two evaporators (one for the freezer and one for the refrigerator). High end systems use a dedicated compressor/evaporator cycle for the freezer and another for the refrigerator. So in summary you get a single system, dual evaporator, and dual system. This is the main differentiator between free standing refrigerator units and why the price can vary so much.

Why does it matter how many compressors and how many evaporators a unit shares? Food quality and food preservation. Basically, the better you can control the humidity and temperature inside the fridge, the longer and higher quality food will be. In terms of energy efficiency, energy star rated appliance will save you some, but over a 15 year lifecycle, the price of electricity alone most likely will not exceed $600 from the entry level fridge to the top level unit. If an entry model costs $1,199 and the pro line costs $2,999, electricity cannot make up the additional $1,800 investment. If your food lasts longer and is not mushy or wilted, you save money too. You’ll have to save a lot of fresh produce and deli to make up the difference, but it may just add up.

Periodicals for Your Perusal

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As we move into a “green washing” phase as the impulse to record petroleum, natural gas, and other carbon sources, It’s important to know who is delivering information that you can trust. I regularly review blogs and websites, and some of the info is complete hyperbole and misleading statements. For example, in California there has been a concerted effort to install residential solar on a million roofs.

Go Solar CA

For a normal household this investment would take over 30 years to recover, if it ever does. I don’t get the return on investment that such an altruistic investment makes for the climate change impact.

My slant on green building lies in total conservation and energy efficiency to reduce fuel use. If you could live inside a thermos, you would use less electricity and less heating resources. I have the European sensibility that we need to cut back on use, not reward energy efficiency alone. Here are some publication that I recommend you look to for your green building, green remodeling, and green buying.

Environmental Design + Construction
Sustainable Home
Roofing Contractor
Walls & Ceilings

I’ve chosen these magazines since they offer free downloadable issues and have good advertisers and tips.

My Summer Building Project

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A few of you may know what I’ve been up to the last couple of months. I’m building a substantial addition to the family home. Too often construction projects are left to general contractors or craftsman, skilled in 20th century technology, but I’m trying to build the 22nd century structure. At the end of the exercise, I expect to move out of the 1950’s post World War II structure, into the new abode permanently. It’s time to leave the near free carbon energy economy and lazy building systems of the 1930’s and try to thrust into 2150 and beyond.

Presently California has a mild climate, but in 30 years, who knows what will be normal. If you want a front seat to the future (the way I envision it), I’ve already started a project blog, which you can read and contribute comments to (you might have to register). I’ve been at this project for some time, so they’re lots of blog posts. I launched it a couple of months ago as a platform for reflection, but you can read it too. I expect to post at least every two weeks, and when summer comes it should be a little more regularly, as the mental construction becomes tangible.