Tue, 19 Dec 2023 05:03:52 +0000 http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/ Lussumo Vanilla 1.0.3 http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=10658 http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=10658 Fri, 10 May 2013 14:34:48 +0100 SteamyTea
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22480068

Bet British Gas a feeling a bit silly.]]> http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=10637 http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=10637 Mon, 06 May 2013 10:33:35 +0100 SteamyTea So grabbed the current prices from uswitch and charted them as 'anomalies', so either above or below the mean price.
There was only one real outlier, Spark Energy who charge 29.984p/kWh for the first 1752 kWh on day rate, then 25.866p/kWh, night rate being 9.717p/kWh.

The rest that offer this tarrif are between 13.2 and 19.93p/kWh day rate, 5.5 and 7.7p/kWh, meter rental varying between 0 and 95£/year.
Apparently Ofgem have said that supplier have to charge for meter rental, so this will change soon (was a bit on radio about it, crucifies very low users, but maybe they shoudl consider PV).

So after charting it I think I will stay with EDF as they are bang in the middle (when sorted by day rate), along with M&S Energy and Ecotricity.]]> http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=8397 http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=8397 Wed, 11 Jan 2012 20:09:04 +0000 docmartin The number of members submitting data in the last 4 weeks is low at 28.57% (previously 33%); the old Carbon Club did have up to 50% submitting data but one could see the bar graphs and CO2 per head for each household. This sort of comparison is not available now and the aggregrate data seems seriously flawed. For the whole of Imeasure the typical annual energy use (kWh/person/year) is 13812kWh for electricity and 7869kWh for gas - which seems wrong.
I have also noticed a discrepancy in totol kWh of annual gas used; for 2011 I recorded 10703kWh but i measure assessed me at 9860kWh pa ( I use 31.6kWh for 100ft3 of gas and 11.36kWh pm3).
When contacted, Alex on Imeasure replied " It looks like we use 30.1kWh per 100ft3 and 10.8 per m3. There could be some discrepancy due to whether you count 265 days or 52 weeks though I am sure these are all accounted for.
The typical energy use is based on the data of all users in iMeasure and there are some errors in some users accounts which have caused these much higher than realistic calculations. It is something we know about and we hope to have a fix for it soon, but as iMeasure is a free service we have very little development resources."]]> http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=10428 http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=10428 Mon, 01 Apr 2013 10:27:56 +0100 RobinB
http://www.google.co.uk/intl/en-GB/landing/nose/]]> http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=8554 http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=8554 Sun, 05 Feb 2012 08:01:09 +0000 SteamyTea We all know that when the sun shines things left out in it get warmer, what is not so easy to find out is how warm they will get above ambient temperature. This is the problem with weather, this leads onto that debate about low or high thermal mass, inter seasonal thermal stores, small or large glazed areas, overheating in the summer and extra heating needed in the winter.
We also know that during the winter the sun is low in the sky, rises in the South East, sets in the South West, and is visible for only a few hours, summer is very different, it rises in the North East, Sets in the North West and hangs around in the sky for ages and goes high up (and if you live in Cornwall you get some great sunsets till gone 10pm).
This means that there is a larger solar resource in the summer than the winter. Well almost, the weather then starts to play an important role. As we are at the tail end of the Gulf of Mexico weather systems, what happens down there takes a while to affect us here, but it does. This is mainly responsible for out mild climate, lack of extremes (I write this as people are stuck in snow on the M40 and M25).
Without actively monitoring a building for several years to work out exactly how that one building responded I got to thinking was there a more generic way to estimate the effects of solar gain (which is really a function of cloud cover, azimuth and altitude angles, hours of daylight and temperature). Using some crude data from NASA and calculating the the azimuth and altitude of the sun along with the duration, I think I may have found a way to gauge what is going on. I currently, and some of you will laugh at this as I am going to use my least 2 favourite statistical methods, found a correlation based on the means of these values. It is only a starting point so these methods are perfectly valid. They also only show ground and air temperatures, they do not take into account the design of individual buildings, any technology used and cover a large geographic area (that's the get out of jail bit done).
So what I did was find out the mean weekly azimuth and altitude angles, the mean hours of daylight, the mean kWh.m^-1 of shortwave and longwave solar radiation, air and ground temperatures and set about calculating an 'intensity' number. After much mucking about looking at correlations between angles,temperatures, solar radiation levels to confirm that there is less solar resource in the winter than the summer (obvious I know but it needs checking) I found that the best figures to use where hours of daylight and overall kWh.m^-2.
By dividing the ground or air temperature by the sum of the radiation kWh.m^2, all divided by the hours of duration and then subtracting the ground or air temperature I think, and I stress think, that the figure represents the temperature gain caused by solar radiation on a common scale. This also allows for weather effects over a week.

