Walker Engineering

Engineering, Management, Technology Consulting

  • Mapping the planet’s solar energy potential, one rooftop at a time

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    Project Sunroof

    The cost of solar power is at a record low. A typical solar home can save hundreds or even thousands of dollars per year on their electricity bill.  But, as a volunteer with the Boston-based solar program Solarize Massachusetts and a solar homeowner myself, I’ve always been surprised at how many people I encounter who think that “my roof isn’t sunny enough for solar,” or “solar is just too expensive.” Certainly many of them are missing out on a chance to save money and be green.

    Enter Project Sunroof, my recent 20% project. Project Sunroof is a new online tool we’re testing to help homeowners explore whether they should go solar. Available in the San Francisco Bay Area, Fresno (in central California), and the Boston area for now, the tool uses high-resolution aerial mapping (the same used by Google Earth) to help you calculate your roof’s solar energy potential, without having to climb up any ladders.

     

    If you’re in one of our test regions, simply enter your address and Project Sunroof will crunch the numbers. It first figures out how much sunlight hits your rooftop throughout the year, taking into account factors like roof orientation, shade from trees and nearby buildings, and local weather patterns. You can also enter your typical electric bill amount to customize the results. The tool then combines all this information to estimate the amount you could potentially save with solar panels, and it can help connect you with local solar providers.

    Google has always been a big believer in zero-carbon energy, and solar power has been a central part of that vision — from accelerating the growth of rooftop solar, to helping finance the largest solar farm in Africa, to building one of America’s biggest campus solar arrays here in Mountain View. While Project Sunroof is in a pilot phase for now, during the coming months we’ll be exploring how to make the tool better and more widely available. If you find that your address isn’t covered by the tool yet, you can leave your email address and we’ll let you know when Project Sunroof is ready for your rooftop!

    Images courtesy of Google

  • Step 1: If possible get out into nature where you can feel the natural pace of the earth and not the hyperactive and inhumane pace of modern life.

    Step 2: Write down the question “What would I do if I only had a week left to live?” and take 10 minutes to write down your answer.

    Step 3: Write down the question, “What would I do if I only had a month left to live?” and take 10 minutes to write down your answer.

    Step 4: Write down the question, “What would I do if I only had a year left to live?” and take 10 minutes to write down your answer.

    Step 5: Write down the question, “What would I do if I only had five years left to live?” and take 10 minutes to write down your answer.

    Step 6: Write down the question, “What would I do if I only had a life left to live?” and take 10 minutes to write down your answer.

    Step 7: Finally, take 10 minutes to reread all of your answers while asking yourself, “How can I design my routine this week to more closely align with these answers?”

  • I was reading the following article earlier today and wondered if just like families I might find a cargo bike in my future.  Head over to read the article on the NYTimes, see some of it below.

    Dave Hoverman and his wife, Abby Smith, in Berkeley, Calif., with their cargo bike, which can hold all four children.CreditJason Henry for The New York Times

    When Dave Hoverman, 38, a business strategy consultant in Berkeley, Calif., goes to Costco on the weekends, he ditches his Audi Q7 and instead loads his four children into a Cetma cargo bike with a trailer hitched to the rear.

    “We do all sorts of errands on the bike,” Mr. Hoverman said. “We try not to get in the car all weekend.”

    Mr. Hoverman is among a growing contingent of eco-minded and health-conscious urban parents who are leaving their car keys at home and relying on high-capacity cargo bikes for family transportation.

    Cargo bikes initially catered to the “hard-core D.I.Y. crowd — people who wanted to carry around really large objects like surfboards or big speakers or kayaks,” said Evan Lovett-Harris, the marketing director for Xtracycle, a company in Oakland, Calif., that introduced its first family-oriented cargo model, the EdgeRunner, in 2012. Cargo bikes, he said, now account for the largest proportion of the company’s sales.

    “When we first started selling these bikes 15 years ago, we were the total freako weirdos,” said Ross Evans, the company’s founder. “Back then, a basket on your handlebars was considered fringe.”

    These days, cargo bikes are no longer a novelty: They are cropping up not just in the expected West Coast enclaves like Seattle, Portland and the Bay Area, but in cities like New Haven, Tucson and Dallas. “It used to be that if I saw somebody in Boston on a cargo bike, I probably knew them and probably helped them buy their bicycle,” said Nathan Vierling-Claassen, who has ridden a cargo bike since 2008. “Now that’s no longer the case.”

    Cargo bikes are also popular in Washington. Jon Renaut, 37, a software engineer at the Department of Homeland Security, said that he is one of more than a dozen parents at his children’s elementary school who commute to school and work by cargo bike. “There have been only two days this whole school year — when it was really, really snowy out — that we left the bike at home,” Mr. Renaut said. What helps keep his 4- and 6-year-old daughters warm, he said, is to have them face backward while riding.

    The popularity of cargo bikes has given rise to more variety. Cargo bikes come in two main types: longtails, which look like a regular bike with a large rack extended over the rear wheel, and the Dutch-style bakfiets, which has a cargo box mounted in front of the handlebars. While longtails are considerably cheaper (a Yuba Mundo starts at $1,300), bakfiets (which start at about $3,000) can generally hold more.

    “The thing I love about cargo bikes these days is that there is such an amazing selection,” said Shane MacRhodes, 43, who manages a school transportation program in Eugene, Ore. “People are finding bikes that really fit their lifestyle. Some people like the sturdiness of a Yuba Mundo, and some people like the sporty zippy ones. It’s almost like the S.U.V. versus the sports wagon.”

