An Introduction to Biomass

An Introduction to Biomass.

Excellent summary of Biomass technology by Freya, from the Centre for Alternative Technology In Wales

Trafford Mill – keeping out the cold (and pigeons!)

I had an interesting meeting today along with Tim Hulse from EcoVert Solutions at Trafford Mill in Chester. It was used for milling grain until 1952 and the site has been used for this purpose since 1302. It has two water wheels, one a double spoke and the other a single spoke, an there is a significant amount of the workings in a good condition.

The building is now used as a base for TCV Cheshire (the conservation volunteers) who carry out conservation activities such as pollarding and hedgelaying in the area, and have their offices in the mill. The building until recently was heated by expensive electric storage heating and is as leaky as a sieve when it comes to air-tightness, so it is ripe for some energy efficiency measures. Even with the log burner running you still need a coat on indoors, which obviously isn’t ideal.

They have already had a biomass boiler (log burning) installed, which fits well with their ready supply of wood from their conservation work, and this has been the stimulus for the next phase of development – to insulate and draft proof the building (some gaps are so big they are letting pigeons in!) to make the most of the heat that the burner supplies

. This is where Tim and I step in – we will be able to provide guidance and expertise on how to do this without compromising the existing fabric of the building, using natural and sustainable materials. It’s an exciting and interesting project and I will keep the blog updated with progress.

Long time no blog!

It’s been several months since I last blogged, the main reason being that I have been busy working with EcoVert Solutions, a sustainable building company that I mentioned in an earlier post (http://renewingmycareer.wordpress.com/2012/08/23/ecovert-solutions-sustainable-and-sympathetic-developments/). So, here is a summary of what I’ve been up to.

Since October we have been working on four projects – one completed and three still ongoing. The first was a 1905 railway cottage on the Wirral that had serious damp issues having been rendered with sand and cement, leading to trapped moisture in the walls and creating problems internally. The solution was to remove the offending cement render and replace with a lime-based render system from Baumit, allowing the walls to breath and also providing flexibility that the cement render never had. The result was a reduction in internal humidity from 60-70% to 40-50%.

Existing render removed, waiting for new lime render

Completed lime render project

Elsewhere, we also have the following projects ongoing: refurbishment of a 1750′s property in near Chester, also to remedy damp issues caused by cement based flooring and internal render (theme developing here!). The existing concrete floor and internal plaster has been removed and we are awaiting listing building consent for a new limecrete floor, wood fibre insulation and lime render. After digging out the existing floor, we were called back by the owner several days later after he discovered that water was penetrating the walls and pooling in the floor (the inside ground level now being below outside). To remedy this we have had to lay a french drain to the rear of the property to divert water around the front of the house, not an easy task considering the narrow access to the property and the sandstone bedrock that the house sits on!

In the Rossendale valley, we have also been working on a project on a remote former farmhouse in a stunning setting high up on the valley side. This has involved insulation with hempcrete and hemp-lime plaster to retain some warmth in this previously bare-stone building. The property is a hotbed of sustainability, also using biomass and heat pump heating systems and LED lighting (with the owner being a former lecture in sustainability at Salford Uni, I guess this isn’t too much of a surprise!)

Stunning view down into Rossendale valley

Detail of the window reveal after hempcrete layer

Reveal after finishing coat of hemp-lime plaster

Finally, in Frodsham we have been working on a much more modern property – a 70′s house that has been suffering from a lack of adequate insulation. Barely any insulation in the loft and poorly fitted and low quality double glazing as well as cold bridges galore have left it feeling cold and draughty. The solution here is to use Kingspan between the rafters, and also kingspan-backed plasterboard over the top and on the external walls, and also aerogel-backed plasterboard around the windows and where space is tight. The existing double glazed windows and door unit will all be replaced with high-performing triple glazed units, increasing the comfort factor significantly.

Gaps around existing windows

Metal lintel creating cold bridge across window frame

Roof space before Kingspan inserted…

…and after. Insulated plasterboard to follow over the top.

Poor quality double glazing to be replaced with high quality triple glazing.

All really interesting projects and I look forward to going back and completing them over the coming weeks.

Are we nearly there yet?…

The answer is yes!

Over the last two weeks I have been on a quest to complete the energy reviews of the National Trust’s Welsh holiday cottages, looking at things like loft insulation, doors, windows, heating systems and general property condition. In the first week I was at several locations, including Llanerchaeron, Cwmdu, near Llandeilo and Haverfordwest. With all the travelling around, I managed to get 7 cottages done.

