[Greenbuilding] Fwd: Why retrofit beats newbuild in the battle against carbon

[Corwyn]

On 4/2/2012 6:31 PM, Reuben Deumling wrote:

> Eight years - that's how long it can take for a new energy efficient
> building to compensate for the climate change impact created by its
> construction, according to a report by the US Preservation Green Lab
> <http://www.preservationnation.org>, /The greenest building: quantifying
> the environmental value of building re-use. /While the average carbon
> payback is closer to 20-30 years, this is a stark reminder that new
> isn't always best when it comes to the energy consumption of buildings.

Greetings,

Without a statistic on the climate change impact of making energy 
retrofits, this is pretty meaningless.  Is eight years achievable for them?

I have recently seen a new building built to passivhaus standards, and 
an energy retrofit of an existing building to (or near) enerfit 
standards, both performed by the same builder.  Both with the express 
purpose of reducing carbon emissions.  It is not at all clear to me that 
the latter was better.  It is possible that the builder computed the 
energy payback, I will inquire.

Thank You Kindly,

Corwyn


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Topher Belknap
Green Fret Consulting
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