Built Environment: Indow Window

You ever have an experience in your past that for some reason some person will never let it down and they always have to remind you of it? Well, years ago as a wee lad (3 yrs old), I had a Christmas that I received bookoos of toys. They built up as a mounded fortress around me. And for some odd, confused and directionless reason, I cried for the shear number of options and overwhelming state I was in. My parents still remind me of my spoiled upbringing to this day. But I have still yet to see how that was my fault, as if I brought it on myself. I wasn't the one who brought me into this world. I wasn't the one who gave myself tons of gifts.

Yet, somethings never seem to change. I find myself in the same situation as I was when I was 3. I have the opportunity to choose a topic for the Built Environment but I am surrounding by so many options, and the Built Environment is where it is at for me! So I must be picky and choose something for the sake of getting the job done. We have so many blog options and routes with the Built Environment, and for this entry I will choose a sustainable product to review. 

When looking to renovate and revamp our house, there are many additions and modifications that we can take to improve our energy efficiency. One of the improvements we may make is with our window employment. 

The Indow Window is a great alternative for those seeking to replace single pane windows with double pane windows. Many older homes have distinctive window styling and it would not do a historical home justice to replace with any ordinary window. And when trying to replace the originals with a double pane of the same character, the art of replacement can cost much more than anticipated. This expensive endeavor is exactly why Sam Purdue sought out to create an inexpensive competitive alternative. What it basically comes down to is that, the original single pane windows are left in place. There is no extraction and replacement of the originals. Instead, a Indow Window is inserted into the window casing on the inside of the house as the additional pane. The Indow Window is virtually unrecognizable unless close scrutiny is underwent. 

The Indow Window consists of a glass pane with a seal around the edges. This seal is slightly larger than the case but is intended to be "wedged" into the case to create a seal that reduces energy loss and air transfer into the house that is comparative to double-pane windows. What results an extremely inexpensive alternative. When Sam Purdue first conceived the idea and developed it, he was attempting to replace the windows of his own home in Portland for more energy efficient alternatives. He found out that it would cost nearly 35K to replace the windows in his house. So began Indow Windows. Now, a customer who has 14 average size windows can take the Indow Window option and pay $2,400 to replace them as opposed to the more expensive options that may be place in front of them. 

To see a video of Sam Purdue and the Indow Windows in his house, please watch the video below. 

I recommend watching the videos on the Indow Window website as they show the ease of use and simplistic beautiful incorporation into the window case. These are not some cheap duct tape solution. They are quality and good-looking additions to the house and an extremely viable option. If we are judging this product with our sustainablity hat on, it is a hands down win. Economically, it packs a powerful efficiency punch at a fraction of the cost. Environmentally, it saves energy and reduces the need to dispose of the old windows. Socially, saving money makes people happy, especially when it looks good too!

http://top10greenbuildingproducts.com/2011/indow-windows/

http://www.indowwindows.com/index.php?s=1

Climate and Air Quality: Adverse Effect

All right, so just track with me for a bit. We understand that pollution is a problem. The definition from wiki is "the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem." The effects of pollution have been recounted many times over. They include:

• Smog
• Acid Rain
• Air quality reduction
• Global Warming
• Loss in Soil Fertility
• Loss of Plant and Animal Species
• Etc.

Pollution is bad. We can not attribute anything good to it. Pollution has been able to be traced originating in China and finding its destination all the way in the valley in California. There have been 527,700 deaths in India, 50,000 in the US, and 750,000 in China that are attributed to the effects of pollution. http://www.evsroll.com/Interesting_air_pollution_facts.html

How do we stop pollution? There are plenty of answers. Stop polluting! Car pooling. Proper Vehicle Maintenance. Alternative Energy Sources. Recycle Recyclable Materials. Use Environmentally Safe Products. Another weapon against pollution is our natural ecosystems and the plant life they contain. http://www.buzzle.com/articles/ways-to-prevent-air-pollution.html

Let's take plants for example as a solution. Plants soak up the CO2 and other harmful gasses for their natural uses and emit oxygen in return for the CO2 that the plants consume. Plants need CO2. Other life needs oxygen. It is interesting to look at the reduction of rain forests and other high density forests around the world and consider our loss. There goes our weapon! Nevertheless, prudent individuals seek to replenish the earth and plant any kind of foliage to green up the earth and improve air quality. Honorable endeavor. 

