Green Solutions Blog Articles

It’s All About Energy Efficiency

boulder8tech@gmail.com (Mark Jordan Co) — Fri, 18 Dec 2020 06:07:37 GMT

It’s All About Energy Efficiency

In buying appliances for your house, have you ever considered the amount of energy that they consume? Or are you curious of how its energy use fares with other products? These are the questions that consumers don’t usually ask since they have no available information of these products. With the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act, consumers would now be able to make more informed decisions.

Republic Act 11285 or also known as the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act has been signed by the president in July 23, 2018. The goal of this law is to institutionalize energy efficiency and conservation, enhance the use of efficient products, and incentivize programs related to energy efficiency and conservation. Since the energy supply in the country has been a problem, it will help reduce energy consumption by taking into account energy efficiency and conservation measures .

The DOE shall pursue a Demand Side Management program which will help the electric power industry through effective load management. They shall also spearhead the National Energy Efficiency and Conservation Plan (NEECP) which is a national comprehensive framework for energy efficiency and conservation programs. On the community level, local government units shall enforce the Local Energy Efficiency and Conservation Plan (LEECP) wherein it is a multi-stakeholder framework for energy efficiency and conservation programs. The local government units are also mandated to establish an energy conservation office to oversee and monitor their LEECP.

Under this law, there will be energy performance standards and labeling requirements for energy consuming devices. This means that the industrial, commercial, and transportation sectors would have to follow the minimum energy performance set by the DOE. For the benefit of the consumers, energy labels will be put on to energy consuming devices to help them have an informed decision in choosing their appliances. Since the air conditioning unit, refrigerator, and television are heavily used by people at home, these appliances will have mandatory energy labels which will reflect the following:

Energy Efficiency Rating
Monthly consumption based on certain hours of use
Year of energy label issuance
Product model and brand name

With the enactment of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act, the consumers have the power to help the country by reducing their energy consumption. Hopefully, they would now be smart decision makers in choosing the right products for their homes.

Christmastime Filled With LED And Green

boulder8tech@gmail.com (Mark Jordan Co) — Fri, 11 Dec 2020 10:00:19 GMT

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Christmas is almost near, though when you live in the Philippines, it actually started three months ago last September! Our country is known to have the longest Christmas season yet, with holiday songs already playing in malls when the “ber” months hit. Aside from the presents and the food, a key component of every Christmas celebration would be the lights, whether in one’s own home or in the public displays that can be seen all around the city.

Recently, there has been a surge of public light displays around Metro Manila such as the one in Ayala Triangle and the Tunnel of Light in Tiendesitas. This is most likely due to the rise of LED technology in the market, which allows the same level of luminescence (or higher) while consuming way less electricity. The reduction in energy consumption is significantly large, with around 70-85% of energy needs shaved off.

The mini-lightbulb strings that are used for household Christmas displays usually come in either incandescent or LED. A string of 1,000 incandescent lights can be estimated at 200W rating while the same amount of LED stringed lights would net roughly a 48W rating. Given an average 6 hour use period daily, the energy consumed would amount to 1.2kWh for the incandescent string while 0.3 kWh for its LED counterpart. Considering that LED emits less heat, this would be a safer alternative for your holiday light display since it reduces fire hazards. For lighting which we wrap around a Christmas tree or wreaths, this is a notable factor to consider.

Another energy conservation measure for this Yuletide seasons would be to install a timer or sensor for your light display, as so the lights only operate when there are people around or between a certain time period. Of course, a foolproof measure to reduce energy use would be to simplify your household decor and use less lights overall.

Hopefully this blog post would give a short insight on Christmas lights and its energy consumption just in time for the season. Wishing everyone a Happy Holidays! ��

Thinking Green With White Roof Coating

boulder8tech@gmail.com (Mark Jordan Co) — Wed, 11 Nov 2020 10:15:08 GMT

When one talks about having a green roof, images of a rooftop garden would usually come to mind. This isn’t necessarily wrong, but we must expand our perspective on what a green roof truly is.

Green roofs, apart from being conventionally green with vegetation, can also mean using other sustainability strategies such as having a drainage system or catchment area for rainwater, and creating roofdeck spaces with permeable hardscapes. Of course, we must not forget the protective properties of roofs in considering a green roof.

Reeling from last week’s PhilConstruct Expo, let us look into the importance of the roof and how it affects heat transfer within the building envelope. The roof would receive most of the sun’s radiant heat at around 47%, thus this would be the main focal point for reducing urban heat island effect . Because of this, the concept of greening the roof flourished as a way to combat this phenomenon. The plants on the rooftop would act as insulation for the building envelope, thus less energy would be needed to moderate indoor temperature.

One heat mitigation strategy to consider is the use of reflective roof coatings. These type of roof coating would often come in white, as this color proves to be the most reflective to sunlight. On the get go, the amount of heat transmitted through the roof coating would be reduced drastically from its reflective property. Compared to integrating rooftop vegetation, which also consumes large amounts of water in its maintenance, reflective roofs would be a simpler yet sustainable way to yield energy savings. By using products such as TOPPS roof coating, the heat entering the building can be reduced by 10-15°C, especially in a tropical climate such as ours.

With its long lasting properties and little requirement for maintenance, using TOPPS would embody the sense of a sustainable product for your building needs. This claim is further backed up by building energy efficiency stakeholders/programs such as Energy Star, the Cool Roof Rating Council (CRRC), as well as the United States Green Building Council (USGBC). As a proud distributor of TOPPS, GreenSolutions aims to provide simple yet effective ways to improve sustainability in the built environment.

