Net-Zero Housing
Ted W. Clifton stands outside his house with his son Atlas on Oct. 22, 2015. The house was completed in spring of 2015 and Clifton and his family have been living in it for the past six months.
Ted W. Clifton stands in the middle of the kitchen in his newly finished net zero house off of Alabama street in Bellingham, Oct. 22. The house utilizes large south facing windows for natural lighting instead of electricity.
Clifton’s house is a simple design built to utilize natural resources, heating and lighting. The floors are concrete slabs with hot water pipes running through for heating. They have been treated with a solution to bring out the metal tones in the concrete.
Ted W. Clifton explains the system which pumps hot water through the concrete floors of his net zero energy house. This system is what provides heat for the structure of the house.
Clifton’s house generates and stores enough electricity to run the house, power two electric cars and run a hot tub without drawing any extra power from the city grid.
The house integrates the outdoors as much as possible. The materials and internal decorations are mostly unfinished woods and natural colors and the house looks out on a large yard and beautiful garden.
Ted L. Clifton (Clifton’s father) presents about affordable net zero housing at the Eco Building Conference in Seattle, Oct. 09, 2015. Clifton and his son, Ted W. Clifton, together design and build houses which optimize energy use through utilizing technology and the environment.
Attendees of the Eco Building Conference swap antidotes of green housing projects gone wrong in Seattle, Oct. 9, 2015. Among the issues discussed were remembering to leave room for cougars to loop the boarders of their territory and properly storing garbage cans so as not to attract bears.
Skookum Sail
Hilary Neevel, 35, of Bellingham Wash, stands in front of brightly colored rolls of canvas in the center of Skookum Sail Repair, a sail loft which Neevel owns and operates, Friday, March 6, Bellingham Wash.
Skookum Sail Repair is located in the bottom of a bright red brick building behind the Bellingham Farmer’s Market and Neevel said she couldn’t imagine a better place than Bellingham to run a small business.
Neevel began working at a sail loft in Fairhaven as a filler job out of college but she found that she loved it so much that she continued working with sails and now owns her own loft.
Although she owns several industrial sewing machines, Neevel does the majority of her work with hand tools. “I pride myself in being able to make do,” Neevel said.
Neevel prepares to install a new cringle, a hole in a sail reinforced with a metal ring through which a rope can pass through.
Despite the constant work with hand tools, Neevel said that the most physically taxing part of her job is manhandling the sail and getting it into a workable position.
“Things get a little more lean in the winter,” Neevel said. To supplement the seasonal demand for sail repair Neevel has started selling outdoor bags which she designs and makes herself. Hilary Neevel, 35, of Bellingham Wash. Friday, March 6, Bellingham Wash. Contact info: skookumsailrepair@gmail.com
The material which Neevel uses for the packs is derived from sailcloth and retains the sturdy weather proof qualities of a sail.
“There’s something about bags. Most people who work with industrial sewing machines become obsessed with bags at some point,” Neevel said.
Neevel said that she is glad she had the chance to be self-taught, that in school you learn a right way and a wrong way without the chance to experiment. Although, Neevel said, a degree in industrial design would have been helpful.
Solar Window
The NOVA Window prototype sits in a recently updated electronic engineering lab in the Ross Engineering and Technology building at WWU, Oct 30, 2015. The smart solar window is a breakthrough in solar energy developed by students at WWU which has won multiple awards, but it has been living in a storage closet since May of 2015.
The edge of the solar window is lined with these bright blue miniature solar strips. The gas inside the window absorbs and reemits light particles until they make their way to the edge of the window where they are collected by the strips and stored for energy.
The NOVA Window features smart technology which monitors the environment and tells the window when to open and close in order to maximize energy use in the building. It can also be controlled remotely though a tablet or smart phone via an app which the team designed.
The electronics components for the NOVA Window fit neatly into a hallow compartment in the bottom of the window’s frame. It runs on a battery of about 300 milliwatts and a general purpose circuit board which the electronics team programed for the window. Quae Atwood, the team’s new lead, says that if the window goes into production they will need to manufacture more specific parts.
Professor Todd Morton pulls the solar window prototype out from underneath some other boxes in a storage room in Ross, Oct. 7, 2015. Because the original members of the team have graduated, much of the information about the project has been lost, including the exact location of the prototype which wasn’t located until that moment.
A display check for $5,000 sits on top of electronics books and paraphernalia in the storage room where the NOVA Window is kept. To the right of the check are two wooden prototype frames used in the early development of the NOVA Window.
