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Whispering Creek Environmental Project & Learning Center Project Case Study
Whispering Creek Environmental Case Study
There is no one “silver bullet” for saving our environment. Our belief is that success will come through a collaboration education, technical projects and applications. Whispering Creek desires to serve as a model not only for building green but to model how modern technologies can be creatively used in existing and older/retrofit construction methods. The facility combined geothermal, solar and wind technologies coupled with energy reduction techniques; this included soy based insulation and LED lighting solutions. Whispering Creek desires to demonstrate a break even to the power grid and independence from typical fuel sources. The facility conducts education seminars on green technologies, land maintenance, restoration and education. Accordingly Whispering Creek desires to demonstrate the benefits of renewable energy, but also importantly how renewable energy fits into broader green building and land management practices. Whispering Creek is dedicated to fostering environmental awareness, including corroborated LED seminars conducted by specialists at Green Lighting LED.
Whispering Creek History
Patrick Cassiday was the original builder of the log and timber frame building currently relocated in Bedford, PA. A native of Ireland, he came to America as an indentured servant to a British officer. Patrick fought in the Revolutionary War-on our side. In that he was an educated man, he became a surveyor and a self-made wealthy business man. A main indication of his wealth is the height of the cabin ceiling at approximately 10 feet high for the main floor. Only wealthy people of the day could have paid to have logs hand hewn to that wall height. His main floor housed his businesses with family living in the second floor. Located on the only north/south road, his building served as a road house where meals could be purchased and tolls paid to use the road
After the Revolutionary war, Cassiday surveyed the already settled land in the area. Land was informally marked by slashes on property corner trees. These were honored by settlers passing through but not by the courts of the day. Patrick surveyed all land, settled or not and registered the property in his name in the court house. He then offered to sell the land to the settlers who had already cleared the land and were living on it. Needless to say, he was not a popular person with many.
Patrick’s building was the authentic “green building design” in function and form. Utilizing what nature had given them on site; the foundation was made with rocks from the property. Renewable trees were felled, hand hewn and stacked to make the walls. Chips from the hewing process were used between the logs. Food was kept in a spring house and was also smoked or otherwise saved from spoilage.
In 1998, thirty acres of land was purchased with private funds in Bedford. During the spring of 2001, the cabin that once housed Patrick Cassiday and his family was moved 35 miles from its original location, log by log. The logs were carried on a truck, south on Route 220, to their new resting place. The reconstruction of the cabin and the design of the property were both modeled after the original, and built with the “green building design” and LEED criteria in mind.
Trees killed by Gipsy moths were “harvested” from the property for timber framing, flooring, cabinets and counter tops. Surface rocks from the property were used as “noggin” or filler between the timbers. An old riffle bullet can be found lodged above one of the doorways in the original timber as well as various other buck shots where the hunter missed his target. Other recycled materials were used in the construction including the foundation. Finishes were used with low VOC’s. Whispering Creek also uses an artesian well that provides water to the property. The well is also used for irrigation to water the 1500 native trees which were replanted over the past years.
Whispering Creek was designed as corporate retreat center with reconstructed with LEED criteria. The property also serves as a hands-on environmental learning center. In January of 2009, Whispering Creek was awarded the prestigious Green Harvest Energy Grant, allotting the company $200,000 dollars to become further eco-friendly. The goal was to become not only energy neutral but to give energy back to the existing power grid.
Whispering Creek Energy Consumption Study
Site Responsible/ Site Selection and Limits to Growth: Whispering Creek is located on 30 acres of overgrown farm land. The land is poor with little top soil and had not been farmed for approximately 80 years. The building was located south facing and with minimal impact to existing trees, minimal earth work, and improvement to natural water management.
Energy Consumption and Utilization: Whispering Creek initially utilized grid tie electricity, and wood and fuel oil for heat with a three year annual average electrical usage of 5702 KWH per year prior to the environmental transition. Fuel oil consumption estimate average is 1500 gallons per year. Fire wood averaged 3 cords of wood per year. In 2009, Whispering Creek was able to install the following:
LED Lighting Projections
Furthermore, given that 130 incandescent light bulbs have been replaced with LED’s with a projected electrical lighting savings of 80% will further decrease the electrical consumption moving forward. The downstairs lighting included 53 dimmable 50 watt incandescent PAR20 lamps. Green Lighting LED replaced the PAR lamps with a dimmable LED PAR20 with UL certification, using only 6 watts. With an estimated 0.08 per kilowatt hour, Whispering Creek projects savings of $500 in energy every year with total savings of $14,000 dollars. The downstairs lighting has been effectively reduced by 88%. Upstairs 50 watt incandescent bulbs were replaced using a 9 watt LED, an energy reduction of 82%.
