Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Rant: Home Depot Duct Tape

I quick one this evening, just for the sake of generating content and developing good habits.

I was at the Home Depot a month ago buying supplies for a small HVAC project.  In the midst of looking for proper adhesives and binding substrates for some flexduct and associated boots, I could almost NOT find the appropriate code-approved tape and mastic and webbing and ties.  Sheesh, it was a battle.  Nearly all the tape they had in the aisle was not code approved and probably would have lastly a hot minute on that cold duct (or vice-versa). 

After 5 minutes of careful examination, I find it at the bottom right corner of an array of shiny foil nothing tapes. 

Disappointment reigned.  While code-approved tape probably have more to do with fire=rating than actual adhesive performance, nevertheless, complying with code should not be so hard.  Having ductwork that won’t leak in 1 year wouldn’t be so bad.

On the bright side, as long as folks keep using hat crap, I’ll have more of a retrofit marketing plan

There are a wealth of reports and studies about this, but for the n00b: http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/duct-tape-HVAC.html

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Embodied Carbon Footprinting Literature Review

A quick table and chart


Study

Description

Location

Square Footage

Projected Life of Home

Total Embodied CO2 (kg)

Embodied kg CO2/sq. ft.

Operational CO2--50 yr (kg)

Operational kg CO2/sq. ft.-yr

U. Mich[1]

Standard Home

Michigan

2450

50

81,795

33.39

931,486

7.60

U. Mich

Energy Efficient Home

Michigan

2450

50

79,992

32.65

294,463

2.40

CORRIM[2]

Home-Steel Structure

Minneapolis

2062

75

37,047

17.97

1,300,000

8.41

CORRIM

Home-Wood Structure

Minneapolis

2062

75

46,826

22.71

1,300,000

8.41

CORRIM

Home-Concrete structure

Atlanta

2153

75

21,367

9.92

762,500

4.72

CORRIM

Home-Wood structure

Atlanta

2153

75

28,004

13.01

762,500

4.72

Australia[3]

Median

Australia

1773

50

84,900

47.87

507,000

5.72

Australia

Max (Embodied)

Australia

3444

50

164,700

47.82

899,000

5.22

Australia

Min (Embodied)

Australia

980

50

56,800

57.99

238,100

4.86

 

image002

[1] Blanchard, Steven, and Peter Reppe. Life Cycle Analysis of a Residential Home in Michigan. Report (University of Michigan. Center for Sustainable Systems), no. CSS98-05. Ann Arbor, Mich: Center for Sustainable Systems, University of Michigan, 1998. Internet resource.

[2] Life Cycle Environmental Performance of Renewable Materials in the Context of Residential Building Construction: Phase I Interim Research Report. Seattle, WA: Consortium for Research on Renewable Industrial Materials (CORRIM, 2002. Print.)

[3]Pullen, Stephen F. "Energy Used in the Construction and Operation of Houses." Architectural Science Review. 43.2 (2000): 87. Print. This study analyzes 25 homes of all ages and assemblies around Adelaide, Australia. Maxima, minima, and average results were calculated directly from the data provided in the paper.

Monday, August 30, 2010

Insulated Concrete Forms part 2

Oak Ridge to the Rescue!!

So, last time we spoke, I was trying to work through the actual performance (equivalent R-value) of an insulated mass wall, within a mild coastal climate.  In this post, I will review the one tool that I found which might give some insight, but less than ideal.

As it turns out, most energy modeling software that isn’t TRANSYS or EnergyPlus just doesn’t really like thermal capacitance.  They model heat as ‘BTU’s in—BTU’s out’ which for the purposes of most energy modeling, is quite sufficient.  In  other words, it doesn’t really respect the 2nd law of thermodynamics.   However with massive wall systems, all the heat slushing in and out results in some fairly tricky dynamics.  Keeping track of the temperature of the mass can be important in some designs, and is definitely important when it comes to comfort. 

The traditional energy modeling software don’t really mess with this level of detail because it’s tricky and is essentially a finite element model. 