This was the part I was wanting to get to. With that quick run through of pollution, its effects, and our weapons against it. Lets take a look at an interesting study. In the International Journal of Environment and Waste Management, a study was published that "suggested that we can improve city environments by planting trees down the middle of streets provided that they are not too close together." What was shown was that there is an adverse effect that occurs due to the trees and a restriction of air circulation. In urban environments, multi-storied buildings are developed along the streets and result in a phenomena called urban canyons, so called because of the walls of concrete that are put in place. Scientists tested in laboratories using  air tunnels to see the effect that occurs with overcrowded landscaping. What they found out was that the trees actually restricted the polluted air that rested inside the "urban canyon" and would not allow fresher air to circulate into the "canyon." An adverse effect occurred in comparison to that which was desired. 

Now I know that this is special case and almost poking fun at the environmental efforts, but I think it is worth the consideration. Though our efforts may be noble, we need to understand what is feasible and what will be effective. Sustainability in its broad sense requires a past, present, future focus. It requires a reflection on where we have come from, a good plan and modeling to ensure that our efforts are not just blind and out of good spirit. There must be results to our efforts otherwise we operate in vain. 

Sources

Too Many Trees Article http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090720105127.htm

How Can You Help? http://www.lastormwater.org/siteorg/residents/howucnhp.htm

Agriculture: A Sustainable Focused University

A few years back I had the opportunity to go to a Business Policy class trip to Costa Rica in 2008. We toured the Chiquita Banana plant and I had no idea the size of a plantation until I had seen it with my own eyes. Banana trees were everywhere; acres and acres and acres. I thought we were lost. It was the Amazon. The panthers were gonna find me. And eat me. I find it fascinating to see the source of much of my edible consumption. It is one thing to consume, it is another to see where it grows. I will forever rave about the succulent flavor and moment of bliss that overtook me when I ate a banana that had ripened on the tree as opposed to the store. This moment occurred a few years earlier in 2005 in Papua New Guinea. I can not even begin to explain to you the difference. You truly are missing out.

Since my enlightening moment in Papua New Guinea and my re-connection with my banana fondness in Costa Rica, bananas demand a new respect and watchfulness. Which is exactly why I am writing about bananas. Bananas are obviously a tropical production, and interestingly enough, 26.2 of the 95.6 million metric tons are produced from India. The rest of the production is spread throughout southeast Asia and Central and South America. Indias production level shocked me! But with a 1 billion plus population, and a landmass that boasts much tropical region, that is to be expected. And still, Costa Rica remains the homeplace and pride of banana plantations and production, so much so, that a special non-profit university has been created for the efforts of Sustainability. This university is Earth University.

Earth University was started more than two decades ago with a mission "to prepare leaders to contribute to the sustainable development of the humid tropics and construct a prosperous and just society." There vision has been to follow the three pillars of sustainability by having its actions "aimed at building a future in the humid tropics and its communities achieve social, economic and environmental well-being. Since its conception it has graduated 408 students with degrees in Agronomy. These students come from all over the world, mainly from tropical regions, to learn about sustainable efforts in agricultural production and take their knowledge back to their homes and become the effective leaders that sustainability commands.

A project of Earth University has been its 600 acres "Green" banana plantation that was acquired with its purchase of the lands for its University. Their goal has been to produce a better banana for the planet which will include the eradication of pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides, the vision of 100% organic production and general sustainable practices. One practice that the University employs is the recycling of banana bags. Many of the competitors have said that it would be impossible but since their success, many of those accusing competitors have adopted the same practice. One competitor, Dole, has recycled 1,900 tons of plastic a year! Remarkable!

Still, with the heart and vision that they have, one problem eludes them. There is a fungus, black sigatoka, that shrinks bananas and eventually kills it. Another problem is a worm-like nematode called Radopholus Similes, that attacks the roots and causes the banana plants to suffer malnutrition. But Earth's farmers have produced fertilizers that utilize "effective microorganisms"-benign bacteria, yeast, and fungi that crowd out nematodes and minimize disease. Protection of my beloved bananas.

Earth University's practices have been mimicked around the world and they are looked at as leaders of sustainable development. Earth University proves to provide an opportunity for the world to have a localized  focus and seek out an education and skill set that ensures the sustainability of the local community. It's not all about conservation. It's not all about society. Its not all about the money. It's all of them combined in an equitable distribution of focus and effort.

Sources:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/05/080506-bananas_2.html
http://www.earth-usa.org/Page5365.aspx
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/04/080422-earth-university.html

Administrative & Operations: WHAT?!? Document Management and Sustainability?!

