[Greenbuilding] Old buildings = better energy performance; why? NYT

[Stephen Collette]

Hello Reuben and all,

I would agree with what has been posted. Older buildings have significantly more thermal mass, and can moderate the temperature quite well. Smaller windows make a huge difference, especially when we look at newer condos in the city all covered in glass. Plug loads, yes, would be an issue as well, and finally operation of when we consider it cold enough to turn heat on. 

Even the contents would be more thermally massive, and hold heat better. Heavy wool carpets, solid wood book cases and furniture, versus lightweight materials used now. All of that plays a role. 

Cheers

Stephen

Stephen Collette BBEC, LEED AP, BSSO
Your Healthy House - Indoor Environmental Testing & Building Consulting
http://www.yourhealthyhouse.ca
stephen at yourhealthyhouse.ca
705.652.5159








On Nov 19, 2013, at 2:00 PM, greenbuilding-request at lists.bioenergylists.org wrote:

> Message: 3
> Date: Tue, 19 Nov 2013 09:16:04 -0800
> From: Reuben Deumling <9watts at gmail.com>
> To: Greenbuilding <greenbuilding at lists.bioenergylists.org>
> Subject: [Greenbuilding] Old buildings = better energy performance;
> 	why? NYT
> Message-ID:
> 	<CAE5fceDcH1WfaWAr8wwnTa6CeiR_DBr+FxS7+Y2_GjyJ6eOryQ at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
> 
> Thoughts?
> 
> "older buildings of every stripe, even those dating to the early 1900s,
> performed better than most structures from recent decades. Green-building
> experts say it is likely because they have fewer windows and thicker walls,
> which provide better insulation. "

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.bioenergylists.org/pipermail/greenbuilding_lists.bioenergylists.org/attachments/20131119/f1d39c37/attachment.html>