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What watt?

Part Three of a Series: “We have met the enemy and he is us” introduces the topic of the impacts of a “dewatering system” on the infrastructure of a city. Part II “It’s all related” continues the discussion with the impacts on water and rivers.

So what does a water issue have to do with energy? Simple, you may recall from the previous posts, that the new Marriott Hotel being constructed in downtown Indianapolis has a parking garage that is three floors below grade (underground). The third floor extends below the top of the water table which required the installation of four pumps to extract the water and send it into the sewer system. These pumps run 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year (and sometimes 366).

Now, I don’t know what types of pumps are installed in the Marriott or the size of the pumps nor am I an electrical engineer. However, it is reported that they are pumping a total of 1,200 gallons per minute, or 300 gallons per minute per pump. I doubt very seriously that they sized the four pumps right at 300 gpm, but let’s say for a minute they did. A quick internet search finds that a typical industrial dewatering pump capable of pumping 300 gpm requires about 460 volts of electricity and draws about 20 amps. That is the equivalent of 9.2 kWh (kilowatts per hour). Four pumps running 24 hours a day comes to about 900 kWh every day. As a comparison, the average American family uses 938 kWh every day. So, every day, the pumps use enough electricity to power a house.

As I mentioned, they probably did not size them at the bare minimum. Perhaps they put in 600 gpm pumps. One of those pumps uses 460 volts and draws 54 amps. That is almost 25 kWh per hour per pump. Four pumps running 24 hours a day would use about 2,400 kWh a day, or enough to power about 2.5 households.

We can’t have a discussion about energy use without mentioning CO2 emissions. This amount of electricity produces from 236 metric tons of CO2 a year on the low end to 629 metric tons on the high end. That is the equivalent CO2 of between 43 and 115 cars on our roads…from the dewatering pumps of one building in one city.

And since 96% of Indiana’s electricity comes from coal, consider the other impacts of burning coal…air pollution (beyond carbon), water pollution, sludge creation and storage.

There are indirect energy impacts as well. Since all of this water is being pumped (presumably) into the Combined Sewer system it has to be processed as wastewater. A typical wastewater treatment plant burns 6,000 kWh of electricity to process each million gallons of water. As we know, these pumps are flushing 1,728,000 gallons a day into the system or about 630,720,000 gallons a year. How does 3,784,320 kWh of power sound? That’s almost 11 more households of electricity. And carbon? How does another 2,195 metric tons of carbon sit with you? ANOTHER 400 cars!

Keep in mind; this is all to move water that didn’t have to be moved in the first place!

Stayed tuned for the final installment in this series, “Killing me softly with…PVC”.

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What watt?

Part Three of a Series: “We have met the enemy and he is us” introduces the topic of the impacts of a “dewatering system” on the infrastructure of a city. Part II “It’s all related” continues the discussion with the impacts on water and rivers.

So what does a water issue have to do with energy? Simple, you may recall from the previous posts, that the new Marriott Hotel being constructed in downtown Indianapolis has a parking garage that is three floors below grade (underground). The third floor extends below the top of the water table which required the installation of four pumps to extract the water and send it into the sewer system. These pumps run 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year (and sometimes 366).

Now, I don’t know what types of pumps are installed in the Marriott or the size of the pumps nor am I an electrical engineer. However, it is reported that they are pumping a total of 1,200 gallons per minute, or 300 gallons per minute per pump. I doubt very seriously that they sized the four pumps right at 300 gpm, but let’s say for a minute they did. A quick internet search finds that a typical industrial dewatering pump capable of pumping 300 gpm requires about 460 volts of electricity and draws about 20 amps. That is the equivalent of 9.2 kWh (kilowatts per hour). Four pumps running 24 hours a day comes to about 900 kWh every day. As a comparison, the average American family uses 938 kWh every day. So, every day, the pumps use enough electricity to power a house.

