[log in to unmask] wrote:
>  
> sorry, my wife refuses to give up her 21 mpg volvo, and, late in 
> life, i have developed a taste for air conditioning.   anyone else out 
> there going to give up their laptop?   c

Hey Chrif,

I don't have to give up my laptop- it runs on solar energy, as does the 
whole ASPI office in Mt Vernon, KY. We have A/C, no problem. We have 
solar electric and solar hot water. The attic will be superinsulated 
after our next round of volunteers comes in, and all the windows are 
double pane. (vinyl with thermal blocks, sorry John.) If the building 
had been oriented properly when it was built, we'd have passive solar 
heating. As it is, we have a passive greenhouse built on to one side 
which provides some tempering space between the outdoors and indoors in 
both winter and summer, and gives us fresh collards, kale, and lettuce 
during the cold months.

Our next goal is to acquire funding to install 6 Solatubes, thus 
eliminating the need for daytime lighting. Then we need to get rid of 
our old gas furnace which dates from the 60's and is probably only 45% 
efficient, and replace it with a 95% efficient gas furnace. All of which 
will pay for themselves over time, but which require an initial input of 
capital that sadly, is not available at this time to a non-profit in our 
region. (We cannot recoup capital through tax breaks.)

Also one of our (4) staffers drives a very nice diesel VW sedan that is 
powered by used vegetable oil. It cost him about $1300 to make the 
conversion. His father's farm equipment all runs on used vegetable oil. 
They can also use "bio-diesel" but choose not to. We donated our veggie 
oil Mercedes to a local intentional community.

Making these changes at a society wide level will require many new 
workers and input of capital to create new jobs. At www.kysolar.org (a 
project of ASPI), you will find a beefy schedule of professional level 
training classes in everything from energy assessment to PV 
installation, to workshops for code officials and hands on installation 
classes for architects and ppl working in the HVAC trades now.

I would like to see someone develop a set of "rules of thumb" for 
estimating embodied energy in old buildings, so that the value of that 
energy can be included in the calculations done to cost demolition, 
replacement, etc. We may be wrecking down a huge amount of capital and 
burning or burying it, every day. No one really knows, or even gives it 
much thought. If that is something you are interested in, mail me back 
channel or let's talk about it with our staff energy specialist when we 
meet in Frankfort in October.

Oh yeah, as far as the car, I drive a 5 passenger 1993 Geo Prizm with 
306K miles on it. It's falling apart and STILL gets over 30 mpg highway. 
I don't buy the bullshit that automakers can't do better than 22 mpg 
because when my car was manufactured, it got 32 mpg in town, 37 mpg 
highway. 17 years and no progress?!? We've allowed this to happen.

OK I feel a BIG rant coming on so I'll sign off now.   :-)

~deb
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