Tackling Water Scarcity: RainStick Showers Changing the Game
CategoriesSustainable News Zero Energy Homes

Tackling Water Scarcity: RainStick Showers Changing the Game

In-home greywater recycling systems offer significant advantages to certain homes and businesses. However, due to the involved installation process, storage requirements, and extended payback period, distributed greywater treatment has been slow to take hold. Centralized public greywater treatment systems still involve several carbon-intensive transportation and treatment processes.

The founders of  RainStick Shower  have created  a point-of-use (POU) water treatment technology to combat water scarcity. The first-of-its-kind, recirculating shower in North America, RainStick offers a self-contained, sustainable alternative to traditional showers that waste water by constantly sending it down the drain. Employing a closed-loop system captures, treats, and recirculates shower water, minimizing waste and maximizing efficiency.

How RainStick works

The innovative POU loop features three distinct cleaning stages to ensure the water remains suitable and safe for reuse:

Rainstick water-saver shower in white-tile and glass walk-in shower - photo

  1. A micron-level screen traps debris, such as hair and dirt, preventing them from circulating in the water.
  2. Precisely controlled, fresh hot water is continuously introduced, maintaining the desired water temperature and pressure.
  3. RainStick disinfects the recirculating water, using high-intensity UV LED technology. This eliminates harmful bacteria and viruses, delivering purified water.

RainStick can reduce water consumption by up to 80% compared to conventional showers, with no compromise on the quality of the shower experience. According to a study conducted by the US EPA, the average American uses 82 gallons of water per day. By adopting water-saving technologies like RainStick on a larger scale, we can collectively minimize the strain on freshwater resources and reduce the energy footprint of water use in our homes.

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Tackling climate change with forest fungal networks
CategoriesSustainable News

Tackling climate change with forest fungal networks

Spotted: Much of the focus on the use of nature to capture carbon has remained above ground – on forests and trees. But ecologist and climate scientist Dr Colin Averill argues that the role of an “entire galaxy” below our feet has been ignored. Soils are made up of millions of species of bacteria and fungi and this microbial biodiversity is essential to healthy plant growth – and efficient carbon capture.  

Dr Averill’s team in the Crowther Lab at ETH Zürich has spent years documenting fungi’s impact on tree growth, finding that restoration of underground fungal communities can significantly accelerate plant growth and carbon capture. To develop this concept further, Dr Averill founded Funga, a startup that plans to restore fungal biodiversity to accelerate carbon sequestration in forests. 

Funga will use DNA sequencing and artificial intelligence (AI) to generate profiles for a healthy fungal microbiome in around 1,000 different forests. This will help it identify the right combination of wild fungi in each location to achieve accelerated tree growth and the highest amount of carbon sequestration. Funga will also establish around 1,000 hectares (about 2,500 acres) of forest and soil fungal communities – creating an ‘ideal’ environment for carbon removal. 

Funga has recently closed a $4 million (around €3.8 million) seed funding round and is working with forest landowners and the foresters to make fungal microbiome restoration a reality. 

A growing number of researchers and innovators are focusing on the role of microbes, and especially fungi, in cutting carbon emissions and moderating climate change. Springwise has spotted the use of fungi as a meat replacement, and the application of biome science to create heat-resistant coral.

Written By: Lisa Magloff 

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Tackling bubbles to make green hydrogen more efficient
CategoriesSustainable News

Tackling bubbles to make green hydrogen more efficient

Spotted: Hydrogen is growing in popularity as a clean alternative to methane. While methane is a fossil fuel, it is possible to generate hydrogen using renewable energy – what is called green hydrogen. This alternative fuel is produced through electrolysis, which uses electricity to split water molecules to generate pure hydrogen, with no harmful by-products. However, today, most hydrogen is produced using steam methane reformation, which requires fossil fuels and produces carbon monoxide as a by-product.

One reason why green hydrogen is not more common is that electrolysis is less efficient because it produces bubbles. But that may be about to change. Assistant Professor Pourya Forooghi from Aarhus University has begun a study that hopes to shed light on the physics behind the bubble formation.

The project, called Heat and Bubble Transport over Complex Solid Surfaces, will run for five years. The goal is to develop reliable modelling tools that can be used to reduce excessive bubble formation in electrolysis, as well as in other technical situations in which bubbles cause problems – such as chemical reactions and drag on ship’s hulls.

The use of hydrogen is ramping up, and Springwise has spotted frequent developments in the field. Recent innovations include the production of hydrogen fuel out of thin air, and a method for vastly increasing the storage capacity of hydrogen.

Written By: Lisa Magloff

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Five innovations tackling wildfires – Springwise
CategoriesSustainable News

Five innovations tackling wildfires – Springwise

Wildfires have long been a persistent threat in certain parts of the world. But until recently, most people would associate them with regions such as California and Australia. In 2022, however, the news cycle has been filled with stories of wildfires in parts of the world that are less used to dealing with them. In the EU, forest fires have burned a record 700,000 hectares, with Spain, Romania, France, and Italy the countries most affected. In fact, 2022 is already a record year for wildfires in Southwestern Europe. Meanwhile, in China, emergency responders are battling blazes around the city of Chongqing.

