Conservatory News & Advice

As we mentioned in Part I, we were in the process of creating a “green” conservatory for a client.

A laundry list of issues had to be explored and dealt with for the final design.

Glass was the first big subject. Tremendous research and technology has been introduced to the glass industry in the last few years. More strict energy codes and consumer demands have resulted in the consumer being able to achieve nearly anything they want the glass to do.

In this case, efficient glass but plant loving glass was the challenge. Living plants thrive on certain spectrums of light. The trick was to design the glass to hit the necessary light spectrums. Once done, the necessary thermal glass was specified and added to the design. More information on plant loving, thermally efficient glass can be obtained by chatting with your ConservatoryCraftsmen representative.

We all knew that on any sunny day in the winter, the conservatory would heat itself. How is this heat going to be retained, to be re-distributed during the night time hours.

“Plants are like people,” Jerry Baker used to say. This is not always the case. Nighttime winter temperatures for plants that are in the 50’s Fahrenheit are ideal. Too much heat without enough daylight makes plants long and stringy.

In-floor hydronic heat tubes are being installed, which in the future, will hook up to solar collection panels and supplement with the high efficiency boiler to heat the floor. In the meantime, in-floor electric wires are to be installed to use the ‘off grid’ electricity to warm the floor and the plant roots. A base board heater is also installed in case of severe cold back-up.

The original stucco wall of the conservatory is to be retained to work as a’heat sink’ and store energy. In addition, one foot diameter, floor to ceiling water tubes will be filled with colored water to hold heat and slowly radiate that energy at night and create the effect of a Trombe wall. Contact us for more information on this green conservatory.

To see how these tubes work, and also how they can be used to make a solar chimney to cool your conservatory in the summer contact us.

Finally, dark tile will be installed on the floor to further absorb and radiate heat through the winter.

Energy saving and efficient blinds will be installed on the windows, so in the winter they will work to hold heat into the room. In summer, during the day, they minimize heat build-up. Thermostatically controlled roof vents will also release heat through the roof, when heat builds up in summer months.

A ceiling fan will be installed to keep air circulating, and not allow stagnant air to condensate on the windows and sills.

How is Paula planning to raise her vegetables? December 3rd, 2008 | Category: Green Conservatories | Leave a comment

Last July, Paula (www.ecologicalgardens.com) and her design team of Jon and Ted at (www.designfortyfive.com) contacted us with a project we were excited to embrace.

Paula, a well known writer, speaker and active ecological gardener wanted to continue vegetable gardening in the off-season in her Minneapolis home.

She and her husband Marc wanted to add a conservatory space but not jeopardize their commitment to ‘zero footprint’ living. The conservatory would have to perform well in the peak energy loads brought about by the severity of a Minnesota winter.

Paula and Marc have been working on energy efficiency and independence long before it became fashionable (once again).

Simple improvements to their home like insulation, energy efficient appliances and lights were followed by installation of a high efficiency boiler, and solar water panels to pre-heat tap water.

They even participate in a program offered by their local power company to participate in electricity generated by renewable resources (primarily wind power). By electing to pay a few pennies more for their Kilowatts, Paula and Marc buy only renewable electricity from their power company. Well, we all know that the power company does not come out with a ‘special’ power line for renewable electricity only, but they are in their own way contributing to the intake of renewable electricity.

The house has a second floor with perfect southern exposure on the 80 year old stucco home, so they presented the challenges to Designfortyfive to help them come up with an energy efficient plan to maintain energy stability and grow fresh, vitamin rich vegetables in the winter.

The teams met with Jim and Mike at Conservatory Craftsmen and were pleased to learn the ‘green’ (see our web site for explanation) duo-wall thermally broken aluminum met all international standards for energy code research. In addition, they were pleased that this material could be powdercoated brown to match the trim color that exists on the house.

So what details were employed in the design of this conservatory garden?
Look for the next blog entry as we discuss the details of the design.

Many of us share the disappointment that something as pure and clean as “green” has now become a buzz word for marketers to get your attention and make a profit.

Let’s keep it simple. If its “green,” that means it warms the planet less, uses less non-renewable fuel, creates a smaller carbon footprint, is renewable by itself, and, generally speaking, makes us all more aware that we have to conserve and that there may just be more than one generation hoping to inhabit this planet.

My father, who is now 96, often points out that in his lifetime we used up almost all the petroleum fuel it took millions of years to make!

So it is with this thought that we as a family and as owners of Conservatory Craftsmen company began to realize the need to re-shape our lives and our business.

Conservatories, since their inception 200 years ago, have been special places for the wealthy class. In the early days of conservatories, the motivation was to bring rare species of plants from the newly discovered regions of the world, and culture them in comfortable environments.

Some of us were around during the last American embrace of alternative fuels and lifestyle during the early ‘70s. Whatever your politics, we all now think is unfortunate that a thriving alternative energy industry was starting to develop before Washington pulled the plug on those efforts. Much of that research went to Denmark and Japan, who are now selling it back to us.

During that period, there was actually a tax incentive to homeowners to make energy efficient changes to their homes, so citizens gladly got on the bandwagon, adding Lord and Burnham greenhouses, creating passive solar spaces, growing vegetables, and changing the concept of the American home.

When the legislation was repealed, Lord and Burnham went bankrupt. Fast food restaurants embraced the look of the solarium architecture, and then quickly removed their sunrooms when they discovered the affects of passive solar gain!

So here we are today, when energy efficiency is at the forefront of everyone’s minds. Our mission is to challenge America with alternative concepts for home building.

Technology has come a long way since the ’70s and many more efficient products are now available to achieve our goals.

However, most people are in the dark and wondering where to start.

I recall my first computer, an Apple IIe. Great tool. I had to learn DOS language, and Lotus 123. I knew I was on the right track, but had no idea where to go for the help I needed.

Solar and alternative energy today is a bit like my IIe. We are on the very cusp of huge changes and developments that will occur over the next few years.

Yes, my IIe was quickly outdated, my floppies sit with my vinyl records, and we moved on, at a quantum pace.

With this in mind, we know the mindset of Americans today is their desire to participate, change and make a difference. But, you ask, where do I start? Without becoming a solar geek, what can I do to make a difference?

We are going to begin a series of articles that allow you to plan and design your conservatory addition.

We will discuss design, orientation, mechanical design, passive solar, active solar, photovoltaic, greenhouse gardening and other related solar concepts to educate you and allow you to make informed decisions. Stay tuned!

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Jim Hewitt is owner of Conservatory Craftsmen, a US conservatory building and desiging firm. Jim has been building conservatories for over 20 years.