Photovoltaic Systems

Hocking College — a two-year technical college in Nelsonville, Ohio — has trained its students for jobs in Ohio’s manufacturing sector since 1968.  As these jobs began leaving the state, Hocking College saw the potential for growth in alternative energy jobs.  The school launched the Energy Institute in 2002, with just three students to offer training in advanced energy and fuel cells.  Enrollment has since increased to 125 students and the curriculum has also expanded to include hybrid and plug-in vehicle courses, as well as courses about wind and solar power. 

The school’s newly completed building, located in Hocking County, reflects Hocking College’s commitment to participating in the new green economy.  The 12,200 square-foot building is on track to become the first higher education building in Ohio to receive LEED Platinum certification.  

Some of the building’s green features include the following:

• 26 geothermal wells for heating and cooling;
• A 21 kW roof-integrated photovoltaic system;
• An expansive vegetated roof;
• North-South orientation to maximize natural light;
• CNG filling station and plug-in hybrid charging stations;
• A solar hot water heater; and
• Durable, low-maintenance concrete floors. 

Building and designing this structure to LEED Platinum specs involved the collaborative efforts of several parties, including the Energy Institute, Robertson Construction, and architectural firm Design Group of Columbus, Ohio.  Once up and running, HCEI will use half
as much energy as a similar building.  It’s estimated to save the
college about $10,000 a year. 

As anyone familiar with the LEED projects knows, it’s important to have a collaborative and flexible environment and that’s how this project team worked.  Changes were made (i.e., the addition of a wind turbine and electric car plug-in stations using grant money), and the construction team was willing to accommodate.  Dean of HCEI, Jerry Hutton, recalls, “If the (general contractor) Robertson had given me heartburn over these changes, it would have been very difficult to get this completed.  But they took it in stride and stayed focused on getting the job done on time and on budget.”

This past fall, then-senator Barack Obama made a campaign stop at Hocking College and had this to say: “This college is just outstanding in preparing young people to work in green-collar jobs, which are the jobs of the future.“  This new facility could become a lighthouse project for the new green economy.

Photo credits: Feinknopf Photography.

Today at West Coast Green 2009, Green Horizon showcased their new SFH40 on-demand housing, and it’s an impressive unit.  Designed to be a self-sustaining home for a family of four, it can be shipped anywhere in the world in a standard shipping container and set up in less than two hours by unskilled people.  Each unit has two bedrooms with built in furniture, a bathroom, and a kitchen area.  But it’s also designed to be a self-sustaining shelter in the aftermath of a disaster when infrastructure may be damaged, so it includes solar panels and batteries, a bio-diesel generator as backup, and water purification equipment.  Units can be interconnected to share power and water.

Each unit has water storage tanks, so it can be shipped with water and ready to support a family when it’s set up.  After a unit is delivered to a site, legs are lowered to level and support it.  The structure widens to 13 feet, plus a deck folds out, making for a fair sized living space.  At 13×40 feet, it’s definitely a lot bigger and nicer than a FEMA trailer.

But the improvements don’t stop there.  The units are going to be made from 100% recyclable or recycled materials, and the goal is to have them be zero-impact and fully self-sufficient.  Units can be stacked while loaded within a container.  And they also have wheels and a trailer yoke and are DOT certified, so they can be moved to a new location after delivery using a 3/4 ton pickup.

The SFH40 is is the first in a series of containerized disaster relief units envisioned by Green Horizon president and CEO, James Pope. Even before Hurricane Katrina, he imagined a housing unit that would fit in a container and could be shipped anywhere as needed.  Like many people, he was shocked by the devastation that hurricanes Katrina and Rita left in their wake and wanted to help. But he was also saddened by the slow response, and the now infamous trailers that caused some occupants to get sick.  RV trailers just weren’t designed for long-term living.  He knew he could do better and used his early experience developing SIPs to create a prototype unit.

Besides units providing shelter for families affected by disaster, Green Horizon has designed units to help support disaster relief teams.  The full line includes an administrative unit, a bunk house for relief workers, a commissary, a community center, and a medical unit, all engineered and built to be low impact.  The units are designed to form the center of a hub for a disaster relief team, and as with the housing units, can be interconnected to share power and water.

After a disaster, units can be cleaned and put back into storage.  If part of a unit is damaged, the modular design makes it easy to remove the component and repair or replace it.  Green Horizon will have factories in Missouri, Germany, and a main factory in Stockton, California.  Although it’s inland, Stockton is a port city, and from there, units in containers can easily be shipped anywhere as the need arises.  Rather than being exposed to the elements, storing them in containers means the units can be in storage for extended periods until needed.

Final pricing hasn’t been set, but is expected to be around $89,000 if bought in larger volumes (and $120,000 for smaller volumes).  Green Horizon plans to be able to store up to 600 houses in containers in a secure facility in Stockton.  Other units could be stored in various places around the country and around the world, ready to deploy when disaster strikes.

[+] More Photos of SFH40 on Flickr by Gene Anderson.