Ed Begley, Jr.
Credit Planet Green
Living with Ed follows Ed Begley, Jr., and his wife, Rachelle, as they green their home, family, and celebrity friends. But if you've ever wondered what kind of advice they'd give the rest of us, then the Ask Ed forum is your chance to find out. Readers submit questions and comments about the show, green living, etc., and Ed chimes in with his green answers; here, we've rounded up some highlights of the past month.
Q.We are building our new house in KwaZuluNatal on the East Coast of South Africa and are trying to do as many of the right things as possible. We would like to remain on the grid for emergencies only and provide most of the power for our home in a ecologically responsible manner. Most people cant see past solar geysers and haven't considered alternative energy sources. Help, please.
A. I think the design of the home up front is probably the most important. I would focus on that before you focus on how you are going to make power and what system you are going to use for HVAC.
You'll want a good passive solar design and a highly insulated and efficient structure. That right there will save huge amounts of power and huge amounts of heating/cooling needs.
Try to work with a good LEED architect that specializes in passive solar design for off grid applications. Once you have the design and structural / material part figured out, I think you'll find the other stuff will fall into place more easily.
Ed
Q. I am in the planning process of a new passive solar home. Since I got some ideas from your show, thought I would ask -- will you design it for me? If not, can you point me to some resources you would use if you were designing a home? But really rather you design, and Rachelle does the interior decorating (except the kitchen, of course).
A. I'm no architect, so my first plan would be to work with a good LEED AP that has both your aesthetic and your energy efficiency goals in mind. The USGBC website has a great list of them -- just in Southern California alone where I live there are dozens and dozens of great ones. Passive solar design is key. Building materials, insulation, windows are all part of the equation. If it were me, I'd be going passive solar design, SIP construction, high-e windows, Geothermal HVAC, solar for power etc.
Best of luck with the project!
Ed
Q. My husband and I are figuring out the details of having our enclosed porch finished off to house our guinea pigs. I rescue, but my husband is fairly allergic to them. I'm trying to make it as eco-friendly as I can and we are adding a lot of insulation and upgrading the windows. This room does not have HVAC access and we have been told that the best thing for my husband's allergies would be separate systems for that room.
There are so many options out there it is confusing, especially as we are trying to do this on a budget. We live in the northeast, so there are cold winters & hot summers. The guinea pigs should not live below 65 degrees or above 80. What do you suggest as our best heating and cooling options?
A. Firstly, your upgrades to insulation and windows are key: make sure that the building envelope is tight and efficient. For my office above the garage, I used a high efficiency mini-split HVAC system and I have been extremely happy with it. Mine is made by LG, but there are several good ones from Sanyo and others. It's very energy efficient and my solar is powering it quite nicely. I think it's a good way to go for a room addition.
Ed