Oak Ridge Thermal Mass Calculator:

Google that and you’ll find a nice software tool circa 2000.  There aren’t too many options within the tool, so I chose a 3000 square foot 2-story ranch house with R-19 continuous steady state insulation (the EPS on the outside/inside of the wall).  The tool calculates an assortment of equivalent R-values based on the location of the insulation with respect to the mass—inside, outside, or in the middle.  It then gives us charts like the following, which shows:

ICF 2-story residence in Phoenix (R-19 steady state R-value):  R-31 equivalent

Clipboard-5

The ICF performance is on the right side, labeled as “ICI,” or ‘insulation-concrete-insulation’

ICF 2-story residence in Seattle (R-19 steady state R-value):  R-26 equivalent

Clipboard-6

You can see that the equivalent R-value of the wall in a temperate, cloudy environment, such as Seattles, is substantially less than the performance in Phoenix.  R-26 ain’t too shabby, however, as far as overall wall performances are concerned.  

Clipboard-7

Conclusions:
The heavy thermal mass wall system works well, and the ICF is a good product, assuming one can contend with its adaptations in building style.  The walls tend to have superior air-tightness relative to light frame assemblies due to the requisite attention to details and the monolithic nature of the wall assembly. 
HOWEVER

Achieving R-26 in a light frame is not hard.  Just put some rigid foam on the interior or exterior, dude.

Also, if you noticed on those charts that the interior mass wall universally worked the best.  Take note of that!  Interior mass is where the mass should be, exposed, naked for all the interior world to see.  And, of course, if you want some passive solar benefit, you could also put your mass where the sun does shine!  ;)

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

R-values and Insulated Concrete Forms in mild climates

Recently, I was contacted to try to analyze the annual performance of an insulated concrete forms in a fairly mild climate—Santa Cruz, to be specific.  

Santa Cruz is pretty mild.  The following chart shows a fairly consistent 15 degree diurnal variation (see the YELLOW bars), which ain’t much.  Life’s a beach on the beach.  By just exterior temperatures alone, we might see that substantial thermal capacitance within a wall system (as opposed to inside!) probably won’t have a chance to really heat up during the day (unless… there are caveats). 

Screen shot 2010-08-25 at 5.01.46 PM

Salesman R-values
ICF wall system purveyors tend to claim all sorts of ridiculous performance values.  Some say R-50!  Some say R-38!  Some say all sorts of stuff that doesn’t make sense.  I call them Energy Pirates (RRRRRRR!). 

Real Steady State R-values
In the least, some of these wall assemblies actually should have a decent continuous R-value, thanks to the fact that they’re reasonably monolithic, assuming you don’t start building in large thermal bridges in the form of cantilevered patios (which have long extensions of steel beams running through the thermal envelope).  This decent R-value is probably in and around R-19 (5-6 inches of EPS foam in total).  Not too shabby.  The concrete itself has a negligible R-value (0.7 per inch). 

An ICF Wall is not a light frame assembly, though.  It’s got MASS.  It’s gonna suck in heat, and let it out.  This thermal capacitance can really come in handy in certain climates.  There are electrical analogies that I can make here, but I’m still getting confused at making the analogies correctly (and intuitively).  Proponents of the ICF technology are correctly claiming some benefit here.  THERMAL MASS can have an EQUIVALENT R-VALUE. 

The question is…. how much? 

Lastly, one last chart foreshadowing conclusions—showing a psychrometric chart of the Monterey/Santa Cruz region along with evaluations of different technology performance.

Screen shot 2010-08-25 at 5.01.05 PM

 

Part 2:   modeling of an ICF system? 

Friday, May 7, 2010

Closed Cell foam and Refrigerant calculator

Hi all,
Here's a revisitation of an old topic:  what is the greenhouse gas balance for a closed cell foam as insulation in a building assembly.  The issue is that a lot of closed cell foam uses a blowing agent that has a substantial global warming potential.  In the application of the foam, does one end up releasing more GHG's than one would save in the energy efficiency of the assembly?

