Commercial Buildings Guzzle 37% of California’s Energy
(Image: Next 10)
A recent study identifies commercial buildings as a stealth drain on the state’s energy resources and economy. The report, “Untapped Potential of Commercial Buildings: Energy Use and Emissions,” produced by Collaborative Economics for Next 10, finds that the energy efficiency or lack thereof in commercial buildings has a significant impact on California’s economy, the state’s overall energy use, global warming pollution emissions and jobs.
Some of the highlights of the study include:
Electricity consumed by commercial office buildings represents 37 percent of california’s total electricity consumption. Based on the U.S. average, energy efficiency improvements could cut that usage by 80 percent.
Only 60 percent of all new commercial building construction meets California energy efficiency standards. With a minimal two percent increase in construction costs, new buildings can be designed to use one-third to one-half less energy than they use today.
Energy efficient buildings retain higher real estate value, commanding higher rents (6-7 percent) and maintaining higher occupancy rates than less efficient buildings.
Simple energy efficiency improvements to existing buildings, such as insulating window films, yield three dollars in savings on average for every dollar invested.
“Up to 80 percent of the energy used by commercial buildings is going up in smoke,” said F. Noel Perry, founder of Next 10. “As our state struggles to emerge from recession, relatively low-tech energy efficiency fixes could save California businesses and the state government significant money and help to generate jobs.”
Weatherizing for Winter from Preservation Magazine
Preservation magazine presents a few timely tips for winter energy efficiency. These are especially relevant for slightly older homes. You can check out more videos with tips and DIY instructions here.
Energy Efficiency and Indoor Air Quality: Getting the Best of Both
(Illustration: U.S. EPA)
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and ENERGY STAR, weatherization not only helps homeowners save energy and money, but can also provide an avenue to improving indoor air quality. When combined with proper mechanical ventilation, energy efficiency improvements can control where air enters and exits the home and can help prevent mold growth by reducing condensation. Control is particularly important. In a leaky home, outdoor air can enter the house intermittently through cracks, unsealed joints, or penetrations. Dependent upon the weather there may be too much leakage, resulting in a drafty house or too little ventilation, resulting in stuffy air. Leakage also means that the air coming into your home may be filtered through dirty, dusty areas.
When sealing up leaks and upgrading your home’s efficiency, paying attention to indoor air quality is crucial. If performed improperly, weatherization can have negative impacts on occupant health, so it is important to read up on indoor air quality tips. You may also consider hiring a professional to assess your home. When done correctly efficiency improvements have the potential to save energy and improve air quality. Mechanical ventilation in a well-insulated, well-sealed house can exhaust pollutants and bring in outdoor air in a planned way, limiting the intake of unwanted pollutants. This makes a house both comfortable and energy efficient.
Dedicated to fighting climate change and empowering youth, the Bay Area’s Rising Sun Energy Center recently released a new video about their programs to improve energy efficiency in local communities.
The group provides low-to-no-cost retrofit services to Bay Area households, with a focus on under-resourced communities. To perform the retrofits, Rising Sun trains young people, as well as adults who face barriers to employment, preparing them for jobs in the green market.
Home energy retrofits are becoming increasingly common, but as the market spreads, so do misconceptions about how to best generate savings. While some marketers have attempted to advertise “silver bullet” strategies, in reality, says Matt Golden of Sustainable Spaces, no one solution is right for every house every time. One of the best ways to figure out which retrofits work for your home is to have a professional energy audit, and in the meantime, watch out for these five misconceptions about home energy efficiency.
Myths:
1. You should install solar PV as a first step: Solar systems may be flashy but there are many less showy measures that give you significantly more energy saving bang for your buck. More cost-efficient steps include insulation, sealing ducts, adding CFLs, and ENERGY STAR appliances to name a few.
2. All insulation is equal: While fiberglass batts are common, small gaps can lead to dramatic efficiency reductions. Blown-in, or loose-fill, fiberglass or cellulose insulation is generally far more effective for retrofits.
3. Double paned windows are always beneficial: In the U.S., window manufacturers aren’t required to report testing data on air leakage which means that some double-paned brands may actually leak a lot of air. Also windows with a low emissivity reflective film, may help in the summer but will hinder heat gain in the winter. The bottom line is that if you are buying new windows be sure to do your research on the manufacturer and consider your heating and cooling needs carefully.
4. You need a tankless water heater: These systems do not necessarily save energy for larger families. Generally, if a household uses more than one tank worth of hot water per day, then a conventional system may be more efficient. Water heater tips >>
5. Zeroing your electric bill means you’re using no energy: While cutting electricity is crucial, natural gas is also used in many homes for space and water heating, and it is important to cut back on natural gas use as well.
