Company Info- Scotts Contracting

Your Green Builder for the St Louis Area. My Crew of Dedicated Green Pros: will bring you the Greenest Products and Green Expertise available- while working on your Project. For us being Green and Eco Friendly is not just a FAD. It has become a lifestyle that we have incorporated into the way we choose to do business.

When you contact Scotts Contracting for a Green Site Evaluation. Scotts Contracting- will bring you Cost Effective Solutions for your Green and Eco Friendly Projects.

Here are just a few of the Ways we will save you $money$ on your Green Projects:

1. The Bid / Estimating Process- Our Knowledge and Experience of the Buildings Structure allows us to foresee any unseen building components that are causing: Energy Losses, Inefficient Design, Building Flaws, and other Issues.

2. DE-Construction or Demolition- we provide outlets for all the Recyclable Materials. Some of these Outlets even pay Cash for your Recyclable Goods which will help off-set the Cost of your Project. Others such as a Habitat For Humanity gladly accept donations of used Building Materials. (Tax Breaks and Incentives are available)

3. Because of the Extensive knowledge of your Buildings Structure- the Estimating Department will not add extra materials into the Bid/Estimate Proposal. This translates into Savings for You! We will not be wasting Time and Money:

   1)Procuring the extra materials and then

   2)Transporting the Extra Materials Weight to the JOB Site and then the Transporting of UN-needed materials back to the Store after the Job is over.

4. While we are working on your Job Site: We work as efficiently as possible, while being acutely aware of the- Customers Needs, Budgeting Concerns, and Time Frame.

To Schedule your Green Site Evaluation click here to email Scotts Contracting for an Affordable Green Solution in the Construction of Your Next Project- Large or Small.

Best Recycling Story of 2010!

I'm proud to bring you the: Best Recycling Story of 2010!

• One Ton of Aluminum Cans brings: $3,800-from recycling 400,000 Aluminum Cans and Completely pays for Couples Wedding!
  

(Photo: Tyson / Yellow House
Photography)

Couple recycles 400,000 cans to pay for wedding

When Peter Geyer caught the garter at a wedding last fall, his girlfriend Andrea Parrish immediately dropped to her knee, pulled out an opal earring, and proposed to him. Parrish admits they had been discussing getting married, so she was kind of prepared for such a moment just in case it happened. "What better way to announce it to the family than with a big dramatic moment?" asks the 25-year-old marketing writer.

It seems Parish and her fiancé have a flair for creating buzz. Known as the "wedding can couple," Geyer and Parrish have been in the news because they are paying for their July 31 wedding solely with the $3,800 in proceeds they earned from recycling 400,000 cans.  

The Spokane couple reached their goal last week when over a ton of aluminum cans was hauled off their porch by a local recycler. They continue to collect cans to raise money for their honeymoon and to donate to Doctors Without Borders and Rim Country Land Institute.  

How did they come up with the offbeat idea? Parrish said they quickly realized they'd have to save around $500 a month to pay for their wedding if they wanted to get married in a reasonable amount of time and avoid getting into debt. They didn't have much extra cash because Parrish was laid off from her job right after they purchased a house.  

Parrish and Geyer already had some experience collecting aluminum cans. Geyer, who works as a digital print technician, also melts cans down on his Weber grill and uses the metal to create art in his spare time.

Parrish came up with the idea to pay for their wedding in the middle of a sleepless night. She had just helped Geyer sort through some cans that evening and knew you could get money for aluminum by the pound, so she figured why not collect aluminum cans to fund their wedding and help the environment.

She woke Geyer up at 1 a.m. to share her plan. "When I told Peter about it, he kind of gave me a look that said this is a crazy idea, but you're the type of crazy that can pull it off," she says.

Indeed, Geyer was right. Parrish built a website and spread the word amongst friends and through social media. Alcoa donated 150,000 cans to the cause and United Recycling Services contributed another 73,000.  And others are copying their idea to raise money for weddings and other causes.

(Photo: Andrea Parrish)

Their wedding will also be light on the planet. With only $3,800 to spend on a party for 150 people, there's little room for excess and waste. The couple has focused on what's most important to them (gathering their family and friends together for a lively celebration), and they've also enlisted help.

Here are some details about their DIY wedding:   

Venue: Corbin Art Center in Spokane, WA. Cost: $1,000.

Food and beverages: The bride and groom are providing some food, but it is mostly potluck style.  The groom has a friend who brews beer as a hobby so he's contributing a keg or two. Parrish and Geyer are making the wine in their basement. The bride's mom, who owns a catering and reception center in Idaho, is baking and decorating the cake. "We asked our friends to bring a potluck dish, bring yourself, and have fun, because that's all we care about," says Parrish.

