Composting Toilet

I have heard it said that 3 times something comes up in one’s life there should be some response or action taken.  Composting Toilets have been part of my life 3 times in the past week.  So I thought at the very minimum I would write about this threesome here.

My first encounter was at a friend’s lake front 100 year old cabin, with electricity but no running water. At my age, I was a bit concerned that I was about to encounter a pit latrine of some form or other.  But this was not to be the case, for in the area that might have been a bedroom at one time, was a lovely, modern composting toilet.   Quiet. Clean. Efficient.   I was relieved.

The next night I went to a program on the completed Living Building Challenge 2.0 projects in the USA.  Very exciting experience and I wrote about it at PatriciasWisdom I was thrilled to hear about the completed Science Building at the Bertschi School in Seattle, Washington and how elementary school children are learning this is the NORMAL way buildings can be and how healthy their environment can be.  I asked a question about the composting toilet there and the architect said, “Right after the ribbon cutting the children raced to use the composting toilet to see how it worked – they were fascinated!”

My original encounter with a Composting Toilet was at a local county park also on the water front and a bit more isolated, but still a huge success for keeping waste out of the ground water and Sound.  I thought it quite good foresight for our community.

Wikipedia  has a fabulous definition and I found a thorough diagram of how the systems functioned which answered most of my questions.

Now I am wondering about how one gets a whole community to begin thinking seriously about these issues and retrofitting what is already here but needs a whole treatment facility to deal with these issues- it is located in an amazing energy efficient LEED designated building -  So how do we get more people involved and making changes to their thinking and to their waste outcomes?

“An Earthship is a completely self-sufficient house that has a natural temperature regulation, without the use of a heating system. The building also generates its own electricity, collects and filters its own drinking water and cleans its own effluent water. The house is partly buried into the earth and is constructed mainly with waste materials; car tyres, aluminum cans and glass bottles. This low-tech building approach is ecologically as well as economically advantageous.”

Several years later a group in Brighton England developed a trust in order to build an Earthship in Brighton.  It was going to be a community of 16 units.

I could only find information on one completed unit: Earthship Brighton England

Second article with lots of detailed information and updates.

By casting around I found this 2011 update on Biotecture and Earthships webpage.

It was fascinating to spend some time exploring the work they are doing in Europe, Australia and now Haiti.

There was interesting video of the projects and seminars being offered on the sites.  I was impressed with the 10 day project in Haiti that was completed and it intrigued my imagination.

Thank you to IT Girl for finding the original articles and getting me thinking.

Working on finding out more information on Net-Zero Housing in the USA, can you share with me any new projects you know underway?

I know that car tires are getting some new life in many areas, what do you do with your old tires?

We are in the processing of using a row of tube lights down a hallway in an assisted living Performing Arts Center. The hallway is wide and leads to the restroom facilities and carries the light down the hallway. Even if there is a power outage there is still enough light for safety of movement and we could widen the hall pathway to allow for walkers and wheel chair traffic.

We wish someone would design a lens that would track the light so that at night the center hallway would add light from the street lamps and surrounding sources also.

Here are two examples from the companies and lots of pictures:

NW Bright Ideas
Mono Draught

I am experimenting with this idea at my residence. We have been using exterior blinds for a large number of years to allow air flow and reduce the sun’s heat and UV damage to flooring and furniture. These really turn down the heat and cut air conditioning needs. Many of the blinds are see through and do not inhibit the view.

At my passive solar house, we used sailboat sail cover cloth to make our own blinds for our west facing row of living room windows and the green house.

I am working on designing the same type of exterior covering for my current west facing skylights which open to let the heat out of the house and yet still cut the sun’s all day journey through the upper rooms of the house.

Here are some of the recommendations on line:

Skylight exterior blinds
Veralux Skylight Sunscreens

The group was on my Facebook page and already has some 400 plus members or followers on Facebook. The magazine is being designed and written by Norwegian and Swedish Architects. It is very innovative and bold.

Here is a copy of their manifesto:

In opposition to ignorance and superficiality this magazine is conceived in order to search for knowledge and predicaments of our continuously evolving society. It is organized in a fluctuating network of agents reflecting the present globalized state of a dynamic society, economics, politics and culture which are the motivators of architecture. Through a play of thoughts in an open ended forum, predefined “facts” will be unsecured and constantly reinvented. The forum will gather the architect, client, politician and the public, a communion of ideas creating conditions for evolution.

One of the folks I follow on Twitter and Facebook is Cameron Sinclair, ( Featured in the article Design Like You Give a Damn), a person who looks for design innovations for global needs – the International Habitat for Humanity fellow. Mr. Sinclair signed onto follow this group and that caused me to check this out further. I was impressed and liked the energy.
In the groups own words:

CONDITIONS, is a new Scandinavian magazine focusing on the conditions of architecture and Urbanism: Presenting new perspectives, in the way of conceiving and analyzing designs, works and theory for architecture.

• 4 issues per year
• 750 – 1000 copies per issue
• The magazine will be printed in color. Size is 27 cm (tall) by 20 cm (wide). 100 pages of editorial content.
• Distribution to Scandinavia, to all the major architecture organizations, architecture schools / libraries and architecture bookstores and webstores in Europe.
• Magazine language is English
• Editors: Joana Sá Lima, Tor Inge Hjemdal and Anders Melsom
• Designer: Ole Peder Juve / JUVE DESIGN

I spent a good part of the day investigating their list of blogs:

• Arch Daily
• Sit down man, you’re a bloody tragedy
• A daily dose of architecture
• Anarchitecture

I think you might enjoy wandering around in this space on the web.