Instead Of Getting A New Roof, Why Not Enhance It?

boulder8tech@gmail.com (Mark Jordan Co) — Wed, 04 Nov 2020 10:24:22 GMT

Roofs are one of the essential parts of a shelter or building since it provides protection from typhoons and the harmful rays of the sun. Weather phenomena such as these make roofs more vulnerable to wear and tear. If poor quality roofing materials were used, the roof would be easily prone to leaks; making maintenance costs burdensome to the building owner. Given this, putting a good amount of investment for the roof can pay off great in the long run.

GreenSolutions is a proud distributor of green roof materials. Its main product line is TOPPS, a reflective coating for roof restoration and water leak prevention. It also has elastomeric and water-free characteristics that is applicable for industrial, commercial and residential roof buildings.

TOPPS is a one of a kind roof coating because it has superb waterproofing capabilities (TOPPS products are lab-tested by experts in the US). Its main characteristic of being a solvent-based coating makes it a superior product in terms of waterproofing. It has 0.18 perms, as opposed to the standard water-based coating with 50 perms. The life of the roof would also further extend given its 850% elongation and strength of 12 N/mm2, compared to 100% elongation and 1.09 N/mm2 strength of other leading brands.

TOPPS proves to be not only durable, but also energy saving. The white coating of TOPPS can increase the solar reflectivity of the roof by up to 88% compared to a standard gray roof which is just around 40%. This means a cooler temperature for the roof which can also reduce the cooling load of the air conditioning system in the building. In one of our samples, we used a temperature gun to quantify the temperature difference between a normal roof and the one with TOPPS. The picture below shows a temperature difference of as much as 13.6 °C during noon time upon application of TOPPS.

TOPPS products are certified Energy Star which indicate that it meets the standard of energy efficiency in the US. It is best applied for buildings wherein air conditioning systems are a big portion of their electricity bills. In a retail store in Tennessee, TOPPS was applied to the 1,487 sqm. building, and the resulting energy savings amounted to as much as 24.5%. In a church in Florida, the 2,508 sqm. building incurred an energy savings of 14.4% upon application of the reflective roof paint*.

Imagine if you can get a waterproofing for your roof and at the same time it makes the building more energy efficient. Imagine no more, since TOPPS products are here for your roofing needs.

Running Off The River

boulder8tech@gmail.com (Mark Jordan Co) — Wed, 21 Oct 2020 10:29:35 GMT

Last June 2019, the Luzon grid was recently placed under red alert status, meaning that the available energy supply was only just enough for the peak demand with very little reserve margin. Given the ever-increasing hunger for electricity, the country aims to swiftly add to their power supply while keeping in mind how this would affect climate change. Because of this, the path towards renewables is often encouraged due to its reputation of being clean and emitting little to no greenhouse gases. Though renewable energy has its benefits, it is essential to examine the bigger picture wherein much of its environmental impacts stem from other phases of its life cycle.

One of the major contributors to the renewable energy supply of the Philippines would be hydropower, comprising of around 12% in 2015. The concept behind this RE technology is fairly straightforward, wherein the volume of water flow and elevation of the reservoir are major factors in determining electricity output. Generally, the water would flow through a penstock and would turn the blades in a turbine which would produce the electricity.

As of 2019, the Philippines has around 3600 MW of installed hydropower, mostly from large-scale hydro. Since hydropower is known for its energy stability and electricity price reduction, this would be a go-to source to explore for many large stakeholders. In constructing the reservoir dams however, the displacement of local communities as well as ecosystem disruption is inevitable. With this, more people are turning towards run-of-the-river hydropower (ROR) due to its relatively smaller environmental impact as well as minimal capital costs.

ROR projects must be located on rivers that have sufficient head and constant substantial flow rate to generate electricity. With this, there is no need to build large dams to hold water, thus energy is produced following the flow of the river body. In some cases, smaller scale dams may be built for same day use water storage. On average, the efficiency of ROR systems would range between 65% to 90% and these can be classified based on their capacity, usually ranging from micro (<100 kW), mini (100 kW- 1 MW), and small (1-50 MW).

Given its benefits, it is strange how the ROR technology is not as utilized in the country as compared to solar and wind. Under the Feed-in-Tariff rates for renewables, run-of-river hydro has been lowered to PhP 5.87/kWh (effective 2018), however the quota of 250MW has not been reached until today. Hopefully more studies on this type of hydropower can be conducted in the future so we may harness its potential for the growth of the Philippines.

Building Efficiency Through Energy Modelling

boulder8tech@gmail.com (Mark Jordan Co) — Mon, 17 Aug 2020 01:45:47 GMT

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From our previous blog on energy auditing , we mentioned that there are three (3) levels of ASHRAE energy auditing, each level being more extensive than the last. For two of the BEA cities that we’ve worked with, we have conducted an ASHRAE Level III audit wherein we have added a building simulation model for a more detailed analysis of the buildings. Due to the COVID situation however, we were not able to collect more data physically which could help in developing the model more accurately.

Energy modelling can serve as a tool to estimate building power consumption even for new buildings that haven’t been constructed yet. This can help developers and other stakeholders check their designs to see if these would fit the existing national policies such as the National Green Building Code and the Energy Efficiency & Conservation Act. Aside from this, local government units can develop corresponding local green building ordinance policies with the help of various energy modelling tools.

The eQuest software was used to estimate baseline building energy consumption for the cities of Mandaluyong and Santa Rosa, from which various energy conservation measures (ECMs) were recommended according to their economic viability.

A building energy model would require an array of parameters in order to obtain its overall power consumption. The main factors would usually be 1) Building envelope, 2) Heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC), 3) Operation schedule, and 4) Other building loads such as lights and office equipment. Data gathered from the previous walkthrough energy audit as well as building pre-audit information such as floor plans and electricity bills were used to estimate these parameters.

The baseline building consumption was then used as basis for ECM comparison. Various energy conservation measures were tested against the model, from using better performing glass for windows to replacing air-conditioning units with more efficient ones. Aside from this, packaged energy solutions were also done wherein two or more ECMs were modelled at the same time to show the effect of shared energy savings. It is important to know that the law of diminishing returns applies here, wherein the shared effect would not equate to the summed effect of the individual ECMs.

