I have seen the future...

Mark Eatherton1

are the ones that don't get asked, and consequently, don't get answered. They're moving the house out there in August, but the competition doesn't start until some time in October.

Here's a link. http://www.eere.energy.gov/solar_decathlon/

Thanks for asking!

ME

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Mark Eatherton1

And it is green...

WarmBoard Green that is...

The cat can now be let out of the bag. I've been working for over a year with a group of Mechanical Engineering and Architectural students from the University of Colorado on a super secret project that will be unveiled in Washington DC sometime in August.

There is a national competition sponsored by the National Renewable Energy Labratory named Solar Decathalon. Contestants from all over these United States assemble on the Mall in Washington DC and have a friendly housing competiton to see who has the most energy efficient home. CU took the show 2 years ago, and with a little luck, they'll take it again this year.

The home is built on a steel frame for reasons of easy transportation from here to DC and back. The house has been presold and after the competition, will be brought back to Colorado and delivered to the job site and permenantly set.

The heating system is required to be all electric for purposes of monitoring. The home has two arrays of evacuated tube solar collectors, one on the roof, and the other mounted vertically on the south facing wall to take advantage of direct gain, and compounded albedo (snow reflection) gain. The distribution system is WarmBoard radiant subfloor using Wirsbo MultiCore tubing. In addition to the solar thermal, the home will be covered with PV solar panels which will provide the primary means of electrical generation. The home will also be connected to the grid, however each watt consumed from the grid deducts severely from the homes points score..

The students MUST take a hot shower a day/student (3 of them will be with the home) and they also have an electric car that MUST be driven a minimum of 25 miles per day, and MUST be charged only from the homes electrical system.

The projects are judged based on engineering prowess, architectural considerations and functionality tempered by energy conservation.

Myself, Professor Jim Eastman (a frequent Wallie), Dale Chavez of WarmBoard and numerous students put the WHOLE radiant floor system together in under 2 days. The tubing took about 2-1/2 hours. Jim will continue working with the students after the home has been dried in and will be tying all the mechanical systems together. The students have improvised their own controls for the system using PLC controls. It will have variable temperature, and variable speed distribution to the room loads. Auxilliary energy will come from a variable voltage in line resistance heater (if needed) for purposes of monitoring augmentation energy needs.

This was my first run with the Wirsbo PEX-AL-PEX product, and I must say, this stuff is easier to work with than KITEC. It went in slicker than hog snot. I'll probably not use the other stuff again unless I get into a situation where Wirsbo doesn't make a big enough bore for distribution mains. Give it a try, and I think you too will be impressed.

As for the WarmBoard, I don't think it can be matched for performance and functionality by any other product on the market. It will be going into my personal home that I'll be building in the next few years, and is being speced where ever possible in our day to day work.

I'll keep you all updated as the project progresses.

My sincerest thanks to the good folks at Wirsbo for donating so much of the tubing, manifolds and all, and also the wonderful folks at WarmBoard for their contribution of the WarmBoard sub floor system, and least but not last, Dale Chavez with WarmBoard and Jim Eastman with Marmot Heating. I couldn't have done it without you guys. Thanks a million.

Enjoy!

ME

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hr

Nice work Mark and Jim

good for you for helping out with the project, and good luck! I believe we have two schools from Missouri in the competition this year.

The WB was a good idea for lowest possible operating temperatures. This infared pic shows just how powerful that aluminum transfer sheet is. Notice where I routered across the aluminum and the transfer was broken.

The eventual homeowner is getting a real sweet deal with that home!

I noticed one of the PAP manufactures now offers 20 foot straight lengths up to 1" in diameter! Nice for boiler room work. Wirsbo had a bunch of boiler/ panels piped in PAP at their show last week. Looks nice.

hot rod

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DanHolohan

Great job!

You're winners in my book already. Thanks for sharing.

Mark Eatherton1

Thank you for the opportunity. Without you, it wouldn't be...

an opportunity, and that would be a travesty.

Serioulsy,

Thanks.

ME

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leo g_13

hey Prof,

is warmboard made outta SM? no ply backing? where to get info? have a possible use for this in a "allen town" style war home here that is undergoing a big reno. The inspector wants some form of insulation break between the old and new slab.

Looks like a fun project!

Leo G

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Bob Gagnon plumbing and heating

good job Mark

Where do you get funding for a job like that? The local voke school wants to do a solar job and they are looking for funding. Bob

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Weezbo

I Knew that looked familiar *~/:)...

i see the link to the impromtu class of the morning cool

Mark Eatherton1

Leo..

The product is a 1-1/10" thick plywood with grooves routered in it, and aluminum glued and stamped into place.

It comes in straights, Lefts, Rights and double return panels, all of them 4X8 sheets.

Additional information at www.warmboard.com

Excellent product, and great people to work with.

Once your customer has committed, they will take their drawings and prepare a CAD drawing showing you how and where to route the tubes to and from proposed manifold locations.

ME




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Mark Eatherton1

Bob...

The university provided the majority of the funding. Many people and ocmpanies also donated a lot of materials, and time to the cause for mention. The school is going to place a piece of clear plexiglass over the area that we autographed to show the visitors in DC exactly what the radiant flor heating systenm actually looks like, show casing the Warmboard and the Wirsbo tubing, both donors to the program.

As for funding, I'd suggest you contact the good folks at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. They're always looking for demonstration projects.

ME

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Mike T., Swampeast MO

Really Stupid Question

How do you get a heating load on the Capitol Mall during August?

Are all of the entries re-assembled in the same (if not D.C.) area during the winter for comparative heating performance?

p.s. A lot easier to get 25 miles of electric car performance in D.C. (flat) particularly if most is driven in town during peak hours, e.g. gridlock.

Mike Reavis_2

I hope that there is not a time limit on those 25 miles

that could take a few hours here in the Nation's Capital.
Mike

Bob Gagnon plumbing and heating

Thanks mark

I contacted them today. If we all work together and exchange ideas, we can make solar hot water commonplace. A recent article in Solar Today said that solar hot water was left out of recent solar tax credits in California because it is already competitive with other fuel sources. We can only make it better. Bob Gagnon

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Mad Dog_2

Very Exciting! and hats off to You, Jim , and the students

This stuff is really starting to take off and we're all gonna make some green....installing green...and saving energy which is always a good thing. Mad Dog

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Bob Gagnon plumbing and heating

your right Mad Dog

It's exciting, I got 2 e-mails this morning from people that want solar installs. I think it's time you guys installed a system on your own house. Bob

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