As I mentioned, they probably did not size them at the bare minimum. Perhaps they put in 600 gpm pumps. One of those pumps uses 460 volts and draws 54 amps. That is almost 25 kWh per hour per pump. Four pumps running 24 hours a day would use about 2,400 kWh a day, or enough to power about 2.5 households.

We can’t have a discussion about energy use without mentioning CO2 emissions. This amount of electricity produces from 236 metric tons of CO2 a year on the low end to 629 metric tons on the high end. That is the equivalent CO2 of between 43 and 115 cars on our roads…from the dewatering pumps of one building in one city.

And since 96% of Indiana’s electricity comes from coal, consider the other impacts of burning coal…air pollution (beyond carbon), water pollution, sludge creation and storage.

There are indirect energy impacts as well. Since all of this water is being pumped (presumably) into the Combined Sewer system it has to be processed as wastewater. A typical wastewater treatment plant burns 6,000 kWh of electricity to process each million gallons of water. As we know, these pumps are flushing 1,728,000 gallons a day into the system or about 630,720,000 gallons a year. How does 3,784,320 kWh of power sound? That’s almost 11 more households of electricity. And carbon? How does another 2,195 metric tons of carbon sit with you? ANOTHER 400 cars!

Keep in mind; this is all to move water that didn’t have to be moved in the first place!

Stayed tuned for the final installment in this series, “Killing me softly with…PVC”.

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It’s all related!

In my previous post “We have met the enemy and he is us“, I discussed the “dewatering system” that was built for the new Marriott Hotel in downtown Indianapolis and the impact this system will have on the Combined Sewer Overflow system. Today, let’s examine some of the other impacts this system and others like it have on our environment.

John Muir once said “When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.” What this means is all of the systems in nature are interrelated and changes in one area can have dramatic impacts in others, in other words, when we try to outsmart nature, we inevitably screw something else up! This “dewatering system” is an excellent example; there are impacts, not only to the water systems, but also to energy, carbon emissions, human health and wildlife survival.

Water – Forget the fact that these pumps are taking what could be perfectly good drinking water (or at the very least perfectly good “process” water) and flushing it down the drain, there are other impacts to the water systems. Because the parking garage in this example was built below the water table, pumps run continuously to pump the naturally occurring groundwater into the sewer system. The effect of this pumping is to lower the water table in the area, and potentially in a large surrounding area. When the water table is lowered several things occur. First, anyone in the area that is using well water will find that their wells go dry as the water table lowers, thus requiring them to dig their wells deeper, sometimes at great expense. Next, as the water table lowers, water, being water, will follow the path of least resistance and begin to “fill in” the area. This means groundwater from a larger area will begin to move thus impacting larger and large areas. In some cases, nearby wetlands and rivers could begin to drain and dry up.

In addition, as the water table lowers, plant life that is dependent upon that water will begin to die out as its root system can no longer reach its water source. This may require additional irrigation to keep the plants alive which adds to the vicious cycle and strain on the water system. In some cases, invasive plants will migrate into the spaces left behind by the dying plants. Wildlife that depends on the native plants will die out or migrate to other areas due to lack of food.

Among the impact caused by lowering the water table is subsidence. Because the presence of ground water creates hydraulic pressure, it is able to support the weight of the soil, rock, AND BUILDINGS above it. Removing the groundwater will cause a “sinking” or settling of the earth above it. Don’t believe me? The city of San Jose is THIRTEEN feet lower today than it was 100 years ago. The problems in New Orleans were exacerbated in part by subsidence caused by the extraction of groundwater over the last century. What will be the impact to the buildings as the ground around them SINKS? They too will sink and settle causing foundation problems, and other structural and non-structural issues throughout the building or HOME!

