From: owner-puma-news@www.puma-net.org on behalf of Scott C. Reuman
Sent: Tue 6/14/2005 9:37 PM
To: PUMA News
Subject: [puma-news] Energy savings
PUMITES
Interested in saving the Earth from global climate change? Thinking about
buying a new car that gets better mileage to help with your budget and the
planet's greenhouse gas budget? Think again. To make a BIG contribution look
closely at your home.
Architect Ed Mazria, best known for his 1979 Passive Solar Energy book made
an astonishing finding, one he is just now popularizing especially among
fellow architects. Mazria took old data from the Department of Energy, old
data that had consistently shown industry and transportation to be the
biggest contributors to global greenhouse gas emissions, and looked at them
from a different perspective. Instead of the usual categories he
reapportioned the energy use into new categories. The new categories are
buildings, industry and transportation (the old were industry, residential,
transportation and commercial). And the big consumer is...buildings. He
reasoned this way: "Your car is small and you use it a few hours each day.
Your home is one hundred times the size and is "on" 24/7." Mazria found that
buildings, residential and commercial, account for 48% of the energy
consumed in the U.S. Transportation meanwhile comes in at only 27% and the
balance, 25%, is industry.
Water heaters and furnaces and stoves and electronics and so many other
things are on and running most or all of the day. If they don't consume
fossil fuels directly, they probably do so through your electrical supply.
Huge energy demands are made in the production of the materials used to make
your home. What can you do short of rebuilding? Get an energy audit. Look
into ways to store what solar energy comes in through windows. Consider
insulating your windows at night - the home's biggest heat loss. Check to
see if your electronics are off; computer monitors are big energy sinks as
are quick-warmup TVs. Replace all your light bulbs with compact
fluorescents. Use recycled materials for all new house parts and
replacements when possible. And if you're thinking addition? Ask about
making it solar, super insulated and super efficient. Yes, try to get rid of
that 12 mpg SUV too, but don't forget the bigger picture. Home Sweet Home.
How sweet it isn't.
******************************
Scott Campbell Reuman
Artist/Writer
Conundrum Designs, Inc.
Nederland, CO
http://www.conundrumdesigns.com
scottreuman@conundrumdesigns.com
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