Greensleeves Technologies Corp

Month: August 2019

  • Lowering grow house energy costs

    Lowering grow house energy costs

    The main task of grow houses is to provide optimized conditions for plant development at the least cost.

    Although most modern grow houses are exceptional at managing energy from the sun, they have been forced to use unnecessarily expensive supplemental energy from natural gas, fossil fuel, space heaters, forced air, hot water, steam, and electricity.

    Until recently, there has not been efficient technology that allows grow houses to cost-effectively use geothermal energy, in conjunction with the sun or other light source, to provide heating and cooling for optimal plant development.

    Today, however, there are software products to help design, monitor, control and optimize the geothermal or hybrid system. This is achieved by using predictive algorithms to create optimal grow house conditions and reduce installation and energy costs by up to fifty percent. The energy savings pays for the initial capital costs and the annual energy savings continues for the lifetime of every grow house using the geothermal energy source for the next fifty to hundred years.

    Optimized geothermal grow houses are sustainable, renewable and year-round climate control systems that both heat and cool grow houses at a fraction of the economic and environmental costs of traditional systems. These systems simply use less energy by maximizing their own naturally occurring and renewable constant year-round heating and cooling supply.

    Greener optimized grow houses make better plants at less cost for greater profit. Why settle for less?

  • Geo at the Farm

    Geo at the Farm

    Farms are not just for crops anymore. They’re also an ideal location for a geothermal system. Why? Because there’s plenty of available land. This allows the end user to inexpensively take advantage of geothermal energy: the best energy source. How? By using a horizontally excavated field. Compared to vertically drilled borefields, horizontal fields are extremely cost competitive and installation is very simple. It is done through bulk excavation or trenches that are dug to a depth of 6 to 10 feet, piping is then placed at the bottom, and the original soil is backfilled into the trench. Your borefield is then ready to be used, as is the original crop field. 

     How can geothermal systems be used on the farm? They have numerous applications in the farming environment such as the use of heat for the drying of agricultural products, the production of hot water for clean-up purposes, and the ability to keep poultry and cattle barns cool (or heated) to promote animal health, safety, and treatment. 

     Using geothermal technology in the farming industry allows farmers to take greater advantages of the resources available to them, increase their production, and reduce their costs and greenhouse gases. It’s a no brainer to multi-purpose farmland to take advantage of geothermal technology. Wouldn’t you agree? 

  • Geothermal pros and cons.

    Geothermal pros and cons.

    It’s true: historically, geothermal energy had a bad reputation. For years people thought it was more expensive than conventional HVAC, it took up too much space, and it was impossible to properly design. That is no longer the complete picture.

    The reality is that when it comes to geothermal and hybrid geothermal systems the initial installation tends to be more expensive than a conventional HVAC system. However, this added expense is justified by the energy savings within 2-10 years. After this initial payback period, the energy savings are like a monthly reduction in your expense column and the system ends up being a smarter investment than a traditional HVAC system.

    As an example, a hospital in Maryland, could save 58% in energy costs annually using a hybrid geothermal system instead of a conventional system. A school in Texas could save 59% in energy costs annually using a hybrid geothermal system instead of a conventional system.

    If space is a concern, a hybrid geothermal system might make more sense. Hybrid systems require smaller borefields and use auxiliary equipment to offset the peak loads. Generally, hybrid systems require much less space than the historical full size geothermal borefields, have higher energy savings and still greatly reduce CO2 emissions – all of which help benefit your bottom line.

    As far as geothermal systems being difficult to properly design, critics were correct. Fortunately, times have changed, and technology has simplified the process for accurate designs. Predictive controls software has also given these borefield systems the ability to evolve with ever changing loads and environments.

    Geothermal has a new reputation. In today’s world, the expense of a geothermal system is paid back in reduced energy costs in less than 10 years, it emits far less CO2 than a traditional system, it reduces energy costs by up to 60% for the life of the building, it is easier than ever to design, and smart technology allows systems to evolve with the ever changing needs of the modern world.

    Geothermal systems have evolved from the past to be the systems of the future.

  • Design “rules of thumb” and why to avoid them.

    Design “rules of thumb” and why to avoid them.

     

    In many industries, there are rules of thumb that are followed. Are these rules, though, always the best method?

    The Oxford dictionary defines “rule of thumb” as: A broadly accurate guide or principle, based on practice rather than theory.

    The problem with rules of thumb in the geothermal industry is that they more often than not lead to wildly oversized or undersized borefield systems. Neither scenario will work effectively in the real world. Too much borefield equates to excessive capital expenditure and the project is rejected before it even starts. An undersized borefield may initially look attractive from a capital expense viewpoint but in short order the field will begin failing by either overheating or freezing of the ground.

    The sound basis of geothermal design has three basic elements:

    1.  an accurate energy model that simulates an entire year of operation – an 8760 energy model;

    2.  a true understanding of geologic conditions from an on-site thermal response test, and;

    3.  geothermal optimization design software.

    Rules of thumb have no place in the commercial geothermal industry – they are a recipe for disaster. Engineers must base their designs on factual information and not a “broadly accurate guide or principal”. Do you understand why geothermal design elements are so important as opposed to just general “rules of thumb”?