River – While we are talking about water, let’s look at the impact on the river. According to the senior manager on the project for Marriott, the water was going to the river any way, well was it? Ground water is replenished by rain water, surface water, AND NEARBY RIVERS AND STREAMS. This water may have COME from the river not be on its way TO the river. As the water table lowers, the river could try harder and harder to refill the void, eventually drying up the river. It has happened before folks! However, let’s assume for the moment that the manager was right and the water was heading to the river. By “speeding up the process” the ecosystem of the river will be changed. Rather than the water slowly filtering through the ground (and being naturally cleaned and filtered along the way) it will be blasted into the river. This will lead to increased erosion as the water speed is faster than is natural. The increase in erosion will lead to additional sediment in the water (already the number one pollutant in Indiana). This increase in sediment will begin to kill off the fish and plant life in the river as they can no longer find food or the food dies off because of lack of sunlight that is now blocked by the sediment. In addition, many of the organisms that serve a key role in the food chain are impacted by even slight changes in water temperature. Because this water did not reach the river naturally, it will change the temperature of the water.

Energy – What a minute, I thought we were talking about water here, what does that have to do with energy? In my next post we will discuss the energy impacts (both direct and indirect) of the “dewatering systems”.

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Black Liquor – A Bitter Drink

I had never heard of Black Liquor until a colleague told me about it a few weeks ago (though I do confess to drinking several Black Dogs with some locals in a bar in Mumbai India a few years back…but that is another post!). Turns out, Black Liquor is not a drink at all, but is VERY bitter to swallow.

We’ve all heard of the bank bailout, we’ve heard of the auto industry bailouts, who knew we were bailing out the paper mill industry? Who knew they even need bailing out? Who knew we were bailing them out to the tune of $4 billion a year?

In 2005 congress enacted a law as part of a highway bill that would provide a tax credit to companies that would mix alternative fuels with fossil fuels. This tax credit provided a 50 cent per gallon tax credit OR DIRECT PAYMENT. The Joint Committee on Taxation estimated that this credit would cost the US Taxpayers (me and you) about $61 Million. Now, dear reader, how would YOU interpret the intent of this law? Any sane person would think something that is part of a highway bill would apply to vehicles, right? Any logical person would think the intent of this bill was to reduce the amount of fossil fuels used, right? I think even my dear friend Jay would agree that those are both logical conclusions.

Ok…put that on hold for a minute, while I tell you about Black Liquor. Black Liquor is a byproduct of the paper pulp making process (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_liquor). Since the 1930’s paper mills have been using Black Liquor as a fuel to create energy for their plants. Truly green, before green was cool! Before the recovery boiler was invented in the 30’s this Black Liquor was dumped in to streams and rivers killing off untold numbers of aquatic life. Some mills now achieve over 99% recovery and reuse of this byproduct. In fact US mills produce about 28.5 megawatts of electricity from the burning of this byproduct.

So, all you environmentalists are feeling pretty good about this about now…but as Paul Harvey used to say…in a moment the rest of the story.

Somewhere in 2007, some corporate bean counter had a brilliant idea. “What if we take diesel fuel and MIX it with the Black Liquor? It will still burn in our boilers…AND we will qualify for the Alternative Fuel Tax Credit. WHAT? You are going to take a process that used zero, zip, zilch fossil fuels and introduce the burning of fossil fuels so you can get a tax credit, a refundable tax credit at that (read…a direct payment). An average mill burns about 175 million gallons of black liquor, which equates to about 90 million bucks you and I are giving them! 90 Million bucks to an average mill and the entire program was only supposed to cost 61 million! My guess is that some of the folks that own these paper mills are the some folks complaining about the mounting federal deficit, decry government bailouts and think they pay too much in personal income tax! Hypocritical?

And now? We have Canada ticked off at us! Canada! Mad at us! Their mills don’t get part of this “bail out”! In fact, this practice has lead to layoffs in Canada. (think how outraged WE would be if it were reversed!)

Congress has a lot of issues in front of it when it returns from summer vacation…health care reform, the American Clean Energy and Security Act and countless others. Please express your feelings to your representatives…let them know they need to close this loop hole to stop the bail out of the paper industry!