HFC-245fa is generally the refrigerant in use in many of my projects, and the global warming potential is generally agreed to be about ~1000 times that of CO2.

I made up a spreadsheet full of all sorts of assumptions and calculations.  They're all mutable.
Based on the current numbers, even thin layers of foam have a substantial greenhouse gas impact-- on the order of a 10-20 year GHG payback for a standard 4" assembly.
Given this result-- another reason to approach closed cell foams with caution.

Updated Link!!
(update to updated link-- for some reason Google Docs is pwnd-ing me like the n00b that I once was.  The link keeps on breaking-- at some point very soon I'll fix that and figure out what's up)

There are probably errors in my calculator that I haven't spotted yet.  I hope you'll help me weed those out, which is why I'm still wary of any outright ban on closed cell foam in my projects.  It's good stuff when applied well and correctly.  But there are many alternative assemblies which could perform just as well...


--Luke

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Hastily Composed VOC chemistry update

One axis of dilema in building-- does the chemistry of the products we use to assemble and attach our buildings together always in tension with other things such as durability, efficiency, tightness, etc.
This afternoon, I've spent a little time pulling together some resources on what resources we have now, and who's really pushing on the boundaries.
1.  Standard MSDS sheet:
We check it out, and scan its pages.  It's mostly not terribly helpful.  In other words, if you're looking for information related to acute exposure to specific high risk chemicals, and maybe some vague VOC content, then MSDS sheets will be awesome!   As a document for green building research, they answer few questions.
But, by law, they must indicate any regulated chemicals into the MSDS sheet, but not much more than that.   So, in the least, you could look up those chemicals in other databases and learn so much about the niceties of chemical exposure.

In fact, this leads me to...
2.  California's database of nasties to eschew indefinitely:
http://www.oehha.ca.gov/air/allrels.html 

3. One great hope for the future:  The Pharos Project
Continuing to ask the questions, digging into the truth, is the laudable Pharos project.  It is starting with transparency first-- understanding what chemicals are built into the products we use in our projects, and being explicit about the risks.  They also host some very interesting information about the current events of 


Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Cash 4 Appliances


So it's almost officially Earth Day, and there's yet another rebate program associated with trying to undermine the counterfactual, or in other words, get us to use energy and water more efficiently than you would be if you didn't buy new stuff.  

Before I get off on a rant, here's the website.

Note how it shares the orthography of hip-speak, supplanting the homophonic for for 4  (whoa!  Parse that Batman!).
"What for?"  you ask...

I'm really just talking about your standard fridges and dishwashers and washing machines, etc.  They just want you to buy new ones!  Why?!  Cuz it's a win win win for everyone!

It turns out that white goods salez (wait, is there some embedded racialism in there?) are good for the economies of our spaceship earth.  That's win #1. Of course, the program is trying to do good by making sure you properly "recycle" or "downcycle" your old appliances with certified, or "platinum" dealerships.  I'm not sure what precious metals that are highly productive as catalysts (like in the current lecture I'm not listening to on photoelectrochemical cells).

Of course, you'll probably save money on your utility billz too.  That's win #2

And, it's being funded by ARRA monies for it, so its coming from future us's!!!  How awesome is it that future me is investing is present me!  

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Heat balance of nudist colonies

One of the three mechanisms for heat transfer is Radiation.  Just about everything outside of a lab that has a temperature radiates light in some visible or invisible form.  The hotter the temperature, the more visible the light (which is how our incandescent lights work). Radiation at the temperatures we live in (70 F) are not as small as I originally thought-- ~400 Watts per square meter of surface, and it's almost entirely in the non-visible infrared light spectrum.  Fortunately, everything around is throwing ~400 Watts/m^2 back and forth, so if the environment itself is enclosed, with no heat loss outward, then everything is just throwing out 400 Watts/m^2 while simultaneously absorbing 400 W/m^2 back.  

--In a sort of gross approximation, imagine two of those heat dishes facing each other, radiating to each other, keeping each other mutually warm.  awww... Loving...