Reviewing the slide show for our 6th module, Administration and Operations, I noticed an item subject to sustainability which was "Records Management". This definitely caught my eye because this is exactly what I do for a living currently. Day in and Day out I consider my efforts and objectives of my consulting engagements to be revolved around making everything electronic, search-able, and disposing of records as necessary. Not once have I considered what I do sustainable. Enlightening!

So, according to our objectives of Records Management Consulting, I consult a company on the design and implementation of their Records Management program. The primary objectives have to do with, first, legal matters. The driving force in Records Management is the destruction of Records that an organization is no longer required to keep, as determined by legal statutes or by organizational policies. This reduces the risk of the company and diverts the risk of self-incriminating evidence. The next benefit to be achieved is the organization of the organization's content. This is more commonly referred to as Document Management. We will most likely convert every document to electronic format, organize it in a intuitive structure, and set permissions and security. Along this process, it is our goal to reduce the number of documents that remain in a physical format. If possible we would convert them all to electronic. For further understanding of Document Management and Records management practices, I recommend the AIIM website. http://www.aiim.org/

I would like to present some insight into the Records/Document Management practice. I have been involved with many different clients and the consulting company that I work with has consulted many oil and gas companies. I know...we can go crazy on the oil and gas industry, but that is not our discussion here. We have been involved in moving the company along the technology curve and bringing many companies up to date technologically. As I have previously stated, our efforts have been in the Records Management arena. At a specific company, there were physical documents and records that dated back 75 years! It is arguable that documents are vital to a company at this age, but the argument is very rarely won (almost never). You can imagine the number of documents that could be trashed and destroyed over the 75 years worth of paper. Well, we did just that. We got rid of so much. This company was a  70 floor building, and had 10 floors for their corporate operations. Two floors were dedicated to physical documents. Our efforts rid 1 and a half floors of unnecessary documents. You can imagine the energy that was required to keep those documents, retrieve the documents, manage the documents, etc.

According to an AIIM article "The average worker uses 10,000 sheets of paper each year and wastes about 1,410 of these pages. With the average cost of each wasted page at being about six cents, a company with 500 employees could be spending $42,000 per year on wasted prints." There are other statistics to conclude that Electronic Records Management adds to the bottom line. Reducing the number of pages printed out as physical documents also adds to the environmental bottom line. Less resources are used.
http://aiim.typepad.com/aiim_blog/2009/07/8-things-you-need-to-know-when-using-ecm-to-go-green.html

With these new lenses to see my work as sustainable, I now walk on and work on with pride! I am green.

Source
http://www.atlanta-ala.com/en/art/642/

Waste Reduction: Trashy Treasures

It has been said that "one man's trash is another mans treasure." This is certain for many. Just recently, I was on the front porch of my house and my room mate walked up after work. While we were chatting and discussing the day we looked down the sidewalk and noticed a frame for a sofa-bed. Now my friend is fond of his sofa bed but was in the market for a more up to date and sturdier model. We got excited at the prospect of finding a replacement for free, but found out there were some structural issues with the bed. So, we deemed it unworthy for his use. But I realize, that there is something special about finding something for free and putting it to use. Here, we were willing to use someones "trash" as furniture for ourselves. This would have saved us money and replaced the bed my room mate had with a newer stronger frame. Unfortunately, as you know, it didn't work. But we still tried!

Many countless shows have been created to find old junk and deem them as hidden treasures. Shows such as the antique road show, PawnStars, and other shows that have the host scavanging piles of junk and pack-rats treasures for those things that are actual treasure. 

In other places, trash is a different kind of treasure, it is a source of resources, a source of living, a way of life. You will find yourselves those sad individuals who nourish themselves through arguable edible discoveries in the trash. There are others that find items to recycle and reuse for personal use and sell. In Phnom Penh, Cambodia, people resort to sorting through the Steung Meanchy Municipal Waste Dump to find "rubbish" that they can resell, earning them a higher income than they can earn in the rural villages the hail from. These incomes equate to 1 to 1.25 USD per day. http://www.demotix.com/news/78400/steung-meanchey-garbage-dump-phnom-penh

Many locations around the world can be found that have individuals who create a life by resorting to pillaging the dumps and hunting for "another mans treasure." In Guatamala City, Guatemala, there is another land fill that has a fame like the worlds other great attraction landfills. This landfill is nicknamed "the Mine" and people who come to the search out the landfill for treasure call themselves "miners." Here, the treasure is metals--precious metals and other various metals. Trash and waste ends up in the landfill and the waters that flow through the landfill along with the rain cause the trash to shift and the metals to settle on the bottom of the streams that run through the landfill. Miners come and sift through the bodies of water looking for valuables such as gold and silver and other precious metals that they can sell to buyers nearby the land fills. Other metals of lesser value are still collected and sold to buyers. These so called "miners" make roughly $20 per day giving them a better income than they can make at other jobs with more job requirements. 

