Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

Using local energy sources such as lake water, wood waste or even garbage to heat and cool buildings is one way for communities to cut their greenhouse gas emissions the goal of this week's UN climate summit.

In district energy systems, instead of having an individual heating and cooling system for each building, multiple buildings are hooked up to a central system similar to how buildings are connected to the municipal water service instead of each one relying on individual wells. Heat is distributed to buildings via pipes that typically carry hot or chilled water.

It's an idea endorsed by the United Nations Environment Programme, or UNEP,which calls district energy a "key measure for cities/countries that aim to achieve 100 per cent renewable energy or carbon neutral targets."

Once the distribution is set up, almost any energy source can be plugged in, depending on what's available locally and what will benefit the community.

Here's a look at what six communities across Canada have done.

Location: Charlottetown, P.E.I.

Technology: Waste-to-energy/biomass

Year: 1986

This system, run by Enwave Energy Corp, supplies 125 buildings, including Queen Elizabeth Hospital, with heat and also generates 1200 kW of electricity from burning "black bin" waste (garbage) and wood waste. The wood waste used to come from a sawmill, but that shut down so now the wood is from forestry and land clearing.

It was originally built to address a shortage of landfill space.

The local landfill doesn't have systems to collect methane, a powerful greenhouse gas produced by decomposing organic waste. So by sending garbage to be burned in this system, it both prevents the methane from going into the atmosphere (burning generates carbon dioxide, a less potent greenhouse gas, instead) and displaces natural gas that would otherwise be burned to generate electricity, says Carlyle Coutinho, president and chief operating officer for the Canadian region for Enwave Energy Corp.

Because P.E.I. relies heavily on power imported from New Brunswick, the availability of a local source of power and heat also makes the island more resilient in case of natural disasters.

The company plans toexpand to take more of the province's waste and generate more electricity.

Location: Toronto

Source: Deep lake water cooling

Year: 2004

Toronto sits on the edge of Lake Ontario, allowing this system, also run by Enwave Energy,to draw cold water from its depths to cool 85buildings in downtown Toronto, including hospitals, educational campuses, government buildings, commercial and residential buildings. In January 2019, the federal government announced an expansion to an additional two million square metres of floor space the equivalent of 40 to 50 buildings.

Coutinho says the system saves electricity that would have been used for air conditioning and water that would have evaporated from cooling towers.

He admits working in a built-up environment like Toronto, where distribution pipes need to be installed deeply in order to avoid other underground infrastructure and many buildings need to be retrofitted, is more difficult than installing in a new building. But the high density makes it easier to reach many customers.

Location: Okotoks, Alta.

Source: Solar thermal energy/borehole thermal energy storage

Year: 2007

Description: This was a federal pilot project designed to see whether a solar thermal heating system, which has been testing in milder climates in Europe, would work in Canada, which gets most of its sun during the summer, but requires a lot of heat during the long, dark winter months.

The system provides more than 90 per cent of space heating needs for 52 homes by collecting solar energy with solar-thermal panels on garage roofs and storing it underground during the summer. The heat is then distributed to homes during the winter.

Lucio Mesquita, senior engineer of solar thermal renewable heat and power group at Natural Resources Canada's CanmetENERGY group, says there was even one year when the system provided 100 per cent of the heat.

Because it requires very little electricity to run the pumps, it's also very resilient in case of extreme weather or natural disasters, he said.

All the infrastructure is underground and has a park on top of it.

Mequita says the pilot project shows this technology could work in any community in Canada, even in northern communities.

However, it's currently not cost competitive with traditional heating because of the low price of natural gas.

"The technology works. It can be competitive," he said. "But you need a scenario that helps with that."

Location: Rural Municipality of Ritchot, Man.

Technology:Geothermal

Year: 2011

Description: While the density of big cities is often required to make district energy projects cost effective, it can be installed in smaller communities, as this rural community of 5,000 shows. A district geothermal system connects an arena, a fire hall, a community centre with a daycare and banquet hall that can hold 500 people, and an ambulance garage.

It warms the buildings using heat from deep in the ground, which stays around 18 C even in winter.

The arena alone used to consume $40,000 a year in electricity to make ice. By using the geothermal system, it saves $15,000 a year and the quality of the ice is higher (less "chippy" during the shoulder season), allowing for a longer season, says Roger Perron, who was the economic development officer of Richot at the time the system was installed.

Perron, who is still president of the community centre, says the geothermal system also displaced two gas furnaces.

The muncipality needed a new community centre to replace its previous 70-year-old building anyway and managed to fund the initiative largely with government grants.

Perron says the key is convincing local governments to take on a project like this.

"I think it's doable in all communities."

Location: Teslin, Yukon

Technology: Biomass

Year: 2018

Description: This is a project of the Teslin Tlingit Council, a self-governing First Nation surrounded by boreal forest near the B.C.-Yukon border. It consists of several biomass boilers that burn low-grade waste wood products, such as sawdust, chips and leftover wood from cut trees, but also whole trees felled as a result of construction work.

It currently heats 18 buildings, including a school, an administration building, a cultural centre and some multi-residential buildings. Eight more will be added soon, says project manager Blair Hogan, president and CEO of Gunta Business Consulting.

The district energy system makes it possible to use biomass a locally produced renewable fuel that couldn't be used by individual households, Hogan says.

While it's not necessarily cheaper than the diesel boilers that heated buildings in the community before, that diesel was imported. The biomass system generates local jobs and keeps the money in the community.

Hogan says it's also an opportunity to make the community more resilientby removing wood that could put the community at risk in case of wildfires. The council plans to build a fire break by clearing more forest.

"This is kind of a proactive measure as well to protect our community."

Location: Vancouver

Source: Waste heat capture from sewage

Year: 2010

Description:

The system provides space heating and hot water to 36 buildings, or 5.4 million square feet of space, including the Science World Museum, Emily Carr University of Art and Design and at least 30 condominium buildings.

The goal is to provide 70 per cent of the energy from waste heat captured from sewage, with the rest being made up by renewable natural gas.

The sewage is warm because of all the hot water that goes down the drain from showers, dishwashing and laundry, says Alex Charpentier, acting manager of the False Creek Neighbourhood Energy Utility, owned by the City of Vancouver, which runs the system.

The heat is normally wasted, but a heat exchanger next to the sewage pumping station allows the utility to extract the heat and provide it to local buildings.

While a system like this is normally hard to install in a city that's already built, False Creek was a brownfield site redeveloped for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

The utility has since proposed a huge expansion that could quadruple its generation capacity and allow it to connect with more offices and a hospital.

See original here:
Solar? Geothermal? Garbage? 6 climate-friendly ways to heat and cool buildings - CBC.ca

In this episode: A story about trash and dirt flowing from one side of the U.S.-Mexico border to the other, and two guys plan to stop it.

The state of California spends $1.8 million annually on a system that keeps trash and dirt from clogging up the estuary in Border Field State Park, a park that butts up against the U.S.-Mexico border fence.

The agency that takes care of the park, the Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve, says the system has stopped approximately 2 million pounds of debris from entering the environmentally sensitive estuary.

But the trash just keeps coming and coming, pouring through a culvert under the border that's connected to polluted canyons in Tijuana. And perpetually managing the pricey problem instead of actually solving the problem seems like the forever plan.

That is, unless Steven Wright and Waylon Matsons idea gets funded. The environmentalists want to use re-purposed trash from the canyon to build retaining walls and other structures in Tijuana's Los Laureles canyon that would prevent the trash and dirt from reaching the U.S. in the first place.

The hills bleed trash.

At least, thats what it looks like from Jorge Ibaez nursery.

Clip 1 Nursery Dude"were one of the small nursery that works with native plants, and thats the plant thats used a lot so the canyons don't erode.

Standing on Jorges plant-filled perch on a hillside of Los Laureles canyon in Tijuana, theres a clear view of about a half dozen illegal dump sites. People who live on the mesas above have for decades dumped trash into the canyon below.