To analyze whether the ECM would be financially viable to the stakeholder, a quick economic analysis was done which looked into the simple payback periods (SPP) of all measures. A lower SPP would usually translate to a better investment deal, which means that even with a large capital investment for a certain ECM, this may still be a good deal if the estimated savings are high enough.

There is not one set energy conservation measure/s that can fit all buildings. Though there can be rule-of-thumb estimates, it is still best to conduct an energy audit with building model simulation to see what ECMs would be most effective in achieving the desired cost savings.

There Must Be A Better Way – Crafting A Green Solution

boulder8tech@gmail.com (Mark Jordan Co) — Sat, 15 Aug 2020 11:24:51 GMT

In the last few weeks, we’ve been discussing broad ideas in the context of sustainability. In this post, I’d like to share a more detailed case study on a specific project we’ve been working on.

It’s human nature to resist change. As an advocate of green building, believe me when I say that I am very used to people resisting the change we try to push even though it’s a change for the better.

When it comes to air conditioning in the Philippines, the most common method is either the box type window mounted units or split units (including inverters). This type of air conditioning focuses on cooling down a space and does not usually ventilate an area. Most occupants rely on infiltration for fresh air which leads to poor energy performance.

We’ve recently been working on a hotel project and the question of the appropriate building systems came up. The project team had indicated that the plan was to either use box type ACs or variable refrigerant flow units to save energy. Both strategies would have individual AC units in each hotel room which can be switched on or off by the guests. The units will focus on cooling down the space without any direct fresh air ducting. Ventilation will then come from either operable windows, the undercut of the room door, or infiltration.

Surely there’s a better way to cool a space and provide adequate ventilation to its guests. We then suggested using centralized air conditioning in order to provide both air conditioning and mechanical ventilation to each space. Air-cooled chillers have roughly the same efficiency as split units, and are more expensive. Even more expensive are water-cooled chillers, however, they operate at twice the efficiency of the other options.

As with any strategy, the most important thing to do is to quantify energy savings and compare them against one another. After our calculations, we found that while the water-cooled chiller was the most expensive system by far, it also had a simple payback of 4.3 years. The air-cooled chiller and the VRF systems, while being cheaper to purchase, did not provide any environmental and economical benefit during operation.

It was then quite obvious that the most sustainable strategy was to use the water-cooled chillers. Using the triple bottom line, we can see that the strategy addresses all three factors. The social benefit is providing the appropriate amount of fresh air to all the guests. Environmentally, we consume less than half of the energy we otherwise would use for cooling thus a reduction in carbon emissions. The payback period makes it so that after 5 years of operation, the project would be saving more money than it would have had it used a different strategy which makes the solution economically viable.

We came up with an even better strategy which would shorten the payback however would require additional capital. Can you think outside the box and figure it out?

Efficient Cities Through Efficient Buildings

boulder8tech@gmail.com (Mark Jordan Co) — Mon, 10 Aug 2020 09:31:44 GMT

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The Building Efficiency Accelerator (BEA) is a private-public collaboration platform that aims to advance the implementation of building efficiency policies and practices. This is one of the energy efficiency accelerators under the United Nations Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) supported by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), and is implemented by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) through the World Resources Institute (WRI) .

In Southeast Asia (SEA), WRI engaged ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability Southeast Asia Secretariat (ICLEI SEAS) to lead collaboration with BEA cities, namely, Da Nang, Vietnam; Iskandar, Malaysia; and Mandaluyong, Science City of Muñoz, Pasig, and Santa Rosa in the Philippines.

In line with this, GreenSolutions was tapped to serve as the technical consultant of ICLEI for the BEA cities of Santa Rosa, Mandaluyong, and the Science City of Muñoz. For nine months, we were able to accomplish various activities including walkthrough energy audits and stakeholder consultations, among others.

Energy Auditing

Energy auditing is an important tool that can help us identify possible energy conservation measures for various building types. In order to provide capacity building for the BEA cities, various members of the cities’ local government units (LGU) were invited to partake in our energy audit workshop. For the first part, we have introduced the concept of energy auditing, its different parts, as well as the step-by-step methodology on how to conduct one.

A walkthrough audit was then done in a sample building so the participants can get a better understanding and appreciation of the energy auditing process. Aside from checking typical energy hungry appliances such as air-conditioning units, building envelope components such as windows and walls were examined with tools such as thermal imaging cameras. In conducting an energy audit, it is essential to look into both the equipment loads inside and the building shell to better estimate energy consumption. Throughout the audit proper, we also conducted an interview with the building managers to understand the operation schedule of the site, which can also greatly influence building energy performance.

Stakeholder Consultations

On the less technical side of things, we’ve also conducted stakeholder workshops that aim to springboard LGUs into developing their own green building ordinance. Different green building goals were presented to both public and private stakeholders and these would need to be ranked according to the stakeholders’ preferences. Other issues on incentives and implementation were also discussed in the workshop. Due to the recent COVID situation, we were also able to hold an online version of this workshop using polling tools and surveys in place of index cards.

The BEA project gave us the opportunity to work alongside various local governments in pursuing their goals towards improving building efficiency in their cities. Together with ICLEI, we were able to provide a better foundation for the LGUs to further develop their green building programs.

For more information on ICLEI and their work, check out their website at https://icleiseas.org/.

The Devil Is In The Details: How Furniture And Furnishings Can Affect Healthcare

boulder8tech@gmail.com (Mark Jordan Co) — Tue, 21 Apr 2020 11:30:01 GMT

The Devil Is In The Details: How Furniture And Furnishings Can Affect Healthcare

Sometimes the things we don’t really notice can impact us the most. In the context of healthcare, background objects such as furniture and building materials can greatly contribute to the deterioration of health and wellness of both the patients and staff. This is due to toxic chemicals that can be found within walls and chairs, among others, which can make its way into indoor air and can slowly weaken the immunity of the sick.

