Minutes – Conference Call July 9th

Conference call July 9th, 8:30 -10:30a.m.

Michael, Jeff, John & Emmanuelle

Survey

The survey will cost about $3,000-3, 500 and will be conducted next Monday and Tuesday, and electronic files provided the following Monday (1foot contour).  The survey areas include the hill around the 1^st infiltration gallery, around the wetlands, above the driveway where the geo fields might be located, the eastern side of the drainage ditch for water catchment purposes –from the cul de sac down the drainage, and around the aspen grove to the east end of where the solar array will be.

Aquaculture Tank

Gerome thinks that a 30inch deep tank will be sufficient to do aquaculture.

Michael believes that the tank will need to be drained and cleaned only every 3 years, and can be done manually by scooping everything out and carrying the slush in buckets to the planting beds.

The fish tank should never smell as the plants and fish balance every thing out.

Constructed wetlands

In drought when water has not be harvested much, we might have the option to manually pump the overflow up from the wetland. A tank below the wetland can be fed by gravity and drain with a spigot in the summer. 

Could the water also be used in the winter if pipes are buried low enough?

Water filtering area:

Behind the aquaculture tank, the rectangular area could be utilized for a filtration system inside the green house (the recessed area is about 4’ by 10’ and 30’’ deep; whereas the tank is 5’ by 17’ and 30’’deep). John suggested using a pond filter kit with a vertical flow constructed wetland and preassembled pump and filter, as in an aquarium.

The area is also sufficient to do a loop system that will keep the tank fresh.  A water feature/fountain could be installed with an aerator using the concept of a natural pool/waterfall with trickling water, which would also sound very nice!

The 4 by 10 area could be segmented, a portion for the waterfall, the other to filter ammonia and fish waste. The pump could be run by a separate solar panel, which would run only when the sun is out, and therefore not interfere with the house electric load.

Michael plans for the tank to have a rubber liner from Growing Spaces. John is also looking at using a spray-on material to line the tank, which can also be used on the green roof.

Climate Battery

The climate batteries transfer energy from the air to the soil beds, including the deeper soil bed under the mezzanine. The color-coated tubes refer to elevation; the yellow tube will be placed first, then backfilled, then the green tubes, the turquoise tubes, etc.  The red tubes go from an intake to an outtake riser with a fan.  In order for the system needs to be balanced, the tubing should not exceed 35 feet to avoid loosing too much heat and moisture.

We will probably use tubing with a mesh cover to avoid soil infiltration, particularly fine sandy soils.

The sound impact from the vents will not be bad- a larger exhaust manifold will reduce the sound.  Generally the fans in the summer will function earlier than in other seasons; we want the fans to turn on and come up to 45F and then when temperature passes 55F, to go down. 

Michael is in the process of revising the views. He will reduce tubing under the mezzanine, add more tubes between west planting beds and mezzanine, and simplify the design and color code.

Irrigation System

The irrigation system will be connected to tap water on an irrigation timer, with valves corresponding to different zones, and will also be tied to supplemental water.

The water catchment system will capture water from the driveway, roof and eastern portion of the property behind the garage. A storage tank out of the septic tank into the wetland infiltration gallery will also provide supplemental water for

irrigation and green house purposes.

Both systems should be connected and overflowing addressed.

A small gravity tank inside the greenhouse could be useful.

Action Items

1. John will keep us updated with his is research on a “green liner” to be used for the tank and for the wetlands.

2. Michael will provide irrigation schematic (details on layout of drip line to be provided by Lisa or Gerome later).

Michael will post a revised design of the climate batteries to view before next conference call.