Conference Call Thursday, September 10, 2009

8:30a.m. - 9:30 a.m.

Kevin, Cameron, Brent, Jeff, Hans, John, Michael, Emmanuelle,

Jeff will issue the designs for bidding on September 11, 2009, and will allow 2 weeks for pricing. Once all bids are received, coordination between systems will take place.

Water Catchment:

Cameron identified the pump and tank location, but needs to provide schematic drawings in order to have an accurate cost estimate.

On Site Waste Water System:

The current septic was designed for peak flow with infiltrators adequate for a 6-bedroom house (2 people per bedroom). The permit was issued for a 2-chamber 1,250 gallon tank. A 1,500 gallon tank would have been preferable, but since the permit has already been issued, an additional tank upstream should not be needed. Once the leach field is repaired and topsoil added it should be largely sufficient. John will apply for a repair permit with an experimental component for the wetlands.

The wetland will be about 480 to 520 square feet. A standard pump, using less than one hp will be placed after the wetland to pump water for irrigation

Action Items:

1. All drawings should be sent to Jeff labeled as Design for Bid, dated September 11, 2009, and paged appropriately, in addition to company logos.

2. Cameron will provide the pump electrical specs to Brent. Cameron and Lisa will provide water catchment schematic drawings asap.

3. John will provide the electrical specs of the pump he is intending to use to Brent.

4. Michael, Lisa and Emmanuelle will review the current aquaculture tank design and provide a cost estimate within the next two weeks.

Minutes – Conference Call Sept. 3rd, 2009

Conference call Thursday, September 3, 2009, 8:30- 9:15 a.m.

Michael, Jeff, Lisa, Emmanuelle

Lisa discussed the progress of the water catchment system, and the need for heat under the front of the green house to melt and collect snow during the winter. Brent suggested running a solar thermal loop to dump excess heat from solar panels.

Cameron and Lisa need another week to finalize drawings. The landscape design around the greenhouse, and monitoring of Elkstone Greenhouse throughout the winter will help fine tune the water catchment design.

Brent is done with his drawings, and Jeff is about done with the engineering.

Samples of different possibilities of planting bed walls are posted. Jeff suggested a structural cap wide enough to sit. Amy, Lisa, and Emmanuelle will review various possibilities.

Question for Brent: Would it be acceptable to run the geothermal pipes through the garage, which would be more direct? On the current drawings, they are shown outside?

Next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, September 11, 8:30 a.m. All the drawings should be submitted to Brent. The entire team is invited to join the meeting and give a brief explanation of respective designs.

wall options:

Wall options:

There are many wall options out there, here are just a few examples. There are a few things to consider as we have curvy walls and so only a certain amount of materials will take this form easily. We also have the concern of bed space and need walls which are thin 4-6 inches at the most. The walls are also in a wet moist environment, and will need to be of a good material.

A few more ideas that are not represented above would be a flat metal wall with shapes of colored sheet metal added as a collage on top, mimicking tile and adding color. a concrete stem wall with a covering of your choice, american clay plaster for example, an earth wall, etc... I am still collecting images as I don't feel we have found the perfect solution yet. I keep scouring the hills of san francisco to find options too( as there is alot of retaining and space maximizing).

Minutes from 08.18.09

Participants: Kevin, Jeff, Brent, Emmanuelle, Jerome, Michael, Lisa

Date: 08.18.09

Summary of Discussion:

1. Water Catchment 

After careful review, we will have two separate systems: One on the east side of the house and one in front of the greenhouse. The east collection tank will be installed once the greenhouse tank is installed and we determine our water needs. This will be phased  and given time to be refined.

Presently we  need to know water usage inside and outside. Neil is tracking water use for the summer and the fall,  before and after irrigation. We should have a good sense of water usage by winter.

Over the next few months we need to figure out  current irrigation zone with TJ and determine our approach with the new landscape.

Lisa will also monitor water use at Elkstone Farm greenhouse , to decide on needs and interior system pumps, as they are having challenges with the gravity fed system. 