Washing Machines

I have a 20 year old large capacity, energy efficient pair right now.  They are working fine but they do use a great deal of energy and we are not a family of 6 any more so looking for something smaller seemed a good way to drop our energy consumption.

The rule of thumb seems to be to not replace your washer or dryer if they are less than 5 years old and the repair is at least 50% of the cost of a new appliance.

Dryers tend to outlast washers and dryer technology has not changed much in the last 20 years.  Ours is working well and we drop our energy use dramatically when we switch to the outside clothes line in the warmer months.  The permanent press cycle really does the job for us and we don’t have to iron most shirts if we take them out in a timely fashion and so I think we are at fairly max efficiency for a dryer right now.

We do keep the dryer extremely clean.  We don’t use dryer sheets or sprays that are toxic or cause build up.  We keep the venting system wiped down and cleaned out monthly and the outside vent clear. Once a year, we unplug and remove the front panels of the dryer and clean it out and lubricate the motor.  We use drying racks for sweaters, and workout clothing which are meant to wick and dry rapidly.

The washing machine is a different story which I thought would have a happier ending because all washers must use 21% less energy starting in January and mandated by the U. S. Department of Energy.

This is a very valuable goal but the manufacturers have sacrificed cleaning capabilities for energy usage requirements.  There are a couple of High Efficiency (HE) top loaders that work as well as the few front loaders, which are very expensive and only 2 are recommended for their cleaning quality.  There is a lot of hype for the googahs that come as accessories and cost like fury, but do not increase the cleaning capacity of the machine.

Many people start switching detergents and adding additives like crazy because they assume a washing machine is designed to clean!  They find laundry day is getting more and more expensive and the environment cries out in pain from the overdose of the toxic swill of chemicals.

We can bring anything we wish to bring into our own homes, any chemical or expensive toxic product we wish.  Industry is regulated – your home is not.

Our current washer does a superior job at cleaning and we use an environmentally safe product which keeps our pipes clean, unclogged and the fish swimming happily and healthily.  We can regulate the water temperature and cleaning speeds on the washer.  Our cleaning products cost us $.14 a load and do not irritate the skin or leave perfumes.

We take the agitator apart and clean every part of the washer – weekly.
We have someone come in to unplug and remove the panels so that the insides are cleaned, the washer can be rebalanced and moved out to clean around it once per year.

Our only repairs have been when the flooring expert unbalanced the washer when moving it out, and a washcloth made it through to the drain and clogged it when the washer was unbalanced.

I think we will just keep what we have and focus on other areas to modify our energy usage.

Oh yes!  I understand that you can now get “smart stick “plugs for your washer and dryer which would mean that you could turn off your appliances at the plug and not have them leaking energy between use?

Hope I can find one?

What are you investigating to lower your homes energy usage?

What have you discovered to use if you use a public washing facility?

Have you taken the Architecture2030 challenge?  How is that going?

Let’s get a conversation going…

If you have experience with any of the products, feel free to leave a comment.

Have you discovered products and wish to make referrals to sites that all our readers should be aware of? Are there products you wish someone would design to make your design process more environmentally sound?  If so, leave a comment.

Mitsubishi Electric Systems

Using and researching this company’s energy efficient products for a new project not a huge project but bigger than a house.  Interested in the zone heating and cooling systems:

City Multi VRFZ systems – cooling and heating systems similar to heat pump  VAC system combination

Split- Ductless systems – ease of installation and regulated, contractors can figure out, the zone issues are lessened and relieved.

Mitsubishijettowel.com - speed and energy efficiency.

Also exploring LED lighting solutions but have not found a specific group or company I want to delve into yet!

Am open to suggestions and comments

PaperStone

360.538.9815    Hoquiam, Washington

• PaperStone is the ‘greenest’ architectural surface on the market today.
• Common applications include interior countertops, wall cladding, conference tables, signs, cutting boards, window sills, and toilet partitions.
• PaperStone is also an excellent choice for rainscreens
• Most PaperStone products are made from post-consumer waste, recycled paper and proprietary, petroleum-free, phenolic resins. Organic pigments assure superior UV resistance, color stability and even color distribution through the entire panel
• There are two series of recycled paper-based PaperStone products: 1) ‘Original’, which is made from 100% post-consumer recycled cardboard and 2) ‘Certified’, is made from 100% post-consumer standard office paper. It has been certified through the Smartwood program of the Rainforest Alliance to meet FSC standards. Paperstone made from virgin fiber is also available.
• Depending upon the project, the use of PaperStone may contribute up to nine LEED points.

Nanosolar Thin-Film Solar Panels

The following two products are now available to wholesale volume customers:

Nanosolar Utility Panel™
Specifically designed for utility-scale power plants, Nanosolar Utility Panel™ is the industry-best solution for MW-sized PV systems.
Available wholesale to select system integrators and electric utilities:

Nanosolar SolarPly™
Light-weight solar-electric cell foil which can be cut to any size. Non-fragile. No soldering required for electrical contact. Available wholesale to strategic partners.

Additional products are presently in various stages of prototyping and development. Please subscribe to our mailing list to be notified.

Nanosolar Q&A:
Benefits? World’s lowest-cost solar panel. Designed to cut in half the balance-of-system cost relative to competitive panels. 25-year warranty.

Want to Buy Panels? We are presently already sold out for the next 12 months. We are working hard to scale our production capacity as fast as possible. Please sign up above to be notified of availability.

Technical Data Sheet? We presently share product data sheets only under Non-Disclosure Agreement with qualified volume customers. This is so we can extend the period of protection for certain proprietary features we have developed.

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