In the path towards building sustainability for healthcare facilities, it is important to invest in safer furniture and construction materials to develop healthier environments for people to heal. The holistic perspective of sustainability would mean that healing should not only be limited within medicine and treatments.

A concrete example of this is the increasing demand for furniture free from toxic flame-retardants, which is linked to reproductive system failure, cancer, and delays in cognitive development. It is generally better to reduce chemical content such as mercury, lead, and urea formaldehyde in both furniture and furnishings.

Apart from this, it is essential to choose materials that are impervious, seamless and that can be easily cleaned in order to reduce surface contamination, thus reducing the chances for infections. Common pathogens can last on surfaces between 2 hours until up to more than 2 years! Of course, proper cleaning and regular maintenance should also be applied during healthcare facility operations.

Seeking Respite Despite Illness

boulder8tech@gmail.com (Mark Jordan Co) — Wed, 08 Apr 2020 11:36:16 GMT

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To kickstart our 2020 blogs, we would like to do a series of posts about sustainability in healthcare facilities as a way to continue promoting building sustainability even from our own homes.

Many of our healthcare facilities are rapidly filling up with patients due to the coronavirus pandemic. This can cause stress to not only the sick but also to the frontliners that keep both hospital operations as well as human lives intact. In creating sustainable healthcare design, it is essential to keep in mind both the physical and mental well-being of people.

Integrating a respite within the hospital would prove beneficial to patients and staff through providing access to the natural environment. In this context, a respite is an area that can give a person relief from difficulties he/she is experiencing. By providing direct access to nature, health benefits such as reducing anxieties and increasing positive feelings can be obtained. Places of respite must be within reach wherein no medical intervention is delivered, whether via courtyard, greenhouse, or outdoors. Ideally, the area should be designed with optimal shading and ample natural ventilation, while providing unobstructed views of greenery.

It is important to allocate enough space per person in these respite areas. A minimum of 0.5 square meters per person can be used as reference, though considering the physical distancing measures needed during this time, a set distance of at least 2 meters between persons should be followed. Of course, these areas should be located far from smoking zones, building exhaust air locations, as well as loading docks. Aside from looking at nature, activities such as horticulture therapy and universal-access natural trails can also be included to help people relax and find relief.

During these trying times, finding moments of calmness and rest is an essential need. Hope everyone can find respite in the middle of our current situation. ��

Harnessing The Winds

boulder8tech@gmail.com (Mark Jordan Co) — Wed, 08 Apr 2020 10:35:46 GMT

Within the ASEAN, the Philippines has risen to the top when it comes to wind power generation. Measures such as the feed-in-tariff (FIT) have contributed to renewable energy development and with its geographical location, the country is a prime spot for wind energy potential. Given the National Renewable Energy Plan for 2012-2030, roughly 1,548 MW of renewable energy is set to be added to the electricity grid by 2030, with 38% of this stemming from wind.

The concept of wind power is similar to a pinwheel, wherein the wind’s kinetic energy is used to rotate the device, thus translating the mechanical energy into electricity. Generally, the efficiency of wind power systems would range between 40%-50%. When it comes to wind power, there are two main types of turbines; horizontal-axis (HAWT) and vertical-axis (VAWT). For the horizontal-axis, the blades would resemble propellers or electric fans while vertical-axis blades would look like an egg beater. The HAWTs would be the more commonly used type when it comes to wind farms due to it having a higher efficiency than vertical-axis ones, though when it comes to maintenance and lower construction costs, the VAWT would have the advantage.

In the Philippines, particularly in the Ilocos province, wind energy has made a significant impact in its economic and livelihood growth. The first commercial wind farm in Southeast Asia would be the Bangui Wind Farm with a 33 MW nameplate capacity. The current largest wind project in the region is also located in Ilocos, namely the Burgos Wind Farm which consists of 50 wind turbines, each with a 3 MW peak capacity. Most of the wind power here in the country would come from onshore wind farms, however research on offshore wind potential is growing. With our archipelagic makeup, this would greatly contribute to the renewables generation mix of the nation.

Apart from the macro wind turbines, which refer to those installed for large-scale energy production such as wind farms, the micro wind turbines or building-integrated wind turbines should be considered for localized electricity generation. Normally, one would picture the horizontal-axis type of turbines placed along the sides of the building, however for aesthetic purposes and minimal noise, the use of vertical-axis type turbines is preferred in this case. Another particular kind of micro wind turbine would be the ducted type. Its blade diameter would average around 600 mm and these turbines are usually placed below solar PV panels in building rooftop installations. Though there would be less visual impact in terms of architecture, the disadvantages of ducted turbines would be its restrictive nature wherein they would only produce energy when the wind is blowing at the proper direction.

To end this blog, I would like to mention a film entitled “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind” which depicts the story of a boy who was able to construct a wind turbine as a way to pump water to irrigate the farmlands. This is an inspiring story of how wind energy was able to give the people of Kasungu, Malawi a chance to rebuild their lives despite the famine and lack of resources. Continuing the discussion on renewables, tune in for the next blog wherein we talk about how water can be converted into energy.

Sun’s Out, Energy’s In

boulder8tech@gmail.com (Mark Jordan Co) — Wed, 25 Mar 2020 10:43:33 GMT

In line with the current growth of renewables in the country, we would like to kickstart this blog series by talking about solar energy. Out of all the RE technology available, solar seems to be the most popular nowadays, possible due to a strong market influence and its portable nature, wherein even one’s own home can be easily installed with solar energy.