Music bump

In the beginning, Los Laurels was a slum where waves of migrants unable to cross to the U.S. have taken up shelter in shoddy shacks they hastily build for themselves. Those dumping the trash from above care little about those below who are forced to live in it.

Over the years, the slum has grown into a recognized Tijuana neighborhood, with water pipes and electricity lines connecting it to the city that once pretended it didnt exist. Theres even trash pickup now, unreliable, but its there.

Nicer houses, taco shops and small businesses like Jorges have popped up here, too.

Adela Pinata Clip 0

Adela Bonilla runs a pinata and craft shop near the bottom of the canyon.

Adela Pinata Clip 1 "This is a studio/workshop for recyclables. I work with recycled things. I make artisanal crafts, artistic piatas.

And yet, no matter how much the neighborhood grows and gets better, the flow of rainbow-colored trash keeps coming plastic bottles and bags cascading down the hillsides and flowing through the center of town Other peoples junk cutting deep gullies into the eroding earth beneath it.

Natsound: rain

When it rains, the trash is swept up in a swelling stream that runs right through the middle of Los Laureles canyon.

Natsound: flowing water/creak

The flow pushes through the neighborhood, then under the six-laned highway leading from Tijuana to Ensenada.

Natsound: Highway traffic

From there, it cuts through a culvert running underneath the international border fence.

Once the trash and sediment-filled water hits the U.S., its in a wildlife reserve.

Natsound from Border Field State Park

The state of California spends $1.8 million annually on a system that keeps that trash and dirt from slipping too far into the park. They use small ponds to catch the sediment and a fence stretched across the ponds catches the plastics.

The Tijuana River Research Reserve, the agency that takes care of the park, says the system has stopped approximately 2 million pounds of debris from entering the environmentally sensitive estuary.

Natsound: Border Field State Park

But the trash just keeps coming and coming... And perpetually managing the pricey problem instead of actually solving the problem seems like the forever plan.

That is Unless Steven Wright and Waylon Matsons idea gets funded. The environmentalists want to use repurposed trash from the canyon to build retaining walls and other structures in Los Laureles that would prevent the trash and dirt from reaching the U.S. in the first place. ****Fourwalls 3 Clip 53...This this tire retaining wall. You see here. This was a really good but I retaining was a really good example of the economics behind it. Right? So the this tire wall has I believe it's 450 or 500 scrap tires in it and about 67 cubic yards of sediment and we built it for $3500 true cost that's including wailing in time if that same quantity of material had crossed into the sediment ponds. It would have been 9,500 to clean up. So therein lies the relatively simple math. ***Fourwalls 3 Clip 54This is you know, the Border. Yeah, so Why spend dollars if you can spend pesos. Good question.Im Alan Lilienthal, and youre listening to Only Here, a KPBS podcast about the unexplored subcultures, creativity and struggles at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Today, a story about trash and dirt flowing from one side of the border to the other, and two guys plan to stop it.

More after the break.

ad

When it rains, ginormous flows of raw sewage from Tijuana often overwhelm the sewer system and end up flushing through the canyons and tijuana estuary, eventually dumping into the Pacific Ocean, washing up on beaches in San Diego. Newsclip on sewage Its a huge problem. But its not the problem Steven Wright and Waylin Matson are trying to solve. The two are laser-focused on solving something different, but intertwined -- the cross-border flow of trash and sediment from Los Laureles canyon. Natsound of driving in vanSteven and Waylins old van kicks up billows of dust as we drive up a steep dirt road in Border Field State Park, a park at the southwestern-most tip of the united states.

Natsound of Border Field State Park Were at the place where the border fence dives into the Ocean. And once we get to the top of the hill, Steve points out the views of Los Laureles canyon on the south side of the fence, and the sediment ponds on the north side. 180 View Clip The Mexican side is densely populated and bustling, filled with people and cars. In stark contrast: The American side is empty, except for a few birds and one border patrol agent sitting in a truck parked below. Fourwalls 1 Clip 3 Steve: because Spooner's Mesa is the spot where you can. Show people visually geographically why and how work Upstream in Tijuana would directly benefit California in the United States, San Diego.Steven and Waylin are both tan and leathery from working out in the sun. Their hands are calloused. They look like they work in construction, but sound like Southern California surfers. They love being outside. Natsound of driving in vanWhile we drive, Waylin constantly scans the horizon, looking for American kestrels, small falcons that call the park home.

Fourwalls 1 Kestral SightingThere's one right there.

Waylin named his baby daughter Kestrel. Thats how much he loves the birds. Natsound of driving in vanSteven and Waylin have spent a lot of time in Tijuana, tromping around Los Laureles canyon. The neighborhoods residents are now close friends. And there are some things they can't unsee after their time here. The dead pig floating through the middle of the neighborhood, so bloated the little guy looked like he was about to explode. The kids playing next to water so green it looks like its glowing. Hypodermic needles and other biowaste washing through the neighborhood. The migrants losing their homes and all of their belongings when it rains because the hillsides cave in. They finally -- finally -- they think theyve pinpointed a real, lasting solution. But It took them some time to get here. Music bump Steven and Waylin met on a rugby pitch at college in Riverside, California. They were immediately struck by their similarities. Fourwalls 1 Clip 23Steve: Yeah, we're Star Brothers for sure. It's pretty cool. Born on the exact same day, the exact same year, thousands of miles apart, the two grew up chasing critters and running through forests -- hardcore nature boys right from the start. Both knew early on that they wanted to save the world. They were early environmentalists.And the border region hit Steven and Waylins radar early, too. Both took family trips to Mexico when they were young. And Stevens first-ever trip south with his family pressed a firm imprint on his brain. It was one he could never shake. ********Fourwalls 1 Clip 22Steve: . my dad's a geography teacher. They challenged me, if I memorized all the state capitals that give me 40 bucks to go buy a whip and some cowboy boots down in Tijuana. And maybe six and so yeah, so I memorized them. I got it. I got the money we went down and that was really the first time I'd ever seen like just crushing poverty. There's a lot of folks on the street. I never really seen anything like that seen a lot of kids my age around the street, and so long story short. I gave all my money away and then my parents thought that was good. They bought me the Whip and the boots anyway,Those two things -- their love of nature and the border -- would end up shaping the rest of Steven and Waylins lives. They just didnt know it yet.MUSIC BUMPThe two became close friends in college, but went separate ways after graduating. Almost a year went by, and then Waylin called up Steven on a whim. They got to talking and found out they were both thinking about starting environmental nonprofits. They met up at a coffee shop with some colored pencils, drew up a logo and wrote down the four pillars of their future nonprofit -- shelter, self-reliance, sustainability and community. And that was the start of their new thing -- a nonprofit they called 4 Walls International. At first, they focused on building single-family homes for people in need in places like Mexico and Columbia, teaching themselves and their volunteers how to turn trash into sustainable building materials. ****Fourwalls 1 Clip 26Steve: And really it's a hell of a thing to unite a whole community and sweat and bleed together and work together and one of the things we've learned, you know, is that well when you're doing that together for a project. Potentially only is benefiting one family. Did it can kind of lead to splintering within those groups are those Community groups of them Community. It's really better as far as a leverage point of entry point if it's a public and that's really where the experimentation with the binational placemaking program.That right there - the splintering some of their projects were causing in the communities in which they were building -- it led to a big pivot. They started focusing on public instead of private projects. And they really started involving the community through the entire process, from identifying the need, to planning the design and then actually helping build the thing. They built a few small public parks. One right near the border fence in Border Field State Park. For that project, they used about 4,000 plastic bottles filled with trash they collected from the sediment basins, plus 250 old rubber tires.

