How about more day games then?

I am pro using renewable, clean resources whenever we can. It does not, however, excuse bland corporate-speak. Stop it stop it stop it. What is so wrong with sounding like a human when you communicate? And why is "America's Most Beloved Ballpark" all in caps? Is this trademarked now? My god...

there's such a thing as a facilities management blog? where will the internet take us next? blogs on the sleeping habits of tibetan yaks? the vicissitudes of sales calls? watching paint dry?

http://www.watching-paint-dry.com

I wish I were making that up.

I can't believe I just watched the video at http://www.watching-grass-grow.com/

"What is this group who is concerned about National Race Horses thinking? Other types of horses are just as important."

-E. Litella

Yak Polo is my life.

(Search for "Polo")

there's such a thing as a facilities management blog? where will the internet take us next? blogs on the sleeping habits of tibetan yaks? the vicissitudes of sales calls? watching paint dry?

I was a finalist for a job at one of their rivals, Building Operating Management. So there is not just a niche devoted to imparting information on building facilties management, but it's actually competitive.

Arizona's Chase Field Drawing on Sun for Water Boiling
We play to our strengths here.

I actually spent some time looking at the Facilities Management blog for work. Just sayin'.

And there's no good reason that the ballparks in the South/Southwest/West shouldn't be putting in solar for hot water and electricity.

And there's no good reason that the ballparks in the South/Southwest/West shouldn't be putting in solar for hot water and electricity.

OK, here are a few question that will surely (further) reveal my stupidity. Does the outside temperature have a dramatic effect on how much heat can be generated in solar operations? In other words, if you have clouds in LA and clear skies in Minneapolis, but a 30 degrees difference in temperature, how will that impact how much solar heat can be generated? And is there really a greater usefulness/benefit for southern cities to put in solar than northern ones?

SoSHU U:

This is a gross oversimplification, but with solar the potential energy you can generate depends entirely on how much sun you get and how filtered it is by the atmosphere (ie, its strength). Cloudy LA would probably have less potential generation than sunny Minnesota, but LA is sunnier far more often than Minnesota and so solar would be much more economically viable there. Simply put, the Southwest is the best part of the US for solar power generation simply because there is more sun there than anywhere else in the US. The temperature difference might matter a little, but shouldn't. The solar energy is probably used to heat water, and this is done inside what should be an enclosed and well-insulated structure. Realistically, the temp difference will matter, because our systems are never perfectly enclosed, but not nearly so much as the pure sunlight levels.

There are ideas bouncing around that eventually sunny countries will replace OPEC as the world's great energy producers. This assumes that the huge barriers to big time solar power can be overcome, barriers in things like the incredibly high price and inefficiency of both long-distance power transmission and power storage, and problems of the unpredictability of solar power (power grids thrive on regularity and tend to crash when subjected to surges and troughs that things like clouds and, you know, night can cause). Who knows, maybe these problems are insurmountable and solar will always be a bit player, condemned to heat the water for the Diamondbacks and power air conditioners in those parts of California in which it only gets hot when the sun is out. But Australia has already built a big next gen solar plant (one that uses solar power to melt salts which then boil water in a heat exchanger and drive a steam turbine to make electricity) and there are sci-fi sorts of plans to build a solar plant in space.

Thanks Judges. That makes sense.

In general, is there more presence of the sun all across the south than the north (referring to post No. 10)?

In general, is there more presence of the sun all across the south than the north

The distribution of solar energy potential isn't quite that simple, but there is a general bias to the south. You can check it out here:

I know an engineer that works exclusively on sports stadiums. He characterizes them as "energy pigs". Good to see some attention on it.

oops

In general, is there more presence of the sun all across the south than the north

The distribution of solar energy potential isn't quite that simple, but there is a general bias to the south.

I know an engineer that works exclusively on sports stadiums. He characterizes them as "energy pigs". Good to see some attention on it.

...whereas Mr. Bartman has wisely decided to avoid sports stadiums as much as possible. Cub fans are everywhere.

I know an engineer that works exclusively on sports stadiums. He characterizes them as "energy pigs".

Why is this? Is this only for indoor stadiums? I can't imagine why an uncovered ballpark would use much energy compared to other large buildings/complexes. There's HVAC for the offices space which is relatively small, food prep equipment/freezers for the concessions. I guess that huge light banks and jumbotrons must use a decent amount, but still, compared to typical skyscraper office buildings, or convention centers or manufacturing plants, I would guess it would be much lower.

FWIW, skyscrapers are pretty efficient, or at least more so than smaller office buildings. When the heat leaks out of floor 30, a lot of it just goes to floor 29 or floor 31.

I'd like to see something about energy use in stadiums. Google just gives me a lot of things about various efficient bits added to stadiums and green stadia built for rugby and whatnot. I'd like to see what an open ballpark uses. I'd also guess that it's nothing like what a closed stadium uses, where you have to heat and cool all of that empty space.