Studies are linking increasing levels of fire risk in Europe with climate change. And ‘traditional’ fire regions are also facing more intense fire seasons. The worst recorded fire season in the recorded history of New South Wales, Australia, was in 2019/2020, and California’s worst fire season was also in 2020

With climate change exacerbating wildfires across the globe, innovators are developing solutions to mitigate their impact. Here are five of the best.

Photo source Segev

ROBOT FOREST RANGERS PLANT TREES, CLEAR PATHS AND GATHER DATA

Rikko, Chunk, and Dixon are three ‘Forest Ranger Druids’ created by industrial design student Segev Kaspi. Currently in the concept stage, each of the robots has a specific set of tasks and skills. The idea is to deploy teams of the robot forest rangers across many kilometres of forest, for regular maintenance as well as in emergency situations. Finding the source of a new forest fire, for example, could help firefighters act faster to contain a dangerous situation. Read more

Photo source SAS

THE WORLD’S LARGEST REAL-TIME MONITORING NETWORK FOR ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTERS

Australian technology firm Attentis has developed a network of intelligent sensors that provide local officials and emergency response teams with data that can be used to improve responses to climate change impacts – such as floods and bushfires. The sensors are powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning from analytics company SAS, and are capable of automatically detecting and responding to changes in their surroundings. Attentis has used the sensors to create an integrated, high-speed network. Named the Latrobe Valley Information Network (LVIN), it is the world’s largest real-time environmental monitoring network. Read more

Photo source Petra

NEW DRILLING MACHINE QUICKLY AND ECONOMICALLY CUTS THROUGH THE HARDEST ROCKS IN THE WORLD

San Francisco-based company Petra has successfully completed a 20-foot demonstration tunnel through the Earth’s hardest rock. The company’s semi-autonomous drilling machine, named Swifty, is able to cut through hard bedrock that would destroy normal drilling equipment. Swifty was designed to make underground utility lines more economically viable given that above-ground power lines have contributed to a succession of Californian wildfires. Read more

Photo source California Forest Observatory

AI MAPPING TOOL HELPS CALIFORNIA FIREFIGHTERS TRACK BURN RISK

More than three million acres of land burned in California during the 2020 fire season. As climate change continues to have an impact on the natural ebb and flow of the area’s fires, The California Forest Observatory is using AI satellite imaging combined with detailed laser scanning to monitor the current risk of forest wildfires. Previously, most satellite data was up to three years old. The combined data provides detail down to the level of individual trees and allows firefighting teams to observe vegetation growth while tracking current weather conditions. Read more

Photo source Parallel Flight Technologies

HYBRID DRONE FOR CARRYING FIRE-FIGHTING EQUIPMENT

Fighting wildfires usually involves the use of heavy equipment and dangerous flights. Drones could be the answer Most electric drones currently in use can only fly for around fifteen minutes when carrying payloads, while gas-powered drones can fly for longer, but can’t carry heavy cargo. Parallel Flight Technologies is hoping to change this by developing commercial drones capable of carrying equipment heavy enough to help firefighters. Read more

Curated by: Matthew Hempstead

To keep up with the latest sustainable innovations, sign up to our free newsletters or email info@springwise.com to get in touch.

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Tackling Embodied Carbon in Retrofits
CategoriesSustainable News Zero Energy Homes

Tackling Embodied Carbon in Retrofits

A firm specializing in remodeling rethinks its approach to attic and roof insulation to lower embodied carbon.

By Rachel White

In 2018, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) put the world on notice: To avert catastrophic and irreversible climate change, we will have to hold global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. And to keep warming at this level, we must cut global emissions roughly in half by 2030 and get to zero by 2050.

Building Sector Contributions to Global Warming

The building sector is a huge part of the problem, accounting for roughly 40% of global annual emissions. And while our industry has made progress, we haven’t done nearly enough.

Along with the work of organizations such as the Carbon Leadership Forum and Architecture 2030, the IPCC report was a wake-up call about the time value of carbon. Larry Strain, a board member at the Carbon Leadership Forum, describes it this way: “Because emissions are cumulative and we have a limited amount of time to reduce them, carbon reductions now have more value than carbon reductions in the future [emphasis added].”

Carbon Reduction Strategies                                                          

Three strategies are critical to achieving meaningful near-term reductions in building sector emissions. First, we need to repurpose buildings rather than build new ones wherever possible. Second, we need to aggressively reduce the operating emissions of existing buildings. Third, we need to build with low embodied carbon materials and ideally with carbon-storing materials.

