[Greenbuilding] NYC 90% emissions cut with windows

[Reuben Deumling]

On Mon, Mar 18, 2013 at 10:26 AM, Alan Abrams <alan at abramsdesignbuild.com>wrote:

> <I have a very hard time believing that 90% of GHG emissions *even come
> from* window and insulation losses.
>
> I wish people wouldn't try to hype their proposals by giving such numbers.
>  Huge savings are possible, but at least try to make them look plausible or
> they will be dismissed out of hand (as I did).
>
> Thank You Kindly,>
>
> I'm with Corwyn, thank you kindly.
>

Me too.
It is so frustrating that the various dimensions of this problem are so
consistently muddled and hyped.

(1) Replacing aging steam for mini-splits. What was the fuel source for the
steam heat? What does a thorough before and after comparison of this kind
of 'upgrade' actually look like? Has anyone talked to Henry Gifford? He
should know a thing or two about this.

(2) Differentiate between energy efficiency and energy conservation. It is
notable that in the above excerpt what is called energy conservation is
specifically differentiated from "asking residents to cut back­ it refers
to stripping waste and leakage to the bare minimum." I will go on record
saying that it is impossible to achieve a 90% reduction without inviting
residents to get to know their habits, make adjustments to how they use
energy, tinker with their thermostat setpoints, review how much is turned
off when they are not home, what to do about standby, etc. I say this as
someone who did reduce his household's electricity use by 90% and natural
gas use by 83% over the course of five years without spending a mint.

(3) Rather than speculating it would be so much more useful if this subject
started from the lived experiences of those whose usage is, say, 90% below
today's mean level, or who have figured out how to actually reduce their
consumption by 90%. This would invite concrete discussions of what works,
what the tradeoffs are, etc., rather than always being mired in the
speculative/hyped realm that seems still to hold sway.

(4) We know that 90% reductions are possible at the household level, and
that in principle this could be scaled up to a neighborhood or city. But
until we understand the steps, the adjustments, the parameters at each
level there is very little point in articles like this. The hand waving
detracts from the very real work that people are engaged in every day
producing results that compare favorably with the lofty goals mentioned but
which go unrecognized (perhaps because they don't involve triple glazing).
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