One of the highlights of the week was my visit to Dinefwr park, near Llandeilo, home to Dinefwr Castle and Newton House, and also two cottages, Penparc and Home Farm farmhouse. The castle itself has seen better days, but sits in a magnificent position, overlooking the surrounding countryside. Newton House is a stout-looking Victorian mansion set in beautiful open parkland with the handsome looking White Park cattle milling around and chewing the cud.

 

Newton House, Dinefwr

Dinefwr park with its distinctive White Park cattle

Week two saw me travelling down to Stackpole, way down in the south west of Wales in Pembrokeshire. this was a much more productive week, with all the properties within a stone’s throw of each other – all within a few hundred metres of Stackpole quay.

Stackpole Quay

Holiday cottages at Stackpole Quay

 

Without having to travel around between properties I managed to get 13 done, including three near Amroth, about half an hour away. These three properties are all right next to the NT’s Colby woodland garden, which is a lovely rural garden retreat with formal walled garden, meadow and woodland areas (and another great tearoom!).

Pembrokeshire truly is a special place and a great area to come for a holiday. I’ve wanted to visit for some time, and this has been the perfect excuse to come and have a look around.

I began writing this post while sitting in the Boathouse tearoom down by the quay which is betting a good battering today from the wind and waves. I’m enjoying a pretty substantial bacon nap and cappuccino. Make sure you call in here if you’re in the area, you won’t be disappointed by the portion sizes! I can also recommend the cream tea, which as you can see from the picture below is also popular with the local wildlife!

On the subject of food I also had a couple of visits to the Stackpole Inn, a tardis-like pub, looking tiny from the outside, but boasting plenty of space inside. I can thoroughly recommend the Cawl, a combination of succulent lamb and fresh root vegetables in a kind of broth, it’s a meal in itself.

Just a mile away from the cottages at Stackpole quay is the Stackpole centre, where I was based for the second week. The centre is recently renovated as has some interesting energy saving features that could be applied to the cottages I’ve been surveying. To start with, the windows and doors are really well sealed, with modern double glazing, making the place very heat efficient. The low wattage lights are also on movement sensors, meaning that lights only come on when needed and can’t be left on accidentally. The centre also has heating and hot water provided by a 350kW biomass boiler (that uses wood from the estate which has been felled to provide more area for the planting of native broad leaf species). It also has solar thermal panels to provide some of the heat for hot water. the biomass boiler has an LPG backup, but gladly, this has not needed to be used since the biomass system was installed, which is great to hear as I’ve heard of several systems that have been poorly specified and hence not been so effective.

Trompe l’oeil frieze inside the pergola at Colby

Walled garden at Colby

It has been a fantastic two weeks, discovering parts of Wales that I have not seen before, with some breathtaking coastal scenery and rugged mountainous terrain.

This now leaves just three cottages to complete the whole of the portfolio in Wales, then the analysis work can begin to see what steps can be taken to improve their energy efficiency, and reduce their environmental impact.

 

Famous for 15 minutes (in Wales)

Following on from an interview I did a few months back at NT North Wales HQ, here is the printed version, extracted from the Welsh National Trust members newsletter. Not my smartest outfit ever!

 

 

Holiday Cottages - Volunteer energy efficiency work continues

Reblogged from National Trust Going Green:

• 
• 

Thought it would be good to offer an update on the Environmental review work our volunteer Tom Eagle has been carrying out across National Trust holiday cottages following our earlier blog -

"Become a National Trust volunteer"

Tom's Mission ( and he chose to accept it) was to carry out more in-depth reviews across our Wales holiday cottage portfolio. Producing individual reports and plans - …

Read more… 143 more words

Well said Paul!

Elan Valley Hydro – Victorian engineering at it’s finest

Last weekend I had a short break in the Radnor area of Wales – a part of the country that I’ve only ever passed through before. I was a bit skeptical about what there could be to do there but I was pleasantly surprised. It is beautiful countryside and in places has a real remote and unspoiled feel  to it. On the advice of the campsite manager we took a trip to the nearby Elan Valley, one of the main attractions in the area. There are 4 large reservoirs over two valley systems that were created to supply Birmingham with water. At first I think my family were a bit reluctant to “go and look at some dams”, but when we had had a good look around I think they were converted. The upper reaches are stunning and very peaceful (until a boy racer decides to rally over the mountain), the pictures below don’t really do it justice.

