Better Building Coach Explores Four New Products and Projects on Road Trip to California
/“Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.” ”
Sometimes when you work in one place for a long time and get in a routine (write, edit, repeat), you forget what an amazing world we live in and that there are people doing incredible things to make the world better everywhere. Small Planet Supply’s Better Building Coach made its first stops in California last week. While the purpose of the trip was to get the Better Building Coach to California and to provide information about our products and services to people along the way, Albert Rooks and I got an education too. We met people who are making new products and building in innovative ways ,and we had a lot of fun on the drive from Vancouver, BC to Monterey, California. Here are some of the really cool building products, projects and people we met along the way.
Eugene, Oregon: Airscape Fans
We spent our night in Oregon and on our way to California we stopped at Airscape Fans in Medford, Oregon, where Neal Smith and his wife gave us a tour of Airscape Ventilation and Cooling’s warehouse on a Saturday afternoon.
Airscape Fans are an energy efficient alternative to air-conditioning in the evenings, drawing fresh cool evening air in through open windows and out through the attic. The system reduces (or in some cases eliminates) the need for air-conditioning, resulting in lower energy costs and reduced CO2 emissions.
As part of the tour we were also able to tour around and inside the AirLab, where Airscape tests their fan designs.
Another unexpected find in the showroom was customized grills. I found the bamboo grills to be especially appealing, yet another natural material for a green-focused home.
Arcata, California’s Redwood Energy: ThermaCork Covered Bath House
Late Monday morning we parked the bus at Arcata City Hall. We were able to spend some one-on-one time with customers and colleagues in the area. Sean Armstrong and Michael Winkler with Redwood Energy stopped by, bringing us amazing baked goods from Cafe Brio and then filled us in on some of the projects they have in the works. Their company specializes in Zero Net Energy housing in the area. My bragging about the efficiency of Sanden CO2 heat pump water heaters, and how multi-family builders have been using them on to provide hot water for up to five units yielded a nugget of new information: Sanden units were used for Veteran’s Village in Santa Rosa and only two Sandens were used to provide hot water for fourteen units. More information on that is below.
While there, Sean Armstrong mentioned that he had built an outdoor bath house covered in ThermaCork.
Well, we couldn’t miss checking that out. Before we headed to Eureka, we stopped by Sean’s farm where we saw the bath house for ourselves as well as visited some adorable pigs. We left with a handful of spring to take with us to Eureka.
Santa Rosa Veteran’s Village: Two Sanden CO2 Heat Pumps Provide Hot Water for 14 Tiny Homes
Unfortunately, because of difficulty locating the address, we didn’t get to personally visit the Veteran’s Village, but we did get the chance to learn more about the project. According to HUD’s 2019 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress, Santa Rosa County has the third highest number of homeless individuals in the country for largely suburban counties, so addressing homelessness is a pressing issue.
The Veteran’s Village was developed by Community Housing Rosa County to provide housing for homeless veterans. The final cost of each unit was $133,000, well below the average cost per unit of housing. The original cost was significantly lower, but the increased labor costs after the 2017 fire increased the final cost. As you can see from the pictures, the development yielded beautiful, energy-efficient housing.
Santa Rosa: Sonoma Clean Power’s Advanced Energy Center
Last year Small Planet Supply was selected to be an exhibitor in Sonoma Clean Power’s Advanced Energy Center. So, we made a Better Building Coach stop at the Advanced Energy Center to share the technology we will be exhibiting and to meet with some of the people involved in the center.
After we showed off the technology in our bus, we were treated to a view of the Advanced Energy Center under construction. Even with just the framing in place, it is apparent that this is going to be an impressive space. The center will be a place where community members can learn about new clean technologies, attend free seminars and demonstrations and buy these products for their homes and businesses at a discounted cost. It will showcase technologies in the areas of electrification, appliances, insulation, battery storage, and more. We can’t wait to be part of this innovative way to bring new ideas and foster adoption of clean energy technology to consumers, designers and builders.
The road trip to California in the Better Building Coach was an exciting and educating trip to California for us. We’re looking forward to building on what we’ve learned and the relationships we’ve made in the years to come.