So
Temperature Gain = (Temperature/(Solar Intensity / Hours Sunlight)) - Temperature

Where
Temperature is in degrees C
Solar Intensity is in kWh.m^-2
Hours Sunlight is in decimal hours

This gives the unit of Degrees C per kW per metre square (C.kW^-1.m^-2)

Thoughts anyone?
When charted it looks like this:]]> http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=10243 http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=10243 Tue, 05 Mar 2013 21:06:44 +0000 Shevek http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=9689 http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=9689 Sat, 13 Oct 2012 14:40:53 +0100 lineweight
http://publiclaboratory.org/tool/thermal-photography

Basic idea is: non-contact IR thermometer, linked to a colour-changing LED which changes colour according to what the IR thermometer is reading at that moment. The LED shines in the direction of whatever you're pointing the thermometer at, so if you point it at something hot, it shines a red light onto that surface, etc.

Then you set a camera up on a long exposure, and you effectively "colour in" the walls or whatever you're looking at by waving the contraption around.

It obviously has its limitations but could be fun to build one! The idea is that it shouldn't cost more than $50 in components.

Some images here:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/thermal-flashlight/pool/with/6502706171/#photo_6502706171]]> http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=9809 http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=9809 Wed, 14 Nov 2012 20:21:58 +0000 atomicbisf
I've been wondering whether it would be possible/practical/useful to try to determine the heat loss from a house experimentally rather than by u-value calculations etc.

I was thinking something along the lines of tracking the temperature outside, preferably in cold and not too changeable weather while setting the heating to maintain a constant temperature inside. Then you could measure the fuel use other the time period and possibly adjust for boiler efficiency.

I have little faith in the EPC we have as it seems just be be a formula and also it would be interesting to compare houses. Especially to compare this house with my parents' one as they are similar in size and less than 1km apart but totally different in construction, as they are often complaining of high energy consumption. This is a 1948/9 steel-framed, system-built semi while theirs is a typical 1901 end-of-terrace with solid walls, the outer layer of Bath stone and the inner of brick.]]> http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=9540 http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=9540 Fri, 07 Sep 2012 14:25:17 +0100 SteamyTea So a while back (26 days) I started a little experiment.
I built 3 identical 'houses', put them behind a screen so that the effects of solar gain would not change things and measured the temperature in each one, as well as the ambient.
This small scale experiment may or may not be scalable, but it shows, within the bounds of the accuracy of the equipment (+-0.5°C), that thermal mass at best makes less that 1/2 °C difference. And that may be to do with the water evaporating and condensing (shall think of a way around that).
As we have a few days of sunshine forecast, I have moved the kit so that it at least gets the morning sun and see what happens, shall also run a few more stats tests on it and see if anything interesting comes out.]]> http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=9613 http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=9613 Mon, 24 Sep 2012 17:41:43 +0100 ps_mrwonderful http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=9438 http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=9438 Fri, 10 Aug 2012 22:31:58 +0100 adh
I am looking to data log or at least view multiple temperature sensors throughout the property. I have a solar thermal system from Navitron which is controlled via an Ethernet enabled solar controller. However this controller only allows network access from within the LAN and must be run on a PC with the manufacturers software. I want to be able to display and log temperatures throughout my system including the hot water flow and return on the DHW tank and UFH system along with external temperature and the solar temperatures. I have a networked Heatmiser system which allows multiple sensor input but you have to use their digital sensors which is not ideal as I would like to utilise the current sensors in the system.

Has anyone any recommendations for a fully networked system for monitoring and logging multiple temperature inputs from both hot water and air temperature?]]> http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=6919 http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=6919 Fri, 04 Feb 2011 10:22:22 +0000 buckyp
Any help, or pointers would be great.

