Solar Thermal Housing Development: Drake Landing

On Monday Clean Technica featured an introduction to solar thermal energy. So it was good to see that an entire housing subdivision has been built in Calgary, Canada, using solar thermal energy for 90% of its space heating needs. Drake Landing Solar Community starts with structures that are 30% more efficient than standard, so the baseline energy needs are already lower. The community uses a borehole thermal energy storage (BTES) system which stores large quantities of solar heat in summer for use in Calgary’s cold winter. The BTES is actually a large underground heat exchanger. Each home is also equipped with its own solar thermal water heater.

Carol Gulyas (59 Posts)

Carol Gulyas is a leader in the renewable energy community in Illinois, where she serves as VP of the Board of the Illinois Solar Energy Association. Recently she co-founded EcoAchievers -- a provider of online education for the renewable energy and sustainable living community. She spent 18 years in the direct marketing industry in New York and Chicago, and is currently a teaching librarian at Columbia College Chicago. Carol grew up in a small town in central Indiana, then lived in the Pacific Northwest, Lima, Peru, and New York City. She is inspired by reducing energy consumption through the use of renewable energy, energy efficiency, and green building technology.

Pingback: 4 Things to Consider Before Going Solar Thermal
http://www.anneberg.org Stig Ram

In Sweden there is a residental area (anneberg outside Stockholm) with size and technology very similar to the Drakes Landing project, but some years older. We now have accumulated some experience and a savibg of heating and tap warmwater of some 60% is obtained. Actually some 5 years ago we had a visit of a Canadian studygroup.
http://www.anneberg.org Stig Ram

In Sweden there is a residental area (anneberg outside Stockholm) with size and technology very similar to the Drakes Landing project, but some years older. We now have accumulated some experience and a savibg of heating and tap warmwater of some 60% is obtained. Actually some 5 years ago we had a visit of a Canadian studygroup.
Pingback: Clean Tech Intro: The Solar Family : CleanTechnica
http://www.greengeezer.com Carol Gulyas

Thanks for the photos. This will be an important proving ground for large-scale solar thermal.
http://www.greengeezer.com Carol Gulyas

Thanks for the photos. This will be an important proving ground for large-scale solar thermal.
dirk

i have a few illustrations from thw drake landing website showing the borehole configuration, here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/vizpix/EcodesignAndCommentary/photo#5092337161056956562“><img src=”http://lh4.ggpht.com/vizpix/RqudqulSMJI/AAAAAAAAF-0/jHbyQTeftMY/s144/okotoks%20boreholes.jpg
dirk

i have a few illustrations from thw drake landing website showing the borehole configuration, here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/vizpix/EcodesignAndCommentary/photo#5092337161056956562“><img src=”http://lh4.ggpht.com/vizpix/RqudqulSMJI/AAAAAAAAF-0/jHbyQTeftMY/s144/okotoks%20boreholes.jpg
dirk

I am still waiting for new data from this interesting project.

they store summer heat in some 50 deep boreholes to heat thousands of cubic metres of soil deep down.

They figure ir will take years to accumulate enough heat to serve the whole development all winter.

Excellent idea, depends a lot on the geology, wqatertable and such, have been following this and visited there, but recent data are hard to come by…
dirk

I am still waiting for new data from this interesting project.

they store summer heat in some 50 deep boreholes to heat thousands of cubic metres of soil deep down.

They figure ir will take years to accumulate enough heat to serve the whole development all winter.

Excellent idea, depends a lot on the geology, wqatertable and such, have been following this and visited there, but recent data are hard to come by…
Pingback: Cool Tech of the Week: Solar Water Lilies : CleanTechnica
Pingback: Ending the ‘Feast or Famine’ Cycles of Clean Energy Development in the US (part II) : CleanTechnica