Flowers: Parrish's sister-in-law is growing all the flowers for bouquets and decorations.

Music: A harpist is playing free of charge during the service. Afterwards it's "DJ by iPods," says Parrish. Friends are creating the playlists.

Clothing: The matron of honor's mother-in-law is sewing Parrish's floor-length black, red, and white wedding dress. Total cost: $250 for the fabric, plus another $200 for the custom-made corset she's splurging on. Geyer is sewing his own vest from fabric that cost $25. The couple is making ties for all of the groomsmen and telling everyone in the wedding party to wear whatever they'd like.

By Lori Bongiorno

Posted Wed Jun 30, 2010 2:12pm PDT

Related topics: Finances, Romance, Recycling, Saving Money

More from Green Picks blog

BMW-Joins Electric Car Race

• Battery Technology has reached the point where it really makes sense to drive electric
• carbon Fiber utilized in the Design of Car
• All the major carmakers have realized that they need electric vehicles to succeed in China, a crucial market where the government is keen to promote emission-free transport
• battery power is a matter of long-term company survival
• The megacity vehicle takes advantage of the fact that an electric motor is much more compact than a gasoline engine
• does not need a transmission, exhaust or muffler.
  
• The electric motor will go in the back of the vehicle. The batteries, the heaviest and bulkiest part of the drive train, will go under the floor in the aluminum chassis.
• carbon components, which it says are central to giving the car an upscale image.
• the manufacture of carbon components, which it says are central to giving the car an upscale image.
• Electric Cars Never need oil change!!!

Latest Electric Car Will be a BMW, From the Battery Up

BMW lifted the veil this week on its planned battery-powered car, in an indication that it is serious about building a new class of vehicle and delivering substantial numbers to showrooms by 2013.

Vehicle Design Sketch (BMW)

BMW, the German carmaker, created Project i in late 2007 with the goal of building a car for urban areas where more than half the world's people live. But, as with many corporate green projects, it was sometimes hard to tell whether the effort was sincere or just a way to generate sustainability credentials.

During two days of briefings for journalists at a garagelike BMW plant outside Munich, the company devoted major resources to proving that battery-powered cars were practical. The demonstration was also intended to allay doubts about whether traditional carmakers were innovative enough to make the leap from gasoline.

Battery technology has "reached the point where it really makes sense to drive electric," said Ulrich Kranz, director of the project's team, who previously led the BMW team that revived the Mini brand in 2001.

BMW has crash-tested prototypes of the chassis and frame of the electric car, and this month it will break ground on a factory in Moses Lake, Wash., to produce carbon fiber for a lightweight passenger compartment.

Auto industry specialists said they were encouraged by the developments.

"It's not just a marketing project," said Ferdinand Dudenhöffer, a professor at the University of Duisburg-Essen who studies the auto industry. All the major carmakers have realized that they need electric vehicles to succeed in China, a crucial market where the government is keen to promote emission-free transport, Mr. Dudenhöffer said.

BMW is taking a different path than competitors by designing the so-called megacity vehicle around its electric drive system from the start.

Daimler will beat BMW to showrooms with a mass-produced electric vehicle, due in 2012. But Daimler's e-car is a battery-powered version of its two-seat Smart car.

"I don't know of any other manufacturer that has conceived of a car exclusively as an electric vehicle," Mr. Dudenhöffer said. "The rest are based on conventional cars."

BMW says it also plans to put its own name at risk, creating a subbrand that will probably contain the initials BMW. Daimler has always kept a distance between its Smart line and the Mercedes brand.

BMW engineers, or at least the ones working on the electric car project, seem to believe that shifting to battery power is a matter of long-term company survival. The company says it expects sales of gasoline and diesel-powered cars to begin declining in 2020.

"The departure from fossil fuels is an irreversible trend," said Kai Petrick, a BMW marketing and product strategist.

BMW is not only breaking with the petroleum era but the age of steel as well. By building a substantial amount of the car from carbon fiber hardened with epoxy and molded into components, BMW aims to offset the additional weight that batteries add to the car and increase its range.

At the new vehicle's core is a carbon-fiber passenger compartment that has already passed crash tests. The fiber, which in its raw state resembles horse hair, will come from the Moses Lake plant, where BMW and the SGL Group, the carbon company, are building components specifically for the new vehicle.