Our radiant environment and the human body:
Us mortals are homeostatically around 98.6 deg F (actually, proven to be more in the 99 deg range, but 98.6 is exactly 37 deg C, so the math is easier).
The Radiant heat transfer given ideally by the Stefan-Boltzmann Law, which equals (5.67*10^-8)*([Temperature of one surface]^4  -   [Temperature of other surface]^4)
If we think of one surface as the human body, and the other surface as everything else around us (let's say, at 71 deg F, or 22 C), the net radiant heat transfer between the body and the room is roughly:
5.67*10^-8 * (37^4 - 22^4)= 84 Watts/m^2.
If we multiply by 1 square meter (a guess at the area of the human body exposed to the environment), then we get ~80 Watts net heat loss to the environment.
If we add in conductance, that equation looks like this, assuming a thermal conductance of the skin to the surrounding air of R-2:  (98.6 F - 71 F)/(R-2)*3.412[Btu/hr-Watt]=  255 Watts of heat loss to the environment.  YIKES!  brrr....
And, if you were wondering about that R-2 of the convection resistance next to the skin, I am indeed assuming for all of this that we're totally naked.  You'll see soon why we invented clothes.

[Caveats here for those who really can see what's going on and want to rightfully criticize my spherical cow approach here-- this will be a rather conservative estimate, as we'll see later.  The skin of the human body is not usually 98.6 deg F, but a bit lower, resulting in lower radiation as well as convective heat losses]

So, to keep track, we've got the following heat losses:
84 Watts of Radiation  +
255 Watts of Conduction/Convection
~330 Watts lost to the environment

Ok, now what about heat gains?  us mortals are also little power plants, converting food into thought, and waste heat (with about 20% efficiency overall).  Given our diets and average activites, we eat about 2000-3000 kilocalories of food a day.  Do some conversions, and we get a total of about 150 Watts of heat production  from just being living breathing things.

So, the net heat balance:
330 Watts loss-150 Watts of heat gain= 170 Watts of net cooling off.

Again... brrr.  We invented clothes for a reason.  It's because 70 degrees is a little chilly of a radiant environment to be naked, or so it seems.  Due to the aforementioned conservativeness of the calculation, it not actually as bad as 170 Watts of heat loss, and it's also a dynamic system, so our bodies are pretty good at reducing heat loss in these situations by lowering skin temperature.

But while continuing on the theme--
how warm would it have to be to be comfortable nude, standing, in a radiantly heated room?
The answer, per all my assumptions here is:
87 degrees Fahrenheit!  exhibitionists take note!  or put on some clothes already.


Ok, now on to some real work.







Thursday, April 15, 2010

Green Building Incentives: 94301 version

Recently, I was reminded that I should once again turn my attentions to reviewing all the various monies and incentives available to green building/energy efficiency/water efficiency professionals and citizens trying to do better things.  I mean, solar energy systems, water efficiency technology, 

Fracking Fractalling fragmentation: What's good in your neighborhood?
If you've ever looked into these sort of incentive programs, being knowledgeable of them is similar to being expert in distinct island ecologies in the mist of Papua.  And, by that, I mean it's complicated to simplify.  There are large amount of incentives, but they are all spatially and temporally confined.  The City of Palo Alto has its own programs, which sometimes piggyback off of the Santa Clara Valley Irrigation District's incentives in just the "Water" category, and not the "Energy" category.  Technologies, such as washing machines, are spliced up like financial tranches, with their water savings incentivized by one entity, and their energy by another.  

All this makes it exceedingly complicated to be general and comprehensive about such rebates, since they change constantly, and they each have particular requirements.  

So, I've tried to assemble a mostly comprehensive list for the South Bay Aria.  
Here's the list all colorful and databasey.  

All the Rebates for Palo Alto are on top, and comprise most of the list.


Monday, April 12, 2010

The BEST Conference Day 1

Yes, they call this the Building Enclosure Science and Technology conference...  up in Central Cascadia itself-- Portland, OR.
This is kind of like the other green building conferences we go to, except this conference actually talks about performance, and brings the data.  They say such heretical things like "Green building may or may not include the use of green materials."  There are lots of charts and graphs and pictures of hilARIOUS failures and all these design/construction professionals' pets.