Paul.]]> http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=9570 http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=9570 Fri, 14 Sep 2012 12:37:12 +0100 RobinB
I'm interested in monitoring humidity, room temperature and also human body temp. I've googled about a bit but I'd appreciate any advice here before I set out.

many thanks

RobinB]]> http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=8992 http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=8992 Tue, 24 Apr 2012 23:40:15 +0100 djh
Flame on ...]]> http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=9516 http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=9516 Fri, 31 Aug 2012 18:13:21 +0100 JTGreen
The only issue is the way in which usage gets complicated by the PV solar - we didn't get an export meter (another thing to pay for) so don't know how much we use of what we generate. I can compare gas (heating) with this time last year (heating off) but I guess I need to also calculate wood as an input/emission if I use that more for heating in the 'shoulder' months, and not just attribute a decline in gas usage to better insulation.

The company that fitted the PV solar provide a free energy monitor and my mother has also offered me one she has 'going spare'. However, both are pretty unsophisticated. The PV solar company also provide a slightly more 'all singing, all dancing' monitor that can feed data to your computer for analysis, etc....but you have to pay for this. Not sure if that is worth it.

A lot of my appliances have inaccessible sockets with accessible fuse spur switches, so are not easy to individually monitor using a plug in.

I'm interested in what tools other people use. Previously I was just reading the meters and logging the data on the carbon account (which I find pretty easy to use) and imeasure (until it stopped recognizing my username/password after an upgrade). Obviously just reading the meters is not going to work any more since we have PV solar and wood.]]> http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=9446 http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=9446 Tue, 14 Aug 2012 14:22:22 +0100 SteamyTea Thoughts are needed as to how this could be done.]]> http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=9417 http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=9417 Sat, 04 Aug 2012 10:59:47 +0100 SteamyTea So decided to try and calculate how many trees I would need to plant for the mileage that my car has done since it was new.
It is a ten year old Scenic, has emissions of 157g/km (http://carfueldata.direct.gov.uk/search-new-or-used-cars.aspx), has done about 200,000 km.
Trees seem to absorb CO2 at this rate http://www.carbon-info.org/pressrelease/_documents/100%20year%20absorption.pdf

So my car emits about 3.1 tonnes of CO2 a year. 31 tonnes so far then.

Now a tree seem to have a sweet spot when they are 20 to 55 years old, absorbing 14 kg/year.
At the lower end, between 0 and 10 years (the age my car has been on the road) it is 0-5 year 2.5 kg/year and 6-10 years it is 10 kg/year.

So to absorb all the CO2 my car emitted in year 1, I would have had to plant 1240 trees.
The next 5 years those 1250 trees will be absorbing at twice the rate that I emit, so I could cut half of them down (620) and build with them, but not burn them, or just plant a few less in the beginning, about 500 of them.

So to balance all that mileage I need a pretty large wood. Tree density is about 2,500 trees per hectare (http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/INFD-6ARG5Y), so I would need 1/5th of a hectare (half an acre).

Now my house, that is all electric now uses 4.5 MWh of EDFs finest a year, Grid electric is about 0.45 kg/kWh, so I emitted 2 tonnes last year, down from 4 tones when I moved in 7 years ago. Let us assume a mean of 3 tonnes/year.
That is about the same as my car emits, so I would need to plant just 500 trees again. (edited as Ed found the error)

There are about 34m cars and 25m houses in the UK, http://www.rac.co.uk/news-advice/motoring-news/post/2011/4/record-34m-vehicles-on-uks-roads/ and http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/guides/456900/456991/html/

So if we could halve the number km travelled or halve the CO2 emissions of vehicles we would be quids in compared to halving the emissions from houses.

So I ask the question (other than check my sums), are we tackling the wrong area as we swap houses rather than replace them but we replace cars fairly often.
Is it feasible to reduce the energy use in cars and houses at the same rate (edited to a second question because of sums error earlier).]]> http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=7914 http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=7914 Sun, 09 Oct 2011 19:07:09 +0100 DamonHD
http://www.earth.org.uk/note-on-iButton-temperature-monitoring-of-aerogel-drylined-bedroom.html

Nothing much to announce yet, but I intend to keep that page updated at least monthly up to the end of the year, lining up Christmas decoration retrieval with data retrieval if possible, for example.