Whenever we think of solar power, usually the photovoltaic (PV) panels would come to mind similar to the picture above. This kind of solar energy converts sunlight into electricity via semiconductors. For the PV cells, these are commonly made from silicon, either monocrystalline, polycrystalline, or amorphous, however materials such as Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) and Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS) are currently being tested to further increase efficiency in electricity conversion. Generally, solar PV efficiency would range between 6-18%.

In terms of Philippine presence, the largest solar PV plant in Southeast Asia is located in Cadiz, Negros Occidental with a 132.5-MW capacity. With a 176 hectare area, one can see how a conventional solar farm eats up a lot of land space, which could be used for other purposes such as agriculture. Given this, the trend towards the Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) technology is rising since it integrates the PV system onto a building structure. For rooftop PV systems, these would reach around 10 kW in capacity and are built towards the south direction for optimal solar radiation. In the case of façade integration, various transparent module types such as crystalline and micro-perforated amorphous are available as for natural light to transmit inside the building.

Considering the type of energy the sun gives, oftentimes we would just look at sunlight, however using the heat emissions from this can significantly contribute in electricity generation. Solar thermal power plants collect and concentrate solar radiation to produce heat through reflectors that focus sunlight onto a receiver. There are three types of concentrating solar thermal plants; linear concentrating systems, solar power towers, and solar dish/engine systems. For linear concentrating systems, they collect solar energy using rectangular curved mirrors arranged by rows, which is used to heat a fluid that would boil water in a conventional steam-turbine generator to produce electricity. In the case of solar power towers, the system uses a large area of heliostats to track and concentrate sunlight onto a receiver on the top of the tower. Lastly for solar dish/engines, a mirror resembling a satellite dish would direct sunlight onto the receiver, and the heat produced would be used in engine systems such as the Stirling engine. In terms of concentration ratio, solar dish systems produce higher solar concentration compared to linear systems, thus making this type of installation ideal for remote areas.

From all these different kinds of solar technology, there is vast potential for this energy source to flourish. Tune in for the next blog wherein we talk about wind and how it can be used in producing electricity.

Accounting For Energy Consumption

boulder8tech@gmail.com (Mark Jordan Co) — Wed, 11 Mar 2020 10:47:57 GMT

Whenever we look into a problem, it is important to break down the components as to see its details. With this in mind, the concept of systems thinking must still be present in understanding how all of the factors would come into play within the energy system. To look into a building’s energy consumption, one should do an energy audit as mentioned in the previous blog.

According to the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers ( ASHRAE ), there are three types of energy audits namely; Level I, Level II, and Level III. An ASHRAE Level I type would deal with analysing energy bills as well as conducting a brief on-site survey of the facility. The output for this would be a report that lists low-cost and no-cost energy conservation measures (ECMs). For ASHRAE Level II, this would have a more detailed building survey and energy study wherein a cost analysis and estimated return-on-investment (ROI) for the ECMs would be provided. Aside from building improvements and operations and maintenance, recommendations for potential capital investments can be done. In order to have a more in-depth analysis on the capital expenditures, an ASHRAE Level III audit would be needed. Apart from this, extensive data collection usually via data loggers and creation of energy simulation models would be done under this type of audit to account for long-term cost and energy savings.

In most cases, most of building energy consumption comes from the HVAC system. For tropical countries such as the Philippines, the air-conditioning unit would often contribute the most in terms of power use. For specialized facilities such as retail establishments, however, it is possible that lighting would have a more significant impact compared to standard commercial buildings.

The beauty of conducting a third-party energy audit is that the client would be able to have access to a myriad of information about his/her energy patterns, without any motive of promoting a certain product. Granted that there are proven technologies that significantly lessen power usage, however each facility has its own unique energy consumption profile and by conducting a proper audit, the stakeholders of the building would have more evidence-based options that they can consider in making energy decisions.

If you want to learn more about energy audits and our consultancy services, visit us at the GreenSolutions booth in WorldBex 2019 this coming March 13-17!

The Lowdown On Renewable Energy

boulder8tech@gmail.com (Mark Jordan Co) — Wed, 04 Mar 2020 10:57:27 GMT

With the increasing effects from climate change, people are turning towards renewables to help alleviate this phenomenon. From a local perspective, the Philippines’ geographical location and ample natural resources make it a good candidate for renewable energy (RE) to flourish.

Before going into the various kinds of RE, we have to define what can be considered as renewables. Generally, renewable energy comes from natural sources such as sunlight, wind, and water. Truly, there is an abundance of sources, however technology to efficiently convert these into electricity would be the main hurdle of this field. Renewables can be classified into five major kinds: geothermal, biomass, hydropower, wind, and solar; with new types of sources such as tidal energy are currently being explored. In the country, renewables make up around 25% of its power generation mix, with geothermal and large scale hydropower comprising the largest share. Recently, the promotion of solar PV, wind, and run-of-river hydropower is emphasized with policies such as the Renewable Energy Act of 2008.

Considering that the Philippines has pledged a 70% decrease in carbon emissions by 2030 during the COP 21 summit, the government is trying to push for the use of renewables. Ironically, the country is set to increase its share of coal in its energy mix within the next 10 years. With the downward trend of RE technology costs as well as government incentives, hopefully we would hasten the shift towards cleaner energy.

As to every energy issue however, one should look into the whole system through a life cycle analysis. When the RE technology is being used to harness energy, there would be minimal greenhouse gases (GHG) released to the atmosphere, however during the construction of large scale projects such as solar farms, biomass plants, and hydro dams, there is a significant GHG contribution (albeit lower than fossil fuels) from these. Because of this, small scale RE systems such as microgrids and run of river hydro are of interest, particularly for communities with little or no access to the main electricity grid.

Each renewable source has its own characteristics, benefits, and disadvantages. In the upcoming blogs, we’ll be discussing each of the main sources, starting with solar energy.