The repurposed trash is covered in plaster that makes it indistinguishable from more traditional building materials.Fourwalls 1 Clip 2 Steve: It used to be really foreboding place there was two black chain link fences here that pretty much covered everything out and that border field state parks. I was in front and there's just a simple the normal sign and when we were working here, man, you can't you can't imagine how many people would come up and just turn around we thought the place was closed right and we saw a lot of cross-country trips or like north-south trips that there they were planning to end here and they just turned around for the thought. It was closed. So we kind of got charged with the task of opening this up when we took the fences down and we built a bunch of park infrastructure and signage here with trash out of the sediment basins, which was released shortly. Okay. And And on the other side of the border in Los Laureles canyon, they built some small public projects too -- like an outdoor basketball court surrounded by murals. They also built a small workshop space that some of the women in the neighborhood could use to make crafts and other things to sell. *********Fourwalls 1 Clip 27Steve: it really the biggest key to long-term sustainability to these projects. Is that there's a high degree of ownership by the community, you know, the our golden rule is don't do anything about me without me and the second Golden Rule is under promise over perform. because a lot of especially when you work in some of these communities you can't I mean they get too big it made promises all day every day all the time politicians, NGO groups, academic whatever they promises all the time and it is there's not always the follow-through so. So yeah, those are our important rules as far as the. Our building techniques in our strategy and everything we do is sustainable, but for it to really be sustainable. It's got to be the community making the decisions and it financially needs to be sustainable which is led us to that final pivot Those community projects Steve and Waylin were doing were amazing.But they were small and werent leading to any large-scale, long-term change. They were using repurposed trash to build nice public places, but then new trash and dirt just started piling up all around these spots. It was frustrating. So they hit the pause button. And now, theyve turned their attention to the thing they think both the people of Los Laureles and the trash problem need most.money. *******Fourwalls 1: Clip 28Steve: We could have been going we could go at the rate we've been going for the next hundred years and not really even make a dent. We knew that it has to go. It has to go way up a level in several levels and very quickly. Yeah.More on that when we come back.

Midroll Ad

Natsound of driving in vanSteven and Waylin leave Border Field State Park and drive through the international border crossing. Today, theres a line of vehicles snaking their way into Mexico, so it takes about 20 minutes to make our way through the cameras and speed bumps and the other intimidating infrastructure that makes up the crossing. Natsound: Crossing through border After navigating through downtown Tijuana traffic, they drive back toward the border, down a steep, bumpy road into Los Laureles canyon. Natsound of driving in vanTrash. Is. Everywhere. But so are examples of people using the trash in creative ways. Stacks of old rubber tires are common here, mostly serving as retaining walls to stem the erosion. We drive by a set of tires painted hot pink and serving as a decorative fence in the front yard of a small house.Across the stream from the pink fence, in the center of the canyon, a retaining wall made of discarded tires is literally holding up a triangle-shaped patch of land underneath a shack that looks like itll be wiped out once the rainy season begins. *****Fourwalls 2 Clip 43You'll see there's a lot of you knows retaining walls built with tires and stuff is but there's a couple things that could be done engineering wise. They make a little more secure and make them really advantageous and not necessarily dangerous. Some of them can be kind of dangerous. We've been down here like in the winter and walls have collapsed and I crushed houses with people sleeping in them and stuff like that. So,Our first stop is the shop where Adela Bonilla makes pinatas and other goods, many from recyclables she finds in the canyon. Adela wears an apron and a big smile. She stands below huge pinatas made in the shape of childrens cartoon characters, like Pikachu and Mario. Natsound: Arriving at Pinata ShopClip 3: Those are bottles, transformed into. (Alan: you could drink wine from em), hahaha no it could be a flower vase or other things

Clip 4: those are wallets made from old plastic bags, they have no colorants, just the bags.

Clip 5: These are bags made from intimate towels, its made from the wrappersA few years back, Steven and Waylin partnered with Adela and other women who live in the canyon to build the shop out of glass and plastic bottles stuffed with trash. The building is beautiful and the only hint that its made of trash are the colored glass bottles in the ceiling they purposely left exposed.Clip about building and cost Theres more for us to see deeper into the canyon, so we say goodbyeClip saying goodbye and pile back into the van. Natsound getting back into van Steven and Waylin want to show me and Only Here producers Kinsee Morlan and Emily Jankowski the three areas where they want to build structures to stop the flow of trash and dirt. Van nat sound They call the areas hot spots and hardpoints. Fourwalls 3 Clip 47... this is one of those hardpoints. Can you just you see there's clandestine dump sites that use it for this right here is that this will become a whole mound of trash bags for trash pickup. And so what happens is I. As you can tell there's plenty that's left behind and these are all bottles that would float across. The spot is a total mess. A tunnel the city installed sped up the water flow, which made the erosion here worse. A few old chairs sit at the center of whats become a large pile of plastic bottles, bags and other junk. To us, the situation feels overwhelming. But Steve and Waylin see opportunity. One mans trash is another mans treasure, as they say. In this case, they see building materials.*****Fourwalls 2 Clip 40Bottle bricks is what you're seeing, they just haven't been processed yet. Kinsee: laughs. Ha. That's one way to look at it. Music BumpThe guys want to transform the trash-bleeding, eroding hillsides of Los Laureles into beautiful terraced landscapes. terraces built from the very trash currently clogging it up. And they want to pay the people who live in Los Laureles -- many of them new migrants who got stuck in Tijuana as they tried to cross the border -- to do the work of collecting glass and plastic bottles and stuffing them with trash from the canyon. ***Fourwalls 3 Clip 48 NEWKinsee: So.I look at what I see and I just think it's hopeless but that's not what you see? Steven: No it's not hopeless, man. I Mean, there's like I said, there's tens if not hundreds of thousands of people that would work their ass off to clean up the Watershed, they just need the right opportunities. I mean as long as we're all like going to you know, implicitly uphold this system, then we can all agree that opportunity and upward Mobility are good things, right? So we need to provide everything is just it's like the same problem ever it's access and not you know,Kinsee: so you look at this and you see jobs? Waylin: The world is littered with opportunity Steven: because this shit is everywhere when we can. Transform a relatively simple and relatively cheaply a lot cheaper than digging it out later retroactively. That's for sure. Steven and Waylin think that once word gets out about trash equalling money, a lot of the illegal dumping problems will be resolved. Trash will be seen as more of a commodity. *****Fourwalls 1 Clip 9. So you very rarely find aluminum can in the river because it has value.*****Fourwalls 2 Clip 41Waylin: You know, the only naysayer, I think I've ever heard was what you gonna do when they run out of trash around. Well, they're not just pack up and move on somewhere else. Will they haven't finished their trash situation is kind of nice a comment. I think I've ever heard would be what are you going to do? When someone thinks they can do it better than you and wants to start a competitive business. That's when we say absolutely great. That's awesome. That's all compete for this stuff. Let's overfish it and mind the crap out of it just like we're good at and yeah by all means compete over it, you know Drive the price of it down make it more obtainable and let's just cut the stuff off.Music fade Natsound: border field state parkWhen Steven and Waylin look at the sediment ponds back on the other side of the border at Border Field State Park, they see so many ways to save tons of money, it seems ridiculous. Because all that trash and dirt that flows from Mexico to the U.S.. every year the state pays to get it scooped up, sifted and then piled up south of the pond. The price tag for that process is almost 2 million a year. Nature sound Steven and Waylin say they can spend a fraction of that money to pay people in Los Laureles to help build structures in the canyon -- and eventually other canyons in Tijuana. They say the projects could stop most of the trash and sediment from ever getting to the U.S.*****Fourwalls 1 Clip 7There's a lot of money spent to clean this up downstream. So kind of working backwards from that we can figure out a value to this stuff...The idea is straight-forward enough, but the execution is tricky. MUSIC BUMP: mischief ****Fourwalls 3 Clip 49Alright, are you guys ready? ready for what? Ahhhh! Oh my god.Steven and Waylin drive up a steep, narrow dirt road that looks precarious at best. The hillside it snakes up on is eroding and it looks like our van could be the thing that washes away the road for good. Were heading to Jorge Ibanezs native plant nursery.Natsound of getting to Jorges place, closing car doors Fourwalls 3 17:17 - 18:10Fourwalls 3 Clip 55So this is a very first project we ever built in Tijuana. It's was just native plant nursery the that's what to eat this. So this like I said, it's built with about 500 scrap tires. Same thing you saw on that that retaining wall here. It's got Earth. It's packed out with Adobe mud, and it's got an Earthen plaster on it. It's made of cactus juice. Every free minute and then I thought this was about the same size group about 13 people mostly ladies and then build this originally as an office space. It is sort of become like the catch-all shed for all the work that happens here...Steven and Waylin want Jorge and others here to help stem erosion by filling the terraces theyll build with the native plants he grows.Jorge clip in Spanish, Alan translatesNatsound: Saying goodbye, getting back into vanFrom the nursery, we keep driving into the canyon, where we see another project the guys helped build. ****Fourwalls 3 Clip 52{chatter in background} This is a little park project Oh, they put a fence up. This was the last Brick-and-mortar project we did in TJ before we decided we weren't going to build anything until we knew we could be here for several years and not stop. We drive even deeper into the canyon and Steven and Waylin show us two more hot spots where they envision focusing most of their efforts. The last spot is near a church that serves as a shelter for homeless migrants, many of them from Haiti and Central America. Clip: Arriving at shelter Basically were going to a place, a migrant shelter. Pastro gustavo has seen it al. the region has become known as little haiti. ...tents jammed up in there. And theres a lot of kids in there. The smell here is very intense thanks to a nearby farm and the extremely polluted waterway.Clip from last hotspot here Yeah, thats some funky green right there. Anyway, this is another one of the hotspots.theres just a lot of need here and definitely a lot of people whod be willing to work really hard. Steven and Waylin see the homeless migrants as the perfect workforce. They envision being able to pay them to walk through the canyon and pick up bottles. If they stuff the bottles with trash, theyll get more money for them. Then theyll use the bottles as bricks in their erosion-control projects. ******Fourwalls 2 Clip 37Steve: So we're going to be creating lots of jobs for a lot of people that call this place home. But there's also an opportunity to create jobs for migrants that are being forced to await their asylum claims on this side of the border.So now, they just need the money. But getting money from government agencies and grantors in the U.S and spending it on projects in Mexico -- thats where things get difficult. Steven and Waylin, though... they think theyve found a way to get the money flowing from north of the border to south. Fourwalls 1 Clip 5Well, The Border impact bond is a way to create jobs and economic incentives upstream in Tijuana to reduce government spending downstream and while improving environmental and Public Health on both sides of the line. Music bump to give money part momentum Thats the elevator pitch for the social impact bond theyve dreamed up. A social impact bond is basically a contract with a government agency. That agency then pays for better social outcomes in certain areas in need and passes on part of the savings to investors who bought into the bond. Steven and Waylin have identified a few government agencies that would benefit and save money from a contract like this. And for investors who buy into the idea, the bond is a way to make some money and pay for something thats good for the environment at the same time. They can feel warm and fuzzy about how theyre using their money.Not everyone is able to fully understand the plan, though. It confuses a lot of people. But thats why Steve and Waylin take potential investors and reps from government agencies on tours of Border Field State Park and Los Laureles canyon, just like the one were on today. Natsound: Inside VanOnce people see the situation on the ground with their own eyes, the idea starts making a lot more sense. Fourwalls 1 Clip 15.. you know Steve I have been doing this for a long time and about four years ago we were introduced to these market-based approaches to conservation which it with impact bonds being one. And we realized right then and there that this the only way that we can scale our work up, is by is a guy by front-loading private impact investment that that there's you know, there's billions of dollars in the ESG Market which is environment sustainability and governance, which is what you know governments around the world companies are all refocusing on in their Investments, you know, people don't want to invest in oil anymore. And so we want to be able to capitalize on that to be able to front-load the cost of these interventions with the idea of then saying repayment would be structured around our performance. So if if we are very successful we would see a higher return rate to our into the investment Steven and Waylin just got $70k from a federal border program run by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

