2.  Trudy Park  Chelsea Favors  Hector

3. 1)Concrete is the best material for constructing earth-sheltered buildings. Not only is it strong, it is also durable and fire resistant. Concrete absorbs and stores heat, helping to prevent temperature swings that can damage some building materials. Moreover, it provide supplemental strength in other types of earthen construction. 2) Masonry used for walls that will receive pressure from earth cover. It is the material with waterproofing and great pressure receiver.

7.  Special designed collectors absorb sun light  Fan or pump a building with space-heating or hot supplies water  Collectors are mounted on the roof with an unobstructed view of the sun  Some of the heat can be used directly and the rest can be stored for later  Insulated tanks with rocks, water, or heat- absorbing chemicals  Also produce hot water with active solar water heaters  But active solar water heaters are too costly at $2500 for most US homeowners

8.  Evaporative cooler produces effective cooling by combining water evaporation with an air-moving system  The outside air is pulled through moist pads where it is cooled by evaporation  Then the air is circulated through the building by a large blower  This can lower the outside temperature by as much as 30 degrees indoors  Can not be used in areas where there is high humidity  Works the best in desert like places with dry heat  75 percent less electricity as air conditioning does  The electricity savings at approximately $150 a year.  For hotter desert climates, the savings can be much more

9.  Also called distributed receiver system  Sunlight collected and focused on oil pipes  Pipes run through middle of curved solar collectors  Sunlight can create high temperatures for industrial processes  Steam run turbines to create electricity  Natural gas turbines used as back up system  Used at night or cloudy day so highly efficient  8-10 cents per kilowatt much cheaper VS nuclear power plants

10.  Solar thermal electric power plant generates heat by using lenses and reflectors to concentrate the sun's energy. Because the heat can be stored, these plants are unique because they can generate power when it is needed, day or night, rain or shine.  Solar thermal electric systems operating in the US today [Solar Parabolic Troughs] meet the needs of over 350,000 people (equal to the population of the city of Fresno, CA or Miami, FL) and displace the equivalent of 2.3 million barrels of oil annually.  Solar thermal power plants create two and one-half times as many skilled, high paying jobs as do conventional power plants that use fossil fuels.  A CEC (California Energy Commission) study shows that even with existing tax credits, a solar thermal electric plant pays about 1.7 times more in federal, state, and local taxes than an equivalent natural gas combined cycle plant. If the plants paid the same level of taxes, their cost of electricity would be roughly the same.