So, here's a summary from the day, selectively

1.  Invisible Window Installation!!
This was in a presentation on metrics for Zero-Net Energy Homes, mostly focused on Winnipeg.

2.  ENERGY STAR homes:  New standards coming out in 2012, incorporating all the more building science,  which is nice.  The guy, (Sam Rashkin) was pretty implicitly down on most existing buildings, since they are simply controlled failures, since they are either uninsulated (and consequently durable) energy hogs, or they're insulated inappropriately resulting in inevitable mold, lameness, and failure.
Highlights from the new standard:
-- no more ductwork outside of conditioned space!
-- all insulation installed to RESNET grade I, which pretty much makes batt insulation as cost-effective as spray installations (meaning, a lot more expensive)
--Toyota is starting to make modular homes for $200-$800.  they come with a 60 year warranty.  no joke
--no more energy model "score" in E-STAR certification


3.  In the construction of the Guggenheim museum in New York City (demigod himself F. Lloyd Wright)
 -- as a testament to divine intervention, the top level of the cylindrical complex there did not completely fly open in all of its 60 years of existing.  The top floor is formed like an old wooden barrel, with vertical planks of wooden cinched together (and bent like springs) against horizontal metal straps.  Instead of wood, they used gunnite concrete with metal rebar 'straps'.  Well the consruction foreman (or someone) decided to cut those straps before the gunnite was sprayed/formed, leaving the entire 6th floor of the museum unreinforced.
They only discovered this when, several years ago, they were trying to diagnose some cracking that they saw up there.  hmmm. scary.

--In Net Zero Energy Homes:
Rule of thumb for for the Northwest   75% energy efficiency, 25% building PV's
for Canada:  80-90% efficiency, 10-20% PV's

Stucco:  it will crack, it will fail, it will crumble, that's exactly what it's supposed to do.  That's why it's such a great protector, and has been used for thousands of years.

the keys are:
 --clean consistent materials:  e.g. polluted sand contains too many fines, which suck up way too much water, causing one to way water down the cement, resulting in a weak structure.
--consistent thickness:  makes for consistent movement, which is key for crack prevention
--proper hydration during curing: just like concrete.  it is concrete.
--proper detailing:  all those corners and edges and transitions and openings.

I saw some great 1-coat stucco systems over 1-inch foam.  awesome

Some parting thoughts:

The Parthenon meets LEED requirements for daylighting

Most Sustainable Building (that's actually a building) evfer!

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Water pumping vs. Water heating energy

So here's the quandry--
We've got our house with a long distance of water pipe between the water heater and the faucet.  Each morning, we make ourselves some tea, and need to boil some water to do so.
It's nice to simply heat hot water from the water heater instead of boiling cold water from the tap.  But in order to get the hot water, we need to run the tap for a couple of minutes, and all that cold water just goes down the drain, wasting all the energy it took to pump it there to the tap in the first place.

We know that providing water and sewage treatment has an energy cost.
We also know that water heating itself is an energy cost.

The Answer:
Depending on the efficiency of the water heater-- between 30-60 gallons of water down the drain to be equivalent of the water heating energy needed to raise the water temperature to 130 (equivalent to the output of the water heater).

Note:  You may notice that I'm implicitly assuming that the heat from the water heater would be otherwise "wasted" which of course, it isn't all.  So, it's a bit of a simplistic calculation.  At least it gives a little order of magnitude.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Spring 2010 classes: not so free edition

So, to follow up with the previous posting about free classes—there are also some not so free ones out there.  The ones that I will reference here are offered by:

The California Building Performance  Contractors Association—and they do a bunch of classes on Building Science, residential retrofit practices, diagnostics, evaluation, and performance.  Theses classes, combined with a trillion or so dollars of retrofit/renovation monies from somewhere, could transform our broader energy systems and obviate half of our existing power plants, and all the pollution they provide.  There are lots of people who don’t want that to happen, for obvious reasons (they’ve invested a lot of good money into those things). 