Keeping Cool With Reflective Roofs

boulder8tech@gmail.com (Mark Jordan Co) — Wed, 26 Feb 2020 11:06:41 GMT

In the previous blog, we mentioned a more cost-effective solution in tackling the Heat Island Effect phenomenon. Aside from greening your roof with plants and sprinkling water onto the roof, one can apply roof coating with high solar reflectivity. This would allow the sunlight that hits the roof surface to reflect back towards the atmosphere. For buildings, around 45% of heat gain would be from sunlight transmitted via the roof, thus reflective roof coating would significantly reduce overall heat absorption. Aside from this, the capital cost for this solution is relatively low since even existing roofs can use the reflective coating without need for much renovations.

Approximately 40% of building electricity consumption comes from air-conditioning use. By applying roof coating with high solar reflectivity, the cooling load would be reduced since the ambient temperature within the building will be cooler. From this, less power is consumed by the A/C, thus translating into more energy savings as well as lower carbon emissions. This type of product would really be beneficial given our tropical and humid climate.

We at GreenSolutions take pride in being a distributor of quality green building materials, particularly our main product line of reflective roof coating under TOPPS. This is currently manufactured in the United States and it is well-known for its superior energy efficiency performance as supported by the Energy Star rating administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

What sets TOPPS Products apart from the market competition is its energy saving and waterproofing capabilities, which are lab-tested and supported by experts in the field. Its main characteristic of being a solvent-based coating makes it a superior product in terms of waterproofing at 0.18 perms, as opposed to the standard water-based coating with 50 perms. With this, the life of the roof would be further extended given its 850% elongation and strength of 12 N/mm2, compared to 100% elongation and 1.09 N/mm2 strength of other leading brands. For its solar reflectivity, a standard grey roof would have 40% reflectance, but with the white coat property of TOPPS, this would increase up to 88%.

Since most customers that require roof waterproofing would do this roughly every 2 years on average, why not invest in a product which would not only extend roof life up to 10 years but also incur energy savings in the process? Take this step towards building efficiency and sustainability with TOPPS!

Taking The Heat In Rapid Development

boulder8tech@gmail.com (Mark Jordan Co) — Sat, 15 Feb 2020 11:09:39 GMT

With the “Build, Build, Build” program of the current administration, Metro Manila has seen a trend of rapid urbanization over the past 3 years. New construction projects are being done at an exponential rate all over the city, which can symbolize strong economic progress for the city and country. However, with large-scale development projects comes large-scale environmental impacts, particularly a phenomenon called the “Heat Island Effect”.

If you are part of the construction sector or are just interested in the concepts behind urban planning, you may have heard of this before. Basically, it is when urbanized areas experience more heat due to the presence of numerous surface construction materials such as roofs, walls, and roads. During the day, the concrete and metal surfaces of buildings would absorb sunlight which would make evenings warmer. The use of asphalt in roofs and roads have a substantial effect particularly when it comes to this due to the material’s black color. Though the temperature increase would be only by a few centigrade (ᵒC), the resulting environmental impacts are significant.

With the increase in temperature, building electricity consumption will rise along with it. On average, air-conditioning would contribute to roughly 40% of overall energy consumption and in order to achieve thermal comfort, people would likely use their A/C more to combat the heat. Given that the majority share of the Philippine energy mix consists of fossil fuels, the additional energy consumption from cooling systems would emit more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, thereby heating up the already warm surroundings.

One common solution to this issue would be to create green roofs on top of buildings. In essence, one would be putting up a roof garden, which would allow the plants to use its leaves to cool the surrounding air via evaporative cooling. The main concept behind this is to make the roof surface wet as to reduce heat in the outdoor air, thus measures such as sprinkling water onto roofs are also considered. Though these solutions have proven to be effective, they incur large investment and operational costs. For the next blog, we’ll discuss a more cost-effective solution which would both reduce the heat island effect and save companies millions in the long term.

The Challenge Of Building Sustainably

boulder8tech@gmail.com (Mark Jordan Co) — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 11:12:39 GMT

For the first blog of 2019, we would like to reopen the discussion of regenerative design as a kick start for the upcoming WORLDBEX convention. The Philippine World Building and Construction Exposition is considered the largest exhibition of its kind, hosting around 800 companies that aim to build better infrastructure for the country. It attracts roughly 200,000 visitors each year, so it’s a good avenue for us to promote the goal towards building sustainability.

When one talks about the reasons behind creating green buildings, the common answer would be to minimize energy consumption and to reduce GHG emissions. Considering a more proactive approach, we would like to challenge this mindset through the concept of regenerative buildings. In a previous blog entry, we talked about the net-positive impact of the Laurentian University’s Living with Lakes building as it contributed in the de-acidification of the surrounding lake with its’ limestone wall material. Today, we’ll look into another example in the form of Sechelt Hospital, located in British Columbia.

For the construction of the building, around 90% of its materials were obtained from landfills. Aside from this, it is one of the few hospitals that have operable windows, which allows a regulated amount of outside air to infiltrate depending on the number of occupants. Along with the natural light, the fresh outdoor air would let patients connect with nature. In terms of energy supply, the hospital is equipped with 78 solar panels which help offset energy consumption and carbon emissions.

One of the major retrofits that were made to the building was the installation of an electric boiler in place of its’ original natural gas boiler. The electricity being used for the boiler is sourced from a nearby hydro power plant, thus overall reducing carbon emissions.

From using recycled construction materials as well as natural air and light, cost savings can be realized as well as reduction in environmental impacts. Also by keeping the heritage of the First Nations people incorporated with the building design, the Sechelt Hospital serves as a great example of a sustainable building. Hopefully we can keep this in mind as the country moves towards rapid development in the field of construction.

