[katkinkate]

Welcome from Australia. Nice to see some more non-american input. Not that I'm against americans, it's just that they dominate so much.

[Marco_Rosenbrand]

Hello everyone,

In Ukraine I am developing the Netherlands Ukrainian Sustainable Energy Platform (NUSEP).

About NUSEP:

The Netherlands-Ukrainian sustainable energy platform is a non-profit organization, which connects Dutch and Ukrainian companies and governmental bodies through assistance in implementation of joint projects and fostering trade in the field of sustainable energy.

I registered at this forum to keep my general knowledge on energy up to date. Maybe I can also help out other people with their questions.

Best Regards,

Marco Rosenbrand

[eXpat]

Welcome Kristjan!

[Kristjan]

Welcome from Australia. Nice to see some more non-american input. Not that I'm against americans, it's just that they dominate so much.

Cheers, mate!
I've met lots of Australians back here in Estonia. You seem to be a nice lot (you behave way better in foreign countries than the Brits do). And this forum looks like a nice place, too.

[Kristjan]

Welcome, Marco!
Although I am new here too, I am sure you will come to like this place. Where do you live in Ukraine? And how are things there? I've been to Ukraine once (to Kiev) and it seemed like things are getting better, although the rapid development seems to have stalled in the last few months due to the financial crisis. Tell us about the current situation.

[midwestherbalist]

Welcome, MWH. Been downloading your database all day, did you scan all those dusty tomes yourself? Quite the boatload of work, very impressive. You should link to some of the sites out there that have similar goods.

I'm also a bit of a packrat/archivist. There are some audio recordings (American folk song) only available from the web that I plan to dump onto cassette tape; there are 35 year old cassettes that still play while CDs are done in by minor skufs and degradation.

Nah...I did not scan a single one of those books.

I am a DB programmer by trade. Object Oriented Programming has opend a new world of thinking for me. I tend to follow that pattern in what ever I do. You do not need to know how a complex tool actually works in all ways, nor how it was made, in order to use it for its intended purpose. You simply need to know how to call the objects..."gas pedal makes go," “turn knob oven heats,” “set thermostat cool air arrives.” Etc.

It would be quite the different world if we were required to understand all of the workings of everything that we use on a daily basis much less a requirement of the knowledge and skill to create everything that we use. An Object oriented approach is used in daily life but overlooked and rarely applied as a tool itself to conquer new obstacles.

The same applies here...I became very interested in book collecting a while back. Started a massive library. My favorite books were the antiquarian variety because they had a less perverted way of presenting information, not slanted as much by revisionist history, political bias, and big business and federal gov agencies were not as embedded in the publishing business yet.

Once I realized that I had more information than I could ever absorb in 3 lifetimes I began loaning out my books to friends. They began coming back to me with very interesting information that they had parsed out of the writings. A miniature think tank was produced inadvertently and our knowledge increased to the extant that we could delve deeper into subjects of choice. Now I have began collecting books for free from all corners of the internet.

My point is that the knowledge was increased at a more exponential rate by the utilization of a object oriented model. I wish I could claim that was my intent at the time, but it was not. But, the idea was evident to me once I stood back and saw the object oriented design from a wide angle view.

Hey, hook me up with the ol' American Folk Songs if you get the chance. That would be sweet. I enjoy some good dulcimer, and old rail song once in a while. A friend that I met in the Army had a collection of music that was taken from very old records. Profound music that I never knew existed prior to that time.

[threadbear]

Kristjan, are you an operative?

?

I should have included a smilie. Wasn't serious. Hi, good to have you onboard.

[Marco_Rosenbrand]

I live in Kiev since August. That's right, preparations for the European Championship 2012 are shut down due to the financial crisis. For me it's also the first time in Kiev. Therefore, it's hard to compare the current situation to the past.

What I can say is that Ukraine is the sixth largest gas consuming country in the world, also sixth largest country with the highest carbon dioxide emission. The country is unifficient with the use of gas, and many technolies are outdated.

[Bill55AZ]

I am 62, a retired navy nuke, I&C tech, and metrology tech.
Been interested in solar and such since the Carter presidency.
My main interests are conservation and best use of all energy sources. My wife is a retired teacher, we live in Peoria, AZ during the winters, Logan, UT the rest of the year, mostly due to having grandkids in both locations.
Not sure if I will have a chance to list my favorite energy gripes in later posts and threads, but as a starter, it really irks me to have to deal with contractors and building inspectors who are stuck in the 50's when energy was cheap.
I guess it would help if we had access to politicians who could mandate that contractors keep up to date on energy savings devices and building practices.
But, I look forward to sharing ideas with the rest of you, especially the part where I get to pick your brains.
I hope to build one more house before I get to the point of spending most of my days in the recliner, and hope to make it so energy efficient that the electric company keeps calibrating my meter.

[Revi]

Welcome!

It sounds like you are on our wavelength.

Great solar potential in Arizona.

I'll bet that an earth bermed house with solar would be great there. Or an adobe.