"Carbon fiber construction is one of the enablers of electric mobility," said Jochen Töpker, a BMW engineer who manages the company's joint venture with SGL, which is based in Wiesbaden, Germany.

The megacity vehicle takes advantage of the fact that an electric motor is much more compact than a gasoline engine and does not need a transmission, exhaust or muffler. The electric motor will go in the back of the vehicle. The batteries, the heaviest and bulkiest part of the drive train, will go under the floor in the aluminum chassis.

Despite some analyst predictions that all electric motors will be alike, BMW plans to build its own, betting it can imbue the power plants with BMW-like performance and feel. BMW engineers say they have acquired substantial understanding of how to make the motor work best with the battery array, which would be a competitive advantage. BMW is also keeping close control over the manufacture of carbon components, which it says are central to giving the car an upscale image.

BMW is still being quiet about how the car will look. But it showed journalists an impressionistic sketch of a four-passenger vehicle that looked a bit like a streamlined, low-slung Mini. BMW's design chief, Adrian van Hooydonk, said that his team was still tinkering with the look of the car but emphasized that it would be a sporty, stylish vehicle worthy of the BMW name.

Speaking to reporters at BMW's in-house museum in Munich on Tuesday, Mr. van Hooydonk described the design as "premium sustainability," implying that it would not be a boxy-looking Toyota Prius or Nissan Leaf.

BMW engineers insist that the limited range of electric-powered vehicles is not a big issue. The company leased a fleet of Minis converted to electric drive to customers in the New York and Los Angeles areas. Surveys showed that the Mini E's range of 250 kilometers, or 150 miles, between charges was plenty for urban driving, BMW said.

BMW engineers are fond of saying that electric vehicles do not need to represent "a rolling vow of poverty." The company has not named a price for the new car, but it will be aimed at affluent drivers in urban areas who want to appear environmentally conscious. The car probably will cost more than a comparable gasoline-powered vehicle, though owners will recoup some of the extra investment in lower fuel and maintenance costs. Electric cars never need an oil change.

As a test drive of a Mini E in the Bavarian countryside confirmed, electric cars have a number of selling points beyond the environmental argument. Electric motors have inherently fast acceleration. The only running noise is a faint whine. There is no smell of exhaust or fuel. One gear suffices, so shifting is unnecessary.

Even braking is rarely necessary. The car slows when the driver takes pressure off the accelerator, as a recuperation system kicks in and regenerates power from the momentum of the car.

"Electric cars are fun to drive," said Mr. Kranz, the project director.

by Jack Ewing
Friday, July 2, 2010

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Italy vs US- Solar Facts

Italy Surpasses US in Solar PV

Installing More Every Two Months than California in an Entire Year

by Paul Gipe, Contributor

Published: June 30, 2010

New York, United States -- In a dramatic display of the power feed-in tariffs have in driving markets, Italy installed more solar photovoltaics (PV) in 2009 than the entire U.S. Moreover, within the first quarter of 2010, Italy's total installed solar PV capacity was expected to exceed that of the US.

The proposed revision to the feed-in tariff program (conto energia), currently waiting approval, reduces the tariffs and sets a new target of 3,000 MW for the three-year period from 2011 to 2013.

Italy installed 720 megawatts (MW) of solar PV in 2009, nearly all of that on rooftops. In contrast, the U.S. installed 435 MW during the same period, according to a draft report by the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). Italy introduced a system of feed-in tariffs for solar PV in February, 2007 after concluding that the previous program of Tradable Green Certificates was not delivering the results desired. By the end of 2007, Italy had installed five times more solar PV than in the previous year. Despite numerous bureaucratic roadblocks, the solar industry took off in 2008 and installed nearly 350 MW, then a record-breaking number. Solar PV installations have been doubling since then and are expected to reach 1,500 MW in 2010. Italy is three-fourths the size of California, with which it is often compared because of their similarly-sized economies. Italy has a population of 60 million, to California's 40 million. The population of the U.S. is five times that of Italy. Italy is now the world's second largest annual market for solar PV, after Germany. IREC estimates that there was 1,250 MW of total installed solar PV capacity in the U.S. at the end of 2009. Currently, the U.S. is installing 40-50 MW per month, and Italy 125 MW per month. At this pace, Italy surpassed the U.S. in total installed PV capacity before the end of the first quarter, likely by the end of February 2010. Italy is installing more capacity--250 MW--every two months than California is installing per year.

