Description....
Our assignment was to design a house that uses the lease amount of electricity and uses the heat and light from the sun. We also did experiments to make a solar water heater and find out what material was the best for absorbing and reflecting heat.
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Solar Water Heater
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Day lighting
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Materials Heat Test
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Energy sources
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Tiny House
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Solar Water Heater
The first part of our project as to design and make a water heater that heats water with the heat from the sun. We were restricted to the materials that we had in the classroom and whatever we brought in for our group. We used copper pipe, a shoe box, saran wrap, newspaper, black spray paint, and lots of tape.
For our group, we decide to go with a design where the water would sit in copper pipe so it would heat up while the pipe heated up from the sun. we used the saran wrap to let in light and heat but not let the heat out by letting it be open to the air. This way the heat coming from the sun would be trapped in and would heat the air inside the heater and not having to heat the air outside. This would be an example of convection because the heat is coming from the air and is transferring it to the air inside the water heater and transfers to the copper pipe which then uses conduction to heat the water.
The water heater works because copper has a very low specific heat capacity, which means that it heats up very fast and transfers heat very fast. Water, on the other hand, has a very high specific heat capacity, so it heats up very slow, but it retains a lot of heat. This is a very good heating system because the copper pipe takes in heat very fast and then transfers it to the water, that can store a lot of heat.
For our group, we decide to go with a design where the water would sit in copper pipe so it would heat up while the pipe heated up from the sun. we used the saran wrap to let in light and heat but not let the heat out by letting it be open to the air. This way the heat coming from the sun would be trapped in and would heat the air inside the heater and not having to heat the air outside. This would be an example of convection because the heat is coming from the air and is transferring it to the air inside the water heater and transfers to the copper pipe which then uses conduction to heat the water.
The water heater works because copper has a very low specific heat capacity, which means that it heats up very fast and transfers heat very fast. Water, on the other hand, has a very high specific heat capacity, so it heats up very slow, but it retains a lot of heat. This is a very good heating system because the copper pipe takes in heat very fast and then transfers it to the water, that can store a lot of heat.
Daylighting techniques
In this project we used many daylighting techniques to make sure that we have as little energy use as possible. These daylighting techniques help utilize as much heat and light from the sun as possible.
Windows
Windows are used to let in light into the house vertically. This mean they are good for letting in heat and light in the morning and afternoon hours. Windows are the most commonly used daylighting technique and is used in 99% of houses.
Clear story windows
Clear story windows are windows that are elevated above the story of your house to let in light that is then deflected down to the story level. These windows are not used for looking out of because they are too high. Their soul purpose is to let in more light. The advantage of having a clearstory window is that it lets in more light in the afternoon hours.
Solar Tubes
Solar tubes are tubes that stick out from the roof of your house that the light goes into and the diffuser at the bottom scatters the light around the room.
Light Shelves
Light shelves are used to put o a window and the light bounces off the shelf and are helpful to get more light from the afternoon hours.
Energy Source
How does it work?
Pros
Cons
Solar Power
Solar Panels work by allowing photons or particles of light to knock electrons free from atoms, generating a flow of electricity. The electricity generated can be used right away or stored in the panel.
- Renewable
- sustainable
- silent
- low maintenance
- Environmentally friendly
- Very abundant
- Sustainable
- Cloud/night/ Intermittent
- Cost upfront Expensive
- Exotic Materials that need mining
- Energy Storage is Expensive
Wind Power
The wind moves the blades which spins a shaft which powers a generator.
- Produces no air or water pollutants
- Wind farms are relatively Cheap to build
- Renewable energy source
- Constant wind is needed
- Wind farms need a lot of land
- Threat to birds
Hydro Power
Water is stored in a dam and is slowly released through the penstock (intake tube), the water spins a turbine which generates electricity through a generator (look at the left), the energy gets sent through the power lines and the water flows through the outflow river to be recycled. The largest hydroelectric dam is the Three Gorges Dam in the Yangtze river. The most common turbine designs are the Kaplan turbine, Francis turbine, and the Pelton wheel. The Kaplan is similar to a boat propeller. Pelton wheel systems are the most common in high pressure facilities. It uses a series of buckets like one of the pictures at left (the one with the American flag). The two types of hydroelectric plants are based on a dam or a river. The dams are more common because they provide more water and the flow can be controlled but they take more space. That space is often wildlife habitats. With dams, a system called pump-storage is often in place. To learn more click here.
