WASHINGTON — It's amazing how much waste there is in the building of buildings, Wade Smith said at the 2015 Energy Efficiency Global Forum. Smith, the director of global public affairs for the Air Movement and Control Association International (AMCA), was one of several speakers who outlined different ways to seek efficiency in building systems.
Low-hanging fruit
Speaking at an executive dialogue, Smith — along with a panel of industry experts — called the untapped opportunities for energy savings "low-hanging fruit" that has gone untouched.
In one such example of energy inefficiency, Smith talked about his daughter's place of work. The building includes triple-pane windows to help insulate the building and protect against heat loss. The only problem is that the windows stay open because the building has no thermostat. It isn't strange to have buildings without thermostats — an ironic occurrence where energy-efficient technology is wasted due to simple negligence.
According to the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors (InterNACHI), "Most people don't know how easy it is to make their homes run on less energy. … Drastic reductions in heating, cooling and electricity costs can be accomplished through very simple changes, most of which homeowners can do themselves."
As noted on InterNACHI's website, making one's home more energy efficient has benefits, including:
- Federal, state, utility and local jurisdictions' financial incentives, such as tax breaks, are advantageous for homeowners in most parts of the U.S.
- It saves money. It costs less to power a home that has been converted to be more energy-efficient.
- It increases the comfort level indoors.
- It reduces our impact on climate change. Many scientists now believe that excessive energy consumption contributes significantly to global warming.
- It reduces pollution. Conventional power production introduces pollutants that find their way into the air, soil and water supplies.
Commercial and industrial fans are an easy fix when it comes to affecting energy efficiency. However the level of efficiency varies greatly, from 5 to 95 percent, noted Smith.
Fans, if used properly, are great "low-hanging fruit" opportunities for energy efficiency if one is aware enough to take advantage.
Sealing the envelope
Without naming any one method that could help with energy efficiency, Jane Palmieri, business president, building and construction for the Dow Chemical Company, suggested that the best way to ensure a building is energy efficient is to make sure the building's envelope is correct from the beginning.
According to the International Energy Agency, a building's envelope is the boundary between outside and the conditioned interior of a building. The building's envelope is also known as the building's shell and includes such components as external walls, roofs, floors, windows, doors and ceilings. Calculating a building's envelope is important when determining how much energy is required for heating and cooling.
"One thing people don't know is that there's a half-mile in gaps and cracks in the average home," Palmieri said. If you fill those gaps and cracks with readily available materials, "you can reduce [energy bills] by 20 to 30 percent."
Unfortunately, when someone is building or buying a new home, it can be hard to focus on issues of energy efficiency. Add in the innate conflict of interest that is illustrated by the builder-buyer barrier, and things become even more conflicted.
The home construction market is competitive. Builders often focus on constructing homes with lower up-front costs, rather than spending a little extra money toward energy efficiency, which would save more money in the long run.
When it comes to building energy-efficient buildings, it's best to initiate measures from the beginning, before there are any issues to overcome. Sure, it may be slightly more expensive in the onset, but the long-term benefits cannot be ignored, Palmieri noted.
