 Originally Posted April 23 by Martin Holladay on GreenBuildingAdvisor.com
Can the Planet Continue To Support U.S. Levels of Consumption?
In the U.S. and Canada, many residential builders use the word “sustainable” as a synonym for “green.” We hear about sustainable development, sustainable homes, and sustainable building products.
Now that the word “sustainable” has become ubiquitous — even at the GreenBuildingAdvisor Web site, where a new $736,000 home on the coast of Maine is described as a “sustainable spec house” — it’s time to take a step back and consider the word’s history.
Originally, It Applied to Forestry Practices
In 1713, a German author, Hans Carl von Calowitz, used the phrase “nachhaltende Nutzung” (sustainable use) to describe forestry practices that limit woodcutting to the forest’s average annual growth. Many historians consider this to be the first use of “sustainable” in its modern meaning.
Later, regulators proposed limiting catches of marine fish to levels which could be maintained over the long term, a system referred to as “sustainable fisheries management.” In the management of forests and fisheries, debate continues over the methods used to determine sustainable harvests. However, use of the term “sustainable” in these contexts is easily understood.
Is the U.S. Lifestyle “Sustainable”?
Foresters generally agree that one cord of firewood per acre per year can be sustainably harvested from a Vermont hardwood forest. However, it’s much trickier to determine whether the practices leading to the construction of $736,00 spec houses in Maine are “sustainable.” How many $736,000 spec houses can be “sustainably” built per year in coastal Maine? After a thousand years of “sustainable” spec-house construction, what will coastal Maine look like?
For those of us living in North America, it’s easy to lose perspective when considering an appropriate definition for a “sustainable” lifestyle. About one-third of the world’s population eats fewer calories than necessary for health, defecates outdoors, and has no access to clean drinking water, electricity, or a telephone. At the same time, about 80% of the world’s resources are consumed by 20% of the world’s population. (Yup, that means us.)
As Himalayan glaciers shrink and huge chunks of Antarctic ice crash into the ocean, Americans continue to consume a disproportionate share of the earth’s resources. Our lifestyle clearly threatens the stability of the planet’s climate. We already have too many cars, too many televisions, too many swimming pools, and too many houses.
The 2,000-Watt Society
Some European environmentalists are acutely aware of the shameful contrast in resource use between rich and poor countries. For example, a group in Switzerland has calculated that the current level of worldwide energy use amounts to 2,000 watts per capita, equivalent to twenty 100-watt bulbs, burning continuously. In the U.S., per capita energy use is about 12,000 watts — six times the world average. In Bangladesh and sub-Saharan Africa, the figure is well under 500 watts.
Swiss environmentalists have founded the “2,000-Watt Society,” a non-profit group founded on the moral principle of global equity and dedicated to reducing European energy use to 2,000 watts per capita. This goal has been adopted at the highest levels of Swiss government. Among those embracing the 2,000-watt-per-capita goal is Walter Steinmann, the director of the Swiss Federal Office of Energy — roughly analogous to the U.S. Department of Energy.
Of course, the 2,000-watt goal is itself open to criticism. The main problem with the goal is that current levels of worldwide energy use are clearly unsustainable. But at least the Swiss have considered global equity when making their calculations.
Imagining a “Sustainable” House
Considering the twin crises of Third-World poverty and global warming, who knows what a “sustainable” house would look like? If the house measures 400 square feet and includes cold running water, a single light bulb, and a toilet, it would be a huge step up the ladder for much of the world’s population. Unfortunately, achieving that goal would probably strain global resources to the breaking point.
I don’t believe that every American needs to live in a shack out of solidarity with the world’s poor. But it’s important to be honest. Our lifestyle is clearly unsustainable. As long as we’re moving in the right direction — that is, beginning to lessen the adverse environmental impacts of our lifestyle choices — there isn’t any shame in living an unsustainable lifestyle. But as we struggle to move toward a new future of improved global equity and environmental balance, let’s avoid the temptation to pat ourselves on the back.
Every time I hear a North American builder use the word “sustainable,” I cringe. As typically used, the word is self-serving, self-congratulatory, and deeply insulting to the world’s poor. So unless we’re talking about forestry or fisheries, let’s avoid using the word altogether.
 United States of America (Press Release) February 4, 2008 -- (FORT MILL, SC – FEBRUARY 2008)
With the high cost of energy ranking as a top concern among American consumers, homeowners are turning their attention to renewable energy sources to lower energy costs and reduce consumption. This focus has led to a demand for products that make homes more energy efficient, including solar water heaters and the role the technology plays in low-energy homes in the U.S.
