Green Studios?

[matt thomas]

well, if you live near one of the biggest wind farms in the world, maybe yours?

nice idea tho.. i used to be a hippy.. ha.. (almost) self sufficient, veggie, enviromental activist, flared jeans, long hair..

narco

[Shaman]

My whole studio is powered by green power from Greenpeace energy.

[covert]

Originally Posted by TornadoTed

Does anybody know if there are any green studios, totally powered by wind turbine, solar panels etc? Is it viable?

I sem to recall that there's a solar powered studio in Arizona. Mix or some such magazine did an article on them.

[TornadoTed]

My oil central heating has gone up 2 and a half times since this time last year, somethings gotta be done!

[Metatone]

Great Thread!

I'm currently doing a Green Development project (mixed use live/work/retail/recreation). From the beginning, I've envisioned a Green Studio/Media Centre in it. We're still in design so we'll see what becomes of that part of the plan, but I'm very hopeful it will be included and will live up to it's potential.

Should be done before Jan '08.


On a related note, I'm in the midst of a move to the country (yayyyy!) where I will be building a new home studio as a separate building from my house...or maybe joined to it. Point is, I'll be building it from scratch. I'm planning to build it as sustainably/sensitively as possible and am considering a few options.

I'm wondering if anyone is working in or has been in (or heard of) any studios that are constructed primarily of earthbased materials....ie rammed earth, cob, adobe, mud bricks, etc. I'm imagining sound isolation would be excellent and 'easy' to achieve, and I'm curious about the acoustic properties of any of these 'softer than stone' materials. I imagine some might be very acoustically damping and maybe in those instances, could you add hard surfaces to counter the dampening instead of the more usual reverse of that? Maybe embedding some stone in the walls or maybe wooden panels or maybe spaced brick or other harder substances.

I'm hoping that by posing this question in this thread it may lead to more info for the original poster too, and not be a hijack...if I'm mistaken, I apologize in advance.

And, to the original poster (Tornado Ted)....hook yourself up to that windfarm and have at 'er!!! I'm delighted that you started this thread...and reading the replies so far, I'm pleasantly surprised to find that I'm less alone than I sometimes think I am.

Speaking of which...like Narco, I no longer have long hair or flared jeans...but some of the hippy stayed with me, inside...perhaps I still have flared genes?

[Kiwiburger]

I was thinking about it, while I was tracking down some bad AC grounding issues. I got an inverter and car battery, and noticed a big reduction in transformer noise by using pure sinewave power. The logical step would be to throw a solar panel on the roof and promote my studio as clean & green.

But it gets a bit cold in the winter. Plus, I put in a dedicated ground spike and solved most of my hum issues. As far as single coil guitars go, I found the main source of hum was airborne, and battery power didn't help me there.

[orange]

yep, Great thread Ted.

I did see a website of and australian studio that was completely 'renewable-energy' powered - of course I can't seem to find it now.

Strangely enough I've been thinking about a move to Wales myself and was thinking about a green studio.

I know it's being picky, but I'm not sure if a conventional recording studio can ever be truely 'green'. You have to factor in far more than just heat/power. For example, you don't need a big power hungry mixing desk - loads of outboard etc. They all consume resources to manufacture and much of it is made in the far east using very un-green manufacturing processes. I suppose just using a laptop, sound card and speakers is about as green as you can get ?

I suspect what we are really talking about is a studio powered by renewable-energy, possibly built using low-impact materials. Taking a wild guess, I'm assuming that a small studio (such as yours?) consumes about 3KW - not including heating/aircon. So you're gonna need to generate this amount of energy constantly - even during the night ?

In a rural area of wales then wind power seems like a feasable solution, but solar power systems are getting pretty sophiticated now. Water power if you are near a suitable water source ?

Most of these systems have quite a high setup cost however - so I'm not sure that they are a way to save money, especially in the short term.

si

[Shaman]

Some more thoughts on this theme:

* I never understood that "all lights ON" approach of most studios just to impress clients, who come in the first time.