By the end of 2010, Italy will have a total installed capacity of more than 2,500 MW. This is two and one-half times more capacity than is expected in California, and one and one-half times more than is expected in the U.S. Italy's 2007 decree also set a solar PV target of 1,200 MW. They reached their target earlier this year. Unlike Spain, the government has no plans to cut the program dramatically. The proposed revision to the feed-in tariff program (conto energia), currently waiting approval, reduces the tariffs and sets a new target of 3,000 MW for the three-year period from 2011 to 2013. The revisions are expected to be approved sometime this summer. The proposal cuts the tariffs 18% in three equal steps of 6% during each of the first three quarters in 2011. According to Gruppo Imprese Fotovoltaiche Italiane (GIFI), 93% of all solar PV in Italy is installed on rooftops in distributed applications. Data from Gestore dei Servizi Energetici indicates that about one-fourth of all Italian solar PV installations are less than 20 kilowatts (kW) in size, or about 300 MW.

• <3 kW: 6%
• >3 kW<20 kW: 21%
• >20 kW<200 kW: 23%
• >200 kW<1,000 kW: 36%
• >1,000 kW: 14%

Paul Gipe has written extensively about renewable energy for both the popular and trade press. He has also lectured widely on wind energy and how to minimize its impact on the environment and the communities of which it is a part.

Scotts Contracting is available to assist in the Design and Construction for your Renewable Energy System. Click here to email Scotts Contracting to schedule your Free Green Site Evaluation.

The Solar Decision

In determining which system is the right choice for your roof Solar Thermal or Solar Electric. Would you like to Generate Electricity or Heat Water for your Building? Scotts Contracting is available to assist in the Design and Construction for your Renewable Energy System. Click here to email Scotts Contracting to schedule your Free Green Site Evaluation.

Solar Energy Fights for Roof Space

by Chris Laughton, The Solar Design Company

Published: July 1, 2010

An increasing problem in today's crowded buildings is finding the best position to fit solar collectors. The two main forms of collectors found on roofs are for water heating (solar thermal) and photovoltaic (solar electricity). If space is short, how can you decide which of these two technologies gets priority?

The "fight" for roof space grows more significant every year, not only as equipment becomes more affordable and hence larger but also because optimum locations are occupied first by other equipment. These include roof skylights, flues, extract ducts, air conditioning and aerials. Such equipment not only reduces the available roof area but can also cast shadows that reduce the performance of solar equipment. Shading has a particularly strong effect on solar collectors, with even small shadows causing significant losses on photovoltaic modules.

Shading can occur from other roof objects or nearby buildings, trees or hills. These are particularly prominent when the sun is low in the sky, such as morning and evening or during winter. In order to correctly position solar collectors, consideration must be given to the daily sun-path between sunrise and sunset. This sun-path also alters seasonally according to the latitude of the location. There are also local climatic conditions to consider, where perhaps morning mists or afternoon thunderstorms occur.

It is worth noting that particular collector types react differently to the sun's constantly changing position. In some cases, automatic tracking devices are used to improve performance by altering the collectors to always face in the optimum direction. This affects what is known as the 'angle of incidence' of the beam solar radiation on to the collector. Solar radiation in fact falls on to collectors by one of three routes: 'beam' radiation in a straight line from the sun; 'diffuse' from all points in the atmosphere; and a proportion that is reflected from other surfaces (called the 'albedo'). During a typical day, not only does the total radiation change but so does the proportion of these three types. Some collectors use mirrors and tubular absorbers to improve the performance of a collector through a longer arc of the sun's path.

Professional solar engineers now use computer simulation software, such as T*SOL for solar thermal or PV*SOL for solar photovoltaic, to work out the best use of a given roof area. This allows rapid calculation of the total annual energy output from each hour of the year, as well as easy comparisons of all options. Good quality programs allow for comparison between different brands of equipment and user load profiles.

Separate programs are used for solar water heating and photovoltaics because they are two fundamentally different technologies. For example, the conversion efficiency of solar radiation to thermal occurs at a much higher rate than conversion to electricity. Also, heat is usually stored in water whereas electricity is either sold straight to the utility grid or stored in batteries. It is important not to underestimate the effect of changing loads on domestic hot water heating or the existence of a surplus feed-in tariff for electricity. The user may indicate a desire to alter their patterns of use to optimise solar contribution; however, it is unlikely that this will be retained through staff or ownership changes. Professional simulation software can visualise each of these situations and present a clear interpretation to clients.

While we can never fully anticipate conditions for a given day or week ahead, we can be increasingly confident of long-term monthly and annual results. Even if there is an acceptable margin of error in calculating future values, comparisons of equipment configurations and user load profiles are still accurate provided the same climate data set is used in the simulation. It is always best to reveal any assumptions for scrutiny and to use certified collector values when performing computer simulations for clients.

