Green Briefs • UO class puts Gresham under microscope

Pamplin Media Group, Nov 12, 2009 (1 Reader comment)

University of Oregon students will get hands-on training in how to make a city more sustainable, in a one-year collaboration with the city of Gresham.

Fourteen university professors and 250 students from UO’s School of Architecture and Allied Arts will participate in the innovative program, called Sustainable Cities Year-Gresham.

Students will analyze suburban development and craft possible designs and locations for future buildings in Gresham, including looking at a polluted brownfield site.

Students also will explore how to incorporate natural light into transit hubs and how to make schools more sustainable. The projects are conceptual in nature but will provide ideas for Gresham’s future development.

In the fall term alone, students will enroll in 11 classes for the project, plus additional courses during the winter and spring terms.

— Steve Law

Heat pumps now used to heat water

Rheem Manufacturing Co. has unveiled its new heat pump for home water heating, a super-efficient system that could cut PGE customers’ annual electric bills by $200 to $250. Heat pumps have long been used for home heating, air conditioning and other power, but this is the first mass-produced heat pump for water heating, says John Karasaki, PGE energy specialist.

“It’s going to be twice as efficient as any water heater they have right now,” Karasaki says.

The Rheem product initially will be available only through plumbing contractors for around $1,400. Total installed price to homeowners is estimated at $2,000 to $2,500, Karasaki says. However, subsidies can effectively lower the ultimate price to $1,000.

At that price, customers can recoup their purchase price in four years of energy-bill savings, Karasaki says.

Reduced energy use translates into lower greenhouse gas emissions.

Rheem demonstrated its new system locally on Oct. 28 to contractors and other interested parties. PGE will promote the product to its customers starting in January.

Heat pumps should help PGE and other electric utilities compete more effectively with Northwest Natural, which promotes tankless water heaters as an efficient way to heat water using natural gas.

1 | 2 Next Page >>

Facebook	Digg	Del.icio.us
Newsvine	Stumbleupon	Reddit