Let's do a word association game. When I say "global warming", what do you think of? Personally, one of the first things that comes to mind is gas-guzzling SUV's. Oh, here's another one - why is cutting carbon emissions in the US so hard? Another one with lots of answers, but one for me would be because Americans have a love affair with their cars, and we basically have to drive to get from place to place.
Because of these pre-conceived ideas of mine, I found it shocking that 48% of US energy consumption is from our buildings - heating, cooling, building and remodeling them. Transportation, including air travel, makes up 27% of the consumption (this was according to Metropolis Magazine. I tried to get the article online but it was available only to subscribers. I think it is "Turning Down the Global Thermostat", Oct. 2003). One-sixth of this electricity is used for cooling buildings.
Luckily, green building is becoming more and more prevalent. In general, green buildings use 30% less energy, 35% less carbon, 30-50% less water, and 50-90% less waste! And it's not just about being environmentally friendly. Fossil Ridge High School, a recently constructed green building in Fort Collins, saved more than $100,000 on electricity bills its first year of operation, and it didn't cost any more to make than a non-green building. Amazing!
CMMAP, the center I'm a part of, is going to be building a multi-million dollar facility and I think it would be terrible if it wasn't green.
Ok, I've got to go to another talk, but I want to give my list of things I want to do around the house to reduce my energy consumption. Some I could even do this weekend!
1. change our lightbulbs to CFL's - they use about 1/4-1/3 less energy than regular bulbs and last up to 10 years. The only thing is, I don't know if I should just throw away some perfectly working bulbs ...
2. change the air filter, it has been way too long!
3. put more insulation in the attic ... I think we are running a little thin
4. check out the water flow in some of our faucets - particularly our shower since it is used daily
5. call our trash collecters and tell them just to come every other week. it will save us money!
6. sign up for some wind power with our utilities, this is a wonderful option in Colorado!
7. maybe Chris and I should start setting aside some money each month so we can buy a hybrid car. If we do $200 a month for 4 years, we could put down $10,000. :)
Ok that is it! Thanks for reading!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Your house is cold, I think that you and Chris are doing your part to keep the energy consumption of buildings down :)
It is cold ... but I finally changed the filter last weekend!
Post a Comment