The first two strategies are firmly ensconced at Byggmeister. We don’t do new construction, we avoid additions, and we pursue operational emissions reductions whenever possible. However, until the last couple of years, we had not paid much attention to embodied carbon. We assumed that whatever carbon we emitted to renovate and retrofit homes would be balanced by operational savings over decades. But this assumption was flawed.

Embodied Carbon Emissions

So, we turned our attention to embodied emissions, focusing first on insulation. As remodeling contractors, we know that insulation is high leverage, especially because closed-cell spray foam—one of the highest embodied carbon insulation materials on the market—has long been a go-to insulation material for us. There are good reasons we have relied so heavily on closed-cell spray foam. It blocks air leaks in addition to reducing conductive heat loss; it’s vapor impermeable; and it’s highly versatile. But none of these is a good reason to maintain the status quo.

Deciding When to Use Foam

There are times when replacing spray foam with a carbon smarter material is a no-brainer. For example, installing cellulose in wood-framed walls is typically no more complex than insulating with spray foam, not to mention less expensive and less disruptive. And while the R-value of a cellulose-insulated wall is lower than the same wall insulated with closed-cell spray foam (unless the wall assembly is thickened), we believe this compromise is worth it. The reduced R-value has little impact on comfort and the carbon benefit more than makes up for it. Unlike spray foam, which emits a lot of carbon before, during, and immediately after installation ( especially true of closed-cell spray foam with high-embodied-carbon blowing agents), cellulose actually stores carbon.  

There are other cases, though, such as with rubble foundation walls, when we feel spray foam is the only viable choice, other than not insulating at all. While we have entertained this possibility, we aren’t willing to give up remediating dank, damp basements, although we have begun to think about these as emissions that should be offset with more aggressive carbon-storing measures elsewhere.

Roof Insulation Challenges

Much of the time, though, the choice to eliminate or retain spray foam isn’t clear-cut. We encounter many roofs and attics where existing conditions, code requirements, and broader project goals make it challenging but not impossible to avoid spray foam.

If the attic is unconditioned, then the easiest, most cost-effective strategy is to air seal any penetrations along the attic floor and then re-insulate (in most cases, we would first remove existing insulation).

But this only works if there’s no mechanical equipment (and ideally no storage). If the attic is used for anything other than insulation, best practice is to bring the attic space indoors, either by insulating the underside of the roof sheathing with spray foam or by removing the roofing, insulating the topside of the roof sheathing with rigid foam and then re-roofing.

If the roof needs to be replaced, “outsulation” might initially seem viable. But I can count on one hand the times we have actually done it. More often than not, it’s doomed by cost or adverse architectural consequences. This is why spray foam has long been our go-to approach for unconditioned attics with HVAC equipment.

New Approaches for Lower Carbon

At least it was until we realized just how carbon-intensive it is. We came to this realization by comparing the embodied emissions of spray foam against four alternatives. We based these comparisons on a simple gable-roof form. The four alternatives we looked at were: 

* A low-foam approach of building down the rafter bays, insulating with closed-cell foam for condensation control, followed by cellulose behind a smart membrane.

* A no-foam approach where the air and thermal boundary remains at the attic floor. We install the air handler in a conditioned “head house” and bury the ductwork in cellulose. 

* A common outsulation approach with cellulose in the rafter bays plus exterior polyisocyanurate board foam.

* A newer, no-foam outsulation approach with cellulose in the rafter bays plus exterior wood fiber board.                                                                                                                                                                                          All of these approaches, including exterior polyisocyanurate, are either carbon neutral or carbon storing from the outset. Only spray foam starts off in carbon debt.

This chart shows the embodied carbon of several options for insulating the attic floor or the roof. Chart courtesy Byggmeister.

What we call the “low foam” approach includes 3 inches of closed-cell spray foam on the underside of the roof deck plus 8 inches of cellulose and a membrane to control moisture. Illustration courtesy Byggmeister.

And this debt is not small. Our modeling suggests this particular measure would take 14 years of operational carbon savings to break even. Even if our model isn’t exact, it’s close enough to know that spray foam should not be our default approach if there are viable, lower emitting alternatives.

In Two Carbon Smart Ideas for the Attic, we walk through the no-foam, head house approach in detail. We also describe our efforts to develop a carbon-smart approach to another common attic/roof condition: poorly insulated, finished slopes. When such slopes are topped by a “micro attic,” we are experimenting with dense-packing the slopes, installing loose-fill cellulose along the floor of the micro-attic, and adding a ridge vent.

We Must Take Risks

Both of these approaches seemed impractical when we first took them on. Both present some level of risk. Because of code constraints, the second one may not be broadly replicable even if we can demonstrate that the risk is manageable. But if we are going to cut global carbon emissions in half by 2030 and get to zero by 2050, we’ll have to take some risks and pursue approaches that aren’t (yet) standard practice. By sharing our story, we hope to inspire more of our colleagues to join in this effort.

Rachel White is the CEO of Byggmeister, a design-build remodeling firm in Newton, Mass. This article was first published in Green Building Advisor.

 

 

 

 

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