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Mow Your Lawn with a Lizard!

No, this is not another post about the Lizard King, Jim Morrison, based on the lack of hits THAT post received I don’t think even my mother read it! This is about my favorite new yard tool! I have been searching for years for a way to take care of my yard and not burn gas to do it. Short of ripping out all the turf grass and replacing it with native plants and grasses, which neither my wife nor my HOA will allow, I have been stymied.

Years ago I tried using one of those throwback mowers. You know the kind, the reel mowers, the kind used before gas powered engines. That experiment did not work. Just ask my son, JT, who was just old enough to help dear old dad with the yard work. Our yard was too big, had too many bumps, twigs, rocks and other things that would get stuck in the blades as they spun bringing the mower, and the mow”er” to an abrupt stop. So we gave up on that idea, donated the reel mower to Goodwill and went back to the old Briggs and Stratton. But…my quest continued.

Fast forward about a decade and half. My wife and I were touring the Smart Home at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry (Read More) when we reached the garage, there it was, in the corner, next to the hydrogen powered car, The Neuton, a battery powered lawn mower (Read More). I swear there was a bright light from the heavens and a celestial chorus. (Ok, maybe it was just the solar powered lights in the garage and the radio, but hey, it’s my story). I knew right then and there, I had to have one.

Since it was autumn and it didn’t make much sense to take advantage of the six month money back guarantee when there wasn’t anything move, I anxiously awaited spring. In March, I placed my order. I was concerned about the size of my yard, so I ordered the larger of the two models and an extra battery, and of course I had to have the accessory pack which includes a weed trimmer/edger that attaches to the mower itself…how cool is THAT? Now before you shake your head at my wanton consumerism let me assure you, my current mower was over 10 years old, need significant repairs, AND I ordered one of the used, refurbished models.

I was like a kid at Christmas when it arrived, tore open the box and assembled it right there in the family room. It was a thing of beauty. I don’t know what was used and refurbished about it, it looked brand new!

A few days later it finally stopped raining and I gave it a whirl. It does a tremendous job on the yard. We have about 7,000 square feet of yard and it breezed right through it. I was glad I had ordered the extra battery for trimming, but to mow the yard itself I can do it with one charge. The trimmer attachment does take a little getting used to, but once I got the hang of maneuvering the mower with the trimmer attached it did a great job as well.

One of the amazing things about this mower is how quiet it is. As I am pushing it, I can actually hear the blade cutting through the grass. When my neighbor is mowing at the same time, I can hear the roar of his engine above the sound of the Neuton. I have even startled my wife as she works in the yard because she can’t hear me coming.

As for my old mower, after one time of using the Neuton, I donated the old mower. It’s now almost the end of May, two months into the mowing season here in Indiana, and I have yet to use any gas to mow or trim my yard. The batteries charge in about 24 hours and use just pennies of electricity. If you are looking for a way to reduce your carbon foot print or to stop fooling around with gas cans, I highly recommend the Neuton Mower. They even throw in a stylish ball cap with the lizard logo on it, so now Jim Morrison is not the only Lizard King!

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Mow Your Lawn with a Lizard!

No, this is not another post about the Lizard King, Jim Morrison, based on the lack of hits THAT post received I don’t think even my mother read it! This is about my favorite new yard tool! I have been searching for years for a way to take care of my yard and not burn gas to do it. Short of ripping out all the turf grass and replacing it with native plants and grasses, which neither my wife nor my HOA will allow, I have been stymied.

Years ago I tried using one of those throwback mowers. You know the kind, the reel mowers, the kind used before gas powered engines. That experiment did not work. Just ask my son, JT, who was just old enough to help dear old dad with the yard work. Our yard was too big, had too many bumps, twigs, rocks and other things that would get stuck in the blades as they spun bringing the mower, and the mow”er” to an abrupt stop. So we gave up on that idea, donated the reel mower to Goodwill and went back to the old Briggs and Stratton. But…my quest continued.