Rgds

Damon]]> http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=7998 http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=7998 Sat, 22 Oct 2011 14:04:04 +0100 SteamyTea The sheet of 40mm PU cost £21.30 for a 2440mm by 1220mm sheet, £7.16/m^2. I needed 500mm by 870mm or £3.11 worth.
If I assume all the cooling is done at the higher rate of electricity (£0.18/kWh), then every year from now on I will save 96.36 kWh or £17.35/year.
I have charted all this and included the room mean temperature.]]> http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=9249 http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=9249 Tue, 26 Jun 2012 10:44:19 +0100 SteamyTea So I did what I do, went and found some solar data and started to look at it.
The preliminary results are below:
The "Solar Resource" chart shows the comparative difference between the two locations (Norfolk and Cornwall).
The "Fraction of solar resource before and after noon" chart shows the distribution. I have time shifted by half an hour for the differences in longitude, not spot on I know but close enough.
There is also some data missing from both sets that I have not yet corrected for, but apart from Cornwall's Month 1 (January) there should not be enough data missing to make a significant difference.
A quick look at the data seems to show that there is little difference in resource distribution between Norfolk and Cornwall, Cornwall being better in the summer. Both locations seems to be better in the afternoon, or more West facing.

The pictures.]]> http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=9163 http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=9163 Mon, 04 Jun 2012 10:04:02 +0100 yclairejenkins By playing around with the fuse box, there seem to be several areas using 0.03-0.05kw when I wouldn't expect it - any suggestions why?
1) Mains linked smoke alarm (one unit on each of three floors)
2) 'Water heater' marked on fuse - seems to be gas boiler with timer controls and controls for solar thermal. All switched off on the controller except solar thermal, and tested when solar thermal pump not running.
3) Supply for office at the end of the garden and garden shed. Still giving 0.03 even with night storage heaters switched off at their fuse switches.
Any ideas why and suggestions what to do about it gratefully received!
Claire]]> http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=8794 http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=8794 Tue, 13 Mar 2012 20:09:06 +0000 SteamyTea Thoughts, anecdotes or data welcome.
Thanks]]> http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=1672 http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=1672 Fri, 02 May 2008 18:46:58 +0100 GBP-Keith

First of all. Here is the tracker that the data is collected from.

There are six 125w BP polycrystalline solar panels all wired up as a single group at 72volts but with a variable peak of up to about 150volts. this gets converted back to battery voltage (nominal 24 volts) by the MPPT controller just before being added to the bank.]]> http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=8643 http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=8643 Fri, 17 Feb 2012 16:15:04 +0000 SteamyTea These first two are basic weekly means and one trend line to show a correlation (ducking already but it is a starting point for further investigation).
My data comes from the National Grid website, a local weather station, my internally collected data and the CO2 stuff is from Damon's excellent site. The many millions of data points (the CC logs every 6 seconds, the ND stuff every 5 minutes, soon adds up) have been condensed down to hourly means. CO2 emissions are calculated from my hourly readings multiplied by the number of hours and multiplied by the CO2 emissions for those corresponding hours.
When I get time there will be more to come.]]> http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=8685 http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=8685 Thu, 23 Feb 2012 08:34:01 +0000 rvb99
In fact to be honest I am not sure how the different material setting work. Originally I though that it was just like a multimeter with different ranges, but for example if I stick it into into soft wood I get a different reading depending whether it is set to hard wood or soft wood. I am guessing that there are some other parameters being taking into account.

If possible I would also like to be able to measure the values of the soft steico flex wood fibre pannels.

Of course my next question will be what are acceptable normal envelopes for humidity values in these materials.

thanks for any advice.
Richard]]> http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=8140 http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=8140 Sun, 20 Nov 2011 12:42:41 +0000 DamonHD
Our MHRV has not yet been installed, and we are experiencing the expected condensation on windows now that outside temperatures are in the region on 4C overnight.

(On the inside of older windows, and the outside of high-spec 2G!)

Normally we shut the doors and open the windows of bedrooms in the morning, with rads off, to let the moisture out.

On a day like today with fog, ie supersaturated externally, that isn't going to work!

So as a data point I'm hereby noting that I'm putting on a small dehumidifier in one bedroom with all doors and windows closed and rad off to help keep on top of things.

I'll probably be deploying this dehumdifier to the smallest room to help dry the room fabric once the plumber has replaced our toilet that decided to leak from the inlet pipe into our electrics yesterday morning...

Rgds

Damon]]> http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=8346 http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=8346 Sat, 31 Dec 2011 16:04:56 +0000 SteamyTea
Just to give a bit of background, some of use like data logging and some of us like doing it on the cheap.
I have an old PC that I have installed Puppy 5 on, works well with the hardware.
I have also downloaded Ubunto 11 Live for play with later.

What I cant to do is get the iButton reader and my Current Cost energy meter wired into it though the USB serial cables yet.

