[E-updates] 2nd Annual Home Energy Conservation Fair

[Lisa Patterson]

NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:			City of Lawrence, Kansas
							Waste Reduction
and Recycling Division
							October 4, 2002

CONTACT:						Michelle Crank,
Recycling Specialist
							832-3030
							Steve Hughes,
Fair Coordinator 842-2292
							Bruce Plenk,
Home Tour Coordinator 840-0077

2nd Annual Home Energy Conservation Fair

(Lawrence, Kansas) - Knowledge is Power!   If reducing your power bills
is important to you, please plan on attending Lawrence's 2nd Annual
Lawrence Home Energy Conservation Fair!  The fair is being held on
Sunday, October 20, 2002 from 10:00 am - 4:00 pm at the Douglas County
Fairgrounds, Building 21, 2140 Harper Street.  Knowledgeable speakers on
sustainable design, ground source heat pumps, alternative fuel vehicles,
and energy conservation strategies on new construction and remodels are
slated to appear.  

Several exhibitors will be onsite representing area architects,
appliance stores, energy efficiency consultants, heating and cooling,
insulation, lighting, plumbing, window treatments, passive solar
structures, and more!
Concurrent with Home Energy Conservation Fair is the 2002 Douglas County
Sustainable Homes Tour, sponsored by the Heartland Renewable Energy
Society.  Maps to the tour will be available at the fair.   This year's
tour features homes with passive solar design, straw bale construction,
solar panels, wind turbines and earth bermed construction.
This popular event is sponsored by the City's Recycling and Resource
Conservation Advisory Board and the following area businesses: Aquila,
Hughes Consulting Engineering PA., J. Stephen Lane Architect,
PilgrimPage Inc., Scott Temperature Equipment, and Stitt Energy Systems,
Inc.
To reserve a space as an exhibitor, please contact: Steve Hughes, fair
co-coordinator at (785) 842-2292 or scrahughes@aol.com

-END-

Home Energy Conservation Fair 2002
Sunday, October 20, 2002
FEATURED SPEAKERS:

11:00 AM - 11:45 AM	
  KIRK GASTINGER, Gastinger Walker Harden Architects
  Sustainable/Green Building Materials for New Construction

11:45 AM - 12:30 PM	
  KARL BIRNS
  Alternative Fueled Vehicles

2:00 PM - 2:45 PM	
  KIRK GASTINGER, Gastinger Walker Harden Architects
 Remodeling with Energy Efficient Features

2:45 PM - 3:15 PM 
  GEORGE CRUMP, Kansas City Power & Light
  Ground Source Heat Pumps


DOUGLAS COUNTY SUSTAINABLE HOMES TOUR
OCTOBER 20, 2002
LAWRENCE, KANSAS

PASSIVE SOLAR/EARTH BERM
Built 1981, 1400 sq. ft. ranch style, detached garage/storage

This house illustrates how to build an attractive and cost effective
solar home without the added expense of complicated mechanical and
electrical systems that may add little savings to the operation of the
home.  The structure is simply a walk out basement with a roof added.
The house opens to the southwest with earth berm around the back, sides,
and sloping down toward the center of the front. The berm stops two to
three feet from the eaves on the sides and back and maybe four feet in
front to allow for windows at each end. Twelve inches of rock wool
insulation is used in the attic. The result of the berm and insulation
is a very comfortable ambient temperature requiring less energy to heat
and cool.

The central sunroom provides the passive solar heat and much of the
indirect lighting for the interior of the home. The sunroom exterior
wall is a series of thermal pane full-length windows plus the entry
door. Only one exterior door is used and opening into the sunroom,
providing an airlock to reduce temperature exchanges with the outside
when opened.

STRAWBALE HOUSE
This partially finished rural strawbale house features post and beam
construction, native building materials, a radiant heat floor, and
earthen plasters. Talk to the owner/builders about their choice of
materials and get your questions answered about strawbale construction
in our Kansas climate.

SOLAR/WIND
This modern house in the middle of a Lawrence neighborhood has 24 solar
panels as well as two wind machines mounted on the roof.  The owners are
combining two Kansas resources, sun and wind, which conveniently are
available at different times to generate electricity.  This is a
grid-tied system with an interesting home-made catwalk on the roof to
enable seasonal tilt adjustments of the PV panels for maximum output.
Come with your questions about grid interconnections in Kansas and the
savings on your electric bill from alternative energy.

PASSIVE SOLAR/EARTH BERM/GREENHOUSE
This passive solar home is nestled into the rural countryside of
Leavenworth County.  The home sits away from the road in a naturalistic
setting of open fields of natural prairie grasses on the edge of the
woods.  The north side is protected by the garage and partially
earth-bermed to provide protection in both winter and summer.

On the south side the architect, Dean Graves, designed a greenhouse for
solar heat gain.  Brick floors with rock storage beneath the bedrooms
and an oversized masonry block chimney provide the thermal mass for heat
storage.  The heat is then transferred throughout the house when needed
by a heat transfer system.  The open floor plan and clerestory windows
permit daylight to enter every room.  The entry hall is separated from
the main living area to reduce heat loss or gain.    Solar collectors,
installed in the roof of the garage, are out-of-sight from the grounds
and provide year-round hot water for domestic use.




_____________________________
Lisa K. Patterson
Communications Coordinator
City of Lawrence
PO Box 708
Lawrence, KS 66044
(785) 832-3406
fax (785) 832-3405
lpatterson@ci.lawrence.ks.us
http://www.lawrenceks.org