Fast forward about a decade and half. My wife and I were touring the Smart Home at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry (Read More) when we reached the garage, there it was, in the corner, next to the hydrogen powered car, The Neuton, a battery powered lawn mower (Read More). I swear there was a bright light from the heavens and a celestial chorus. (Ok, maybe it was just the solar powered lights in the garage and the radio, but hey, it’s my story). I knew right then and there, I had to have one.

Since it was autumn and it didn’t make much sense to take advantage of the six month money back guarantee when there wasn’t anything move, I anxiously awaited spring. In March, I placed my order. I was concerned about the size of my yard, so I ordered the larger of the two models and an extra battery, and of course I had to have the accessory pack which includes a weed trimmer/edger that attaches to the mower itself…how cool is THAT? Now before you shake your head at my wanton consumerism let me assure you, my current mower was over 10 years old, need significant repairs, AND I ordered one of the used, refurbished models.

I was like a kid at Christmas when it arrived, tore open the box and assembled it right there in the family room. It was a thing of beauty. I don’t know what was used and refurbished about it, it looked brand new!

A few days later it finally stopped raining and I gave it a whirl. It does a tremendous job on the yard. We have about 7,000 square feet of yard and it breezed right through it. I was glad I had ordered the extra battery for trimming, but to mow the yard itself I can do it with one charge. The trimmer attachment does take a little getting used to, but once I got the hang of maneuvering the mower with the trimmer attached it did a great job as well.

One of the amazing things about this mower is how quiet it is. As I am pushing it, I can actually hear the blade cutting through the grass. When my neighbor is mowing at the same time, I can hear the roar of his engine above the sound of the Neuton. I have even startled my wife as she works in the yard because she can’t hear me coming.

As for my old mower, after one time of using the Neuton, I donated the old mower. It’s now almost the end of May, two months into the mowing season here in Indiana, and I have yet to use any gas to mow or trim my yard. The batteries charge in about 24 hours and use just pennies of electricity. If you are looking for a way to reduce your carbon foot print or to stop fooling around with gas cans, I highly recommend the Neuton Mower. They even throw in a stylish ball cap with the lizard logo on it, so now Jim Morrison is not the only Lizard King!

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Anatomy of a Bill

I am a resident of the great state of Indiana. Honestly, I do love the state, but it can be an extremely frustrating place to live for someone that loves the environment. Our state legislature had over a dozen or so bills authored during this session that were related in some way to the environment. Personally, I was tracking 14 different bills, for the record, I was in favor of 10 of them. Know how many actually passed and were signed into law? One, that’s right one. Ok, to be fair, there was one more that was passed, but has not been signed into law yet, so call it two.

The bill that passed? SB 423 – Substitute Natural Gas (SNG). Yes, the one bill that was passed and signed was for COAL! We are addicted to that stuff. In layman’s terms, substitute natural gas is made by processing coal and turning it into “natural gas” that can be used to generate power. My understanding is that it is cleaner because the CO2 is removed, as are the metals such as mercury. However, as is the case in non-sustainable processes the CO2 is buried (carbon sequestration) and the metals are disposed of with the coal slag. Now, both of those seem like problems to me. Let’s bury it. If we can’t see it, there must not be a problem. Does anyone remember Tennessee?

But, this is not about the merits (or lack thereof) of SNG. This is about dissecting the history of a bill that raises a lot of questions about our legislative process. Even if you aren’t from Indiana, my guess is that games like this are played throughout this country of ours.

Our story begins in 2007, with Leucadia, a multi-national speculative venture corporation that was looking to finance a SNG plant. Indiana passed legislation that would pass on the majority of the costs for the construction and operations of the plant to the Indiana ratepayers. What a deal! Where can I find an investment that provides a great rate of return AND somebody else has to make the original investment? So what did Leucadia give us Hoosiers in exchange for our generosity? They promised to build the plant in Indiana, thereby potentially creating Indiana jobs, and they promised to use Indiana coal.