Quae Atwood (Right), the team’s new lead, and Cole Rogers (Left) an electrical engineering junior inspect the NOVA Window in the Ross Engineering and Technology building at WWU, Oct 30, 2015. They both said they were surprised at how well the prototype had held up during the months in storage.
The windows which make up the front wall of Morse Hall where the solar window was developed. If the project gets marketed commercially then design features like this could be used to produce power for buildings.
Omniprocessor
The Omni Processor prototype being tested at Janicki Industries in Sedro Woolley, Oct. 30, 2015. It is an impressive machine, reaching about two stories high, but the processor in Dakar only needs three people to operate it.
Woodchips spew on to a conveyer belt which feeds the Omni Processor in Sedro Woolley, Oct. 30, 2015. The Omni Processor is designed to supplement the energy it creates from processing fecal material with other energy sources such as woodchips and household waste.
A mound of manure mixed with wood pellets sits in the yard at Janicki Industries waiting to be processed by the Omni Processor located in Sedro Woolley, Oct. 30, 2015. Developing countries often struggle with access to clean water and the treatment of sewage. The Omni Processor aims to solve both those issues by processing fecal sludge into potable water, electricity, and solids.
A plume of steam rises from the Omni Processor during a test run at Janicki Industries, Oct. 30, 2015. The Omni Processor is powered by steam and processes slugged into clean water while also producing 250 kilowatts of electricity.
Solid waste such as raw sewage, woodchips and household waste is fed into the Omni Processor and funneled through a long series of compressors, pipes and gauges. Some critisiz the Omni Processor for being too complicated compared to options like drying fecal material in a greenhouse and using if for fuel.
The Omniprocessor reflected in a puddle of rain water at its test location in Sedro Wolley. If the project is successful and deployed around the world clean water will no longer be a privilege for people living in third world countries.
Twin Brook Creamery
Twin Brook Creamery is a local, family owned dairy out of Lynden, Washington. Larry Stap represents the fifth generation in his family to own and work the land. Stap took the farm from a small Darigold supplier to a unique and independent dairy which is in stores as far south as Portland.
Half a mile south of the Canadian border lie the barns where Stap’s herd is bred, born, raised, and milked. The Twin Brook farms are tucked away on a small access road, surrounded by the many other commercial dairy farms of Whatcom County.
Stap runs the farm himself with the help of six employees. About three hours out of his day are spent with the cows. During the rest of the time he is answering emails, placing orders for equipment and supplies, and giving tours to curious customers.
The corner stone of Twin Brook Creamery’s business model is the iconic glass bottles which their milk is sold in. Stap says that he had the choice to make his dairy big or unique. He chose unique and he never looked back.
“Take care of your girls and they’ll take care of you,” Stap says. In August of 2015 he made a 1.75 million dollar investment to improve the lives of his cows by installing three robotic milkers, a back scratcher and the equivalent of a bovine Fitbit for every cow in his herd.
Stap welcomes visitors from his front steps and brings them into the kitchen where he serves chocolate milk from his own fridge and homemade cookies. Baking, Stap says, is his favorite pastime and he loves to putter around the kitchen. He happily hands out the family recipe to anyone who asks.
Stap’s cows, whom he affectionately calls his girls, spend their whole lives on the farm. Twin Brook raises only jersey cows, instead of the traditional black and white Holstein cows, because their milk has more solid content which increases the flavor and texture.
SSS Odyssey
Jonathan Kanz (left), Sarah Carlson (middle) and Jonah Hilmo (right) prepare a platform which is floating and tied next to Odyssey. During the winter of 2014, the ship underwent a complete overhaul including removing her boom to be sanded down and repainted.
Confused by the tangled mess of the ship’s reserve batteries, Tess Tucker poses a question to another crewmember not pictured.
Natalie Koch scrubs Odyssey’s deck with salt water while docked in Thea Foss Waterway. Odyssey undergoes regular cleaning at the command of the skippers to keep the ship clean and respectable looking.
Crew gather in the sail loft of the Tacoma Youth Marine Center to discuss repairs to their quartermaster. The small rowboat was refurbished over the winter of 2014 due to cracks in its hull.
An ancient sail is stuffed back into its bag by crewmembers. Sailors rarely get rid of anything which could be even remotely useful so the program has some gear dating back to Odyssey’s time in the navy in World War II.
Gordon Craig drains the old diesel engine on Odyssey. While the crew are trained in all the workings of the ship, many chose to specialize in a certain area such as engine repair or navigation.
Crewmembers monitor Odyssey’s functions while under sail.
