Nothing more than Synergy

The Independence Station building is nothing more than the synergy created between the sum of currently available off-the-shelf components + the application of simple Jr. High School level physics + a dose of common sense. Combine this with passionate, curious, forward thinking Earth Stewardship (New Environmentalist) minded visitors, resident fulltime owners and fractional ownership part-timers, and you get a one-of-a-kind authentic true green community that will radically raise the bar for the booming green building industry.
 
I will try to make at least once per week blog entries that will piece-by-piece explain the how and why behind the systems that make this possible. I am an Open Source kind of guy, so feel free to use this information, but in turn, please share your personal knowledge here so that we can move to a cleaner, greener future for the sake of National Energy Security, our local economy, education, as well as service to those truly needy both here and worldwide. I don’t care if you are Red or Blue or any combination of the two, like I happen to be. We need to work together for a better future for all of us, our children, our grandchildren and beyond.

Let’s talk cooling and Smart Grid.

Summer is here in a few weeks, so rather than run a high horsepower demanding compressor that produces and discards waste heat into hot afternoon air, a process that amounts to nothing more that thermodynamic nonsense (sorry Mr. Carrier), why not tap into free 54 degree well water, pump it past a heat exchanger and return every drop to another well 150 feet or so away? The natural coolness of the earth can be then be circulated throughout the large concrete thermal mass of the entire building for just the cost of the friction in the pipes. A solar powered pump can provide this service and never need power from the grid.
 
Speaking of the grid, the hot Summer afternoons are when the generating capacity of electric power plants and the capacity of the power grid to transport that electricity is stretched to the breaking point and sometimes beyond. Independence Station will not be part of this problem, but rather part of the solution. We are designed to run off-grid during these peak times. In fact, we will most likely be feeding power into the grid from our 125 kW photovoltaic (PV) system to help ease the problem.
 
This simple well water source heat exchanger system is just one of several methods we have for cooling. Stay tuned for more.