Green Energy Futures

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40. Smart Grassi green school saves $120k/year May 13, 2013

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Lawrence Grassi middle school in Canmore, Alberta is your typical, mid-size public school. It's home to 391 students. There is a wood shop and portables and a gym but where Grassi is different from other schools is the simple but effective steps they've taken to drastically reduce their utility bills. They replaced the old school and completed the current one in 2008 and since then they're saving $120,000 a year in utility bills. And they didn't do it with fancy, expensive technology. Learn how the meat and potatoes not only built a very energy efficient building but they did it on budget as well.

39. Nanaimo mines waste to produce green energy May 06, 2013

Show notes

The Nanaimo Regional District is your usual mid-size Canadian municipality. There are suburbs and strip malls and regular Canadians doing regular Canadian things. With around 145,000 people there isn't anything out of the ordinary here aside from the rugged coastal beauty and consistent rain of the area. But when even smallish cities like Nanaimo have innovative programs that are turning waste into something useful it's easy to get excited about where Canada is going. Check it out this week on CKUA's Green Energy Futures.

38. Sunny solar outlook for the T'sou-ke First Nation Apr 29, 2013

Show notes

When we visited the T'sou-ke first nation on Vancouver Island it was a grey day and the rain was coming down in steady sheets. at first blush not necessarily the best place for solar energy. But the T'sou-ke have a plan, a really good plan in fact with the force of the whole community behind it. So while the big shiny project is the 75 kilowatt solar photovoltaic installation, the largest in B.C. when it was built, the real prize is how they've managed to slash their energy use by 75 per cent. The T'sou-ke did it with solar thermal, ductless air source heat pumps and the old reliables - insulation and air sealing. Learn more about this story on this week's CKUA Radio podcast at Green Energy Futures.

37. Landmark house factory saves energy like crazy Apr 23, 2013

Show notes

Reza Nasseri, the CEO of the Landmark Group of Builders, thinks the traditional house building process is a bit of a dog's breakfast. He likens it to Ford dumping 15,000 parts off in your garage and you having to hire a mechanic to put it all together. At Landmark they have an indoor house production facility that not only saves energy in the building process but they are building some of the most energy efficient new homes in the province of Alberta. Learn how this week on Green Energy Futures on CKUA Radio. See blog, video and photos. http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/37-landmark-beyond-manufactured-homes

36. Cowichan Biodiesel uses French Fry oil to fuel bus tour line Apr 15, 2013

Show notes

The Cowichan Bio-Diesel cooperative has grown from a small group of volunteers selling jugs of their product at a Farmer's Market to scaling up to 150,000 litres a year and powering bus line. Learn how they did it it this week on the CKUA Radio podcast. See Green Energy Futures blog, video and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/36-micro-brewed-bio-diesel

35. Re-imagine office buildings as energy efficient awesome places to work Mar 23, 2013

Show notes

Reimagine is a movement started by Edmonton architectural firm Manasc Isaac to inspire people who own aging office buildings not to knock them down, but to re-insulate and re-skin buildings that now save a ton of money by using 70 per cent less energy. See blog, video and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/35-reimagine-your-office-building

34. The amazing Nest programmable thermostat Mar 19, 2013

Show notes

The Nest programmable thermostat can, on first blush, look a bit like the HAL9000 from Spacy Odyssey 2001. But this is a kinder, gentler computer – one that isn't worried about the pod bay doors, but about saving you money. It's internet connected with a fully featured mobile app and it even learns your habits and adjusts the temperature accordingly. Learn about the Nest and how programmable thermostats can save you money on this week's CKUA Radio Green Energy Futures podcast. See blog, video and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/34-nest-ipod-programmable-thermostats

33. Landfill gas powers 4,600 Edmonton homes Mar 12, 2013

Show notes

There are 64 landfill gas recovery projects in Canada diverting more than seven million megatonnes of C02 equivalent a year and making money for their operators either through electricity and heat or carbon credits. On this week's CKUA Green Energy Futures we explore Edmonton's landfill gas operation, a 4.8 megawatt project that can power up 4,600 homes with nothing more than methane that's collected from an old landfill. See blog, video and photos: http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/33-landfill-gas-how-old-garbage-can-generate-electricity

32. UBC District heating with biomass, waste heat and geothermal energy Mar 04, 2013

Show notes

The new hot water style district heating system at UBC runs partly on biomass generated heat. It can integrate renewable energy systems like geoexchange, solar thermal and waste heat into this new low temperature heating system. It turns out you can save lots of money, and carbon emissions, by replacing those creaky old turn of the century steam pipes. See video, blog and photos. http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/ubc-district-heating-low-carbon-lego

31. Farming for biogas - producing electricity Feb 26, 2013

Show notes

Farmers in Ontario are diversifying into farming for biogas. It uses cow manure and grease from the restauraunt industry to create methane which is then burned to produce heat and power. James Callaghan is a fifth generation dairy farmer who is about two hours east of Toronto. He never thought he would be selling electricity to the grid as part of his business but Ontario's feed-in tariff makes it easier for him to implement this technology. See video, blog and photos. http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/31-biogas-closing-loop-cow-poop

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