No one ever needs all his outboard powered on during tracking for example, so I generally switch off everything which I don´t need at the moment. I also switch off my big monitors when tracking. Devices, which don´t have a front power switch like: Avalon, smart, spider etc. are all connected to a central power switch distributor for better handling ( which is around 60 Euros).

All that SAVES electricity BIG TIME

Solar powered fuel cells with hydrogene are the future for us all but will take some time and effort to develop.

De-central energy production is the oil/gas lobby´s enemy.
But don´t worry. The oil / gas price won´t stay where it is at the moment.

High oil / gas prices/ climate catastrophes etc. will be the only teachers for the masses.

[orange]

Shaman,

I agree with all your points.

Some people leave the equipment on 24/7 - assuming that this will mean fewer equipment breakdowns. There is some argument that this might be true, BUT there is no doubt that this isn't very green - even considering the ecological cost of replacing equipment.

More and more equipment is CPU controlled and manufacturers should be forced writing some kind of 'low power' routine into the software if something isn't being used.

As you say, ultimately it's gonna be financial pressures that make us 'go green', but governments really must take the lead in this. There should be tax breaks for green products, subsidies for people 'going green', etc etc. f I know that you Germans are way ahead of us in the UK regarding this - and that us in the UK are far ahead of the USA. Until we are forced to pay the true cost of our commodities/power then I suspect most of us will contine to hope that science will save us.


si

[Way Of The Heart]

Here in Austin you have a choice to choose Green energy...directly from our energy provider..

We would love to do it...but the clincher is...it is twice as much!

We already pay roughly $350 a month in energy costs during the summer and roughly $225 during the Winter.

Tough call.

We would love to support it...but right now we can't afford it.

[covert]

Originally Posted by Metatone

I'm wondering if anyone is working in or has been in (or heard of) any studios that are constructed primarily of earthbased materials....ie rammed earth, cob, adobe, mud bricks, etc. I'm imagining sound isolation would be excellent and 'easy' to achieve, and I'm curious about the acoustic properties of any of these 'softer than stone' materials. I imagine some might be very acoustically damping and maybe in those instances, could you add hard surfaces to counter the dampening instead of the more usual reverse of that? Maybe embedding some stone in the walls or maybe wooden panels or maybe spaced brick or other harder substances.

There was quite a bit of discussion of a studio in Canada built of rammed earth. Randy Bachman's, I believe. If not him, then one of the Geuss Who/BTO crowd. Steve Albini's place has adobe as a significant part of it's construction, within a brick shell.

[petsematary]

Build a green studio and Morrissey will record there, I guarantee it.

[Metatone]

Thanks for the tip, Covert! I just looked it up and it is indeed Randy Bachman. I actually live about an hour away from him and had no idea his studio was rammed earth. Definitely worth investigating further!

[GearGuy]

Originally Posted by covert

There was quite a bit of discussion of a studio in Canada built of rammed earth. Randy Bachman's, I believe.

What is this "rammed earth" construction method that you guys are speaking of? Thanks...

[Metatone]

GearGuy,

Here's a link:

http://www.greenhomebuilding.com/rammedearth.htm

On the left side of the page, there's a vertical menu with some of the other techniques/materials that are very similar (Cob, Adobe, Cast Earth)....may be worth reading thru some of the others too as it puts Rammed Earth in more of a context, ie its relationship (similiarities and distinctions, etc) to Adobe, Cob, and the others.

[atticus]

It has long been my dream to build a strawbale studio powered by wind, water, and solar energy. The trick is finding a suitable location to do it in. I think that the guys building studios in the southwest have the best chance fo doing a "green" studio simply because solar and wind energy are more practical to use there.

My current plan is to do mostly wind power with a biodiesel (just like my car) backup generator. Does anyone know of a good inverter that they could recommend for studio use? Great topic!!!

[orange]

Originally Posted by atticus

I think that the guys building studios in the southwest have the best chance fo doing a "green" studio simply because solar and wind energy are more practical to use there.

My understanding is that the current solar cells don't need bright sunshine - they can work in quite overcast conditions. (?)

[HudHudson]

Originally Posted by Rodney Gene

Here in Austin you have a choice to choose Green energy...directly from our energy provider..

We would love to do it...but the clincher is...it is twice as much!