Amanda Quance untangles Odyssey’s dress flags from their storage bins in preparation for the Opening Day Parade in Seattle Wa. The flags are ancient, possibly left over from Odyssey’s time in the Navy.
Daniel Buchignani retrieves a life ring in a man overboard drill while Amanda Quance steers the rudder. Man overboard drills are common on Odyssey to insure that crew can rescue anyone in any scenario.
Crewmembers wave at a camera hoisted halfway up the ship’s main mast. Less than half of Odyssey’s length is shown here and the crew below are a skeleton crew, barely enough to run all of the ship’s functions while under sail. A crew of 10 to 12 experienced hands are typically required to run the 90 foot wooden sailing ship.
Natasha Curd wraps her legs around a stay, a mettle cord running from the top of the mast to the deck, in order to steady herself as she replaces a light bulb 50 feet above Odyssey’s deck.
With a quartermaster over their heads, crew slowly walk up the staircase to the sail loft where the small rowboat was to undergo repairs.
Crewmembers relax and swap stories on top of the main sail after a challenging trip through the Ballard Locks. Despite the cold and dark, many crew prefer to gather on deck even though there is plenty of room down below.
Natasha Curd prepares to be hauled aloft, high up Odyssey’s mast, to replace a light bulb on the spreaders. The crew are trained to maintain Odyssey and preform all but the most dangerous tasks.
Isaac Hilmo shows off while teaching a class on throwing heaving lines. In order to dock Odyssey crewmembers must throw heavy lines for a distances of up to 20 feet from the boat to the dock, and constant practice is required for new recruits.
Amanda Quance (front) and Natasha Curd (back) inspect one of the quartermasters for cracks in the sail loft of the Tacoma Youth Marine Center. The quartermasters are used to haul crew from ship to shore, and for man overboard drills and small craft sailing, so their fiberglass hulls take quite a beating.
Caleb Hinson points out a new course for Erin Dewherst at the helm while below in the cockpit Natasha Curd teaches Kayla Grey new knots for her next level of advancement.
A watery sun glistens on Odyssey’s deck and the lapping waves of the Puget Sound.
Typically the crew of Odyssey are a ragtag group in red t-shirts and grubby jeans. However, they frequently win prizes at parades and boat shows with their crisp uniforms and sharp salutes.
Using their legs to push Odyssey out from the pilings, the crew attempts to reposition Odyssey during a tricky docking. While safety is always a priority aboard the ship, sometimes scenarios require creative improvising.
While Odyssey is the largest Sea Scout ship on the western coast there are many other programs in the Puget Sound and across the nation. Sea Scout ships often meet up during large maritime events, such as parades and boat shows, and they enjoy the chance to brag about their ship and tour others boats.
Two crewmembers keep watch on Odyssey’s bow as she sails into the sunset. While underway there are three positions which must always be filled by a crewmember: helm, bow watch, and navigation.
Caleb Hinson peers through binoculars at an object in the water pointed out to him by crew on bow watch. While there are adult skippers onboard, the teenage crew is often in charge of running the boat and the safety of the crew.
Tess Tucker prepares to enter the Ballard Locks to pass from Eliot Bay to Lake Union in Seattle. Because of the time it take to travel on a boat, crew often have to maneuver tricky passages and dockings in the dark.
Amanda Quance drags a fender half her size to the bow of the boat, where she will use it to keep Odyssey from crashing into anything while they dock.
Quance and Buchignani navigate their small quartermaster back to Odyssey which is anchored in the bay. When Odyssey has reached her destination for the day the crew leave her anchored and go ashore for hikes and beachcombing or practice their swimming and small craft handling.
Caleb Stites and Natasha Curd work on their navigation skills in the chartroom of Odyssey. While Odyssey is equipped with radar and a computer with digital charts and GPS, all crew members are required to navigate with a paper chart and compass.
Crew ready their sail boats for a day of small craft training in Thea Foss Waterway. During the summer months Odyssey is chartered out in the San Juan Islands and the crew not aboard practice kayaking and small boat sailing at the Tacoma Youth Marine Center.
In a rare moment of peace, crew members play a game of cards on deck while the sun sets behind them.
A red lantern hangs off of Odyssey’s port side. Crewmembers learn to recognize maritime navigational signs as well as recognize the different kinds of ships by the lights they display at night.
Sisters Amanda and Emily Quance tease each other while enjoying dinner on deck. Although the crew are often serious and focused on their tasks while underway, when the day is over they spend much of their time goofing off and playing pranks on each other.
Fenders and a ladder used when Odyssey is docked are stored behind the mast and between the smaller boats lashed to her deck.
Kesia Lee 