By Walter Simpson
Buffalo, NY – Imagine what happens when a thousand green building design and renewable energy professionals get together for a conference on cutting edge developments in their respective fields. The exchange is exciting and the urgency is keen -- given increasing worries about energy prices, climate change, peak oil, energy dependence and the war in Iraq.
Last week, I had the good fortune to be in Boston, Massachusetts, for such a conference. Boston's Mayor Thomas Menino, an enthusiastic supporter of environmental sustainability, gave the welcome. He drives a car powered by compressed natural gas and his administration purchases biodiesel fuel for the City's truck fleet. Menino proudly announced that all new Boston government buildings will be designed according to green building design principles - achieving a minimum LEED silver rating. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and is the green building rating system established by the U.S. Green Building Council.
The mayor spoke glowingly of the new Genzyme Center just across the Charles River in Cambridge. This 12 story office building received the highest LEED rating, Platinum, and no wonder. It's extensively daylit, uses 42% less electricity than a comparable code-compliant building and 34% less water. 75% of the materials used in the building contained recycled content. Over 90% of all construction waste was recycled. Nearly all the wood used was obtained from sustainably managed forests. Even the roof is green - its covered with dirt and planted with grasses and other types of vegetation to insulate and reduce storm water run-off and the heat island effect.
Genzyme's employees enjoy a 12 story central atrium, direct views to the outside from nearly all desks, and 800 operable windows for those days when outside temperature is just right. This building sets the mark. It made me wonder when Buffalo's public and private sector leaders will catch on and start building green.
But Boston's Mayor didn't stop there. He told his enthusiastic audience that 8% of the electricity used by Boston's government buildings is now green power. That may sound like a little, but it's a great start and a big boost for green generation. UB just grabbed headlines by making the EPA's top ten college and university green power users list by buying 12 million kilowatt hours of wind energy last year - representing 6% of our electrical consumption, a percentage I hope will significantly rise soon.
Boston is a great pedestrian city and everywhere I looked I saw . . . a Starbuck's coffee shop. Starbuck's is the 6th largest user of green power in the United States. A full 20% of the electricity used by this national java chain comes from wind turbines. News like that kind of makes you want to go out and buy a double latte. Hats off to Johnson & Johnson, HSBC, and Staples for also being among the green power corporate leaders.
One conference session dealt with Cape Wind, a proposal to install 130 wind turbines off the coast of Cape Cod. Some Cape residents object and fear the turbines' visual impact. To get an idea how big these turbines would look from shore, put your arm out full length in front of you. Then create a space between your thumb and fore finger which is half an inch wide. That's how big the turbines will appear. Compare this miniscule impact to predictions that climate change fueled by continued over-reliance on fossil fuels will cause a sea level rise sufficient to submerge 80 acres of Cape Cod annually by mid century.
Wind energy produces no emissions but nothing is cleaner than energy conservation. Sounds like old hat? Enter the net-zero energy home.
Imagine a home so efficient that it needs no furnace. It's primary heat source is sunlight streaming through south-facing windows. Solar cells on the roof can generate all the electricity such a house needs for its super efficient lights and appliances and for a ground source heat pump for supplemental heating in very cold climates.
Conference goers packed sessions to learn about Germany's new passive solar houses which provide comfort and a healthy indoor environment while requiring less than 10% as much energy as a typical American home. Buffalo builders and home buyers take note. In a house that efficient, little more than body heat is needed to satisfy the thermostat.
For all the good news, accelerating climate change cast its shadow over this gathering of energy experts. Yes, there is an energy crisis whose environmental, social and political dimensions can be sobering. But this conference was about hope as much as risk. As one speaker explained, the Chinese word for crisis combines two characters -- one for danger and one for opportunity. The danger should motivate us to turn away from the energy dead-end we are currently barreling toward. We need to set our sights on the many hopeful opportunities we have to create a sustainable energy future.
Reality Check with Commentator Walter Simpson is a monthly feature of WBFO News.
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