So any advice, easy to follow instructions would be gratefully received.]]> http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=8421 http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=8421 Sat, 14 Jan 2012 19:58:13 +0000 EasyOffgrid
we are currently looking for beta users for our EasyOffgrid platform.

The Software:

Online calculations
Define local conditions by Google Maps.
Administration Login for Import/Export product datas.
Automatic generation of individual Offgrid handbook.
Cable sizing
Battery sizing
Inverter sizing
Charger sizing
Generator sizing
Define consumption easily by sliders
Define charging time.

We start Beta-Testing-Time beginning 19th of Feb.
Everybody who will sign in in our FB-page can sign as Beta-User.

Sign in: [url]http://www.facebook.com/EasyOffgrid[/url]

EasyOffgrid Team

More information: www.easyoffgrid.com]]> http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=8336 http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=8336 Thu, 29 Dec 2011 12:05:41 +0000 SteamyTea http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=5643&page=1

So to try and get to the bottom of it I tried a little experiment yesterday and am a bit perplexed by the results. So if anyone has any ideas about the results I could re-run the tests and see if it makes any difference (in the best scientific methods available to me).

So what I did was get an 8W spiral CFL bulb, a glass container (Helman's jar, emptied), a power meter, couple of temperature data loggers and a plug in energy meter.

First test was to just have the bulb on for 2 hours and then cool for 2 hours, noting the energy used and the temperature difference between the air in the container and the ambient temperature.
Second test was the same but with the bulb covered in tin foil.
Third test was like the first but the tin foil wrapped around the inside of the jar (this leaves some air gaps between the jar and the foil though).

The Watts, Power Factor, kWh, AmP, V, VA, Hz were all near enough the same, except when the bulb was wrapped in foil. This showed half the energy use, though when I started the final test it had changed by 0.01kWh within 15 minutes, so this is probably down to the accuracy of the meter.

So if anyone can think of an improvement to see what reflect coatings are actually doing I would be most grateful.

Data and chart below:
,No Foil,Bulb Foil,Container Foil
Watts,9.50,8.50,9.00
VA,22.00,21.00,21.50
V,242.01,243.42,241.85
AmP,0.09,0.09,0.09
Hz,49.99,50.07,50.05
PF,0.43,0.41,0.40
kWh,0.02,0.01,0.02]]> http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=8278 http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=8278 Wed, 14 Dec 2011 14:10:18 +0000 dhutch
Obviously it makes a lot of sense for new meters to be of this type, rather than the old method of use forecasting and sending a man round with a van, But how useful is the information provied to the customer.

The reason I ask is having recently bought my first house having taken over the existing owners tariff (EON gas and elec) im now shopping around to make sure im on a good deal, and wondering if i should factor it in at all.


Daniel]]> http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=8240 http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=8240 Mon, 05 Dec 2011 18:35:58 +0000 Triassic
This report details the technical data from fabric performance tests carried out on the completed dwellings, site
observations and photographic records of the construction process and an analysis of available site documentation and drawings. Performance testing included pressure tests, a coheating test, thermal imaging, temperature and air flow measurements and heat flux measurements. A design retrospective of those aspects of the design and construction process related to energy performance was undertaken by an assessment of available documentation and through a series of semi-structured interviews with key individuals involved with the development.

The report also contains the results of 12 months in-use monitoring of the occupied dwellings and data on the performance of the communal heat pump system.

http://www.lmu.ac.uk/as/cebe/projects/elmtree/elmtree_finalreport.pdf

The report contains some interesting heat loss photos and observations on the design and build of a timber framed flats development.]]> http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=8155 http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=8155 Tue, 22 Nov 2011 17:24:44 +0000 Triassic
"A survey, using innovative technology, has offered an insight into people's showering habits.

The average shower lasted eight minutes - much longer than previous studies suggested, using almost as much water and energy as the average bath.

The information was compiled from "data loggers" that recorded 2,600 showers by 100 families over a 10-day period.

The survey was carried out by producer Unilever, which wanted to find out how people were using their products.

According to the data, an eight-minute shower used 62 litres of hot water, compared with an average bath's 80 litres."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15836433]]> http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=8066 http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=8066 Fri, 04 Nov 2011 13:42:32 +0000 RobinB http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=7953 http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=7953 Sun, 16 Oct 2011 09:42:27 +0100 SteamyTea Bath fills at 19 kg.min^-1
Filled it for 4 minutes (about half full)
Temp was 43C (cold from loft tank is 18C today)

That works out at 76 kg (or lt) and 2.22 kWh of E7 Electric.

