Metal roofing with integral water collection features should be mandatory in the building code. Image via Wikipedia
And don't forget a national program to do millions of add-on insulated white metal roofs with water collection features.
1) Insulated -- most energy loss in a home/apt is out the roof; but adding insulation in the attic is labor intensive (not a minus in your project, but if your money all goes to labor, you get fewer roofs done -- better more roofs, more saving)
2) White -- see Secy. of Energy Chu's presentations
3) Metal with water collection features -- most American homes have toxic roof shingles where the rain washes a steady stream of the asphalt away; it is possible to collect and use the water, but to unknown result. Rather than tear these off (wasted labor, creation of landfill waste), leave them all on there, under a nice insulating blanket and metal roof that drains into an integral guttering/collection spout system that flows into barrels or cisterns.
Imagine all the energy saved (1) from the added insulation; (2) from the reduced air-conditioning load in summer; and (3) from reduced water pumping. And the nice increase in global albedo doesn't hurt either.
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2 comments:
I've thought of this but quite a bit, collecting rain from rooftops. If every home had this, would that mean less water flowing into our creeks and rivers? What about hydro-electric downspouts from the gutters to provide electricity?
People who store measurable quantities of water are going to use it for watering gardens, which means it all winds up in the river anyway -- taking longer to get there (collect in rainy season, use in dry season) would mean that the creeks and rivers would be getting more recharge when they need it instead of such excess when they don't.
I've imagined a microhydro downspout before too -- something like a long vertical Archimedes screw or something powering a small generator. I think it might be fun to do but I have a very hard time figuring that it would make more energy than it would consume in its manufacture. If you have anything that suggests otherwise, please post!
You're the first person I've heard of who's had the same idea ... Great minds think alike -- and ours too!
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