Their formatting in the HTML seems to actively discourage reposting, so, here’s the link to the right page:

http://www.cbpca.org/contractors/trainingcalendar.html

Build It Green:
Located up in Alameda—they run the GreenPoint Rated home certification program that’s all the rage here in Palo Alto (because it’s required by code).  

Certified Green Building Professional (CGBP) Training
Day: Monday - Tuesday, April 5-6 from 8AM-5PM
Location: IBEW Local 332 Headquarters 2125 Canoas Garden Road San Jose, CA 95125
Register Mapquest | Add to Calendar

Green Home Retrofitting & Remodeling - Advanced Training
Day: Tuesday - Wednesday, April 27-28 from 8AM-5PM
Location: Scottish Rite Center 1520 Lakeside Drive Oakland, CA 94612
Register Mapquest | Add to Calendar

Certified Green Building Professional (CGBP) Training
Day: Thursday - Friday, May 6-7 from 8AM-5PM
Location: StopWaste.org 1537 Webster Street Oakland, CA 94612
Register Mapquest | Add to Calendar

Certified Green Building Professional (CGBP) Training
Day: Monday - Tuesday, May 10-11 from 8AM-5PM
Location: Richmond BUILD III- Green Careers Training Academy 500 23rd Street Richmond, CA 94804
Register Mapquest | Add to Calendar

Certified Green Building Professional (CGBP) Training
Day: Thursday - Friday, May 13-14 from 8AM-5PM
Location: Marin Builders Association 660 Las Galinas Avenue San Rafael, CA 94903-3687
Register Mapquest | Add to Calendar

CGBP & GreenPoint Rated: Advisor/Rater Trainings
Day: Monday - Saturday, June 7-12 from 8AM-5PM (M-F); 8:30AM-12PM (Sat. only)
Location: Richmond BUILD III- Green Careers Training Academy 500 23rd Street Richmond, CA 94804
Register Mapquest | Add to Calendar

GreenPoint Rated: Advisor & Rater Training
Wednesday - Saturday, June 9-12 from 8AM-5PM (W-F); 8:30AM-12PM (Sat. only)
Location: Richmond BUILD III- Green Careers Training Academy 500 23rd Street Richmond, CA 94804
Register Mapquest | Add to Calendar

Certified Green Building Professional (CGBP) Training
Day: Monday - Tuesday, June 7-8 from 8AM-5PM (M-F);
Location: IBEW Local 332 Headquarters 2125 Canoas Garden Road San Jose, CA 95125
Register Mapquest | Add to Calendar

Certified Green Building Professional (CGBP) Training
Day: Tuesday - Wednesday, June 22-23 from 8AM-5PM
Location: SoCal Gas Company - Energy Resource Center 9240 Firestone Boulevard Downey, CA
Register Mapquest | Add to Calendar

Green Home Retrofitting & Remodeling - Advanced Training
Day: Thursday - Friday, June 24-25 from 8AM-5PM
Location: SoCal Gas Company - Energy Resource Center 9240 Firestone Boulevard Downey, CA
Register Mapquest | Add to Calendar

Green Home Retrofitting & Remodeling - Advanced CGBP Training
Day: Tuesday - Wednesday, August 24-25 from 8AM-5PM
Location: North Coast Builders Exchange 1030 Apollo Way Santa Rosa, CA 95407
Register Mapquest | Add to Calendar

Certified Green Building Professional (CGBP) Training
Day: Monday - Tuesday, September 13-14 from 8AM-5PM
Location: Orange Memorial Park Recreation Building 781 Tennis Drive South San Francisco, CA
Register Mapquest | Add to Calendar

Green Home Retrofitting & Remodeling - Advanced Training
Day: Wednesday - Thursday, September 15-16 from 8AM-5PM 15-Sep-10 8:00 AM
Location: Orange Memorial Park Recreation Building 781 Tennis Drive South San Francisco, CA 94080
Register Mapquest | Add to Calendar

Springtime Classes 2010 (Free ones)!!

