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Hurd takes detailed approach to renewable energy systems Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Agri News staff writer
MASON CITY, Iowa -- Tom Hurd built a solar-powered radio when he was 10, and he has been working on renewable energy systems ever since.
Today the central Iowa farm boy is a Mason City architect and owner of Spatial Designs Architects and Consultants.
His home and office are as energy efficient as possible. The buildings were designed to be powered by hybrid solar and wind systems.
Hurd has since removed the wind turbine from his home and brought it to his office because his home isn't in a good location for wind. His company's office, which sits on the west side of Mason City at the edge of a farm field, is a great location for wind -- open and high ground. It's the 21st century version of "Little House on the Prairie."
In building the new office, Hurd melded renewable energy with an environmentally friendly design for a high performance building that can be expanded as needed.
The building has 16, 175-watt solar panels for a total of 2,800 watts of solar energy capacity, which can be doubled. A 60 amp solar controller can be expanded to 120 amps.
The facility has two wind turbines, one 1,000 watts and one 1,600 watts, with room for two more.
There are 7,200 watts of continuous read inverters that can be expanded to 14,400 watts. The system allows for automatic switchover to the utility for backup power. Eight 6-volt batteries can store a day's supply of electricity. A computer logs power collected and used.
Windows along the south wall of the building provide passive solar heating. Wing walls shade the building in the afternoon, offer wind control and provide privacy.
A 10,000 gallon retention pond in front of the building collects runoff water that provides irrigation for the lawn and plants and natural cooling for the building. Since the area is prone to flooding, the ponds help with flood prevention. The water also attracts birds and wildlife.
"My granddaughter loves the ducks," Hurd said.
Slip-resistant decking on a bridge that leads from the office building over the ponds to a grass paved parking lot was built out of recycled milk jugs.
The building also includes recycled tile in the bathroom, special lighting to reduce glare and energy consumption, variable air volume heating and cooling, motion detector activated security lights and low-consumption plumbing fixtures. The concrete floor is insulated and heated.
Solar and wind are great companions, Hurd said. When there is less wind there is more solar power and vice versa. The building's wind and solar provide 95 percent of power needs with the electrical grid as back up. In the past 5 1/2 months they've purchased just $8.50 worth of electricity. Hurd wants to develop a hydrogen system to use excess power to make and store hydrogen in fuel cells.
Hurd rides an electric moped to work and on short trips to the grocery store. The scooter is charged using solar and wind. In the past year, he saved $450 in gasoline by using the scooter instead of his car
"The gasoline savings makes up for the little bit of electricity and natural gas that we buy so we have a net-zero building," Hurd said. "We're producing all our own energy."
When the firm designed the building, they operated on a strict budget. It cost about $100 per square feet.
They tried to get multiple uses from the materials they used. The windows provide light, cooling in the summer and heat in the winter. A board room doubles as a tornado shelter. The thick walls, which can withstand up to 250 mile per hour winds, also provide thermal mass. The building has a demonstration grass roof that insulates and controls runoff.
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