In 2008, Leucadia was having a hard time nailing down the necessary land contracts for the site. They also failed to locate any Indiana coal contracts. Never fear, our Legislature is here! Legislation was passed to allow the plant to be built outside of Indiana and to remove the Indiana coal requirement. Now this is the good part, the tax abatements were left in place and the Indiana ratepayers still get to pay for it all and assume all the risk.

But our story doesn’t stop there. As 2009 dawned, the three Indiana Natural Gas Utilities had all backed out of negotiations with Leucadia to buy any of their SNG. What’s a company to do? They are getting ready to make a product that NOBODY WANTS TO BUY! But wait…that’s right, there STILL is the Indiana General Assembly. Let’s see what THEY can do. Now get this, what do they do? They create a new entity, the Indiana Finance Authority. They give this entity the authority to enter in a THIRTY year agreement to buy SNG from Leucadia, they require the same natural gas companies that didn’t want the SNG to deliver it, and yes, the ratepayers get to pay for it all.

So here we sit, the only state in the Midwest without a renewable energy standard, and we are putting millions into SNG to promote a product that no one wanted to buy in the first place. Before you know it we will be redefining renewable energy to include “clean” coal…oh wait…

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How I Missed Easter

It was Sunday morning. So, I did what I do on almost every other Sunday morning, I plodded downstairs, fired up the coffee maker, fed the cats, got the newspaper and flipped on the TV to watch CBS Sunday Morning. My wife soon joined me, and as she did, she handed me a card. CRAP! It was Easter and I hadn’t gotten her a card; in fact, it was a few minutes before I even realized WHY she was handing me a card in the first place. How had this happened? How had I forgotten Easter? How had I forgotten a major holiday, when, normally the whole famn damily descends upon us (just kidding, I LOVE doing dishes and cleaning the house! Really!)?

Let me tell you how…it seemed that I, in my infinite wisdom, had scheduled to sit for a major exam on Monday, the day following Easter. I scheduled to take the LEED Accredited Professional Exam on April 13 the day after Easter, AND almost as important, the day after The Masters. This exam is hard to describe, it is brutal (all those who are still planning on taking the test, you should probably turn your eyes from your computer monitors). This test covers the material found in a resource guide that is about 27 inches thick in about 4 point type and covers such exciting information as the pressure differential required between a designated smoking room and the rest of the building in order to control the containments in the air. So, instead of watching Tiger and celebrating the Easter holiday, I was studying.

Leading up to the final weekend, I read the resource guide cover to cover three times. I had read three other study guides and worked through the sample exercises and assignments. I had underlined, highlighted and agonized over every detail. Then I started getting the emails…the emails advertising the review classes. “Take our class and double your chances of passing the exam. Our students have a 30% success rate on the exam.” WHAT? Do you mean to tell me that typically 85% of the people that sit for the exam FAIL IT?!!? I better study harder!!

At the urging of my wife, I decided to take a practice exam on Friday night, in that way I would know what to study on over the weekend. So I sat down with the exam, checked the time (you only have two hours to complete the test) and read the first question. “){(ikfj;djm,k dl;ksfadjdlsa8973kk. Dfhsdofudkjdsfn nfd;jkldj lsdjfdlaf”. No, that is not a typo. That is EXACTLY what the first question looked like to me…and the second…and the third. When completed, I scored a whopping 51%. I guess I knew what to study now…EVERYTHING. (Passing on the exam is 170 out of 200 or roughly an 85%).