Optimistic music bump

That money will help fund the planning stage of the project. Soon, theyll begin holding workshops with people in Los Laureles and coming up with designs.But the last piece of the puzzle has yet to fall in place. They still need a government agency to step up and sign on to the border bond. They say theres too much at stake and are confident it will happen. Fourwalls 2 Clip 38Steve: because what political entity doesn't want that handshake and photo at the end of it? Fourwalls 2 Clip 39Steve: This is a bipartisan solution. You have serious measurable social environmental benefits right for the left. Then you have a fiscally responsible reduction in government spending to the right. So those things together. I mean this is conceptually, it's it's a very bipartisan solution to these problems.Music bump

Next episode teaser

Next time on the podcast. we continue our border-art series with a story about an opera singer whos painting a picture of border culture through song.

******Anishka 1 Clip 12And, uh, I started to realize that this was like. This was a thing. This was a thing that people were interested in and that it felt really good to talk about our border experiences in other places, and that there was fear. And, um, for lack of a better word, ignorance on both sides of the wall.

Anishka Lee-Skorepa wants to break cultural barriers surrounding both the border and opera music.

Show credits

Only Here is a KPBS podcast hosted by me Alan Lilienthal. It was written and produced by Kinsee Morlan. Emily Jankowski is the director of sound design. Lisa Morrissette is operations manager and John Decker is the director of programming.

KPBS podcasts are made possible by listeners like you. Go to kpbs DOT org to make a donation or become a member today.

Read more here:
Slowing The Flow (Only Here) - KPBS

MANCHESTER A water main break had a West Side couple on edge after their garage and basement filled with 32 inches of water two days after Thanksgiving. Back-to-back snowstorms didnt help.

Lynn Chabot and Jason Loy said neighbors came to their aid.

When the insurance company said, You have to wait until Monday and everything else, these people were here for us, Loy said.

Silt on the walls of the home at 5 Alpine St. and a Porsche Cayman S sports car parked in the garage show just how high the water rose. Loy said his baby is likely a complete loss.

It found the path of least resistance, which is our driveway, Chabot said of the small geyser that burst from the street around 8 p.m. Saturday.

The couple said they were originally told the damage wasnt covered because they dont have groundwater or flood insurance, but Hanover Insurance has since opened a new claim and will send an adjuster.

Guy Chabot, the citys water works deputy director in charge of water distribution, said the bolts of a 1997 valve corroded, causing the water to gush down the couples driveway. He is not related to Lynn Chabot.

The break is legally considered an act of God, meaning the city is not responsible for any damage.

It has to be shown that we did something to create the liability, Guy Chabot said. Lets say we were out there digging and pulled the top off the valve, then yes we typically would be responsible. This was a valve with corroded bolts and the top basically broke off of it.

The city will help repair part of the driveway because of a sinkhole.

But what about all the stuff in here? Lynn Chabot said Tuesday afternoon pointing to the garage.

As the couple continued to clean Tuesday, Hanover Insurance called saying they would be covered, prompting Lynn Chabot to shed tears and embrace Loy. A Hanover Insurance spokewoman said an adjuster and claims manager visited their property Wednesday morning.

Now, a water cleanup and restoration company can be called to help because of the claim.

Lynn Chabot, who grew up in the home and moved back in in 2014, said there is no estimate on how much the damage caused. A finished room in the basement had to be demolished and a retaining wall outdoors needs to be replaced.

Many photos and other childhood memories are being sorted through and air-dried.

I didnt sleep for 36 hours, she said. I feel relieved now and Im overwhelmed, but I know this is only the beginning.

The couple, who married in June, said they were touched by the generosity of neighbors, some they barely know.

We had people here helping who I had met him and his wife one time, Lynn Chabot said.

One neighbor helped shovel and a plumber worked for hours to restore heat, they said.