When I shower, I try to keep it to around 3 minutes flow time.
Flow is 11 kg.min^-1
Temp during test was 41C (though probably higher than I would normally use) and cold from tank is still 18C.
Allowing for a 30 second 'warm up' that is 38.5 kg and 1.03 kWh of EDF's finest.

My water is close to £6.tonne^-1
E7 around £0.06.kWh^-1

So financially a bath is £0.46 for water and £0.13 for electric Total £0.59

Shower is £0.23 for water and £0.06 for electric. Total £0.29

My lodger can easily have the shower running for 20 minutes.
Or £1.32 of water and £0.35 electric. Total £1.67

Makes you think don't it, as a shower goes right down the plughole but a bath contributes a little to space heating (though most gets sucked out by the fan)]]> http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=7796 http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=7796 Thu, 08 Sep 2011 12:43:01 +0100 Robur
Wondering if we have any handy Arduino coders here who might be able to help with this one :bigsmile:

I help run our local community/volunteer run outdoor swimming pool and we have recently installed a 21 panel solar heating system which is controlled by RESOL kit. We have a datalogger and SD3 public display but as this is powered off the Vbus no one can read it unless they are having an unoffical night swim. The project is 100% grant funded and one requirement is that we display our data publically - I have been hunting for a working solution and keep coming back to the possibility of using an Arduino to read the Vbus data and display it via an LCD. I can handle some of the coding but not the Vbus (RS485) data intercept - is there anyone out there who might be able to help with this aspect? I have the Vbus protocol and an RS485 arduino shield.

Appreciate any thoughts :-)]]> http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=7304 http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=7304 Fri, 22 Apr 2011 22:28:00 +0100 SteamyTea I thought at the time it would be interesting to to make a small model of a 'green roof'. Well Day before yesterday I got my temperature loggers back and made a couple of roof sections. One is just a black time and the other is a black tile with compost and grass seed on it. Both have a couple of loggers inside the polystyrene box and there is a 5th one under the bench for ambient data. Solar radiation, humidity, windspeed and all that weather data I shall collect at the end of the test from my friendly local weather station.
Just to make it interesting I have popped a webcam in the shed and time-lapse ever 15 minutes, so if you want to see the grass grow, click here for all the individual pictures of my back garden. http://www.4shared.com/dir/qaYyPYeP/_online.html
Could be a long evening

Anyone like to make a guess at what will happen over the next week to ten days while the grass starts to grow and what impact it may have when fully grown?]]> http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=7133 http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=7133 Fri, 18 Mar 2011 11:19:40 +0000 pmagowan
The context is a large detached house with no insulation and solid walls. Plans are 200mm eps EWI and similar above rafter. Website (only draft version): http://web.me.com/pmagowan/Site]]> http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=7171 http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=7171 Wed, 23 Mar 2011 19:32:48 +0000 mands
Could anyone advise me if they have experienced any problems with the RESOL range of equipment and logging to SD cards.
I have a BX solar controller and it seems to get upset at my SD cards (one 64Mb and one 512 I have shown it), lots of WRIT errors and difficulty in carrying out the FORM command. Sorry to ask here, I should perhaps be in touch with the manufacturer, but my german isn't too good.

Thank you

Matthew]]> http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=7307 http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=7307 Sun, 24 Apr 2011 08:48:05 +0100 Joiner
http://www.waermepumpen-verbrauchsdatenbank.de/index.php?lang=en

...which contains: http://www.waermepumpen-verbrauchsdatenbank.de/index.php?lang=en

...which summarises this: http://www.waermepumpen-verbrauchsdatenbank.de/index.php?lang=en

There you go Damon, ST.

And I guess that despite its containing info from over the pond, it does allow comparison of models available in the UK, as everyone seems so keen on all things Scandinavian. :wink:]]> http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=7198 http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=7198 Mon, 28 Mar 2011 19:34:09 +0100 DamonHD
I've just finished this write-up of a DIY thermal survey and then getting a professional double-check (by someone here at GBF) of my handiwork:

http://www.earth.org.uk/thermal-imaging-survey-of-house.html

I hope that it is of some interest to others.

I think that the minimum to take from this is if DIYing give yourself a day to learn how to use the equipment properly and don't rely on point-and-shoot being enough to find the more subtle issues, and don't stop looking too easily!