It is amazing to see the difference in lifestyles, in what is acceptable in society as a way to make ends-meat. Beyond that, people are choosing to operate as trash miners over traditional jobs because of the greater income possibilites, regardless of the contamination and potential death risks. The water is toxic and contaminated, yet the miners dive beneath the water and surface with the toxic foam clinging to their face. The piles of trash are always being eroded by the oncoming drainage waters and will potentially fall over on top of miners. Oftern, miners die due to these avalanches of trash. The mining still continues. 

Now I look at this in awe of why people have to resort to this to survive. Is this my problem or theirs? Or even if its not needed to survive, is there no better option? I would say there is. But something to think about....why are they finding things that obviously have a value beyond their disposed state. The gold, silver and precious metals are obvious, but there are other places that people find objects that can be recycled or reused. This shows at a minimum that we have room for improvement in our waste management strategies.

Sources

• http://educationviews.org/2011/11/05/guatemalas-toxic-river-of-trash-that-is-attracting-thousands-of-miners-risking-life-in-search-of-gold-and-jewellery/
• http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2057891/Guatemalas-toxic-river-trash-attracting-thousands-miners-risking-life-search-gold-jewellery.html
• http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/11/dangerous_work_the_mine_in_gua.html

Transportation: A Denser Dallas?

I have noticed the DART buses for some time but have never truly utilized buses as transport outside of the traditional school bus trip to the zoo. But, within recent years the DART system has begun to serve a purpose in helping me get to locations that would normally be a pain for me to navigate, park, pay, fight traffic, and etc. such as the State Fair of Texas or other events occurring in the Deep Ellum Area. I have used the DART train system to supplement my travels and it definitely helps when you are trying to pool more than a carload of individuals to a single location. We normally say "Hey! Carrolton DART Station on the 6 pm train!" This makes it easy on everyone and there is less of a coordination effort.

Alot of my experience with public transportation lies in other cities such as Chicago and San Francisco. I know "The City" of the US is New York City, but I haven't made it there yet. Soon. Very soon. In these other cities I thoroughly enjoy the use of public transportation and its ease of use. The first benefit is not needing a car and being able to navigate every corner of the city through this all access public transportation system. It has made tourism easy and accessible, as well as entertaining by having to navigate with maps and learn the system of the unexplored city. Every time I go to one of these cities I meditate on how I could bring back a piece of the city and improve Dallas to make it a world class city where others would want to visit the city for its attractions outside of the typical economic and job appeal. I have viewed public transportation as one of these things that could be improved. 

The three cities I listed (Chicago, San Francisco, New York City) all seem to have something in common and to me, it makes their public transportation system a success. These cities have a grid-plan type development. I've noticed them before but didn't understand the importance of such a design. As our notes say, these truly create a walkable city and promote for easy public transportation. I see Dallas' lack of a grid-design to be a challenge in our public transportation system, something that we will have to be creative with in order to create a public transportation system that is competitive to that of NYC. 

I would also like to note that when I think of US cities with great public transportation systems, I think of the three listed. A commonality between the three are that they are all water front cities and the organic city growth follows an interesting pattern that is different than our beloved Dallas, an inland city. These 3 cities are land locked to one side and we tend to find denser populations and high-density development in water front cities. Dallas has the privilege of expanding on all sides and increasing density at a later point. But I must admit, I do wish Dallas had higher density developments that mimic these three cities. 