You might want to call Austin Energy, Rodney, because their rate for the Green program is actually a tad cheaper than their regular rate. You may be thinking of Green Mountain Energy, based here, whose rates are higher that COA rates, but since you live in Austin you can't choose a power company like you can in most places in Texas.

[Kiwiburger]

The Rupert Neve Portico range runs off 12 DC, so you can use a truck battery if necessary. That was one reason I got my 5012, and am tempted by the rest of the range. Not only for possible mobile applications, but DC power is a great way to eliminate AC noise issues. The ultimate power conditioning.

I must admit, any new gear I consider I look for the ability to run off DC if possible.

AC noise pollution is getting worse (it's the major factor in digital jitter, and actually affects video more than it affects audio).

I would really like to see more audio products go to 12V DC external power packs for this reason. I believe some high end audiophile stuff uses batteries for this reason. Even tube stuff can use 12V, and use internal circuitry to boost the voltage to 400V or whatever is need. An RF oscillator and transformer followed by a rectifier and filter should work. I see GlasstoneAmps have a guitar preamp that uses 12V DC with a high voltate tube circuit. I love this idea - no 50hz AC for me, thanks.

[TornadoTed]

Cheers for all the responses guys. I've been doing a bit more research and it could be a go'er. I'll have to sit down and work out exact figures for financing etc The 15 Kw turbine I have been looking at costs £40,000 ($70,000) but there is a grant available for nearly a quarter of that. This would be enough to power and heat the studio, the residential accomodation and my house.

I have had an initial free wind speed check and I am pretty close to the ideal average wind speed with a 25metre tower. Just gotta sit down with my wife to be and see if we want to be in debt for the next 10 years but she seems really keen and willing to make the sacrifices too.

[TornadoTed]

Orange, that was a very good point about whether a studio can be totally 'green' by the way. The very nature of it is extremely un-ecological, as you say massive power hungry consoles etc

I've brought a lot of gear in the US recently and it breaks my heart thinking of all the jet fuel to fly it over, certain things just aren't available in the UK and if they are they are twice the price. I'd love to buy in the UK but owever good your intentions the cash in your wallet dictates so much.

My partner in the studio is always dreaming of one day building a studio into he side of a hill. I don't expect we will ever do it but it's a lovely idea and I'm sure the sound isolation would be amazing!

[orange]

Keep us informed - this is a fantastic idea. I hope you decide to go ahead with it.

I fairly sure that you can sell your surplus power back to the grid (they are obliged to buy it I think). Might help recoup costs back quicker.

si

[TornadoTed]

Yeah that's right it will be grid connected and when the studio is quiet it should make me money on the surplus. I'll keep everyone posted with how I get on and what I decide.

[Sqye]

Hey Ted,

Any news - what's the progress, or have you guys decided against it?

We're currently looking into solar power.

I don't mean to put you on the spot, I realize full well it might be
entirely cost prohibitive.

Thanks

[TornadoTed]

Funnily enough I'm meeting with my electrician tomorrow to find out some of the technical aspects. I haven't had time to look into further but it's still there on the back burner.

[Sqye]

Originally Posted by TornadoTed

Funnily enough I'm meeting with my electrician tomorrow to find out some of the technical aspects. I haven't had time to look into further but it's still there on the back burner.

Cool. Good luck, and kep us posted

[not_so_new]

Originally Posted by Sqye

Cool. Good luck, and kep us posted

Yes please do.. VERY cool (I am a green thinking sort of guy and I would love to know what it would take to make it happen).

[djwayne]

My local electric company provides power from a nuclear power plant, so does that mean I have a nuclear powered home studio ??

[joelpatterson]

I run my studio from a photo-voltaic solar electric system, no connection to the grid at all. PV panels on the roof, battery bank in the basement, inverters for 120V AC and the screaming bands upstairs HAVE NO CLUE that anything is out of the ordinary.

I think it's maybe best that way... I always soft-pedaled it quite a bit... didn't want to be seen as the "science project on the hill," what with all the vicious competition and all...

Because I mean, seriously now for a second... does it really matter where the power comes from? Like, in the same way it matters how the CD sounds?

I don't THINK so...