Follow this link:
Water main break floods Manchester home in 32" water - The Union Leader

The Geosynthetic Institute (GSI)will sponsor a webinar, GeosyntheticReinforced MSE Walls; Overview, Failures and Items for Improvement on Dec. 11, from11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. EST. Geosynthetic Materials Association (GMA) member companies and their employees receive discountedrates on all GSI webinar and short course registrations.

Mechanically stabilized earth (MSE)walls represent a grade separation structure which functions at a slope betweenunreinforced soil to classical (i.e., vertical) concrete walls. The soil massitself is layered with geogrids or geotextiles such that a coherent stable massis formed. The facing is usually either vegetated or masonry block, including manyaesthetic variations. MSE walls have reached to 25 meters in height, supported railroadsand heavy surcharge loads, buildings of moderate bearing capacity and can readilyfunction adjacent to water courses and seismic conditions.

Furthermore, they are shown by arecent survey to be the least costly of any other type of retaining wall by 20to 50%.

Design of such MSE walls is wellwithin the state-of-the-practice and is usually addressed using a computer code.The six essential elements of design being the following; each of which are numericallyaddressed.

Internal Stability

External Stability

Unfortunately, there have been failures consisting of eitherexcessive deformation or actual collapses. The presenter has been collecting suchfailures since 2000, and the worldwide database includes more than 300. They willbe analyzed to learn where ongoing concerns exist. In this regard, five areas appearto be fundamental insofar as remedies are concerned. They will be described accordingly.

Summarizing comments and conclusionswill be offered accordingly.

Participants will learn aboutthis new class of retaining walls (and steep slopes), cost comparison to other walltypes, elements of design and where problems have existed in the past. Thesepast problems have been classified into groups, which give clear insight intothe mechanisms involved. Five aspects of design and/or construction will beoffered which, if followed, would minimize such failures from occurring in thefuture.

The webinar is intended for ownersof sites needing grade separation in both the public and private sectors; federal,state, and regional geotechnical, transportation and environmental engineers; engineersfrom municipal districts and townships; private and municipal land developers, architecturaland landscape designers; general civil consulting engineers; hardscapedesigners; testing laboratories servicing these organizations; manufacturers andrepresentatives of geosynthetic and masonry block materials; ground modificationcontractors; academic and research groups; and others desiring technically relatedinformation on this important aspect of our constructed infrastructure.

The webinars instructor, Dr. RobertM. Koerner, is professor emeritus of civil engineering at Drexel University,and founder and director emeritus of the Geosynthetic Institute.

Webinars cost $200.00 for GSI andGMA members, and $250.00 for nonmembers. Successful completion of amultiple-choice test after the webinar carries 1.5 professional development hours(PDH).

For more information or to register, visit http://www.geosynthetic-institute.org/webinar.htm.

Read more from the original source:
GSI to host webinar on geosynthetic reinforced MSE walls - Geosynthetics magazine

WOODBURY, N.J., Dec. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ --The crackle and flicker coming from a fire pit is one of the iconic sounds and sights of fall nights. Fall is the best time to enjoy a warm fire outdoors the air is crisp and the heat from the fire is cozy and comforting. People have been having outdoor fires for millennia, but not all of them are done efficiently or safely. Here are a few secrets to getting the most out of an outdoor fire pit.

Getting started

The driest wood and tinder are necessary for a quick-lighting fire. Tinder can be small twigs, strips of birch bark, pine straw, or, strangely enough, broken pieces of potato chips or cheese-based snacks like Doritos or Cheetos. Newspaper does not make good tinder because it flames out too quickly and it sends lit embers into the air.

Place tinder in the clean fire pit. Put the smallest bits in first and pile upwards according to size, with the largest pieces on top. Kindling is the wood that is bigger than tinder but not as large or as long. Dry twigs and branches less than one inch in diameter make good kindling. If the kindling snaps easily underfoot, then it is ready for burning.

The best dry logs are hard, show their rings and cracks on the edges, and have no signs of mold or fungus growing on them. Layer dry wood on top of kindling in a crosshatch pattern. While triangle structures for fires are popular, a crosshatch pattern will burn the wood more thoroughly. Also, for fire pits, the lower height of the crosshatch pile will be safer than the taller pyramid shape. Be sure not to build too high a stack.

Lighting

Simple is best. Matches are the way to go. Long-armed matchsticks are convenient and keep hands away from flames. Holding the match in the tinder or dropping it in should be enough to ignite it. Smoke will rise if the tinder lights. Gently fan the embers. If the wood is piled on too tightly, the tinder may not get enough oxygen to burn. Re-light the tinder in three places and fan gently until the kindling begins to burn.

Safety

As with indoor fireplaces, there are screens that help retain embers and sparks that may pop from the fire. Also keep the wood supply a safe distance away from the flames and seating at 3 feet away or more. Fire pits themselves should be at least 10 to 20 feet away from any structure, including the home.

Having an active hose or buckets of water nearby is essential for outdoor fires because some embers may escape. With the many dried fallen leaves around this season, caution is paramount. Some homeowners douse the fallen leaves before having a fire pit night for an added measure of safety. Be sure the fire is completely out before turning in for the night. The hose or bucket of water can be used for this purpose.

Treats

Anything goes. S'mores are classic. Hot dogs, kebabs or other food items that can be cooked quickly over a flame make for great fire pit meals. Avoid paper plates and cups. Stoneware or heavy duty plastic dinnerware and cloth napkins are less likely to be caught in the flames than paper accessories. Set up a table with condiments and drinks in an open area at least 10 feet away from the flames to allow guests to prepare their food.

Enjoy

Enjoying a fall evening outside with s'mores, warm drinks and stories shared among friends and family can be as easy as starting up a fire in the fire pit. Nothing draws out neighbors like seeing those inviting, flickering flames or smelling the unique and wonderful aroma of a campfire. Outdoor fire pits are a classic way to gather friends and family and share a cozy evening together.

About EP Henry EP Henry is the oldest American family-owned and -operated manufacturer of unit concrete products in North America. Based in Woodbury, New Jersey, EP Henry manufactures a wide range of Hardscaping paving stone and retaining wall products. EP Henry also offers beautiful patio pavers, outdoor kitchen kits, garden wall solutions and more to homeowners throughout the Mid-Atlantic states. For more information on EP Henry Hardscaping products, visit EPHenry.com or call 800-44-HENRY (800-444-3679).

SOURCE EP Henry

Go here to read the rest:
Using an outdoor fire pit the right way leads to cozy nights with family and friends, by EP Henry - Benzinga

A New York developer hoping to build a mixed-use project on the Connecticut River in Hartford has proposed a more modest version of his plan to woo the interest of city officials.

Developer George Bryant, president of Aqua Ark LLC, said his firm has compiled a dozen proposals for potential development on city-owned land near Mortensen Riverfront Plaza.

Aqua Arks initial $40-million proposal aims to build two structures on land-based floating technology to house several retail and restaurant vendors and event or hotel space.

Bryant on Wednesday said his startup is also pitching a scaled-down, $9-million development that would include a single-story amphibious promenade that would also be able to float on the water during flood conditions.

Bryant aired his various plans at the citys planning, economic development and housing committee meeting Tuesday night.

The smaller, single-level development includes a series of kiosks for food and retail vendors and a separate restaurant that would feature indoor and outdoor seating.

Germany-based Clement and Westport engineering firm Collective Design Associates are supporting Aqua Ark, with design plans.

We just want to make sure we are putting something forward that is fine-tuned to what the city thinks will work best there, Bryant said. We dont want to develop something that is oversized or undersized.

Aqua Arks scaled-down proposal includes a series of kiosks for retail and food vendors.

The waterfront redevelopment builds off Hartford City Councilman John Gales resolution last year that encouraged development along the Connecticut River. But the resolution has been met with criticism from environmental advocates, including Robert Klee, former commissioner of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP).

Bryant said his firm is willing to address any environmental issues the proposals may pose to existing levees and other underground barriers protecting the city from river flooding.