We can see the maps using the links below:

New York City

http://mapsof.net/map/new-york-city-subway-map-metro#.T4OlE5mmgrU

Chicago

http://albanypark.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/ctatrainmap.png

San Francisco

http://z.about.com/d/sanfrancisco/1/0/U/N/-/-/sanfranciscomunimap800.jpg

Dallas 2030 Plan

http://www.dart.org/ShareRoot/images/newsroom/jpgs/DART2030Map26oct06.jpg

I've recently had a look at the DART 2030 Plan which I am happy to see underway. This plan includes additional routes that connect a selected 13 city spread throughout the Dallas area which include an additional 43 miles of rail service to add to the already existent 72 miles of track. As I have said in my introduction video, my main focus on sustainability is in its relation to community development in the urban environment. I am excited to see the advancement of the DART system and its effect on the development of the built environment and its effect on economic development as well, giving Dallas a whole new flavor to life and an offering that supplements other major cities. We have the city. We have space. I believe that with a directive towards investment in public transportation we will see a more densely populated city interior. Something that I can't wait to be a part of. Side thought......increase in land values? I think so. 

Intro Video

Land & Habitat: Google Amazon

The Amazon has been the poster child for environmentalism for as long as I can remember. I've had a heart for this are and have dreamt of getting lost in its endless forests and amongst its generous portfolio of biodiversity. The Amazon boasts amazing figures. 1.4 billion acres of rainforest. The region is home to about 2.5 million insect species, tens of thousands of plants, and some 2,000 birds and mammals. To date, at least 40,000 plant species, 2,200 fishes, 1,294 birds, 427 mammals, 428 amphibians, and 378 reptiles have been scientifically classified in the region.

Unfortunately, it has been the target of deforestation and other environmental issues for numerous years. Its trees, though many, have been harvested at below a sustainable rate. During the past 40 years, close to 20 percent of the Amazon rain forest has been cut down--more than in all the previous 450 years since European colonization began. Brazilian deforestation is strongly correlated to the economic health of the country: the decline in deforestation from 1988-1991 nicely matched the economic slowdown during the same period, while the rocketing rate of deforestation from 1993-1998 paralleled Brazil's period of rapid economic growth. But one could argue that deforestation and a bustling economy are not directly related, just correlated at a time in which domestic output and exports are in high demand.
At the center of all conservation efforts is the battle between economic expansion and biological sustainability and preservation. Deep in the heart of the Brazilian Rainforest, the Chief of the Surui people, Chief Almir has decided to make a stand against the deforestation of his people's territory. He has been chief of his people since he was 17 and was educated in a Brazilian University, fluent in Portuguese. He has become a political activist but has chosen to maintain the culture into which he was born. The Surui people first made contact with the "outside" world in 1969 and due to illness, hunger and other causes the population dwindled down to 250 from 5,000.

He has chosen a method to fight deforestation and promote the preservation of his land that most of the western world would not expect coming from a rain forest tribe in the Amazon. They are using internet technologies, specifically Google maps, YouTube, laptops and digital photography. The Surui people have learned how to utilize this technology to pinpoint where the boundaries of their territory exist through GPS technology (Google maps). They have also created videos that are geo-tagged which provide stories from elders on the land, history or some special site and then upload them to YouTube.  This project has been in effort to push the campaign against Amazonian deforestation.

The Surui people were also taught by employees at Google how to take pictures of illegal logging and immediately upload them to the internet so that law enforcement has the necessary evidence to prosecute the illegal activity. The Surui keep watch over their land through google maps and look for any signs of deforestation, though they are desiring a more up-to-date method of spying on loggers and protecting their land more quickly.

In a YouTube video provided below, around the 14:30 mark, Chief Almire begins to talk about defending the forest and facing an economic reality. "But what we can understand, for those that understand the forest, we know that it can become a source of economic growth and well-being for the world. Through it (that is, defending the forest) we can bring a green development which creates a sustainable future."

Do we truly understand the value of something, or are we searching for immediate benefit? In this Amazonian example, we are discussing deforestation as our immediate benefit of consumption.  There is obviously an economic gain, but at what cost? In 1989, environmentalist C.M. Peters and two colleagues stated there is economic as well as biological incentive to protecting the rain forest.  One hectare in the Peruvian Amazon has been calculated to have a value of $6280 if intact forest is sustainably harvested for fruits, latex, and timber; $1000 if clear-cut for commercial timber (not sustainably harvested); or $148 if used as cattle pasture.

Chief Almir is convinced that the Amazon forest has the potential to provide to the world economically outside of consuming it. The question is, does the rest of the world?