Saturday came and I tore into the books…Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy and Atmosphere, Materials and Resources, Indoor Environmental Quality, Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy and Atmosphere, Materials and Resources, Indoor Environmental Quality, Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy and Atmosphere, Materials and Resources, Indoor Environmental Quality, Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy and Atmosphere, Materials and Resources, Indoor Environmental Quality…

Saturday afternoon, I took another practice exam…78%….CRAP!!!! I reviewed the questions I missed to see if I could identify a pattern so I could focus on something…nope, all over the board. Early evening I tried again…81%…ok progress. Study, study, study, study. About 10 pm, I took another test….73% WHAT!??! Why on earth is an IT guy trying to learn this stuff? Exhausted, I dropped into bed for sleep. Yeah, right, sleep…The next morning, AFTER, not giving my wife a card, I went back at it. I took break to have lunch with the family at a local restaurant and bored them by reciting endless factoids from my studies. Probably reminded my sons of their childhood, when I would read them from computer text books (yes I AM a fun guy!).

After lunch, I studied a bit more then took another exam…83%. I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening studying all the materials again. I took one last practice exam and got an 81%. Monday dawned and I was back at it. Reviewing and re-reviewing the material. I walked into the testing center a bag of nerves. When the young lady behind the counter checked me in, she looked at the exam I was registered take and said, “Oh, you’re taking the hard one.” Oh great! Give me some confidence!

If you have gotten this far you are either a) related to me, b) getting ready to take this monster exam yourself, or c) like to watch train wrecks…but I have to say I passed! I have never been so relieved! I passed! (and yes Ryan, I over studied!) By the way…can anyone tell me who WON The Masters?

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How I Missed Easter

It was Sunday morning. So, I did what I do on almost every other Sunday morning, I plodded downstairs, fired up the coffee maker, fed the cats, got the newspaper and flipped on the TV to watch CBS Sunday Morning. My wife soon joined me, and as she did, she handed me a card. CRAP! It was Easter and I hadn’t gotten her a card; in fact, it was a few minutes before I even realized WHY she was handing me a card in the first place. How had this happened? How had I forgotten Easter? How had I forgotten a major holiday, when, normally the whole famn damily descends upon us (just kidding, I LOVE doing dishes and cleaning the house! Really!)?

Let me tell you how…it seemed that I, in my infinite wisdom, had scheduled to sit for a major exam on Monday, the day following Easter. I scheduled to take the LEED Accredited Professional Exam on April 13 the day after Easter, AND almost as important, the day after The Masters. This exam is hard to describe, it is brutal (all those who are still planning on taking the test, you should probably turn your eyes from your computer monitors). This test covers the material found in a resource guide that is about 27 inches thick in about 4 point type and covers such exciting information as the pressure differential required between a designated smoking room and the rest of the building in order to control the containments in the air. So, instead of watching Tiger and celebrating the Easter holiday, I was studying.

Leading up to the final weekend, I read the resource guide cover to cover three times. I had read three other study guides and worked through the sample exercises and assignments. I had underlined, highlighted and agonized over every detail. Then I started getting the emails…the emails advertising the review classes. “Take our class and double your chances of passing the exam. Our students have a 30% success rate on the exam.” WHAT? Do you mean to tell me that typically 85% of the people that sit for the exam FAIL IT?!!? I better study harder!!

At the urging of my wife, I decided to take a practice exam on Friday night, in that way I would know what to study on over the weekend. So I sat down with the exam, checked the time (you only have two hours to complete the test) and read the first question. “){(ikfj;djm,k dl;ksfadjdlsa8973kk. Dfhsdofudkjdsfn nfd;jkldj lsdjfdlaf”. No, that is not a typo. That is EXACTLY what the first question looked like to me…and the second…and the third. When completed, I scored a whopping 51%. I guess I knew what to study now…EVERYTHING. (Passing on the exam is 170 out of 200 or roughly an 85%).