Riverfront Recapture, the not-for-profit organization managing Hartford and East Hartford's riverfront parks and Riverwalk trail system, has identified at least one potential issue the proposal poses to a retaining wall.

We may have to remediate that, said Bryant, who does not yet have any meetings scheduled with the nonprofit or the city.

Aqua Arkhas not completed a project in the U.S., but it has completed several floating developments in Europe and the Middle East.

The firm, which is working on a proposal for a floating development in the Bronx, pitched a similar waterfront project in Bridgeport in recent years, but city officials denied it.

Bryant has not discussed his vision for waterfront development in Hartford with DEEP or the Army Corps. of Engineers, which would both need to grant permits for the project before it moves forward.

The city and Riverfront Recapture would also need to award Aqua Ark various land use and development agreements for the development.

Bryant said hes optimistic city officials will support at least one his riverfront proposals.

We believe we have interest, he said. Members of the city council at the meeting last night appeared to be supportive from my side.

More here:
Developer gauging support for several mixed-use proposals on CT River in Hartford - Hartford Business

San Francisco has seen a five-fold increase in complaints about human feces since 2011.

San Francisco has seen a five-fold increase in complaints about human feces since 2011.

Photo: San Francisco Dept. Of Public Works

San Francisco has seen a five-fold increase in complaints about human feces since 2011.

San Francisco has seen a five-fold increase in complaints about human feces since 2011.

San Francisco plans to power-wash the poop out of the Tenderloin

The Tenderloin should soon see fewer piles of feces waiting to befoul the shoes of hapless pedestrians.

San Francisco Supervisor Matt Haney is announcing a plan Tuesday that will power-wash the sidewalks on every block of the city's most poop-plagued neighborhood once a week instead of the current rate of once a month.

Haney's district was allocated $260,000 for cleaning under this year's budget.

Some 25,000 reports of human waste were logged through the city's 311 services this year through October. The number of complaints across the city for all of 2018 was 28,084.

In parts of the Tenderloin and South of Market neighborhoods, it's not uncommon to see people openly defecating.

As Supervisor, I've been committed to fighting for deep regular sidewalk power washing across D6. Today, alongside the @TLCBD, we are finally announcing pressure washing of every TL block once a week. TL and SOMA residents deserve clean and healthy streets and sidewalks. https://t.co/GseUJstqrm

The city's "Poop Patrol," a five-person team tasked with removing excrement, will be handling the power-washing duties. At Haney's press conference Tuesday, a new portable pressure-washing system was to be showcased.

Based on the San Francisco Chronicle's estimate that each Poop Patrol employee earned a $184,000 in pay, perquisites and pension benefits, Forbes calculated that each human waste case cost taxpayers $32.75 in 2018.

Responses to Haney's plan on Twitter were mixed, with one calling the action a "band aid that doesn't stop the real problem" and others noting that the plan will flush raw sewage into the bay via storm drains.

Haney has also called for the city's Pit Stop public bathrooms to remain open 24 hours a day. A pilot program launched in August staffed 3 of city's 25 mobile public bathrooms around the clock, with the bulk of the funding coming from Haney's district budget.

straight to the bay, well played.

sanctuary for some, hell for others. pic.twitter.com/D2BVJLGd9R

---

Mike Moffitt is an SFGATE Digital Reporter. Email: moffitt@sfgate.com. Twitter: @Mike_at_SFGate

Read the rest here:
San Francisco plans to power-wash the poop out of the Tenderloin - SF Gate

In December 2018, Hitachi Ltd. announced an agreement to buy ABBs Power Grids business for US$6.4 billion. On the Hitachi side, the move was seen as a grid grab that would enable the Japanese conglomerate to compete head-to-head with the likes of General Electric and Siemens AG in the electric sector. Not more than a few months later, General Electric began selling off many of its power businesses, while Siemens spun its gas and power businesses off into an as-yet-to-be-named entity with the placeholder name of NewCo.

What might be behind some of these power play spin-offs? And, are there more to come?

Behind the Spin-Offs

The first factor seems to be activist investors pushing for simplified pure-play companies. For ABB, that meant dropping its lower-margins grid business to focus on robotics and factory automation. In addition to carrying ABBs lowest return on assets in 2018, the companys grids business saw its third consecutive quarterly slide in the third quarter of 2018.

On the other hand, Hitachi has almost 800 separate businesses, spanning from construction machinery to health care and nuclear power. The company has stated it wants to streamline and focus on four core areas going forwardone of which is power and energy, thus the reason for ABBs Power Grids business.

Hitachi may have other things in mind, as well. For instance, by getting a piece of the power grid, the company may be able to help drive a global shift away from coal and toward renewable energy. The company also may be lining up grid services as a platform on which to deploy and connect its equipment to the massive internet of things (IoT) market, connecting sensors and devices through the internet for building controls in homes and businesses that can marry the opportunity of smart devices and smart buildings with the smart electric grid Hitachi will now help to build.

We believe that both companies will complement each other, said Anders Sjoelin, lead division manager, ABB Power Grids North America. Together, they cover the global energy value chain from generation to transmission and distribution. In addition, Hitachi sees areas like the integration of renewables into the power grid, smart mobility and cities as strategic pillars where ABB Power Grids can contribute significantly with its leading technology solutions.

The Siemens spin-off is of a slightly different nature, but perhaps has a similar goal. In May 2019, the German-based industrial giant announced the spin-off of its Gas & Power (GP) businesses as part of its Vision 2020+ strategy to focus its core competencies on digital industries and smart infrastructure. To be formed out of what was Siemens GP, the new company will be an independent one in which Siemens projects to have 30 billion Euros in orders and 80,000 employees based on former GP staff and the transfer of the Siemens renewable energy business, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE).

With Vision 2020+, were further sharpening Siemens focus and making our businesses faster and more flexible, said Joe Kaeser, president and CEO of Siemens, in a conference call with reporters announcing the move. These changes are laying the foundation for sustainable economic success in growth markets that will be attractive over the long term. Were also creating solid perspectives for those businesses that have to prove themselves in the structural transformation now underway and address new growth fields.

Kaeser added the new company will be well-positioned to offer a wide range of services in the electric industry, from power generation through gas-fired turbines and wind turbines to oil and gas services and high-voltage transmission. The success of Siemens businesses of the next generation will be determined by new factors, said Kaeser. Breadth, size and a one-size-fits-all approach will be replaced by focus, speed and adaptability.

Meanwhile, Lisa Davis, who has been CEO of Siemens GP for the last five years, will take over the reins of NewCo. She touts the new companys independence from Siemens as well as the opportunity to offer a wide range of power services in its new incarnation. Being independent will enable us to more effectively leverage our position of strength to further support our customers in rapidly changing energy markets, Davis said. Global electrification continues to be vital to economic and environmental progress around the world and, as the only company with a leading portfolio along the entire energy value chainin both conventional and renewable energywe are uniquely able to help both public- and private-sector customers benefit from these developments.

For Siemens, the companys Digital Industries and Smart Infrastructure operating companies will comprise its future industrial core, to be supplemented by company-wide technology and service units such as Siemens Healthineers and Siemens Mobility. Plans call for NewCo to be completely spun off with its own stock exchange listing in September 2020.

General Electric also is in the game of selling off power divisions. In March 2019, the company unveiled a $3.25 billion deal to sell its distributed power business, focused on the building of smaller gas-fired turbines used in backup, remote or cogeneration power opportunities. The sale to private equity firm Advent International includes the companys Jenbacher and Waukesha brands as well as manufacturing plants in the U.S., Canada and Austria.

GEs rationale apparently is different from that of ABB or Siemens, however. The company must shrink itself to pay down significant debt, a result of years of troubled acquisitions. Earlier this year, GE was kicked out of the Dow Industrial Average after more than a century on the prestigious company stock listing. For GE, the distributed power business is just the latest in a line of businesses being spun off, including both its fabled light bulb unit and GE Transportation, the companys 111-year-old railroad division.