Renewable (water cycle)
Does not release greenhouse gases. Domestic source of energy, green source/ don't make pollution, low maintenance, technology has been used for a long time/ reliable, water can be used over again without having to wait, large amount of fuel(water) can be stored, recreation.
Droughts, initial expense, limited number of places where these can be built, flooding, changing water flows, takes water away from lakes and streams, often built in natural preserved land/takes habitats, damaging to fish environments, recreation.
Biomass/Biofuel
Organic matter (plants) is burned in a boiler, which spins a turbine to create electricity.
Renewable (you can grow plants). Almost all coal based power plants have the ability to easily swap to using biofuel.
¼ more carbon emissions than coal. Could also consume a ton of water
Geothermal Energy
It is using heat from Earth such as ground to hot water or molten rock beneath the crust. We use this heat to create steam powering a Turbine.
- Renewable
- Not a lot of pollution
- Very efficient
- Underground (doesn’t change landscape)
- The heat source will be there for as long as the earth is around
- http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/geothermal-energy/tech.html
- Takes energy to heat pumps
- The plants need a lot of water
- Locations are very limited.
- Large geothermal power plants can be dangerous to the earth’s surface
- Affects water quality in closed systems and in open systems there are emissions of dangerous gasses
Oil/Petroleum (fossil fuel)
Crude oil, coal, or natural gas that was formed by decayed plants and animals being condensed together over millions of years because of heat and pressure beneath the earth’s crust.
https://www.reference.com/science/fossil-fuel-work-54a34d530d4558bf
- Oil is abundant
- Easy to use
- No new technology required
- Easy to transport in liquid form (ex. Cars)
- Burned creating significant amounts of energyhttp://palaeolimnologypetroleumrrr.weebly.com/pros-and-cons.html
- Emits carbon dioxide
- Non renewable
- Destroys environment (ex. Potentially DAPL)
- Dangerous
- Expensive
- Drilling can lead to spills
Natural Gas (fossil fuel)
We burn the fossil fuels to create energy, in which we convert to mechanical energy. http://naturalgas.org/overview/uses-electrical/
-produces less pollution than other fossil fuels
-abundant supply
-more energy efficient, which makes them cheaper
Found in US
- highly flammable
- Non-sustainable
- Obtained via fracking.
- greenhouse gas emissions
- expensive pipelines
- not easy to isolate when found
Coal (fossil fuel)
A dark colored rock made mainly of plant matter, found in deposits underground and frequently burned as fuel.
-burns for a long time
-easy to obtain
-cheap
-abundant
Found in US
-Nonrenewable Resource
-Largest Co2 producer in the world
- Emits toxic substances
-Coal emission is linked to asthma and lung cancer
Nuclear/Uranium
http://kalahkingnuclearenergy.blogspot.com/
Energy originates from the splitting of uranium atoms – a process called fission. This generates heat to produce steam, which is used by a turbine generator to generate electricity.
https://www.duke-energy.com/energy-education/how-energy-works/nuclear-power
- Low Pollution: Nuclear power also has a lot fewer greenhouse emissions
- Low Operating Costs: Nuclear power produces very inexpensive electricity
- Reliability: It is estimated that with the current rate of consumption of uranium, we have enough uranium for another 70-80 years
- Like fossil fuels nuclear fuels are nonrenewable energy resources
- If there is an accident, large amounts of radioactive material could be released into the environment
- In addition, nuclear waste remains radioactive and is hazardous to health for thousands to millions of years
www.conserve-energy-future.com/pros-and-cons-of-nuclear-energy.php
Why build a house without electricity?
- How much energy do humans use? In what forms? Do different countries have different ratios? Eliam W., Matt J., Zoe N.
Natural gas
47%
Coal
27%
Hydroelectric
10%
Non-hydro renewables (Wind, solar, biomass, geothermal, etc.)
10%
Nuclear
9%
Petroleum
4%
Other
<1%
The average US household uses 955 kilowatt hours a month.
Different countries use different resources for electricity based upon what resources are available. http://www.tsp-data-portal.org/Breakdown-of-Electricity-Generation-by-Energy-Source#tspQvChart
2. Cost/Economics of electricity: How much money is spent on electricity generation? In different parts of the country? In other countries?