Cameron and Lisa will work on sizing the lower tanks to be ready for digging in the springs, and will coordinate with solar thermal.

Jeff will need information for final drawing to provide pricing as early as possible. Lisa and cameron will estimate tank size and a range estimate for the systems.

2. Energy 

1)Updated energy calculations are completed. The only other outstanding issues are any electrical requirements for catchment?

               -have allotted a limited number of contingency yearly (800) kWH

2)Current PV array size 15.7 kW dual axis including LED and lighting updates, allowing 1/2kw panels for contingencies. steamboat has an average of 240 days of sunny days, geothermal still has to be sized for peak load with 15 wells.

The cost of installation for 15 holes is too high. Kevin would like no more than 10 holes. We May need 200-400 gallon storing tank for solar thermal in addition to 200-400 gallon storing tank for geothermal.Kevin and Amy are very much willing to adjust their use of appliances and hot water to minimize peak load. Already they do not use multiple showers at the same time. Brent thinks that 10 wells might be reasonable (the TC test could also allow for lesser holes). Solar thermal 7 feet hight by 25 feet to fit on southern roof side.

3)Geo Loopfield Maximum is at 15 vertical wells (includes the peak for hot water, and limited Greenhouse heating). 

Vertical holes will fit, need to coordinate with landscaping

               -as low as 10 without peak hot water needs

               -48 evacuated cylinders will generate enough yearly hot water BTU’s, but some days are cloudy, especially in winter

               -242/365 average sunny days/year = 1/3 time will rely on boiler/geo therefore 15 wells are recommended

               -TC test may yield better numbers – shall we schedule for this fall?

4)Any other electrical needs?  Final call before I forward numbers to Susan.

 

5)Coordinate all services & piping with all other specialties

               -schedule?

Brent would like to produce final  set of schematic drawings for more accurate estimates,  so that solid numbers are there to jump off of. 

 3. Climate Battery Design

Michael reviewed drawings, there is also a radon detector... Jerome suggests that air is moving so much that is not a problem. But it it is not much cost to include a radon detector. Jeff recommends putting in the radon detector

Control panels will be specified through Wadsworth,  controls as they will be to combine all and control with a small computer. Jeff likes the cleanness and simplicity and is much more straight forward. 

Shade panels are necessarry for extreme temperatures, shade during hot days and insulate during cold days.

Planting walls could be built with metal, concrete and/or  mesh and stucco/plaster, which could be covered with tile. Longevity, toxicity and maintenance will need to be considered.

3 drawings 

4 intake raisers

3 exhaust risers

Action items:

1. Brent will provide drawing for 100% in about 2 weeks. 

2. Lisa and Cameron will submit a draft schematic designs for watercatchment for the s

3. Emmanuelle will schedule a visit Elkstone Farm to view shades, walls and planting

4. Lisa will provide material's collage for planting bed wall by Sept 1st

Agenda August 18th, 2009

Agenda August 18th , 2009

1. Water Catchment: (15 min) Lisa will review conversations with Cameron, Jeff and Neil. Discussion will include indoor and outdoor water consumptions. We will also discuss catchment design with two system specific areas and future use.

2. Energy: (15 min) Brent will provide an update on The following:

a) Updated energy calculations

b) Pv array sizing

c) Geothermal

d) Other electrical needs

e) Coordination with other specialities/scheduling?

3.GreenHouse: (15 min) Michael will review new climate battery design( 15min)

4. MISC/Questions: (15 min)

Climate Battery Design

Here are drawings for the Greenhouse Climate Battery, pricing and construction. We should discuss the planting bed retaining design, which is only hinted at in these specs as a vertical flagstone system. The design we developed for the Elkstone greenhouse is of corrugated metal planting bed walls, with special brackets that are buried in the beds. If you've seen these and like them, we can add that detail to the drawings.

Download 24x36 Drawings

Conference Call Scheduled for 8:30a.m. mst Tuesday August 18th

Proposed Agenda:

1.      1. Water Catchment – Lisa

2.     2. Energy Load – Brent

3.     3. Greenhouse Design – Michael

4.     4. Misc.