Cope Environmental Center
Contents
Energy Use Monitioring
This is what we need to do to monitor our power use.
Links
Landscaping
General Landscaping
kentucky bluegrass-conventional, need lots of water and chemicals to thrive in our area "xeriscaping": landscaping that minimizes water demand -->proper soil prep, drought-tolerant plants, rainwater harvesting, mulching. Costs half as much as standard landscaped yards.
native species: beech tree http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/rdsduse/in.htm talk to stephanie about this
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/garden/07225.html
http://www.bobvila.com/ArticleLibrary/Subject/Energy_Efficiency/PlantSun.html
Landscaping for Wind
might be a concern for us because we are working with an older and leakier house. could reduce our energy use by 10-40 percent, depending on how windy it is in our area and how much draft gets in. -most effective windbreaks are trees or shrubs with low crowns and dense foliage -where to place them? -page 180 has placement of trees around hypothetical house evergreens for wind, deciduous for sun we want the evergreen upwind from house. rows of trees, one or more The optimum distance for reducing wind velocity is about one to three times tree height. http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/garden/07225.html
Landscaping for Heating and Cooling
trees can assist in cooling by the shade they produce and by the process of evapotranspiration deciduous treeson east and west sides of the house only in areas that are more than 60 degrees e or w of due south from the house. Don't place on south side where winter sun will be blocked from providing energy (even bare branches can block a lot of sunlight).
what is our "solar window"?-how much sunlight do we get per day based on our placement? http://oikos.com/library/energy_outlet/landscaping.html http://oikos.com/ http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/garden/07831.html
we need to think about how much space we have above and below ground for the vegetation to grow--tree roots can be very wide spread
vines on an arbor is another idea that could be cool solar screens awnings
Local Food Suppliers
clear creek coop oxford natural foods (on 9th st.)