“Five years ago, when oil prices hovered around $20 a barrel and the price at the pump was just above a dollar a gallon, energy costs barely registered among Americans’ top concerns,” said Josh Plaisted, president of Kineo Design Group, a Berkley, Calif.-based engineering and consulting company that specializes in product design and development in the solar industry.
“Today, you will find high energy costs among the top five concerns of consumers,” he said. “Whether it’s natural gas, electricity or gasoline prices, energy weighs heavily on their minds, and they are clamoring for solutions.”
According to Plaisted, consumers can have the greatest impact on their energy costs by reconsidering how they heat their water. The average household spends about 25 percent of its home energy costs on heating water, he said, noting that solar water heating offers homeowners not only a solution to rising energy costs but also offers environmental benefits.
“Studies have shown that owners of solar water heaters can save as much as 50 percent annually on their utility bills over the cost of conventional water heating,” said Plaisted, who entered the solar thermal industry in 2000 after earning a master’s degree in thermal systems engineering from the University of Wisconsin. He founded Kineo Design in 2002 to bridge the gap between engineers, architects and contractors and the solar energy systems specified in their designs.
North America’s leading skylight manufacturer, VELUX America, has introduced a line of solar water heating products in the U.S. in February at the 2008 International Builders’ Show in Orlando, Florida. A leader in the solar water heating industry in Europe, VELUX has developed and manufactured solar thermal water heating systems and products that efficiently harness the energy of the sun. According to VELUX, the U.S. demand for these advanced technology systems is steadily growing as consumer awareness of the increased cost of energy grows.
VELUX solar water heating systems utilize one or more low-profile roof top solar energy collectors containing a glycol (antifreeze) solution to gather heat. An electronic controller activates a pump to feed the heated solution through insulated tubing to a solar hot water tank. The heat is transferred through a heat exchanger from the solution to the water in the insulated tank, where it is held until needed, and the solution is returned to the collectors to be reused. In addition, homes must also include an auxiliary electric or gas heating system to ensure a reliable supply of heated water.
“Solar thermal water heating is not new to the U.S. – the U.S. was the world leader in the industry following the energy crisis of the early 1980s,” said Jim Cika, manager, solar products, for VELUX. “However, in the mid- to late-1980s, as the cost of energy suddenly sank to record lows, American consumers were once again enjoying cheap oil, federal and state tax subsidizes for solar water heaters were eliminated in the U.S., and the demand for solar systems came abruptly to an end.”
As the U.S. market for solar water heating products was collapsing, Germany, Austria and other European countries continued to focus on product innovation, Cika said.
source: FPR
“European countries saw what was happening in the U.S. in the 1980s, took the technology and continued innovating,” he said, noting that the U.S. Department of Energy reports that 82 percent of all green house gasses emitted by human activity is energy-related carbon dioxide. “They made solar water heaters more energy efficient and more cost efficient. Twenty years later, Europe is a global leader in solar water heating technology, and now this technology is returning to the U.S.”
While solar water heating systems usually cost more to purchase and install than conventional water heating systems, the financial benefit of a solar system is realized over the long term. A typical solar installation for a three- to four-family household costs about $7,000, but state and federal tax credits, state rebate programs and utility company incentives can reduce the final price tag by more than 50 percent. These savings, along with long-term savings associated from using the sun to heat the water, are causing U.S. consumers to take a second look at the advantages of solar.
“Low-energy houses will be the houses of the future, and for consumers concerned with long-term energy costs, solar systems will play a prominent role in reducing energy costs in U.S. homes,” Plaisted said, noting that the return on investment of a solar system varies by region.
According to the North Carolina Solar Center, which is operated by the College of Engineering at North Carolina State University and serves as a nationwide resource for solar and other renewable energy programs, less than 5 percent of the world’s population lives in the U.S., yet the U.S. consumes 24 percent of the world’s energy. As a result, the center notes that the future of energy conservation will rely heavily on advancements in renewable energy resources.
“Our position is, the sun comes up every day, so it’s only logical that we find a way to harness this energy,” said Dona Stankus, manager of building programs for the North Carolina Solar Center.
“People today are truly interested in reducing their personal energy costs, and they are finding out that current solar water heaters are among most reliable and affordable technologies in the renewable energy debate,” she said.
For more information:
http://www.veluxusa.com/service/installationHelp/solarInstallerLocator/
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