The power business was not helping GE, as the company saw declines in revenue in recent quarters as power plants started moving more toward renewable energy to replace fossil fuels, especially coal.

Underlying Currents

Though GEs move differs from the moves of Hitachi-ABB and Siemens, all three signify changing times in the power and utilities sector, something that is more likely to continue than abate in the near term. These are definitely changing times for utility and energy companies, said Scott Smith, U.S. power utilities leader for Deloitte, before adding, It is going to continue. Decarbonization of power, energy efficiency, renewables, the customer experience being different [power companies and utilities] are going to have to adapt quickly, and I think they are.

In his 2019 U.S. Power and Utilities Industry Outlook, Smith wrote about what he calls the new normal for the sector, which features a period of transformation and profound change driven by technological and competitive forces, as well as changing customer expectations.

This is partly generational; younger users have become very comfortable with apps, social media, and always-on connectivity, Smith stated. And, its also partly a spin-off from the increasing ubiquity of e-commerce in all spheres, for products, services and entertainment. These developments are coming from all directions, not just the big-tech giants that are household names. Were seeing evidence of this new normal in electricity customer preferencesthe desire for choice, in rate plans, in sources of delivered electricity, and in options to tap into behind-the-meter or localized sources of generation, or to integrate electricity with other home services. Commercial and industrial customers are looking to combine more cost and utilization control with opportunities to self-generate and while setting themselves and their suppliers ambitious targets to reduce emissions from their energy use.

On the generation side, Smith argued, three dominant trends have been in place for years and look to continue:

Smith pointed to decarbonization as the driver but added these trends also have created opportunities for both new technologies and new business models in the sector.

On the new technologies side, Smith noted utilities are developing apps to give customers greater control over energy usage, even managing heating and cooling, lighting and window blinds from smartphones. Some utilities are entering the IoT market by offering smart appliances, such as washing machines, thermostats and hot water heaters. Wireless meters and sensors enable users to monitor energy use in real time, receive alerts if bills deviate too far from the norm, get outage alerts, and even get estimates of crew arrival times in the case of storms or widespread power failure.

Customer retention is no longer just a question of reliability and cost, Smith said of this new normal in the power and utilities sector. It is now a question of providing options, being connected, and allowing customers more control over their energy use.

When it comes to technology, utilities and power generators exist in an ecosystem ripe with opportunity, Smith contends. We could point to sources of generation, with the cost performance and scalability of wind and solar continuing to improve year over year at a rapid pace; to grid operations, where smart-grid technologies provide real-time information into all aspects of grid status (not just electron flows) and where batteries are now able to provide multiple services, such as load shifting, frequency regulation and localized reserves; to distributed or localized sources of energy for which utilities can partner with customers or communities to install and operate power systems customized for specific needs, Smith wrote in his report.

Smith summed it up that all this combined is opening the door for new business models for utilities as well as market structures allowing for the entry of new, nontraditional players. He specifically cited the rise of behind-the-meter generation, community energy projects and new options for households, such as rooftop solar coupled with battery storage. Utilities have a tremendous opportunity to develop new profitable businesses around offering services related to these developmentsfrom installation, maintenance, and reliability services to tracking and load balancing with on-grid resources, Smith wrote.

Smith sees the sector evolving into an entire energy tech ecosystem that could include traditional utilities, large device makers, tech companies, infrastructure players, and small- to medium-sized venture-backed energy technology companies and a host of other business models.

Smith proclaims himself not surprised at all by news of power and utility sector spin-offs and realignments. In fact, he predicts that, too, is part of the new normal for the sector.

By definition, the future is uncertain, so we know there will be surprises along the way, Smith wrote in his market report. The electric power business has proved increasingly resilient to some kinds of surprises, like hurricanes or snowstorms. Other kinds of surprises, from technology and new competition to customer expectations, may require more deep-seated cultural change. This promises to be an interesting year.

Read the original:
Power Business Spin-Offs: Is This the New Normal? - Transmission & Distribution World

Cities, belching pollution, clogged with traffic and stuffed full of the buildings that are responsible for nearly 40 per cent of energy-related CO2 emissions, always appear as the villains of the sustainability narrative. They consume more than 75 per cent of all natural resources; they produce more than 50 per cent of global waste. They are monsters. Yet they are also, perhaps paradoxically, the most efficient and, potentially, the most sustainable way to live.

Cities can be compact and reliant on efficient public transport rather than cars; they can be walkable and cyclable; and, thanks to the proximity they foster between people and services, they can achieve impressive efficiencies in energy use. Even cities with harsh climates such as Oslo or Helsinki can develop communal heating systems as a byproduct of power generation that are clean and efficient compared with, say, the individual gas boilers that are the norm in the UK.

If the circular economy is about moving beyond a take-make-waste model of consumption, buildings can be a conspicuous case in point. Just look at two recent French housing projects, Tour Bois-le-Prtre in Paris and Cit du Grand Parc in Bordeaux, designed by architects Lacaton & Vassal and Frdric Druot. Both go radically against the conventional practice of demolishing old, nominally inefficient housing to build anew in more fashionable forms. Instead, they have managed to preserve existing social housing infrastructure and to keep tenants in place while transforming their slab blocks with a new outer layer of structure.

Boasting new terraces and winter gardens, formerly tired apartments now seem distinctly chic. No less important, both interventions conserve the huge amount of energy embodied in the existing structures; according to a report last year from think-tank Chatham House, cement production accounts for 8 per cent of the worlds annual CO2 emissions which, if it were a country, would make it the third-biggest emitter, after China and the US.

There are harder-to-quantify savings too: new construction often tears apart established communities, disrupting the networks that facilitate sustainable city living through small exchanges of favours and chores, through trust and company.

Cities are the most efficient and, potentially, the most sustainable way to live

When the original tower blocks were conceived and built, in the 1950s and 1960s, architects were in thrall not only to concrete but also to the car. Motorways, flyovers and car parks swept old buildings aside. Yet cars proved to be disastrous for cities, enabling the vast expansion of the suburb and the exurb, which are radically unsustainable not just in their distance from places of work and leisure, but also in their failure to build communities.

Mobility is the first problem, says Malo Hutson, associate professor of urban planning at Columbia University in New York. Not just the electrification of cars, but also of marine transport, perhaps even aviation. We need to approach the city in a different way how do we not build huge parking lots and [how do we create] more compact cities? Autonomous cars may change things for the better, he thinks, as they could readily lend themselves to sharing schemes; that in turn could reduce the need for parking spaces and allow more efficient land use.

But overcoming the consequences of decades of sprawl is a formidable task. The changes required are so huge that advocates are careful to frame them as a positive not only in terms of sustainability, but also in terms of economic growth. The Green New Deal sponsored by congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in the US is exactly such an attempt at reframing green imperatives in a Rooseveltian image, as a boost to the economy rather than a brake.

Friday, 22 November, 2019

We need an honest conversation about this, Mr Hutson says. There will be job losses and huge changes but also opportunities around construction and housing, new skills and innovation. A 2016 World Economic Forum report notes that 40 per cent of solid waste in the US derives from construction and demolition, and represents a significant loss of valuable minerals, metals and organic materials that could feed into a circular economy.

Perhaps the most interesting shift currently under way in urban thinking picks up this thought and runs with it. An EU-sponsored initiative known as Bamb Buildings as Material Banks aims to change the construction industrys approach to demolition, construing it as not a destructive but a constructive process, in which buildings are picked apart, their component parts and materials reused. Bamb wants buildings to be designed with this in mind; it advocates the use of material passports, which reside on a digital platform and define materials and show their circular pathways, their loops of use and reuse.

There is a change of attitude in taking down existing buildings, with buildings conceived as banks, says Georgia Price, an architect from global engineering group Arup. We could be using materials passports, tracking and tracing materials through their life. One possibility is to embed RFID chips in construction components, enabling them to be tracked from factory to building site to salvage depot. So far it is an idea that has gained little traction within the industry. The resulting database would be enormous and who would own the data?