Hi all,

Since I’ve negelected the blog for a while, the least I could do is update it with less thoughtful navel-gazing and give y’all readers (most of whom I work with) an update on Bay Area focussed green building or energy related Classes.  I’ve sorted through the chaff to find the ones most appropriate to us all in some form or another.

FREE CLASSES

City of Palo Alto Utilities

Water-Efficient Landscape Design
April 17, 2010, 1:30 PM—4:30 PM
Learn about California Natives, soil preparation, 
and the incorporation of landscape materials to 
create a beautiful water-efficient garden.
Instructor: Patricia Evans
Location: City of Palo Alto City Hall, Council
Chambers

New Water-Efficient  Landscape Ordinance: 
Calculations & Standards
May 22, 2010, 9 AM—12 PM
Review the requirements of the updated State 
Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance and 
local action surrounding its adoption. Hands on 
demo and practice with water budget calculations.
Instructor: Chris Todd
Location: Cubberley Community Center, Room H-6

Solar Water Heating Contractor and Self-Installer Workshop
The City of Palo Alto and the California Center for Sustainable Energy will be holding the next contractor and self-installer training class for the Solar Water Heating Program on Wednesday June 23, 2010.
To register for the class, please call (650) 329-2241.
Class Details:
Date: Wednesday June 23, 2010
Time: 9:00am – 4:00pm
Lunch:  Provided (please let us know if you want a vegetarian sandwich)
Cost: Free 
Location:   Cubberley Community Center, Room H1
                4000 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto, 94303

PG&E Classes

Spring 2010

Below are all the classes that match your criteria submitted above. Click on a class name for registration and other class details. Click on any column name to sort classes by that column. If a row appears gray in color, then the class has already passed.

Date

Class Name

Location

AIA Units

Tue, Apr 13
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Solar Hot Water Basics for Residential Customers

San Francisco--PEC

0

Tue, Apr 13
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

Guide to Understanding Your Solar Bill  - An Online Course

Internet

0

Wed, Apr 14
8:30 am - 4:30 pm
Full

Understanding Financial Analysis Methods for Residential Photovoltaic (PV) Systems

San Francisco--PEC

0

Wed, Apr 14
9:00 am - 4:30 pm
Full

Air Sealing and Insulating Existing Homes

San Jose--Pipe Trades

0

Thu, Apr 15
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm

Guide to Completing Your CSI Application Using PowerClerk  - An Online Course

Internet

0

Thu, Apr 15
11:00 am - 12:00 pm

Understanding California Solar Initiative (CSI) Program Statistics  - An Online Course

Internet

0

Fri, Apr 16
9:00 am - 3:30 pm

California Solar Initiative Installer (CSI) Workshop  - An Online Course

Internet

0

Fri, Apr 16
9:00 am - 3:30 pm

California Solar Initiative Installer (CSI) Workshop

San Francisco--PEC

0

Thu, Apr 22
11:00 am - 12:00 pm

Self Generation Incentive Program (SGIP) - An Overview and Update  - An Online Course

Internet

0

Mon, Apr 26
10:00 am - 3:30 pm
Full

CSI Thermal (Solar Water Heating) Program Workshop

San Francisco--PEC

0

Mon, Apr 26
11:00 am - 12:00 pm

New Solar Homes Partnership (NSHP) Program - An Overview and Update  - An Online Course

Internet

0

Tue, Apr 27
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

Guide to Completing Your CSI Application Using PowerClerk  - An Online Course

Internet

0

Wed, Apr 28
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

Low Income Solar - An Overview and Update  - An Online Course

Internet

0

Wed, Apr 28
8:00 am - 9:30 am

California Advanced Homes Program - Building Toward Zero Net Energy in Residential New Construction