Bringing A Dead Lake Back To Life

boulder8tech@gmail.com (Mark Jordan Co) — Sun, 03 Nov 2019 11:16:54 GMT

Perhaps the most dramatic regenerative project that I’ve been lucky to be a part of is the Laurentian University’s Living with Lakes building. The project is situated next to Lake Ramsey in Sudbury Ontario, which neighbors one of the largest nickel mine in Canada. The mining activities which spanned from the 1880s all the way to the 1960s made the lake uninhabitable by wild life and its surrounding barren. Such was the devastation, that NASA used Sudbury’s barren landscape for testing lunar vehicles for its Apollo program. By the 70s the lake was so polluted it was declared a dead lake. Later in the 70s, the municipality made stricter mining policies and by the 90’s the surrounding areas began to slowly come to life.

The project was to create a building for Laurentian University to study the lake water as well as the surrounding areas. The facility was to house research in natural studies specifically to look into how we can regenerate our surroundings.

Aside from creating an energy efficient building, the project team was also tasked with creating a building that reflected the goal of the university. In order to do this, the team put a lot of time into researching the effects of various factors from rainfall, to local wildlife and possibly introducing vegetation which would help the lake.

One item that emerged from this research was the use of naturally alkaline Manitoulin limestone for the base of the building. By running stormwater over the limestone, the pH value of the rainwater is reduced from moderately acidic to mildly alkaline. The cleaned water is then directed to a wetland area before being returned to the lake. As a result of the filtration strategies, this wetland has cleaner water and greater biodiversity than it had prior to the construction of the building. This slowly transformed the acidic waters of the lake into a clean lake.

In addition to cleaning the lake, the building also uses less resources than normal buildings. There is abundant daylight within the building due to careful considerations. The lab spaces, which require increased air circulation, capture waste heat for reuse in the building. The water fixtures were also chosen so that the building uses 40% less water than normal.

There’s an old saying that the most sustainable building is the one you don’t build. It’s true; the very nature of the building industry is to use resources to create occupiable spaces. There will always be some use of resources, but I think we’re learning to channel these buildings into being a positive contributor to the environment.

Can The Building Industry Start Doing Good Instead Of Less Harm?

boulder8tech@gmail.com (Mark Jordan Co) — Thu, 17 Oct 2019 11:21:07 GMT

We’ve been quite busy in the last few weeks spreading our passion about green buildings! In the beginning of September we were at the 14th Green Forum hosted by the Green Architecture Advocacy Philippines group. Following this, we were at the International Green Building Conference in Singapore speaking about whole systems thinking and Living Buildings. We’re now back and hopefully have a steady stream of blog entries ahead.

The conversation around energy in green buildings for the last decade has been framed around doing less harm. We understand that our buildings are using a lot of resources including energy and emitting a large amount of carbon back into the atmosphere. Green buildings aim to reduce the amount of energy by being more efficient and sometimes even generating some energy on site. While this is commendable, at the end of the day, we’re still contributing to climate change.

More recently, the conversation has been slowly shifting. People are asking “Why are we so focused on doing less harm? Shouldn’t we focus on doing no harm at all? Are we truly able to build buildings which do not do harm to the environment?” I think the answer is yes. And in fact, there are now buildings all over the world in different climates that are net-zero in energy, which means they are able to generate as much energy as they use in a year.

Let’s take this a step further and ask ourselves – “Are we able to create buildings which regenerate their surroundings? Why wouldn’t we create buildings that make the community and environment better?” I think the answer is also yes. This type of regenerative design is something that the industry should be exploring and embracing. It’s simply the responsible thing to do.

At some point, we will have to stop focusing on doing less harm and instead try to do some good. Of course, this can’t happen over night. There must be a deliberate transition away from creating wasteful buildings and towards buildings which do not harm the environment. The good news is that this isn’t something that is in the far future. In fact, there are buildings now that meet this criterion . I encourage you to find out more about net zero buildings and living buildings out there!

https://living-future.org/lbc/case-studies/

In the next blog entries, I’ll talk about a few specific projects we’ve previously worked on which contributed positively to their surroundings. Stay tuned!

Quantifying Carbon Emissions

boulder8tech@gmail.com (Mark Jordan Co) — Sat, 27 Jul 2019 11:30:22 GMT

In the last blog post, the basics of climate change and carbon were covered. In this post, I’d like to build on that by showing some quick calculations to quantify carbon emissions from energy consumption. In the context of climate change, when we say carbon it is actually carbon dioxide (CO2). It’s that gas which we exhale and that plants convert into oxygen. This gas is also how we measure how much greenhouse gas there is in the atmosphere. Since there are many types of greenhouse gasses, it is easier to use one of the gasses as a form of base measurement, thus greenhouse gas emissions are almost always measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent or tCO2e.

Be warned, I like math; prepare for some numbers:

According to the World Resources Institute Climate Analysis Indicators Tool (WRI CAIT), the Philippines’ GHG emissions in 2012 were dominated by the energy sector (54%), followed by agriculture (33%), industrial processes (8%), and waste (7%). As of 2014, the Philippines generates energy primarily with coal (43%) and natural gas (24%). Renewable sources such as hydro and geothermal contribute 26% and the remainder uses oil based generators.

On average, coal produces 909 grams of CO2 / kWh, natural gas produces 465 grams of CO2 / kWh and oil produces 800 grams of CO2 / kWh. Bare in mind, these numbers are not exact as varying power plants have varying efficiencies.

Using a weighted average calculation, we can approximate that each kWh consumed in the Philippines produces roughly 557 grams of CO2. 557 grams of carbon per kWh, that really doesn’t tell us much-does it?

Let’s try to put things in perspective: A regularly used air-conditioner uses roughly 400 kWh / month. This means that the emissions tied to having an air conditioner is 223 kg CO2e / month. With this information, we can now find equivalents. For example, 223 kg of carbon is equivalent to driving about 850 km or planting 6 trees and having them absorb carbon for 10 years.

