ERMU Misc. 09-13-2005 - Laserfiche WebLink

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II 11110 Green Building BY MICHAEL GRIFFIN 1 1 Growth Continues In Minnesota's 19 1 6 E n e rg y City 1 The city's latest project focuses on green building and energy conservation. I I t may seem like plenty of other suburban communi- the outside,but we built a second story loft into what would in the Midwest but Elk River, Minn is unique normally be the roof space From an energy standpoint, we Ities due to an innovative approach to energy applications really accomplished something by doing that. It will have that is helping to put its name on the map these days. 2,200 square feet of living space and lots of storage." In fact, this town,located 30 miles northwest of Min- NOneapolis on the banks of the Mississippi River,has actually Efficient options earned the name"Energy City" designated in 1996 by The A number of options are deliberately being built into Minnesota Environmental Initiative (a nonprofit associa- the home, says Vance Zehringer, manager of key accounts I tion). Elk River earned this distinction by demonstrating and special projects for Elk River Municipal Utilities. renewable and energy efficient technology, services and Zehringer is also an Energy House Committee member products, and balancing efforts between sound environ- and provides professional insight and guidance about 1 mental and economic building practices. what is possible and what makes sense for the house. Home to the first fully-decommissioned nuclear power "We'll use electric heat that is affordable " says plant in the world, Elk River hosts energy product manu- Zehringer. "Natural gas prices aren't expected to decrease, facturing companies, a landfill gas-to-electricity facility,a so a ground-source heat pump to heat and cool the house I utility-scale wind turbine and a refuse-derived fuel renew will be installed instead These units have a coefficient of able energy power plant. performance (COP) of 3, which means that for every one This spring, ground was broken in Elk River for its kilowatt-hour of electricity used, you'll receive three kilo- 1 most recent project, Energy House III, which will encom- hours of heat out of it. pass some of the most innovative products and building "If you compare that to a gas furnace that's rated at 95 techniques to conserve energy, provide a healthy living percent efficiency, the ground-source heat pump is more 1 environment and use recycled products. than three times as efficient,"he adds Owned by the Suburban Northwest Builder's Associa- heat pumps, provided by Econar work through a tion(SNBA),this house will also implement the forthcom- ground loop made up of many feet of plastic pipes buried in ing 2006 building code changes and embody "best the earth.As the heat transfer fluid is circulated through it, I construction practices."With Minnesota having one of the most restrictive energy codes in the U.S. Energy House III the earth warms the fluid in the winter,and cools the fluid in the summer. The heat pump extracts the heat from the is a "must see" for residential construction professionals, fluid to heat the home in the winter and gives up heat to the building inspectors,consumers, teachers, engineers, archi II fluid in the summer to cool the home,explains Zehringer. tects and consumers, according to Greg Holst, co-owner The type of heat pump selected for this project pro and president of Northwoods Custom Homes, the con- tractor for Energy House III vides hot air and warm water to heat the basement floors. Warm water is circulated through plastic tubes in the con Visitors will also appreciate the home's beautiful design trete to provide radiant heat for the entire lower level. and landscaping.Adds Holst: "It looks like a rambler from Ground-source heat pumps are more expensive to I26 • June 2005