[Greenbuilding] FW: ENERGY STAR Clothes Dryers Program Launch

[Reuben Deumling]

On Thu, Jul 19, 2012 at 10:06 PM, Matt Dirksen <dirksengreen at gmail.com>wrote:

> I can then logically assume that a more efficient car isn't going to solve
> anything either.... Speaking of peak oil. :)
>
Yes.

>
> On a personal note, we really, really tried to line dry all our clothes,
> but when it came down to having to stick them back in the dryer afterward,
> due to the pounds of pollen on three kids worth of laundry, and the
> constant fear of deer tick exposure (Greenbelt, MD)... It became quite
> difficult for the sake of a few kWh's of electricity.
>
You think allergies are bad now. Wait until we experience the full effects
of clothes dryer and air conditioner exacerbated climate change.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=climate-change-expands-allergy-risk

>
> The least the DoE can do is create a goal so high that the companies will
> have to think differently in order to achieve it... Especially if they all
> work on the same principle.
>

That is not, generally, how DOE works. They don't set targets high. The
point is to sell more appliances, accelerate product turnover, not to
reduce energy consumption.  Generally appliance efficiency standards don't
make much of a dent in electricity consumption overall. We are plenty
clever as a species and keep thinking of new or additional ways to consume
electricity that eats up what little may have been saved at the device
level.... moral hazard, rebound effect, Jevons' paradox; we have a lot of
names for the failure of energy efficiency as practiced to curb our
appetite for kWh.
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