Sources

http://www.mongabay.com/brazil.html
http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/habitats/last-of-amazon/
http://www.fastcompany.com/most-creative-people/2011/chief-almir-surui-amazon-tribe
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/amazon.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p83fgOvgtnk&feature=player_embedded

Water: Footprints in the Salt

Water is an essential element. Not in the sense of the periodic table of elements. Water is a molecule from the combination of those two of those elements. But we will define element as a building block for life. According to Captain Planet those building blocks were: Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, and Heart (In no preferential order of course)! With those combined you get Captain Planet. From the movie the Fifth Element the 4 basic elements were Fire, Earth, Wind, and Water and the 5^th being a super-human. Our understanding for the need of water is essential. Some may take it for granted but I am sure that all can come to the same conclusion of our inevitable demise without water. We simply cannot survive.

The old adage is that an individual should consume 8 cups of water a day. The Mayo clinic says 13 cups for males, 9 cups for females. www.mayoclinic.com/health/water/NU00283. There is no one formula for determination of individual physical needs. It is based upon activity, diet, and other criteria. As we have seen in our Water PPT slides, the uses for water goes beyond regular consumption but into many facets of life such as agriculture, production, daily use and many other activities outside the realm of drinking.

One of the interesting things to understand is the concept of Water footprint, which is the directly linked to human consumption in for any use needed. This is the amount of consumption that any one area, one country, one state or any other representative region or people group may partake of. It is also interesting to note the external footprint that a country may have. Some places simply do not produce enough resources for their own domestic use and must import from other regions of the world.

For Example:

• ·         Japan with a foot print of 1380 cubic meters per year per capita, has about 77% of its total water footprint outside the borders of the country.
• ·         The water footprint of US citizens is 2840 cubic meter per year per capita. About 20% of this water footprint is external. The largest external water footprint of US consumption lies in the Yangtze River basin, China.
• ·         Source: www.waterfootprint.org

With the understanding that we have a need for water consumption and also that there are many countries that are more privileged to have sources of water domestically, or the ability to import from other regions, there is a need to ensure the ability to consume water. It is essential for life.

We want to go beyond the realm of Sustainability, like our book says, and into the realm of Thrive-ability where we do not just maintain our ability to live and produce at our current pace and efforts, but we want to expand our efforts with no ceiling in sight and no harm nor depletion to the environment. We can easily deduct that with more water, more agricultural products (or other activities) can be produced. This is good, right? We then find ourselves at the need to determine a viable option for water supply if our current freshwater supplies are limited and we must conserve as it is. We have already turned our heads to desalination, which is the process of removing some amount of salt and other minerals from saline water.

Desalination can reduce salt levels to below 2 grams per gallon, which is the limit for safe human consumption. (www.livescience.com/4510-desalination-work.htm). To make seawater fit for human consumption its salt content of approximately 3.5% must be cut to 0.05% or less. (www.economist.com/node/21524186) If we are able to tap into this supply of water with an effective and efficient model, our endeavors that are usually hindered by water supply would break open and we would be capable of so much more! A random thought is that over-consuming desalinated water could potentially bring changes and harm to the oceanic ecosystems. That is beyond the scope of this discussion and I’ll leave that to the hands of the Marine Biologists.

Financial feasibility maintains the hurdle for many projects and alternative methods to consumption and living. Simply, we have to be able to provide a solution that economically makes sense. Financial feasibility may not be the wisest choice in that we have to choose between existing or holding a fist full of money when we die, but nevertheless it is the way-of-the-land. And I believe with enough intuition and drive and passion, we will achieve these goals of alternative living. With that said, Wikipedia states that “Desalination remains energy intensive, however, and future costs will continue to depend on the price of both energy and desalination technology.”  This goes in line with much of other resources that we employ. We may have found a breakthrough technology or advancement in technology that will revolutionize society but until the costs of production decrease and the price to the consumer is comparable to that of other substitutes of equal utility, consumers will still consume the older cheaper product. According to an article “Why desalination doesn’t work (yet)” (www.livescience.com/4510-desalination-work.html) the primary cost of desalination is the energy cost associated with production. Efforts to reduce this cost have been a focus point for researchers and scientists. The energy source of most plants have been fossil fuels or nuclear energy. While other places such as a desalination plant in Perth, Australia and another in Bungendore, New South Wales utilize Wind Power Energy. (Wiki)

To put things into perspective, in January 17, 2008 a WSJ article state, “In November, Connecticut-based Poseidon Resources Corp. won a key regulatory approval to build the US$300 million water-desalination plant in Carlsbad, north of San Diego. The facility would produce 50,000,000 US gallons of drinking water per day, enough to supply about 100,000 homes…Improved technology has cut the cost of desalination in half in the past decade, making it more competitive…Poseidon plans to sell the water for about US $950 per acre-foot [1,2000 cubic metres (42,000 cu ft)]. That compares with an average US $700 an acre-foot that local agencies pay for water.” There is still a price differential that must be worked out to bring desalination into a competitive arena against other sources of water. Another cost consideration includes transportation. Though the desalinated water output may be close in cost to other sources, the transportation costs to get the desalinated water from the coast to inland areas that are possibly arid or in a high mountain range severely raise the prices to the consumers, making it a less desirable solution.

