[SustainableTompkins] U.S. struggles to build green homes

[GayNicholson at aol.com]

_http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070309/us_nm/usa_environment_building_dc_ 
(http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070309/us_nm/usa_environment_building_dc) 
 
 
U.S. struggles to build green homes 
 
 
 
By Daniel Trotta 2 hours, 28 minutes ago  


NEW YORK (Reuters) - Change a light bulb and stop a war. Build smarter homes  
and keep the seas from rising.  
These are the kinds of arguments U.S. environmentalists use to promote their  
cause. Others say forget "save the planet," Americans respond better to "save 
 some money." 
Regardless of the sales pitch, energy efficiency is an opportunity that  
Americans shun, as less than 5 percent of the world's population consumes almost  
25 percent of global oil production. 
While gas-guzzling vehicles draw the most criticism, homes and businesses  
consume even more energy -- 40 percent of the U.S. total in 2005 versus 28  
percent for transportation -- and provide the biggest potential for savings.  
The U.S. Green Building Council says structures built to its standards can  
cut energy usage 20 to 80 percent using available technologies such as compact  
fluorescent lighting and high-efficiency building shells and water heating.  
The Paris-based International Energy Agency, which advises rich governments,  
says more efficient use of energy can do far more to cut carbon dioxide  
emissions than either a shift to renewable energies or nuclear power in coming  
decades.  
Advocates for efficiency call it "low-hanging fruit," so what keeps it from  
being picked? Woeful public awareness, timid policy-makers and resistance from 
 the building industry to mandate greater standards, experts say.  
"Nothing is stopping building owners from making investment in plants and  
equipment except they don't want to do it," said Peter Fusaro, founder of Global 
 Change Associates, an environmental consultancy.  
"There's just no people pushing it. Politicians make platitudes about energy  
efficiency but who's going to make the investment?" 
Some states are more aggressive than the federal government. California has  
called for a 25 percent cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. Ten  
northeastern states including New York have pledged to cut emissions from  electricity 
generation to 10 percent below 1990 levels by 2019.  
"We want to drag the federal government into this. We're not going to wait,"  
said Peter Smith, president and CEO of the New York State Energy Research and 
 Development Authority. 
THE OFFENDING LIGHT BULB 
Tim Carey, president and chief executive of the New York Power Authority,  
said he would outlaw traditional, incandescent bulbs if he could. Australia  
plans to phase them out by 2009. 
"I outlawed them in my house and nobody seemed to mind," Carey said. "We  
certainly would have to invade a lot fewer countries in the Middle East." 
Scientists link carbon dioxide, released when coal, oil and natural gas are  
burned, to global warming, which in turn has resulted in heat waves, floods 
and  storms. 
Buildings use more energy than they need to because they leak energy through  
ill-conceived lighting, oversized heating and cooling systems or poor 
building  materials. 
In a pilot program, the New York State Energy Research and Development  
Authority built 15,000 energy-efficient homes, which cost on average $7,000 more  
than a conventional home. That $7,000 investment paid for itself within four  
years through lower energy bills, Smith said.  
"It just makes good business sense," Smith said.  
But consumers are generally unwilling to invest in more expensive homes or  
appliances unless they can make their money back in less than three years,  
according to a study by consultants McKinsey & Co.  
"Most people would pay a few dollars extra on their mortgage each month for a 
 Jacuzzi or better counter tops. That doesn't faze them. It's just crazy that 
we  have this market barrier," said Bill Prindle, deputy director of the 
American  Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.  
"That's why we need stronger building codes," he said.  
Codes are determined by state and local authorities, making it difficult to  
institute a national policy. Builders favor voluntary standards, saying 
mandates  add to costs by disrupting supply chains and creating delays by leaving  
government agencies short of inspectors.  
Prindle says the United States needs a national energy policy requiring  
efficiencies in order for the market to work.  
Others are hopeful the 2008 presidential election will produce candidates no  
longer fearful of conservation, which in the past been associated with  
sacrifice.


----------------------------------------------------
Gay  Nicholson, Ph.D. 

607-533-7312 (home office)
607-279-6618  (cell)

1 Maple Avenue
Lansing, NY  14882
gaynicholson at aol.com

Sustainable Tompkins 
Program  Coordinator 
w_ww.sustainabletompkins.org_ (http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/) 

Southern Tier Energy$mart Communities
Regional  Coordinator
Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County
615 Willow  Ave., Ithaca, NY 14850
agn1 at cornell.edu

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