Author: Kevin Jensen

I recently had the privilege of attending the Congress of New Urbanism’s (CNU) 25th annual conference in Seattle, WA.  This was my first introduction to the concept of New Urbanism which I found to be a very interesting take on how cities are designed and planned.  It really challenges some of the recent conventional wisdom of street design, transit plans, regional cooperation and sustainability by looking at our history and seeing how cities were put together before cars and modern technology came about.  I’m excited to share more of what I learned about while at the conference over the weeks to come.

It is always valuable to study what we did in the past before making decisions for the future.  I have written about how we kept cool before air conditioning, but this can easily be expanded to other building technologies.  Take for instance an old single pane window with an R-Value of around R-1.  Modern technology would recommend that you replace the window with a new double (R-2) or triple pane (R-3) window with a low-e coating (reduces heat from the sunshine) and a fancy frame with a thermal break.  This is definitely a good choice, but if you’ve ever had a quote for new windows you can imagine that it is quite pricey.  What if instead you dressed your single pane window with real outdoor shutters (not planks screwed to the exterior wall), blinds, shear and heavy curtains?  Lots of variables here, but you could produce an R-Value around 10.  That is almost as good as the typical residential wall of R-13.

This obviously isn’t a solution for all windows at all times.  There are situations where you will want to look out your window (or why else have it), but curtains can be pulled at night or during unoccupied times during the day to save energy and money.  For other situations (especially commercial), I am glad that we have the technology to get a more efficient double or triple plane window.

Reducing energy usage doesn’t always mean purchasing the most expensive new piece of technology.  There are also many low to no cost improvements that can be made to most buildings that can start saving you money right away.  If you are interesting in saving money on your building by saving energy, consider hiring us to complete a Small Business Energy Audit.  We will review your building and provide you with options for saving money. Our goal is to provide an affordable service that a business can use to reduce their energy costs.  We are happy to work with you to find a solution that fits your budget.  If you own or manage a building and are interested in an audit, please contact us today.

What is a green building?  If you ask my daughter, I’m sure she would say that if the building is painted green then it is a green building.  And, frankly, it’s hard to argue with that.  However, in the building design world a green building is a building that is energy efficient.  But how do you measure when a building is energy efficient enough to be green? That is where codes and standards come in.

In the past, various organization developed ways to measure energy efficiency.  The most well known may be the LEED system.  This system grants building owners points for various energy efficient measures and then rates that building on their scale (platinum, gold, etc.).  You may have seen LEED plaques in building lobbies saying what level the building earned.  Other organizations publish codes that include minimum requirements for energy efficiency.  An engineer can then compare the building design to the code baseline (a building built with the minimum requirements) and calculate how much more money or energy is saved by the actual building.  This number can be use to then rate the building.  A lot of incentives such as utility rebates use this latter method to calculate energy savings.

Recently, ASHRAE announced that their standard for green buildings, called ASHRAE Standard 189.1, will soon be aligned with the International Code Council’s (ICC) International Green Construction Code (IgCC).  The combination of these codes allows designers to have a way to compare their buildings to a single baseline which simplifies the process for demonstrating energy efficiency.  The compiled code will officially become the 2018 IgCC and coined “IgCC Powered by 189.1.”  The ASHRAE Standard 189.1 committee will continue revising the standard so it can provide technical content for the IgCC, with ICC responsible for the administrative sections and publication.  Once released, the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) will be conducting an analysis of the measures from the IgCC and compare them to LEED requirements to see if further alignments are possible.

Forward Engineers specializes in energy efficient design and can can assist you in certifying your new project under green design standards.  If you are seeking to work with an engineering firm that is client-centered and strives to provides services that are on time, on budget and exceed expectations, please contact us. We would love to work with you on your next project!

My family recently bought our first home dehumidifier.  I’ve wanted one for years to help our aging air conditioner with keeping the humidity low and and our comfort high.  Read on to see how a home dehumidifier can help keep you comfortable and how it works.

As you may remember from a past article, humidity is an important factor in the comfort level (and health) of a home.  In a residential air conditioning system, the thermostat only reads the dry bulb temperature and cycles the unit on or off to meet the desired setpoint.  While running, the unit will dehumidify the air.  But what happens on a day that isn’t too warm, but still humid?  Take for example a raining day in May that is 80 °F with your air conditioner set to 75 °F.  Your air conditioner may run a few times to keep it 75 °F, but it doesn’t care that the humidity in the home is high.  This is where a home dehumidifer can be helpful.  By setting the dehumidifer to a humidity setpoint (typically 50% relative humidity), it will remove the moisture from the air without considering the temperature.  Without the dehumidifer to remove the moisture, you would have to overcool the space by turning down the A/C in order to get your desired humidity level.  This potentially saves energy by letting you keep your thermostat set at a higher temperature.

A dehumidifer works just like a miniature air conditioner with the exception that the condenser has the cooled air blown over it.  The air enters the dehumidifer and passes over the cold evaporator.  This cools the air causing some of the humidity to condense on the evaporator.  The water falls into the bucket while the cold dry air then passes on to the hot condenser where it is warmed back up.  On large commercial systems, this is called hot gas reheat.  It would be great if the air could leave the dehumifier at the same temperature it entered, but due to the laws of thermodynamics it will actually leave a little warmer.  On the refrigeration side, the system works just like any other simple air conditioner.

There are a few other dehumidification technologies that are very interesting, but have yet to find a major foothold in the market.  Desiccant dehumidifiers use humidity absorbing materials which must be re-charged or replaced when full of water.  Silica packets in boxes are an example of a (very small) desiccant dehumidifer.   Liquid desiccants (sounds like an oxymoron, doesn’t it) are usually reserved for large commercial or industrial applications.  They work by having a solution of water and salt (various chemicals and combinations of salts are used).  When the concentration of the salt is high, the solution will actually absorb water from the air.  The now less concentrated solution is then exposed to outside air and heat which removes some of the water and get the solution nice and concentrated so that the process can be repeated.

Humidity control in a home or business is very important and there are ways that it can be done without breaking the bank. If you are having humidity issues and would be interesting in saving money on your building by saving energy, consider hiring us to complete a Small Business Energy Audit.  We will review your building and provide you with options for saving money. Our goal is to provide an affordable service that a business can use to reduce their energy costs.  We are happy to work with you to find a solution that fits your budget.  If you own or manage a building and are interested in an audit, please contact us today.