Nevertheless, in our article above, we can hold to the statement that “Improved technology has cut the cost of desalination in half in the past decade, making it more competitive.” This gives us hope that this option is very near to our future, and the positive effects to society that desalinated water brings is very promising. 

Energy: Do Solar Panels Provide Value? A 1-2 Punch.

Solar Panels have been something I've noticed for some time now. I am currently not a homeowner but have always admired the prospect of being more self-reliant and cost-conscious. Not the self-reliant where I have my own garden and live off of nothing else but vegan gourmet, but where my fixed expenses are kept very low and my variable expenses are raised and lowered to my discretion. Part of this reduction in fixed expenses could very well be my electricity consumption and the source of that consumption. A Photo voltaic (PV) System which supplies over 100% of my energy consumption needs would help achieve my goal of cost-consciousness.

Now for those of us that have already taken REAE 5311 (Real Estate Analysis) or any other Finance centered curriculum we understand  the role of Financial Analysis in any Investment decision. We could argue that generally most people want to pay less for more. Our question posed in the title is "Do Solar Panels Provide Value?" Financially, this comes down to the payback period of the investment. Disregarding the Discounting of future cash flows the pay back would essentially be the length of time it takes for us to recoup our money dollar for dollar. If our PV system cost $5K and we received an annual cost savings of $1000 per year, our payback would be 5 years ($5K divided by $1k/year equals 5 years).

Our financial investment feasibility will actually vary based on a variety of factors. For one, we disregarded the time value of money which we can not do since we are subject to inflation and at a minimum, we must discount based on the inflation rate. There are ways that we can create obtain a greater benefit of the PV system in regards to financial feasibility. We can increase the future cash flow benefit by decreasing our monthly electric bill by substituting the costly grid electricity variety for the self-reliant solar energy variety. This is a monthly added benefit and cost savings. Depending on the output from your potential PV system, more energy can be produced than is actually needed for regular consumption. At this point, an individual may have the opportunity to sell the "left-overs" back into the "grid". This is sticking it to the man! Now the question is whether you can sell back this your excess to the man. Incentives can be found on the State Energy Conservation Office website at http://www.seco.cpa.state.tx.us/re_solar_incentives.htm. You can also find other incentives for your local area at http://www.solar-estimate.org/?page=solar-incentives&state=TX. There is no all inclusive list of incentives. A little research will be required to determine what benefits can be derived from an investment in a PV system. Some Texas specific benefits can be found at http://www.dsireusa.org/library/includes/map2.cfm?CurrentPageID=1&State=TX, Utility Rebate Programs can be found specifically under the Utility Rebate Program section. The list can go on and on but digging is required to find the more hidden and creative benefits.

Back to our question of whether solar panels are valuable. Id like to finish my blog with different look at the determination of value. Value is determined by the supply/demand relationship of economics. Economic value goes deeper than just the physical and material properties of said object of valuation. Value is perceived by the individual by other judgments of value such as aesthetic quality. No matter how beneficial something is, if it doesn't taste good, doesn't look good, people are less likely to consume it. I believe that we can come to the conclusion that solar panels aren't the sexiest addition to a house. They actually can be very akward looking and stick out like a sore thumb.

HOA's have even expressed their disinterest in solar panels for their lack of aesthetically pleasing qualities, which is completely understandable and subjective (insert sarcasm here). In an article (http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/15/homeowners-associationsthe-enemy-of-solar/ ) the HOA turned down an application to install Solar Panels because "The feeling of the board was that what was proposed wasn't aesthetically pleasing in keeping with the standards of the community". Value is determined by the benefit received by an individual. This benefit is not always financial. They later on state how they are open to other alternatives such as solar shingles, which I have found much more pleasing to the eye than the popular panels variety.




So what do you think about how solar panels look on a house? Would you use them no matter the cost savings, assuming they provide a positive benefit?