Saturday came and I tore into the books…Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy and Atmosphere, Materials and Resources, Indoor Environmental Quality, Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy and Atmosphere, Materials and Resources, Indoor Environmental Quality, Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy and Atmosphere, Materials and Resources, Indoor Environmental Quality, Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy and Atmosphere, Materials and Resources, Indoor Environmental Quality…

Saturday afternoon, I took another practice exam…78%….CRAP!!!! I reviewed the questions I missed to see if I could identify a pattern so I could focus on something…nope, all over the board. Early evening I tried again…81%…ok progress. Study, study, study, study. About 10 pm, I took another test….73% WHAT!??! Why on earth is an IT guy trying to learn this stuff? Exhausted, I dropped into bed for sleep. Yeah, right, sleep…The next morning, AFTER, not giving my wife a card, I went back at it. I took break to have lunch with the family at a local restaurant and bored them by reciting endless factoids from my studies. Probably reminded my sons of their childhood, when I would read them from computer text books (yes I AM a fun guy!).

After lunch, I studied a bit more then took another exam…83%. I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening studying all the materials again. I took one last practice exam and got an 81%. Monday dawned and I was back at it. Reviewing and re-reviewing the material. I walked into the testing center a bag of nerves. When the young lady behind the counter checked me in, she looked at the exam I was registered take and said, “Oh, you’re taking the hard one.” Oh great! Give me some confidence!

If you have gotten this far you are either a) related to me, b) getting ready to take this monster exam yourself, or c) like to watch train wrecks…but I have to say I passed! I have never been so relieved! I passed! (and yes Ryan, I over studied!) By the way…can anyone tell me who WON The Masters?

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Kill-A-Watt – Revisited

Since I wrote about receiving a Kill-A-Watt for Christmas last year (see blog post “Kill-A-What?”) I have been bombarded with a slew of inquiries about our progress. (OK, really, one guy asked! But I didn’t even know he was a reader, so it was still cool. Thanks Mark!)

You may recall that I was driving my wife crazy by plugging in the Kill-A-Watt, seeing how much power the device was “stealing”, and then shutting it off. We now have power strips all over the house. In that way we can shut off things like the TV, but leave the cable box with the DVR powered up so we don’t miss Lost; or I can power down my home office but leave the printer and the print server active (yes I AM a geek and we have a home network with more computers than people!). We learned (uh, I learned) don’t shut the power off to the cable box in the bedroom, it takes 10 minutes to reboot and by the time its ready, Letterman is done with his monologue.

So how are we doing? Over the last three months we have reduced our monthly kilowatt usage by almost 17% when compared against the average of the last four years (weather corrected, of course). That’s pretty good, I think. It equates to about a 12% reduction in our bills. Rates have gone up. Oh, wait, let me correct that. Rates have not gone up (they are quite proud of that) but a bunch of extra fees have been added on top of the rates.

My goal was to reach 20% so that we would offset the 20% surcharge we pay to have 100% Green Energy. While I haven’t quite made it to that level yet, it is in reach. I think wrapping the main heat duct in the basement (it’s the warmest room in the house) and wrapping the hot water pipes might push us over the top.

Meanwhile, its spring and my mind has turned to our yard and yard work. I recently purchased a (used) Neuton Lawnmower. The Neuton is a battery powered mower…no gas and MUCH quieter. It even comes with a trimmer attachment, so theoretically I will be able to do my entire yard without burning any gas and for pennies in electricity. I can’t wait to get out and do the first mow. (However, as I write this it is 40 degrees and yesterday it snowed! Maybe by the weekend!

Other yard projects include a small wildlife habitat, complete with native grasses, plants and shrubs and my wife’s favorite…ground cover for some little critters (maybe those chipmunks will move out from under the deck)! In the meantime, it’s more topsoil and mulch than I care to think about at the moment.

Final touches for this year, includes a couple of rain barrels (if approved by the HOA) and perhaps a couple bald cypress trees.

I will let you know how it goes…but you know, if you aren’t doing anything a couple Saturdays from now…beer and burgers at my place…did I mention that top soil and mulch?

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