  • From Sarah Jones @ LifeHack.org

     

    1. You diligently consider all angles before making up your mind.

    You take great pains in being as objective as possible. You may even host debates in your head. My boyfriend does this. He constructs arguments with different imaginary figures in his mind, arguing each viewpoint fairly until a sound, objective conclusion is reached.

    2. You are whimsical.

    You are fun. You see things in an ironic, fun, and funny way. You enjoy xkcd.com and the like. My college days (surrounded by engineers, for sure) were sprinkled with ninjas vs. pirates vs. zombies debates.

    This is the “logical” whimsy that is so endearing and playful. Your particular kind of creativity isn’t found in other people in the same fun way. It’s a delight!

    3. You methodically think through all the ways something could go wrong.

    This may seem like a drag, but it’s actually really helpful.

    This means you’ve always got (or are at least actively formulating) a back-up plan. You’re practical. Risk-averse, perhaps, but thorough. This helps you make quality decisions because you have thought before implementing, saving yourself a pile (or several piles) of unnecessary life clean-up. 🙂

    4. You are thoughtful and empathetic.

    Your thoughtfulness doesn’t only get channelled to math and science.

    You are also especially thoughtful when it comes to your relationships with people who are important to you, and even people you’ve just met. You are hyper-aware of several viable (and non-viable, but interesting) possibilities that might be occurring in other people’s experiences.

    Because of your constant and diligent thoughtfulness, you’re more empathetic than you might give yourself credit for.

    5. You are genuinely curious.

    Because you understand and appreciate the world (and the universe!) in its infinite complexity, you are curious about how things work, fit together, can be improved upon.

    This childlike fascination carries into adulthood and is what makes you so wonderful at your career and such a delight to have a conversation with.

    6. You are naturally playful in relationships.

    When you get to know and love people in your life, you find new ways to relate to them. New playful catchphrases, allusions and reinventions of past jokes, even funny physical movements or expressions.

    Because your mind is so creative and thoughtful, playful memes always feel fresh and personal.

    7. You appreciate the beauty of systems.

    You have long pondered the beauty of systems: nature, cities, technological inventions, any kind of infrastructure, really.

    You love structure, and you love the mathematical intricacy with which things work together. To you, the way you see these things is just a matter of fact. To others, your level of appreciation for systematic beauty is awe-inspiring.

    8. You find linear, logical paths to be relaxing.

    You prefer the most direct path to your desired destination. When you have too many choices and emotions involved, this can be very confusing.

    That said, when you feel capable and confident and are in your healthy frame of mind, it is immensely satisfying to determine the most logical, linear path to get where you want to go and then set about taking that path. It relaxes you to do this.

    9. You value play.

    One of the core tenets of genuine confidence, and a centerpiece of my own coaching method, is the foundational exercise of defining your deepest values.

    Most of my clients are engineers and–get this–most of these engineers list PLAY or FUN as one of their top five values.

    I told my friend this, and she was surprised. That just wasn’t part of her concept of engineers, but I told her how true and delightful it is. Perhaps that’s because usually your playfulness comes out more within close relationships.

    Also, a lot of your playfulness is internal. The way you think about things and interpret the world is playfully curious, and that might not always be expressed.

    That said, it’s often really fun for engineers to find new ways that feel natural and fun for expressing their playfulness and relating to people on that lighthearted level.

    10. You are relentlessly self-aware.

    Because your mind works in such a wonderfully structured and thorough way, you are constantly self-assessing.

    You are your greatest puzzle: your own mind, your own behaviors.

    When you’re feeling confident and capable, this is really fun! You enjoy the process of analyzing yourself and watching the progress flow once you actually know what to do. That’s the key: knowing what the hell to do! Once you have that, you’re off to the races.

    11. You entertain multiple working philosophical and sociological theories.

    Because of your curiosity, thoroughness, and patience, you entertain many working theories on various structures in life: from the sociological (how should we be dealing with X?) to the cosmological (where do black holes lead?).

    You may go back and refine any one of your working theories for years, like an artist returning to his sculpture, scraping away what doesn’t belong and perfecting what does.

    12. You are quite romantic.

    In fact, you are arguably the ideal romantic partner.

    You know why? Because you are so earnest, and you want to CHOOSE your partner.

    You have ideals for a relationship, the way you want it to feel and operate, and you know you won’t be happy with anything else. Therefore, badass that you are, you go about learning the skills you need to naturally attract and keep the kind of partner you want in your life.

    Because you generally prefer depth to breadth, you are extraordinary at focusing in on a relationship and making it hum.

    In my experience–in my personal love life and in my dating/attraction coaching–engineers make the best life partners.

    Your attention to detail, your care and thoughtfulness, your courageous and relentless focus–they all work together to make you AWESOME.

  • vina-lustado-sol-haus-design-tiny-house-7.jpg.650x0_q70_crop-smart

    Visit Vina Lustado’s tiny house in Ojai. She shares great tips on tiny house design and lifestyle!
    Her house is a Sol Haus Design tiny house: http://www.solhausdesign.com/
    Dimensions: 8’6" w X 13’8" h X 20′ L with a 18" bumpout
    Total Material/Labor Cost: $40k
    Fakro Pivoting Skylights: http://www.amazon.com/s/?_encoding=UT…