San Jose--Pipe Trades

0

Thu, Apr 29
9:00 am - 4:30 pm
Full

Integrating Energy Efficiency and Renewables in Home Retrofits

San Francisco--PEC

6

Thu, Apr 29
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm

CSI Thermal Program - An Overview and Update  - An Online Course

Internet

0

Thu, Apr 29
8:00 am - 9:30 am

California Advanced Homes Program - Building Toward Zero Net Energy in Residential New Construction

San Francisco--PEC

0

Tue, May 4
8:30 am - 12:00 pm
Wait List

Retrofitting Attics

San Jose--Pipe Trades

0

Tue, May 4
1:00 pm - 4:30 pm

Retrofitting Crawlspaces

San Jose--Pipe Trades

0

Wed, May 5
9:00 am - 4:30 pm

Energy Careers and Business Opportunities  - An Online Course

Internet

0

Wed, May 5
9:00 am - 4:30 pm
Full

Energy Careers and Business Opportunities

San Francisco--PEC

6

Thu, May 6
10:00 am - 3:30 pm

CSI Thermal (Solar Water Heating) Program Workshop

San Francisco--PEC

0

Fri, May 7
11:00 am - 12:00 pm

Guide to Completing Your CSI Application Using PowerClerk  - An Online Course

Internet

0

Sat, May 8
10:00 am - 12:00 pm

Solar Hot Water Basics for Residential Customers

San Francisco--PEC

0

Tue, May 11
9:00 am - 4:30 pm
Wait List

Inspecting PV Systems for Code Compliance

San Francisco--PEC

6

Tue, May 11
9:00 am - 4:30 pm

Inspecting PV Systems for Code Compliance  - An Online Course

Internet

0

Wed, May 12
9:00 am - 12:30 pm

Design Responsibilities & Performance Expectations in a Carbon Constrained World

San Francisco--PEC

3

Thu, May 13
9:00 am - 4:30 pm

Inspecting PV Systems for Code Compliance

San Jose PEC--IBEW

6

Mon, May 17
10:00 am - 3:30 pm

CSI Thermal (Solar Water Heating) Program Workshop

San Francisco--PEC

0

Wed, May 19
9:00 am - 12:30 pm

Residential Lighting Design Guide

San Francisco--PEC

3

Wed, May 19
10:00 am - 11:00 am

Guide to Completing Your CSI Application Using PowerClerk  - An Online Course

Internet

0

Tue, May 25
9:00 am - 4:30 pm

Solar Water Heating Systems

Oakland--StopWaste

6

Tue, May 25
9:00 am - 4:30 pm

Residential Building Science for Architects and Designers

San Jose--Pipe Trades

6

Thu, May 27
9:00 am - 4:00 pm

High Performance Residential Hot Water Systems

San Jose--Pipe Trades

0

Wed, Jun 2
10:00 am - 3:30 pm

CSI Thermal (Solar Water Heating) Program Workshop

San Francisco--PEC

0

Thu, Jun 3
9:00 am - 4:30 pm

Combined Hydronic Space and Water Heating for Homes

San Jose--Pipe Trades

0

Sat, Jun 5
10:00 am - 12:00 pm

Solar Electric Basics for Residential Customers

San Francisco--PEC

0

Wed, Jun 9
9:00 am - 4:30 pm

Photovoltaic (PV) Site Analysis and System Sizing

San Francisco--PEC

6

Fri, Jun 11
9:00 am - 4:30 pm

Ventilate Right, Build Tight

San Francisco--PEC

6

Thu, Jun 17
4:00 pm - 8:30 pm

A Light Affair VII: Lighting Product Showcase

San Francisco--PEC

0

Tue, Jun 22
9:00 am - 4:30 pm

Deep Energy Reductions - The Thousand Home Challenge

San Jose--Pipe Trades

6

Fri, Jun 25
9:00 am - 4:30 pm

Advanced Framing for Energy and Resource Efficiency

San Francisco--PEC

6

Wed, Jul 21
9:00 am - 4:30 pm
Wait List

Designing a Zero Energy New or Existing Home in California

San Jose--Pipe Trades

6

Fri, Jul 23
9:00 am - 4:30 pm
Wait List

Designing a Zero Energy New or Existing Home in C