[Bill55AZ]

You gotta be rich to be green in AZ. It takes more land than most people can afford. But since you brought up berms, I heard a good story about AZ. Seems a guy built a concrete home, insulated on the outside, which sounds good, but it didn't work. He used slab on grade construction, and the ground gets very hot in summer.
That heat wicked up from the footings to the concrete walls, and his AC bill was high.
In northern climes, you put your footings below the frost line. In hot climates, the footings should be put well below the surface, at least 4 feet, and even then foam board insulated on the outside.

You can shut off your water heater in Phoenix in the summer, the water enters the house already hot enough..most of the pipes are only a foot down, and the ground is still hot at that level.

[mos6507]

You gotta be rich to be green in AZ. It takes more land than most people can afford. .

Why does it take a lot of land to be green? Why is land expensive in AZ when places like Phoenix are ground zero for the housing crash? Shouldn't things be cheap again? If not, wait a few months more.

[Revi]

Is there any way to run an AC unit with solar? I would think that would pay for itself. Even if you have grid electricity you could rig up a way to run a few AC units off of solar panels.

It sounds like everybody has solar hot water in Arizona, but it's just heated by the ground.

I used to live in Guatemala, and the middle of the day was hot in some places. People would hang out in their adobe houses until it cooled off.

An adobe with a ramada is the way to go. Hang out in the hammock during the siesta time. Simple, but it works.

[Bill55AZ]

You gotta be rich to be green in AZ. It takes more land than most people can afford. .

Why does it take a lot of land to be green? Why is land expensive in AZ when places like Phoenix are ground zero for the housing crash? Shouldn't things be cheap again? If not, wait a few months more.

Nearly all the large tract home builders are trying to get the most house on the smallest lot possible. They don't want you to bring your own plans and they don't make changes from their plans except for very minor things, and even then they charge extra for every little thing. It is like buying a car anymore, here are the options, here are your color choices, and if you don't like it, tuff....
Very frustrating to deal with those kinds of builders. Custom homes don't get built on the small lots, and most of those are too large to be considered economical, even if built green.

But in Logan, Utah, very few builders do large developments, they offer more choices, and will work with you quite a bit.

[Bill55AZ]

Is there any way to run an AC unit with solar? I would think that would pay for itself. Even if you have grid electricity you could rig up a way to run a few AC units off of solar panels.

It sounds like everybody has solar hot water in Arizona, but it's just heated by the ground.

I used to live in Guatemala, and the middle of the day was hot in some places. People would hang out in their adobe houses until it cooled off.

An adobe with a ramada is the way to go. Hang out in the hammock during the siesta time. Simple, but it works.

except during the monsoon season, evap cooling works very well....but july and august for sure needs AC.
Went to navy electronics B school with a guy whose wife was guatemalan, they had one boy and a school bus load of girls, they kept trying to have one more boy....

[blukatzen]

Hi Bill! Nice to have you on the board. There's some of us from Illinois on the list, some like myself from Chicago. Have a good friend who lives part time of the year in Kingston Mines, near you, in Peoria. Lots of her family either worked/have worked at the big Catepillar plant there.

Nice to meet you!

Blu

[skeptik]

But, I look forward to sharing ideas with the rest of you, especially the part where I get to pick your brains.
I hope to build one more house before I get to the point of spending most of my days in the recliner, and hope to make it so energy efficient that the electric company keeps calibrating my meter.

I dont know how appropriate this idea is, but in the UK the best energy efficent housing is made with straw bales - not the fire hazard that one might think as compressed straw chars on the outside but doesnt burn easily.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/1408512.stm

The house could be finished off on the outside with sheeting and a plaster render, which would then be painted. Gyproc sheeting on the inside too. The people in the BBC report are heading off the middle ages - using a clay render

[Bill55AZ]

Hi Bill! Nice to have you on the board. There's some of us from Illinois on the list, some like myself from Chicago. Have a good friend who lives part time of the year in Kingston Mines, near you, in Peoria. Lots of her family either worked/have worked at the big Catepillar plant there.

Nice to meet you!

Blu

Peoria, Arizona....altho there used to be a caterpillar testing site a few miles west....
I did spend some time in Great Lakes, Illinois, while attending electronics A school, and some time in Chicago on weekends.
I seem to remember a Tad's steakhouse, where you could get a big steak for $1.29....does that date me?

[blukatzen]

Peoria, Arizona....altho there used to be a caterpillar testing site a few miles west....

HA! Well, then you're a "little" farther away!

I did spend some time in Great Lakes, Illinois, while attending electronics A school, and some time in Chicago on weekends.
I seem to remember a Tad's steakhouse, where you could get a big steak for $1.29....does that date me?

Tad's is probably long-ago closed, but still happy to make the acquaintance. I got married at Great Lakes (my former spouse), we had our wedding at the chapel, and the reception at the O-Club, it was recently redone at that time, back in '87.
Now, remember, some of those sailor-boys get a break for things downtown, so that steak was probably a treat. Most of us have a tender heart for the sailor boys we see on furlough for the weekend. Such Puppy faces. (now who is "dating" whom?)

Thanks for your service to our Country, and happy belated Veteran's day.

See you 'round these forums.

Blu

[ABarrelFull]

I have been visiting the site for a while, and thought it time I joined in. I have been working in the Petrol Sector for a long time.

I look forward to some interesting dicussions.