Top 5 Things You Need To Know About Solar Water Heaters

Solar water heaters can really bring down the cost of hot water for many residential and facilities, but unless the following concepts are thought about, the investment will be wasted away. Before actually installing a Solar Water Heater, consider the following points.

1. How much water do you really need to heat up? - Try to get a consumption report of your showerheads to understand the capacity requirements. Do this by using a pail and stopwatch, then estimate average showertime, and get total consumption accordingly. Regular shower heads use 4.5 gallons per minute, Eco Friendly showerheads use 1.5 gallons per minute. Investing in even a high end eco showerhead is still a lot cheaper than buying a very big solar water heater.

2. What direction is your solar water heater facing? - Get the right angle and direction. North facing is best to get sun from its axis east to west. This will maximize heating time for water.

3. Flat collector panel or evacuated tubes? - Evacuated tubes are cheaper but they are not designed for the local climate. On hot weathers, these pipes burst, causing great inefficiency. You will not notice this problem as your back up electric water heater will run instead. This means, lots of money wasted on electricity that you were trying to save.

4. How's the weather? - Good brand solar water heaters can still get heat from a cloudy day. Invest a little more for a good brand and you will better appreciate your returns.

5. Any other use for hot water? - Do not forget to get a complete idea on where else you can use hot water. A pre heated water will be faster to boil for cooking as well, this point should not be discounted.

An Introduction to Green Building Certifications

The Philippines, through a developing awareness on the importance of going environmental, will start to see a lot of buildings showing different environmental certifications. Many would ask "What is the basic purpose of these certifications and why would they matter?"

Just like the concept of ISO, Green Building Certifications like BERDE, being developed for the Philippines, BREEAM from the UK, and LEED from the USA, are formed to give a benchmark on what the building is doing to become more environmental

(Above: Breeam Criteria on Cerficiation)

The whole concept of building green and getting certified gives public a better awareness that the building follows standards of choosing the right materials for building the products which is both sustainable for the environment, and safe for public health. It also continues by ensuring that these implementations are an on going benefit to the environment and its occupants by setting standards that are dynamic as new technology enters the market. 

Major important areas to consider are on energy efficiency, water efficiency, resource efficiency, and health impact

Building Certifications take the regular building and challenges developers to go beyond the standards of conventional buildings and further improve and reduce the need for consumable resources. Buildings have to maximize using nature such as daylight and wind in lighting and cooling whenever possible.

Reward on using the following certification pays for itself in many ways. Clients who are aware of these certification and their corresponding benefits favor Green Certified buildings, thus increasing their property value. They also have an economic advantage of substantially lower maintenance cost, and the idea of creating a building that is beneficial for the environment is more important than ever.

People looking into investing in properties now have to put greater weight on Green Certified buildings as the shift towards eco-responsible products and infrastructure is more important. Those who do not go green are left out.