[Greenbuilding] NYC 90% emissions cut with windows

[David Bergman]

I'm a skeptic generally and would, at first 
blush, share your view of this report. However, 
has anyone read the report? (Not just the article 
about it.) I'm not technically fluent enough to 
judge the detail accuracy of the report but, at a 
glance, it does appear to be in depth, referenced 
and footnoted, etc.  And I know the Urban Green 
Council folks and do not believe they would greenwash or manipulate data.

Yes, I'd be curious to hear Henry Gifford's 
reactions. I strongly doubt he was involved since 
the UGC is the NYC USGBC section. But the report is not solely about HVAC.

One also has to keep in mind the non-standard 
aspects of NYC buildings. First, that they are 
often mid- or high-rise and attached structures, 
which creates a very different energy scenario 
from the typical US building stock in terms of 
exterior exposure. In my apartment in a low-rise 
100 year old building, for instance, I have no 
significant floor or ceiling heat loss/gain 
because there are occupied spaces above and below 
me. The exterior walls are three-wythe brick 
(albeit without an air gap) but with 1980's 
insulation between them and sheetrock (due to a 
gut reno of the building). So my primary heat 
loss/gain is through my crappy 1980's aluminum 
frame (probably not thermally broken) dual-pane 
windows where I can feel the drafts, as opposed to walls or roof or basement.

And in more modern buildings, especially office 
structures, there is a very high percentage of 
glass facade. One of the report's recommendations 
is to limit the amount of glass in favor of more 
opaque exteriors which can have higher R-values.

The central steam heat still provided in some 
parts of the city is a vestige from days when 
there were more local power plants and the steam 
was a byproduct. That's no longer the case, but 
many buildings are still dependent on it, so 
ConEd continues to provide fossil-fuel generated 
steam even though it doesn't make sense anymore. 
(The report mentions the possibility of converting that to biomass.)

Another point they make is that there is a heavy 
reliance on window or sleeved air conditioners, 
given the aging stock of buildings, which have 
high loss factors, hence their recommendation to shift to mini-splits.

I have no doubt that if I was able to replace my 
windows and my heating and air conditioning, my 
utility bills (which are quite high due to having 
a home office where computers and air 
conditioners are on during summer days), would 
drop significantly. Probably not 90%, but that 
isn't taking into account the societal benefits 
of switching fuel and energy away from carbon-intense sources.

I'm sure this report is not above critical 
evaluation, but I don't think it is as flawed or 
unrealistic as some of you are making it out to be.

David
David Bergman  RA   LEED AP
DAVID BERGMAN ARCHITECT | FIRE & WATER LIGHTING
architecture . interiors . ecodesign . lighting . furniture
bergman at cyberg.com    www.cyberg.com
212 475 3106   twitter: @EcoOptimism

author - 
<http://ecooptimism.com/?page_id=58>Sustainable Design: A Critical Guide
blog - <http://www.ecooptimism.com/>EcoOptimism
adjunct faculty - Parsons The New School for Design


At 11:23 AM 3/19/2013, Reuben Deumling wrote:


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