Meanwhile several new non-profits are already trying to salvage materials from buildings before demolition and to sell them on at a fraction of their cost when new to architects with an interest in sustainability and an eye for a back-story. Among them are Rotor Deconstruction in Brussels and the School of Architectures Bank of Materials in Aarhus, Denmark. Both are beginning to scale up to offer a real choice to architects and contractors.

One crucial recent piece of legislation from the EU may accelerate the change in attitudes. In October, right to repair rules were introduced, which put the onus on manufacturers to design products capable of being repaired, instead of succumbing to planned obsolescence, the dubious design philosophy that became prevalent during the US postwar boom. If our expectations of washing machines and phones can change, perhaps they will similarly change regarding buildings and infrastructure.

In those latter cases, the ability to reimagine will be as important as the ability to repair or rebuild. Perhaps the seemingly defunct architectures of the recent past can be repurposed in the same way the industrial buildings of the 19th and 20th centuries have been made into lofts, galleries and restaurants.

A multistorey car park may seem the least adaptable of building types, yet one example in south London, Peckham Levels, has been reimagined as a cultural space, with artists studios, social enterprises, restaurants, and a now famous rooftop bar. Could similar ideas be applied to the ghost shopping centres and strip-malls of fading suburbs? Could they accommodate small workshops, markets, and hydroponics farms enterprises that could densify those suburbs into places of production and change, rather than just dormitories?

According to a report by Arup, in a circular city, products and assets are designed and built to be more durable, and to be repaired, refurbished, reused and disassembled. That will require a fundamental change in approach by planners and architects, and by the citizens they serve.

Yet in a way, it is all rather old fashioned. When imperial Rome collapsed and its buildings gradually succumbed to violence or neglect, the stones were taken and reused to build houses and churches, wells and piazzas. The fragments are still there.

See more here:
Theres nothing new about tomorrows city - Financial Times

As regional governments become increasingly aware of the social and economic threat posed by climate change, population growth and resource over-consumption, there is growing appreciation that improved energy efficiency, reduced use of non-renewable resources and environmental sustainability can only be achieved by successfully developing and harnessing new environmental technology clean technology, or cleantech.

As in other industries, it is likely that many of the disruptive cleantech solutions needed to address these challenges will come from new, startup companies and from other small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is already setting the pace for cleantech development in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region.

Abu Dhabi has set ambitious renewable energy and emissions targets and wants to generate 44 per cent of electricity from renewable sources and 6 per cent from nuclear power. It also wants to cut 30 per cent of its carbon emissions by 2030.

The UAE is the most attractive ecosystem in the Mena region for startups, says Steven Griffiths, senior vice-president of research and development and professor of practice at Khalifa University of Science and Technology.

Broadly speaking, the Mena region is incentivising local talent in the realm of environmentally sustainable startups.

We [in the Mena region] are seeing a lot of startups and SMEs developing really interesting cleantech solutions across the renewables, waste and marine space, says Dana Liparts, co-founder and director at Ecocoast, a sustainable marine technology developer.

The interest in cleantech specifically has been evident since as early as 2012, when Dubai-based peer-to-peer lending platform Beehive funded Enerwhere, a solar energy SME.

More recently, Abu Dhabi-based Catalyst a startup accelerator jointly organised by Masdar and BP has invested $10m since 2015 in eight cleantech startups engaged in renewable energy, agricultural technology, waste management and electric mobility.

In early 2019, New York-based Modus Capital launched a $75m Mena fund for startups through which it hopes to fund more cleantech companies, which founder Kareem Elsirafy says could include opportunities such as renewable and sustainable technology that mitigates negative environmental impact.

Still, investment and support for these are low compared to other types of technology startups.

In5 is a startup incubator that has supported more than 160 startups since it was founded in 2013. Data from the company website shows that only one business in each of the energy, sustainable agriculture and waste management fields received funding from the In5 technology centre.

Get the Verdict morning email

Lack of adequate funding and investment is a major issue, says Rishi Kohli, co-founder of Waterwise, a Dubai startup turned SME that has developed an eco-friendly car cleaning service that uses a biodegradable cleaning spray in place of water.

A few years ago, a lot of cleantech startups attracted large amounts of funding but had large amounts of monthly cash burn-out, which impacted cash flow and often made them unprofitable, he says.

Khalifa University of Science and Technologys Griffiths also highlights several financial challenges faced by startups and SMEs: Early-stage investors in cleantech face challenges in bringing deep tech to the scale-up. Software is not so hard, but capital-intensive technology development is yet to have a good supporting ecosystem.

He says he is impressed with certain industry-led cleantech investment initiatives, such as those of Saudi Aramco, but adds that we do not have a lot of examples in the region.

CEO of Catalyst, inar Kurra, adds that there are not many dedicated research and development (R&D) centres. Most research continues to happen at universities and government-funded entities, he says.

Market conditions can also prove difficult. Waterwises Kohli says that about 180 litres of water are used on each vehicle at UAE car wash facilities, despite the fact the UN classifies the country as one of the worlds most water-scarce nations.

Even so, Kohli has faced many difficulties when it comes to selling his product. Our initial plan was to redistribute our product to other car-washing companies, but that did not get much buy-in, so we decided to set up our own car-washing business.

When asked why this might be, Kohli notes that the adoption of cleantech products and services has been generally slow, and points to the largely price-driven priorities of many consumers, which can prejudice them against alternative, eco-friendly products and services that typically carry higher costs.

In the UAE, a compounding factor, especially on a large commercial scale, is what he calls green fatigue.

Consumers have failed to see the tangible benefits for eco-friendly products and services, he says.

Besides, says Liparts, were also seeing that a lot of the technologies are struggling to offer a real commercial advantage to the end-user over more traditional technologies. Cleantech startups and SMEs that can show a commercial value proposition to their technologies will face far fewer challenges when it comes to funding than those companies that are more costly than traditional.

This raises questions about consumer awareness and engagement when it comes to environmental issues.

Indeed, the high failure rate of new products and services especially those that call for behavioural changes on the part of individual consumers is a common problem for new enterprises. Catalysts CEO, Kurra, says that currently, only 2 per cent of all startups make a profit in the region.

A different approach could nevertheless significantly improve the uptake of cleantech.

At Catalyst, where a venture capital would look merely at growth potential, the firm provides not only funding but also access to R&D facilities at the Masdar Institute.

It also highlights the need for financial transparency, both as a precondition of funding and as a route to providing more appropriate guidance to startups.

As a startup accelerator, we would require more transparency in how cleantech startups are running their business, says Catalysts Kurra.

Griffiths also explains, Perhaps the best way cleantech startups can earn profits today is by building software, power electronics and other small services, and then selling them to large corporations.

Meanwhile, Waterwises Kohli advises that startups and SMEs should start with a limited number of products or services that have a low cash burn-out and quicker return on investment (ROI), then attract funding with the aim of scaling up.

By way of example, he explains that investment in agriculture and food-based cleantech has increased as the cost of producing such products has made ROI for the end-users and investors more attractive.

Lately, more cleantech businesses attract smaller investments from angel investors that allow them to grow with profitable margins, which in turn can then lead to venture capital funding, Kohli says.

Yet a great deal of activity in the sector continues to be government or public-sector led, leaving significant room for more initiative to be taken by private companies and individuals and especially by local entities to support innovative cleantech opportunities.

The author of this report, Sania Aziz Rahman, is a graduate of MA Data Journalism from the UKs Birmingham City University, with a special interest in reporting stories through data. Twitter: @saniaazizr

This article is sourced from Verdict Technology sister publication http://www.meed.com, a leading source of high-value business intelligence and economic analysis about the Middle East and North Africa. To access more MEED content register for the 30-day Free Guest User Programme.

GlobalData is this websites parent business intelligence company.

Read the original post:
Cleantech companies: in the UAE funding and trust are hampering efforts - Verdict