This January marked the eleventh year Small Planet Supply has been selling Zehnder HRV and ERV systems in the western USA and Canada. Since then, we’ve sold thousands of systems to homeowners and multi-family builders. In honor of our eleven years of selling these amazing Zehnder systems here’s eleven reasons why we love Zehnder HRV and ERV systems and why they are a good choice for your home or project.
Read MoreThe high-performance building (and building supply) world is evolving at an ever-increasing pace, but we still took a few moments to ponder what we think are some trends that we think will increasingly impact the building industry in 2024.
Read MoreNext month Small Planet Supply will be hosting a webinar on the 45L tax incentive available to residential builders with Greg Lasher. Greg Lasher works as an energy efficiency consultant representing Better Built Northwest. We sat down with Greg Lasher to learn more about Greg Lasher, what next month’s webinar topic and more about Better Built Northwest.
Read MoreThe holiday season is a busy time of activities and excitement as families and friends come together to celebrate. Amidst the merriment, it's easy to overlook a crucial aspect of our surroundings—indoor air quality (IAQ). As you decorate your home and prepare holiday meals, potentially unidentified air quality issues that may catch you by surprise. In this blog post, Small Planet Supply delves into the indoor air quality challenges that the holiday season presents and offer actionable solutions to ensure fresher air for you, your family, and your guests.
Read MoreA Zehnder system is an investment in your home and your family's health. Did you know that some homeowners don't get their systems commissioned and (unbelievably) some homeowners haven't turned their systems on?
After all the work that has gone into designing and installing a system that will provide fresh air to your home, commissioning is the final step to make sure that air flow in your home is happening exactly as designed. Our new USA commissioning agent, Sarah Nuamah, has written a brief blog post about what you can expect in the commissioning product and we provide an introduction to Sarah.
Read MoreBefore introducing a new product like Harvest Thermal, Small Planet likes to ensure its value for our customers' energy-efficient homes. To provide more than just our endorsement, we connected with Karen Harrington, an environmental activist and the first Harvest Thermal user in the Pacific Northwest. Karen, a climate activist involved with Portland’s Climate Reality chapter and legislative efforts in Oregon, shared her insights about Harvest Thermal with Small Planet Supply’s Josh Palmer. Karen's has had first first-hand experience with Harvest Thermal, having installed it into two homes: one in Berkeley and one in Portland.
Read MoreWith all the emphasis on the importance of designing energy-efficient buildings, it can sometimes get lost that there also needs to be a qualified workforce to build them. There can also be the assumption that this can only be done at the post-secondary level. Rancho Cielo’s building construction academy in Salinas, California demonstrates that solid construction skills can be taught to even younger participants. Rancho Cielo Construction Academy is one of several vocational programs run by Rancho Cielo. Participants in the program range from ages 16-24 years of age.
Read MoreOn Friday, September 8, Governor Jay Inslee and his wife, First Lady Trudi Inslee, visited our WaterDrop manufacturing plant for a tour. The purpose of the tour was to demonstrate to the Governor the innovative water heating technology that is being produced almost in his backyard. It was also an opportunity to showcase the partners and agencies who have helped move the WaterDrop system from an idea into a reality.
Read MoreRemember last year, when Small Planet Supply introduced Fresh-r? We were so excited to offer this amazing decentralized HRV system to our customers. This innovative heat recovery ventilation system, built in the Netherlands, was a perfect choice for new and retrofit applications, as well as for Small Planet Supply. Fresh-r had already been certified in Europe and the Fresh-r team were ready to start the UL - CA Certification process and have the first units to the USA as soon as the process was completed.
Read MoreNext month, Small Planet Supply will be hosting a SpacePak webinar with FlowTech’s Zach Liske. SpacePak is a relatively new product at Small Planet Supply but one that is gaining popularity for customers, installers, and specifiers. These low-refrigerant systems provide heating, cooling, and hot water in one package, making them an ideal choice for those who want an all-in-one mechanical system. Small Planet Supply currently sell two Spacepak Systems products: the Solstice Inverter Monobloc (SIM) and the Solstice SIS Inverter Split System.