Where a roof becomes crowded, the more efficient solar products are likely to be prioritised in order to give the smallest footprint. Computer simulations will anticipate the best overall total energy production to displace conventional energy sources. An on-site tool, such as a solar site selector, is used to anticipate shading as an ideal accompaniment for computer simulations. These allow for real-time analysis of any site using a template and viewfinder, the results of which can then be recorded digitally. Generally speaking, if both solar water heating and photovoltaic collectors are being used, the priority goes to the latter if this permits avoiding shading.

Chris Laughton is Managing Director of The Solar Design Company. He is an experienced heating engineer, author and lecturer, and a regular columnist in magazines, journals and on-line media. His latest book Solar Domestic Water Heating: The Earthscan Expert Handbook for Planning, Design and Installation was published by Earthscan last month.

The information and views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of RenewableEnergyWorld.com or the companies that advertise on its Web site and other publications.

-- Scott's Contracting scottscontracting@gmail.com http://www.stlouisrenewableenergy.blogspot.com http://www.stlouisrenewableenergy.com scotty@stlouisrenewableenergy.com

Solar & Oil Industry News

Prop 23- Oil and Solar Join in the Fight for Solar and Renewable Energy. Twitter and Facebook Links

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Scotts Contracting is available to assist in the Design and Construction for your Renewable Energy System. Click here to email Scotts Contracting to schedule your Free Green Site Evaluation.

Posted on July 1, 2010 -Oil Declares War on Solar. How You (and Twitter) Can Help Defeat Prop 23 for Free. Yes, free.

I'm writing this post quickly, so forgive my cross outs and typos. For those of you who want to say "Up yours!" to two polluting oil refinery companies experience the power of social media in action and would like to finally learn how to use Twitter, here's your chance. It's for a good solar cause, plus, it's dirt cheap free!

First, some background: California's Proposition 23 ballot initiative is officially called the "The California Jobs Initiative." Hee-hee. LMFAO! A more appropriate name is the "We Hate Solar Initiative." Others are calling Prop 23 the Dirty Jobs Proposition.

Allow me to cut through the Prop 23 bull explain:

• Proposition 23 is primarily funded by two who-gives-a crap-about-California air quality when when-we-live in Texas-based oil refining companies: Valero and Tesoro . Please remember their names and tell your children that these companies are the scary monsters under the bed.
• Prop 23 kills suspends the California law that requires the State to reduce its dirty CO2 emissions by 30% by 2020.
• If passed, Prop 23 also states that this clean energy law can't go back into effect until Hell freezes over the California unemployment rate returns to 5.5% for 4 straight quarters. Only then can we go back to caring about the environment and breathing.
• Proposition 23 will also increase oil profits at the expense of solar jobs prevent any California agency from imposing any CO2 emission fees that were going to go into effect. And now you know why these oil company yahoos are spending millions to get this proposition passed the basics.

How You can use Twitter to Say Bite me! No to Prop 23:

Step 1. Join Twitter. It's easy. Just do it or have someone in your office do it. You know you have to kicking and screaming some day want to anyway. If you or your solar company have a Twitter account already, please don't blame me congratulations.

Step 2. If you're not following anyone and brand new to Twitter, go to http://tweepml.org/the-top-100-solar-power-sites-2/. With one click, you'll be following almost 100 solar Twitter leaders and advocates. Don't worry about them following you for now. Just watch their tweets once a day and do what they do. (Yes, I'm on this list.)

Step 3: The only way to learn social media is to actually use it. Duh! Honest. So, this grass-roots solar experience is going to give you practice while giving the virtual middle finger to campaigning against Prop 23. All you have to do is:

• Take 2 minutes every workday and Tweet this:
• Just heard Prop 23 is a #solar job killer & backed by big #oil. Plz RT daily til November. This is my 1st RT.
• Every day you Tweet the above, increase the digit higher. This will benchmark you and help you to finally use and explore Twitter and see its power to spread useful messages.
• This costs you nothing but a little time. Feel free to also donate cash to the cause, but do this now.

There are a lot of benefits here, but there will also be great personal satisfaction in saying "Nah-nah, you Big Oil, solar job killing SOBs! defeating this anti-solar power bill without the television ad dollars of Big Oil.

Thanks, and as always, UnThink Solar.

Tor Valenza aka "Solar Fred" advises solar companies on marketing, communications, and public relations. Contact him through Unthink Solar or follow him on Twitter @SolarFred.

Photo: Flickr/ quinn.anya