The control room for Whispering Creak replaced a total of 8, 40 watt fluorescent tubes with 19 watt LED tubes. The LED bulbs used no ballasts, generating a total energy reduction of 66% by switching from fluorescents to LED tubes. Outdoor LED floodlights, chandelier bulbs, and nightlights also were installed in the facility.
Utility Electrical Consumption Response
Installed were solar and wind co-generation systems with an annual projected electricity output of 8,300 kWh based on PV Watts2 analysis for non-shaded dual axis tracking in Bedford, PA and a VAWT rated to be 2,000 kWh at 5.4 m/s average wind speed. This results in a combined total rated annual renewable energy production of 10,300 KWH or almost twice the average annual electric consumption.
Energy co-generation through solar consists of a total of 24 module solar array and is rated at 5.52 KW. Each tracker will hold 12 modules or 2.76 KW. Annual projected electricity output is 8,300 kWh based on PV Watts2 analysis for non-shaded dual axis tracking in Bedford, PA. The Wind turbine rated at 1.2 KW. Average annual energy production is projected to be 2,000 kWh at 5.4 m/s average wind speed. This results in a combined total rated renewable energy production of 10,300 KWH as compared to a three year history of 5489 KWH annually consumed. This result in slightly less than double the annual average electricity produced as compared to being consumed with the balance tied to the grid.
Whispering Creek also consumed on average three cords of oak firewood and approximately 1700 gallons of #2 heating oil. Through conversion formulas, the firewood and heating oil equate to 21,975 and 62,262 annual KWH respectively. These two heating fuels combine for a total of 84,237 KWH annually. It was decided to install a 5 ton water to water geothermal heating and cooling system to offset the emissions, address lack of efficiency and other less than desirable factors of the existing heating system and to add air cooling. The geothermal system is rated to consume 9375 KWH annually (8125 KWH to heat and 1250 KWH to cool). This results in significant emission reductions, as well as an efficiency gain achieving building heating and added cooling using 74, 862 less KWH of equivalent electricity. Based on $.08 per KWH, the geothermal system is projected to cost $750 ($650.00 heating and $100.00 cooling) per year to operate.
Conclusion
In summary, the Whispering Creek renewable energy model is designed to achieve the following:
- Produce 10,300 KWH of new renewable energy that is grid tied
- Reduce 74,862 KWH through install of clean and efficient geothermal measures
- Further reduce KWH consumption through LED’s, improved insulation and geothermally heated domestic water. It is difficult to project the impact of these areas as lights and domestic water heating are not individually metered. However, these two areas represent two of the three largest property electrical consumption points.
Education
Whispering Creek partnered with various groups to co-sponsor outreach events. This allowed Whispering Creek access to their membership and marketing lists but more importantly served to link the regional like- minded organizations and elevate the green movement. In doing so, we were able to further cultivate thought and action from regional leaders to help shepherd a new era where humanity works in concert with the natural environment. This philosophical position is more comprehensive than renewable energy movement and allowed Whispering Creek to serve as a site where other “green” groups can promote their initiatives AND showcase a zero net or better energy model.
- Whispering Creek has served as a regional clearing house for community, business and educational institutions on green and renewable resources. Numerous new projects have been cultivated as a result of the project. Examples include:
- Local engineer is constructing a new home using passive solar design
- Distribution center has installed 50KW of roof top solar panels
- Business owner installed solar thermal system for all domestic water use including swimming pool heating
- Whispering Creek was able to demonstrate a living –working model of community based renewable energy. With the working mode, rural and urban communities have been influenced to understand and participate in small scale renewable energy design.
The Energy Harvest grant renewable project through Whispering Creek was able to develop a comprehensive resource of vendors for successful project completion and share that team with others who were wishing to complete renewable energy project, including LED education seminars by Green Lighting LED.