Read MoreNext month, Small Planet Supply will be hosting a webinar with Zehnder America’s Szabi Fekete. In his role providing quotes and sales support to customers, Szabi has been able increase his already substantial knowledge of Zehnder systems that he had gained in his nine years as a service and commissioning agent. Small Planet Supply’s past Zehnder webinars have been popular but often focused on the same theme. Szabi’s presentation next month will be focused on indoor air quality and air quality standards. We sat down with him to learn more what he has planned.
Read MoreSANCO2 Heat Pump Water Heaters were a paradigm shifter when Small Planet Supply began carrying them in 2017. It seemed incredible that a water heater could achieve a COP of up to five while using a natural refrigerant with a GWP of less than one. The ability of a SANCO2 heat pump to produce an abundance of hot water began to spark the imagination of homeowners, innovators, and mechanical system designers alike. This blog post highlights three ways to utilize a SANCO2 in projects of all sizes, from smallest to biggest.
Read MoreEarlier this month I was able to interview Jane Melia, founder of Harvest Thermal, a product that has been getting a lot of accolades and the latest product we are bringing to the Small Planet Supply line-up. I was curious about the story behind the product, how the system works and how the product is evolving to benefit both consumers and the environment.
Read MoreThe world of smart technologies is moving forward at an alarming pace. Sometimes it isn’t easy or economical to retrofit an entirely new “smart” system, or maybe you want to install a system that boasts some of the highest efficiency in the market but doesn’t come with “smart” features out of the box. Harvest Thermal can help bridge the gap from a basic hydronic combi system to an optimized smart system poised to harness the most energy from a heat pump water heater and take advantage of the growing implementation of demand/response utilities program. I had the chance to sit down with Pierre Delforge, Head of Operations and Product at Harvest Thermal, and pick his brain on how this new system came about and how it can benefit homeowners.
Read MoreThis year, instead of giving tips about how (our already climate savvy) readers can reduce carbon footprint, we wanted to take the opportunity to encourage people to work with others to address climate change. It makes a difference both emotionally and in scope of impact when we work together. Discovering and focusing on your personal “why” and “who” can make it easier (and even fun) to work on behalf of the planet.
Read MoreLast month was the three year anniversary of Small Planet Supply’s Better Building Coach. Designed as a mobile showroom to allow customers not able to come to our warehouse locations to see Small Planet Supply products. The COVID pandemic definitely shut things down for a while, but the coach is back on the road on a more frequent schedule. I sat down with Eric Fenno, the current Transportation Engineer and Sales Associate in our Tumwater warehouse to talk about his experiences with the Better Building Coach.
Read MoreAs we continue to face the challenges of climate change, one of the most pressing issues is finding ways to reduce our energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Small Planet Supply and WaterDrop Systems are tackling this problem head-on by using a revolutionary technology in a new system that has the potential to transform the way we heat and store water in multi-family buildings.
Read MoreAs the evolution of high-performance building evolves, the focus on carbon has increased from not just measuring how much energy a building uses to operate, but also measuring the amount of carbon used in constructing a building as well as end of life carbon cost. Luckily, a product you may already know can help you manage your carb(on)s. That product is ThermaCork.
Read MoreIndoor air quality is a critical aspect of a healthy living environment. In recent years, more attention has been given to the importance of proper ventilation in homes, buildings, and offices. One of the best ways to improve indoor air quality is to install a heat recovery ventilator (HRV). HRVs are designed to bring in fresh air while also conserving energy and reducing moisture buildup. Zehnder, a leading manufacturer of ventilation systems, has made it their mission to make the use of HRVs easy for everyone.
Read MoreIf you’re interested in installing a SANCO2 combi system in your home and schedule a complimentary consultation, Small Planet Supply Sales Engineer Peter Reppe is the person who will be providing you guidance via the phone. A recent interview with Peter shed some light about his experience with these consultations and what potential SANCO2 combi customers can know about the process.
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