I was really struck by the craft that had gone into the construction – particularly the upper dam at Craig Coch. This was completed in 1952, and was opened by QEII as one of her first engagements as monarch. To quote the famous phrase “they don’t make ‘em like they used to”. That probably makes me sound really old, but I think it’s true that you don’t get that kind of flair in building these days.

Upper dam at Craig Coch

One of the other highlights of the trip was to see some quality “chunky engineering”. One of the first things you see as you approach the visitor centre is a retired hydro turbine – a combination of a Pelton wheel and a Francis turbine. I’ve not see this before -perhaps the Pelton wheel is used to bring the RPMs up to a suitable speed for the Francis? Maybe someone can correct me on this? This turbine was rated at 247 BHP or roughly 185kW.

Retired Pelton/Francis turbine

The replacement turbine is rated at 800kW. Each of the dams has its own turbines and there is also a submersed turbine on the water outflow. The combined peak output of the scheme is 4.2MW. Not bad as a by-product of a water supply to a major city.

New turbine in the turbine house at Caban Coch – doesn’t have the smooth line of the original Gilkes machine

Craig Coch dam and reservoir

 

World’s largest bathtub

Craig Coch dam – the “plughole”

Wild countryside above Craig Coch

Unusual weather vane

 

 

 

 

EcoVert Solutions – sustainable and sympathetic developments

I recently met up with Tim Hulse from EcoVert solutions - a company that provides “House extensions, barn conversions and loft conversions which are in keeping with the original, and which, based on Passivhaus standards, go well beyond those built simply to current building standards in terms of energy saving and comfort”.

The company is less than a year old and is based in Chester so I asked Tim if we could meet up and discuss the possibility of me getting involved in his projects as I am keen to learn about sustainable building. The business also implement renewable energy tech where appropriate, and this is something I am also really interested in.

Tim invited me to the  ”Home, Restoration and Salvage Show ” at Cheshire showground last weekend to catch up and have a look at some of the materials he uses in his developments. As we sheltered from the rain he gave me a run down of the products on display.

Tim Hulse – reluctant model

See the pictures below for some samples of the materials Tim uses in his developments. He has a clear passion for historic buildings and using appropriate materials in their restoration. It’s an approach I can appreciate and I look forward to following the progress of the company as it grows and (hopefully) getting involved myself.

Hemp chips, as used in hempcrete

Pavatex wood fibre board with lime render finish

Rainwater harvesting equipment

Samples from Ty-Mawr, suppliers of sustainable and traditional building materials

 

 

 

 

Pedal Powered Party!

On Saturday 9th September, as part of the Cultural Olympiad, and coinciding with the closing ceremony of the Paralympic games, there will be a pedal powered party in Derby, UK. This will use the bicycle generators that were built by me and the other volunteers back in June and is the culmination of a series of events called ‘on your bike’ – a collaboration between Sustrans, Charity Shop DJ, Electric Pedals and Derby council It promises to be a great do with the generators powering sound systems for live bands and DJs as well as other performances. I might even take along my own generator to add to the power!

Info here:

http://www.charityshopdj.com/content/pages/projects/on_your_bike_2012.htm

Promo vid here:

http://youtu.be/XM5Lzsck0hs

Come along if you’re in the area!

On a roll(er)

An update on the pedal power project – the generator is now up and running thanks to a friend of mine who generously helped me out with some metal fabrication, using the metal workshop at his workplace. These parts are namely the roller that connects to the shaft of the motor on which the rear wheel rests, and a metal bracket to connect the motor to the frame.

Close up of generator

The generator is held against the wheel by two springs that I salvaged from a washing machine – this could do with refining slightly, but it will do for now. Component with the three prongs is a Schottky diode, which controls the flow of current in one direction only – to the battery. If this were not present, the charge in the battery would reverse the current flow and cause the motor to turn as in it’s normal operation. In my excitement at getting the system running I neglected to allow for the heating effect of the diode and melted two of them! The diode is now connected to the metal mounting plate, which acts as a heat sink and dissipates the heat energy to the air.

Stripping down and checking the motor (hammer wasn’t required!)

So far I have used the system to charge my phone, inflate an airbed using 12v pump and tested it using 12v halogen bulbs:

http://youtu.be/ZWgL240AY7M

I have also bought an inverter (converts 12v DC to 240v AC). This seems to be slightly faulty, but I have managed to use it to power a radio. The system now needs a bit of refinement to improve the quality but it is showing a lot of promise. I hope to rig up a small solar panel at home and combine it with this system to provide a trickle feed to the battery, then my garage will be off the grid!