The Oil Drum

228 East Third Street - A Green Building under Contruction by Chris Benedict

While transportation is the biggest consumer of oil in the US, heating/cooling, lighting and running the appliances in our homes is an enormous user of energy resources. And much of it is crucial to our survival. As we approach the types of infrastructure improvements we need to make in this country, the buildings in which we live are prehaps the most important.

While there are a number of green buildings that have been completed in NYC and across the country over the last few years, there have only been a few major retrofits of old buildings that I am aware of. Most neighborhoods and cities don't even have any real Green Buildings. But just because it's old and wasn't built with LEED in mind, it doesn't mean it can't be improved. Considering the housing stock of NYC turns over pretty slowly, even if all new buildings are built to LEED gold or platinum standards, it will take over 100 years to make the city's housing stock environmentally friendly on a grand scale. In the short term it is much better to simply retrofit an existing building to be as green as possible for the rest of it's useful life rather than tear it down prematurely and built it up from scratch.

How could we differentiate for prospective home buyers or renters which buildings they should choose because it their green features? How could we stimulate recalcitrant real estate companies to invest in retrofiting older buildings to consume less energy and water? What features would be appropriate for a real estate agent or a management company to promote as green?

Every year, we get new laws and this year there are a few good ones that should help raise the energy efficiency of new buildings and large appliances in rental apartments.

From the NY Daily News

JUICE SAVER: New appliances purchased for rental apartments have to be Energy Star certified, potentially reducing utility payments for tenants. The federal Environmental Protection Agency certifies certain appliances as energy-efficient.

EASY BEING GREEN: New city construction projects must be built according to environmentally sound principles. The edict will affect about $12 billion in construction over a 10-year period. The law is intended to reduce pollution and to cut costs in city-owned buildings by using energy more efficiently.

Write a letter to your council person and thank them for these laws and ask for more like these.