There's money in the drain

If there is heat going down the drain,
there is money going down the drain.

RenewABILITY Energy Inc. in Canada has worked hard to develop a new pipe section that bolts in the drain of buildings to recover wastewater heat - residential or industrial - new or retrofit.

Here's the explanation of their new "Power-Pipe".

Here's the industrial information about the Power-Pipe.

The units are well-made, copper is not cheap, nor are efforts to meet potable water compliance requirements, so the units take up to three years to pay back with energy savings, but that's money not in the drain.

Globally, the heat in drain-water is a multi-billion dollar untapped resource.

Sketch-a-fridge

Risque Rabisque (roughly: Scrawl & Scribble), the refrigerator is covered in a special coating similar to dry erase whiteboards.

Replacing the age-old practice of sticking grocery lists and children’s drawings on the fridge, missives can now be written directly on the appliance and easily wiped off.

It’s a simple innovation that cleverly integrates existing human behaviour, and turns a mundane product into something playful and appealing. [via Springwise]

Stay-in-place insulated concrete forms

Octaform is getting top-notch attention in Canada at the University of Manitoba's Department of Civil Engineering for use as low-cost farm buildings and tanks.

The continous stay-in-place PVC shell protects the concrete when using it for storage of liquid manure and urea fertilizer.

"What has happened is that, with the industry having moved from granular to liquid, there's a need to store significant quantities of this, both at the grain elevators, local storage facilities and sometimes right on the farm. Steel tanks, which have been used previously that are expected to have at least a 10 year life span, are failing at anywhere from three to five years. There's been a move to stainless steel tanks but they're extremely expensive and they don't even withstand urea for a long period of time. The PVC is completely inert with urea - no impact at all."

Octaform's site says their system is "leading edge".
I haven't seen this term since the late 1980s!

"Stay-in-place insulated concrete forms offer benefits that no conventional concrete forming systems equal. The Octaform Concrete Forming System provides the ultimate solution for countless agricultural, commercial, multi-unit residential, and industrial applications, including liquid containment tanks, barns, car washes, foundation walls, parking garages, and sub-grade walls, just to name a few."

The angry hammer

Hi-tech backyard chicken house

If I hadn't seen it, I wouldn't have believed it. It would be under a blue moon before I would invest in a venture to sell a plastic hen house to customers in the suburbs, but Trendwatching reports three year sales of more than $740,000 for the British firm Omlet.

The eglu, an igloo for producing eggs...

Trendwatching says, "To completely eliminate transit between source and table Omlet brings hens to consumers' gardens and fresh eggs to their table every morning.

The company designed a hen kit for urban and suburban gardens, aimed at first-time chicken owners, families and eco-savvy individuals. (There's similar kits for rabbits and other animals too.)

"Omlet supplies organically reared and fully vaccinated female chickens (no early morning cock-a-doodle-doo), at a cost of $700. The two-hen service comes complete with an Eglu, an eye-catching, 21st century version of the henhouse."

Flat invisible wiring

Blended onto surfaces, there's flat wire for low voltage lighting, audio/loudspeakers, voice/data lines, high performance video, Cat 5, 5e, and 6 data.

The new FlatWire Ready low voltage wall lighting system is UL-listed and includes a wide range of decorator-style sconces and complete Add-A-Light installation kits.

The FlatWire Ready technology allows these low voltage lighting fixtures to be mounted anywhere on walls or ceilings and connected to an existing electrical outlet without drilling holes, pulling electrical wires or using extension cords. Unlike conventional "round" wire, FlatWire is easily installed and can create a virtually invisible wiring system. [gizmag]

Less costly than routing wires beneath walls, the kits are not inexpensive: About $50 - $150 for lo-volt lighting; 5-speaker audio kits about $250. Fiber optic and 120v is expected. UL Approved, but check locally.

Faux finish with Photoshop

SimpleBits posted a tip for making computer illustrations of wood products.

Creating wood grain texture in Photoshop
"Using built-in filters and a single background color, this simple little tutorial worked like a charm."