Would you like some clean energy with that burrito? Newly opened in the town of Gurnee, Illinois, a Chipotle Mexican Grill recently became the first restaurant in America to achieve LEED-Platinum certification, the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) highest rating. Now in addition to serving up savory food, the restaurant can also offer a helping of sustainability with green features that include:
A 6 kilowatt wind turbine, expected to produce about 10% of the restaurant’s energy
A 2,500 gallon underground water cistern for harvesting rainwater
Landscaping with native plants, which are irrigated with water captured in the cistern, and
Parking lot asphalt that reflects the sun’s heat instead of absorbing it
The restaurant, which opened last fall, received certification under the USGBC’s retail pilot program for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards covering new construction. Chipotle is seeking to snag LEED ratings for several other restaurants as well, including recently opened branches in Minnesota, Seattle and Long Island.
Neighborhoods Unite to Save on Home Energy Retrofits
Under a new pilot program, homeowners can save on energy retrofits (Photo: Department of Energy)
Building retrofit firm Sustainable Spaces and community organizer One Block Off the Grid (1BOG) are teaming up to help make home energy retrofits more accessible and affordable. As part of a pilot program in the San Francisco Bay Area and Sonoma County, 1BOG will find groups of homeowners interested in retrofits, and refer them to Sustainable Spaces. In turn, Sustainable Spaces will offer a 15 percent discount on retrofitting work to 1BOG participants. By encouraging homeowners to join together in community or neighborhood groups, the program will help bring in a larger customer base for Sustainable Spaces, allowing the firm to pass the rewards on to homeowners.
Sustainable Spaces, a 6th Annual Flex Your Power Award Winner, performs energy audits and implements retrofits, helping to save homeowners an average of 40% on their energy bills. Founder Matt Golden hopes the program will bring in new customers and says he expects more than 30 leads per month once the pilot is running smoothly.
1BOG is known for organizing neighborhood solar panel purchases. The group gathers interested homeowners together and helps participants leverage the power of a larger group to negotiate better bargains. The group plans to use the partnership with Sustainable Spaces as a test to see if its organizing model works in other industries.
Deadline for Advanced West Coast Green Registration July 31, 20% Discount Available for e-Newswire Readers
This October 1-3, West Coast Green, the nation’s largest conference and expo on green innovation in building, business and design is returning to San Francisco at the Fort Mason Center. Registration is now open, and the deadline for advanced pricing is Friday, July 31st.
West Coast Green is the largest event of its kind, with an international audience of over 14,000 innovators and entrepreneurs. Over 300 exhibitors will be showcasing the latest in resource-efficiency among a stunning array of green and healthy building products. This year’s conference will also feature 175 inspirational speakers including Hunter Lovins, author and International Consultant; Panama Bartholomy, Advisor to the Chair of the CA Energy Commission and Ray Anderson, Founder of InterfaceFLOR.
Flex Your Power is happy to announce that our partnership with West Coast Green allows e-Newswire readers a 20% discount on a full conference pass. Your pass gives you access to all Keynotes, Leadership Summits, Education and Networking Sessions, full access to the Tradeshow Floor and more. Remember to register by July 31st for advanced pricing in addition to your 20% discount.
New Report: Green Leasing Can Improve Office Building Efficiency
Over 90% of California’s office space is leased, creating barriers to energy upgrades (Photo: Flickr)
According to a recent report from the California Sustainability Alliance, the largest barrier to greening California’s office space is the fact that 90% of that space is leased. The report, Greening California’s Leased Office Space: Challenges and Opportunities (PDF, 5.5. MB), explains that under many lease agreements, owners are not economically motivated to invest in building retrofits because the benefits of such upgrades flow mostly to the tenants. This split incentive is creating a major barrier to critical green upgrades.
The solution, according to report authors, is to expand the practice of green leasing - the process of integrating environmentally conscious elements into the lease and encouraging tenants and owners to collaborate on cost-effective improvements.
The report further recommends strategies for accelerating green leasing including establishing a consistent, statewide definition of green, documenting and publicizing the costs and benefits of green buildings, and modifying state and local policies to recognize the contrasting needs of landlords and tenants. The Green Leases Toolkit 2.0 is included in the report and is provided to help tenants and building owners develop approaches to minimize energy and water use and reduce waste.
A new video from the New York Times, “Home Green Home: Rich Green, Poor Green,” takes a look at energy efficiency across the board: from high-end green luxury apartments, to simple upgrades anyone can use to save energy and money.
