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(Very) Low-Hanging Fruit: Energy Efficiency in Building Design
By Scott Gates
July/August 2009
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Many folks hail energy efficiency as a “low-hanging fruit,” meaning it offers an easy way to make big changes. With small investments and careful attention to energy use, homeowners can effectively manage their electric bills. Installing compact fluorescent lightbulbs
(CFLs), which require up to 75 percent less electricity than standard incandescent bulbs, provides a great example.
But while new lightbulbs, appliances, and weatherization measures can make an existing home or commercial building more energy efficient, bigger gains can be made to structures at the front end during design and construction. U.S. Secretary of Energy Dr. Steven Chu sees building efficiency as a vast untapped resource of energy savings. “This isn’t low hanging fruit,” he quips. “This is fruit lying on the ground.”
Building operations eat through 73 percent of all electricity generated by power plants in the United States every year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The remainder primarily goes to drive industry and transportation.
Dozens of electric co-ops across the country have been mindful of this when planning new headquarters buildings, and have integrated energy-efficient features into the architecture as a way to lead by example. Many, such as a National Rural Electric Cooperative Association building in Arlington, Va., follow voluntary U.S. Green Building Council guidelines to achieve LEED—Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design—certification.
Elements considered in LEED certification include access to public transportation; water efficient landscaping or rainwater recycling methods; optimizing electricity use; installing on-site sources of renewable energy, such as solar panels or small wind turbines; the use of recycled materials in construction; and effective use of sunlight for heating and lighting.
These features join a long list of others that help “pick fruit off the ground.” By 2010, approximately 10 percent of commercial construction projects are expected to be “green,” meaning they will focus on efficient and sustainable design concepts, according to the U.S. Green Building Council and a McGraw Hill Green Building Smart Market Report.
Homeowners can also join the trend and incorporate many of these ideas into both new and existing homes.
LEED-certified homes benefit from lower energy and water bills, and less exposure to mold, mildew, and other indoor toxins, with no increase in the net cost of ownership.
Touchstone Energy® Cooperatives, the “brand ID” of the nation’s electric co-ops, has also adopted a set of efficiency standards for both new and existing homes. The Touchstone Energy Home Program, an initiative focused and implemented locally, assists cooperatives in working with members to ensure that residences meet nationally recognized energy efficiency criteria.
The timing is right for homeowners looking to make such changes, too. The massive federal economic stimulus package signed into law last winter provides a homeowner efficiency tax credit of up to $1,500, or 30 percent, of the cost for weatherization upgrades, including insulation that meets the 2009 International Energy Conservation Code—more low-hanging fruit
For more information on integrating energy efficiency features in your home or business, as well as taking advantage of related tax credits, contact CHELCO’s Marketing Department or visit
www.energystar.gov
About the Author
Scott Gates writes on consumer and cooperative affairs for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, the Arlington, Va.-based service arm of the nation’s 900-plus consumer-owned, not-for-profit electric cooperatives.
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