Efficiency Makes Sense Why Home Energy By Max Rohr S tart here. Select one of the following options. • If you think the world will be a better place if every-


one does his or her part to green up their lives and is pas- sionate about being seen as a savvy, green person, skip to Part 1. • If you think all this green stuff is just a bunch of hype


and don’t want to live your life like a Woodstock attendee, skip to Part 2. • If you like burning tires because you find the smell delightful and if you open containers of CFCs just to feel a breeze, skip to Part 3. • If you like to wear hemp clothing exclusively and haven’t taken a shower in a month, skip to Part 3.


Part 1 In 2009, The U.S. Energy Information Administration


reported that Americans used 94,578 trillion Btu of ener- gy. Of that energy, 22% was consumed in the residential sector. While eating organic food and bringing your own bags to the grocery story are great ways to live a green lifestyle, these measures alone don’t address one of the key contributors to climate change, your home. The United States produced 7.5 billion metric tons of


carbon dioxide in 2009. About a quarter of those emis- sions were produced by our houses. (For reference, burn- ing 120 gallons of gasoline produces about one metric ton


of CO2.) Many of us sleep in the pollution equivalent of a fleet of rusty old pickup trucks idling blue smoke. Improving the energy efficiency of your house is a great way to be more environmentally conscious. The ultimate way to be green is to install on-site renew- able energy at your home. Chances are that, in some man- ner, you are currently getting your electricity from coal and your heat from gas. Not only do these energy sources


produce a lot of CO2 compared to their green alternatives but they also have to be transported all over the country. Trains full of coal may come from Wyoming, burn in a power plant nearby and be sent to your house through the


Plumbing Engineer


grid. Even relatively clean sources such as hydropower lose a lot of energy when being transported through our outdated electricity distribution systems. What makes things worse is that your region ties you to whatever power source is provided by the local utility, limiting your opportunities to reduce your carbon footprint. The best way to do this is to reduce the amount of energy that is sent to your house. The idea of eating organic, local food is a common


lifestyle choice in the green community. The same formu- la can be applied to your house. The sun, wind and ground are all local, organic fuel sources for providing energy. No


energy is wasted in transporting that energy and less CO2 goes out of smokestacks. You may not get 100% of your power from green energy but even 20% is a start. A heat pump, solar array, geo exchange system or even just a high efficiency boiler is a great way to improve the odds that your great grandchildren will have any idea what a glacier is. On-site renewable energy lets you take control of an enormous portion of your carbon footprint. Plus, the longer you benefit from green energy at home, the more money will be left over to buy that Prius you have been thinking about.


Part 2 In 2008, The U.S. Energy Information Administration


reported that the U.S. spent 1.2 trillion dollars on energy. Do you love spending money on your energy bills? Paying attention to your finances and being fiscally conservative are important ways to keep your hard-earned money, but this alone won’t address one of the most financially waste- ful things in your life, your home. Outdated home energy systems and big government are


the same type of animal. They are big, inefficient organi- zations that can never get enough of your cash. The dif- ference is that, while you can’t choose how much cash the government requires, you can choose your level of finan- cial participation in maintaining your home. You don’t


Continued on page 84 January 2011/Page 83


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