Rgds

Damon]]> http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=7196 http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=7196 Mon, 28 Mar 2011 12:54:49 +0100 RobinB thanks
RobinB]]> http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=7139 http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=7139 Fri, 18 Mar 2011 19:52:11 +0000 JayC
Before jumping into the dirty work of renovating our late 80's bungalow, I want to spend some time actually understanding how my internal environment is effected by the weather... With that in mind I have considered buying one of those well known amateur weather stations, along with a number of internal sensors for temperature and humidity.

Do you think I am going to get useful data from one of these units, or are they just a 'desktop gadget'

Alternative suggestions are most welcome!


Thanks,
JC]]> http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=7113 http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=7113 Mon, 14 Mar 2011 23:53:42 +0000 lineweight
So, is there such a thing as a cheap humidity or temperature sensor, that would be able to somehow send info back to my computer or something? It would have to be relatively easy to set up as I'm not a computer or electronics expert.

Just wondering if this is the sort of thing others have tried to do really.]]> http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=7007 http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=7007 Mon, 21 Feb 2011 22:28:34 +0000 pmagowan
Should I get some kind of energy assessment now and on completion to see the difference or is it just a waste of money? I will be removing chimneys etc and so I suppose they are not included in air change tests otherwise you would need a very big fan. If they are not then surely that simple measure will not be recorded as a gain!

I know there are passivhaus purists and that I will not likely reach the true standard but it is certainly something to aim towards. Are there particular things which are worth monitoring e.g thermal camera, air tightness etc. I presume air tightness testing at completion would both be an incentive for builders to do good work and also a useful way of fault-finding.

What are your thoughts? Would it be of interest if I documented progress?
Thanks
Paddy]]> http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=6891 http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=6891 Sat, 29 Jan 2011 18:28:45 +0000 fclauson I have been playing around with http://mango.serotoninsoftware.com/

Its an open source Building Management/Automaiton system - it would be good to get a community going to develop this into a useful green building monitoing system

Specifically I am looking at using 1-wire for monitoring/controlling things

Francis]]> http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=6337 http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=6337 Sat, 25 Sep 2010 12:28:47 +0100 biffvernon http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=6232 http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=6232 Sat, 04 Sep 2010 13:59:36 +0100 adh
Just had our GSHP commissioned and all working well so far. I want to carefully monitor exactly how much electricity the heat pump uses and would like to install a meter on the heat pump supply line so it just records what the heat pump uses. I know you can buy normal electricity meters on the internet but wondering whether anyone has any recommendations for smaller units or those with extra functions like running time as well as KWH etc.

Any recommendations much appreciated.]]> http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=6596 http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=6596 Thu, 25 Nov 2010 15:10:00 +0000 Robur
A couple of years ago we started looking at monitoring our post construction building performance, we found the cost of doing this to be quite high so started sourcing lower cost technology to allow us better coverage for the funds available. As time goes by we are continuing to source useful products at affordable prices and are now making them available on www.airsensor.co.uk for wider use.

Our latest find is a CO2 monitor & controller that shows current air quality and allows the switching of a fan (or other active device) at a definable CO2 set point. Useful to determine if adequate ventilation is being achieved in airtight constructions, visual warning for when windows should be opened in schools and offices and control of fans to ensure unnecessary ventilation is minimised.

http://www.airsensor.co.uk/shop.html?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=8&category_id=2

More tools will become available in the next few months as we develop them.

Apologies for this semi-AD, we hope it is useful to those, who like us, want to monitor buildings but don't have big budgets.

www.airsensor.co.uk]]> http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=6567 http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=6567 Wed, 17 Nov 2010 13:42:47 +0000 adh
I have a rain harvesting system fitted which automatically switches over to mains water when the tank gets low. However there is no indication of the tank contents which is annoying as it's useful to know when the tank is running low. I know other systems have LED indications, or digital readouts, of the tank level but our system doesn't (Rewatec McRain). I've contacted the company who makes the system but all they have is a visual flag which is attached to the top of the tank and sticks up when the tank is empty! Not ideal in a domestic setting!

Does anyone have any links or information on a third party indicating system I could fit to provide details of tank quantity?

Thanks for any information :bigsmile:]]> http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=6378 http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=6378 Tue, 05 Oct 2010 16:35:41 +0100 undrill
Data on how far we could use a thermal store to feed low water content radiators if required.

Any idea?]]>