You can find other equivalents by visiting the US Environmental Protection Agency’s website:

https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gas-equivalencies-calculator

Since 1971, carbon emissions generated per kWh in the Philippines has increased by 41%. This means that the country is shifting towards fuel which produces more carbon emissions. A big reason for this is our continued investment in coal power plants despite neighboring countries investing in renewable energy. In contrast, Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan and China has been seeing their emissions generated per kWh go down each year due to renewables. In addition, their energy is also cheaper as they burn less fuel to generate them. Countries such as the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia continue to invest in coal power plants which contribute to more emissions and increase the cost of energy.

This is why most countries see a switch to renewable energy as an economical choice in addition to being environmental. Hopefully the Philippines start thinking about how sustainable our energy source truly is before it’s too late.

Climate Change And Carbon Emissions

boulder8tech@gmail.com (Mark Jordan Co) — Mon, 15 Jul 2019 11:40:47 GMT

Editorial cartoon by Adam Zyglis taken from the Buffalo News

Let’s get this fact out of the way: Climate change is real.

It’s hard to imagine that in this day and age there are still people who deny the science behind climate change. Most deniers point to the cold weather and simply say, that climate change can’t be real since it still gets cold. This logic fails to realize that weather and climate are two different things. Weather talks about our day to day state and deals with shorter terms while climate describes the long-term state. Over the past 15 years, the Earth has consistently been warmer and breaking heat records. This points to a trend as opposed to a one off event.

There’s a lot of information out there about climate change and today I’d like to share two of my favorites. Both are quick videos packed with all the basics of carbon and climate change. Enjoy!

First off is from Bill Nye for the National Geographic:

Next is a cartoon made by the Bell Museum of Natural History at the University of Minnesota:

LEED And Green Rating Systems

boulder8tech@gmail.com (Mark Jordan Co) — Fri, 12 Jul 2019 11:43:05 GMT

Green building rating systems or green building certifications such as America’s LEED, UK’s BREEAM and our own BERDE serve as third party verification of green projects. Unlike building codes, pursuing a certification is entirely voluntarily. The goal of these systems is to transform the market and encourage green buildings by providing recognition to projects which meet their scoring systems.

Internationally, LEED has been so successful that it’s difficult to talk about sustainable developments without someone pointing out LEED. The rating system has been very versatile in how it handles energy and water that it has been adopted by countries with varying climates. Cold countries such as Canada and hot countries such as India both predominantly use LEED as their green building rating system. This allows for a consistent baseline for projects and gives the market a universal understanding on a building’s performance.

The past 5 years saw more specialized rating systems such as the Living Building Challenge, Passive House (or PassivHaus) and WELL have been on the rise. These are usually used in conjunction with LEED and concentrate on a specific issue. For example, WELL is specific to promoting human wellness and healthy indoor spaces while Passive House focuses on a lower energy use through good building envelopes and systems.

In our market, LEED specifically has been a great help to pushing the construction industry in a greener path, however, there are a few common misconceptions when it comes to LEED. First, LEED should not be confused for standard or code. While there are prerequisites to LEED, the rating system itself is very rarely structured in the rigidity of building standards or codes and the requirements are performance-based.

Second, there is no such thing as a LEED certified product. There are many great green building products out there and many of them contribute to earning a LEED point or prerequisite. However, LEED points and prerequisites are based on performance of the project and not of one product.

Finally, while LEED is a great indication of a building’s performance, it does not guarantee any performance level. This is because the scoring approach it takes allows projects to pick and chose credits they want to pursue. For example, a project may only select to earn 3 points of a possible 19 on Optimized Energy Performance and still achieve enough points to reach platinum certification while another project may select to earn all 19 points and only achieve a silver level due to other point categories. Conversely, there are many sustainable projects which choose not to pursue LEED due to the added perceived and (sometimes) real cost yet perform on a LEED project’s level.

LEED and other green building rating systems are here to stay and we should embrace it. These systems help drive the industry forward and challenge us to produce better buildings. They also provide the general public with a base understanding of green buildings. The challenge for the industry is to understand and educate.

The GreenSolutions blog is a series of bite size posts which covers sustainable development and technology. Do you have a question or a discussion you want started? Email us or leave us a note!

Sustainability And The Triple Bottom Line

boulder8tech@gmail.com (Mark Jordan Co) — Tue, 09 Jul 2019 11:48:13 GMT

Welcome to the first GreenSolutions blog entry! Every week, we’ll explore sustainability and recent trends in the world of green buildings. While most topics will be in the context of the built environment, we will periodically have posts which approach from other angles.

Sustainability is defined as the capability to maintain a certain state or level. Most businesses and projects aim to be sustainable yet it is difficult to qualify whether they are successful. While there are many schools of thought for a framework of sustainability, I subscribe to the Triple Bottom Line approach. Also called 3P, the Triple Bottom Line evaluates sustainability using three equal factors: Social (People), Environmental (Planet) and Economical (Profit).

Source: http://newleaf-llc.com/2013/07/defining-sustainability-triple-bottom-line/

The environment, the people and the economy; each of these three core elements are important to our worlds progress. If projects do not make profits, then no one will be in the business of building and that would mean a stunted economy. If projects do not protect the environment, then we will not have a world to thrive in. And finally, if projects do not keep the interest of the people at heart, then we will live in a very cruel place.

For projects to be sustainable, they must address each of these three elements without sacrificing one for another. For example, a solution which provides an environmental benefit but sacrifices economic gain would not be viable as no one would invest in it. Similarly, a solution which only provides an economic benefit but sacrifices the environment is incredible irresponsible.

I believe that successful projects are able to find strategies which benefit all three elements at the same time. When all three factors are treated equally, a holistic approach to development is realized and projects are poised for long term success.

Stay tuned, future blog posts will cover real world examples!