In 2010, America spent $1,205,000,000 for one full year of electrical generation. (8.3% of GDP) https://www.quora.com/How-much-does-the-US-economy-spend-on-energy-per-year
average household spends $1,326.60 per year on electricity in America. https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/index.cfm?page=electricity_home#tab2
In this part of the country the need for electricity drops due to the temperate weather, In Northern California there are few weather extremes so using heating and air conditioning is not as vital, but in other parts of the country and world the weather is more extreme and may cause someone to use more electricity to be able to live. If you do live in a place where more energy is needed then using a renewable energy source becomes intriguing because in the long run one might be able to save money and help stop the use of fossil/renewable fuels
3. Climate change - how does it happen?(greenhouse effect, carbon cycle, use of sun’s energy?
Greenhouse gases: You may wonder, how do greenhouse gases heat the Earth’s surface. This is known as the Greenhouse Effect. Since we are adding more greenhouse gasses to the atmosphere heat is getting trapped so Earth’s surface is getting hotter. In the past 150 years the average temperature of Earth has increased by 1 degree Celsius. Burning biomasses, deforestation, and production can also produce greenhouse gasses that can heat Earth’s surface. These gases are important because they trap heat from the sun to keep the Earth at a temperature that we can survive and live in.
Click here for more information followed by an experiment.
Carbon cycle: The carbon in the atmosphere and the amount taken in are naturally equal. When humans burn coal it releases 9 extra gigatons of carbon into the atmosphere. Plants can only take in 5 of those gigatons which results more carbon in the atmosphere than there is naturally
More on Carbon Cycle
Sun’s energy: Only 50% (the other 50% is reflected out) of the sun’s energy actually gets to earth’s surface and then it turns to heat which is called infrared radiation and at night it tries to leave Earth.
4. Consequences of Climate Change- what could happen?
The best case scenario would be stopping all carbon emissions right now. If we did that, the temperature would still increase by 1.1°F.
If we continue consuming energy as we are now, in 30 years, the entire country of Kiribati will be uninhabitable. Hurricanes and snowstorms will become much stronger, which will affect a lot of people. Many animals will also become extinct which will throw off the ecosystem.
However, if we switch to nuclear energy, the global economic output can rise from 1.4% to 1.5% by 2025. There will also be fewer winter deaths, which means that people will live longer. Certain crops will also be able to grow in different times of the year providing more fresh fruits and vegetables to people worldwide.
The worst case scenario is sea levels rising 200 feet, submerging 18-story buildings and putting some of the world’s largest cities underwater. In fact, most of Ellis Island and Liberty Island and the Statue of Liberty could be submerged. Also, climate change could make the world a more tick-friendly environment and reverse a whole half-century’s advancements in health.
http://www.iflscience.com/environment/what-would-happen-climate-if-we-stopped-emitting-greenhouse-gases-today/
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/11092015/climate-change%E2%80%99s-worst-case-scenario-200-feet-sea-level-rise-antarctica-ice-sheet-melt
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/sep/30/owen-paterson-minister-climate-change-advantages
http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=23746
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/global-warming-effects/
Our Tiny House
For this project we had the task for designing a "tiny" house. we had to draw up all the blue prints, to all the calculations, and Pricing the whole thing. This was the main part of the project and all the other parts like the daylighting and solar water heater were just parts to help us in the creation of our house.
Our house
We wanted to make our house unique and not just the normal square or rectangle shaped house. We were inspired by a yurt. A yurt is a traditionally canvas round building with a sloped roof and a skylight in the top of the roof. For our idea we went with a octagon shape, wooden walls, slanted roof, and a skylight.
Reflection
In this project there was a lot to go wrong because of its size. That is why I am very happy with the little amount of problems we had during the whole project. But it would be science if you didn't do something wrong. The main thing we could have done better at was time management. This was a big thing that held us down in this project. This main example of this was our 3D model. We spent almost the entire 3 weeks making it and making it good when we should have been putting our time into other things.
One way that this project was different and fun from the others was the fact that we made our house in an octagon shape and not just a normal square or rectangle. This was fun because it made us think differently about space management and how to use the small amount of space that we had.
One way I think I could have improved would be empathy. In this project we had do a lot of stuff in a short amount of time so I was not very happy when people didn't do their jobs on time. Next time I should keep in mind that we all work at different speeds and none of us had designed a house before so we were are learning at a different rate on how to do the things we needed to.
One way that this project was different and fun from the others was the fact that we made our house in an octagon shape and not just a normal square or rectangle. This was fun because it made us think differently about space management and how to use the small amount of space that we had.
One way I think I could have improved would be empathy. In this project we had do a lot of stuff in a short amount of time so I was not very happy when people didn't do their jobs on time. Next time I should keep in mind that we all work at different speeds and none of us had designed a house before so we were are learning at a different rate on how to do the things we needed to.