By Jim Northrop, GSWA Member
Electricity use by power-hungry household consumer electronic devices is rising fast. For example, the very popular, new flat-panel televisions have turned out to consume more electricity than some refrigerators. And then there are personal computers (how many do you already have in your house?). What about iPods, cell phones, game consoles and digital clocks? The New York Times reports that Americans now have as many as 25 consumer electronic products in each household, compared with just three in 1980.
Appliances like refrigerators are covered by mandatory efficiency rules specifying how much power each category of appliance may use. The New York Times claims that today's new refrigerators consume only about 55% of the power consumed when the standards took effect. Further, the Times says that a new clothes washer today is nearly 70% lower in energy consumption than a new unit in 1990. But, don't relax -- now we have a growing, off-setting challenge, which may eventually cancel out the energy savings of appliance standards. Makers of consumer electronic devices have been successful in resisting the application of such energy efficiency standards to their products.
Most Consumer Electronic Devices Never Sleep
One way this is a different kind of challenge, is that many modern consumer electronic devices cannot be entirely turned off. Even when not in use, they draw electricity while they wait for a signal from a remote control, or wait to record a television program.
Of course, a single-minded person can find many of these electronic devices around the house, and turn them off when not in use -- but, in most homes there are so many of them! And some family-member users are particularly difficult to "police." There are some ways to let the problem take care of itself, however, if one takes the time to set it up properly. For example, plug the computers and entertainment devices into "smart" power strips. The strips turn off when the electronics are not in use, cutting power consumption to zero.
Another difficulty in controlling power wasted by consumer electronics devices is that many products now require large amounts of power to run. Flat-screen TV is perhaps the biggest offender. As liquid crystal displays and plasma technologies replace the old cathode ray tubes, and as screen sizes increase, the new televisions need more power than older models did. How often is the TV left operating when the viewers have all left the room?
Until energy usage by consumer electronic devices is better regulated, each of us must be more vigilant. While energy waste per device may seem trivial, it adds up fast.
Showing posts with label Energy Savers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Energy Savers. Show all posts
Monday, October 12, 2009
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
How to Recognize a Truly “Green” Home
By Jim Northrop, GSWA Member
I find it hard to go to a hardware or home improvement store without being almost overwhelmed by the many products and new materials competing for attention as a “must have” step toward becoming environmentally “correct.” How to make my home into a “greener” place has become an ongoing learning process for me.
Having a “green” home is not just a fad. A “green” home uses less energy, water and natural resources, creates less waste, reduces greenhouse gases, and is healthier for the people living inside, compared to a standard home.
A home can be built “green,” or one can make it “green” later. A “green” make-over can happen all at once, or it can be a gradual process. But what it all comes down to, I think, is a new way of thinking and a new way of living. Commercial developers and building owners are perhaps the most important part of the equation. Architects and engineers have traditionally taken their cue from clients regarding a building’s environmental performance. The standard practice has been to focus more on construction costs than long-term operational costs. With a typical building lifespan of 75 years, however, maintenance and other ongoing expenditures often prove to be much greater than the initial costs. This makes energy efficiency, for example, an excellent investment over time.
What Shade of “Green?”
With so many voices advocating different ways to get to “green,” I started looking for some standards. I found that the U.S. Green Building Council, a non-profit trade organization, has been a pioneer in defining standards for “green” building design, construction, operation and maintenance, by offering a LEED certification for those building projects which qualify. “LEED” stands for “Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.” Importantly, it is homes and other building PROJECTS which may be certified, not builders; but any builder is eligible to register a project with LEED. This is a voluntary rating system, with inspections by qualified third parties, and is appropriate for a wide range of “green” situations, including “green” homes, affordable housing, mass-production homes, custom designs, stand-alone single-family homes, duplexes and townhouses, suburban and urban apartments and condominiums and lofts in historic buildings.
Apparently, I was not the only one doing some learning! This year the latest version of the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED building performance certification system will begin requiring the submission of building operation performance data on a recurring basis and as a pre-condition to certification. USGBC had found too often a performance gap between the energy modeling done during the design phase and what actually happens during daily operation after the building is constructed. So, ongoing monitoring and reporting of data will be required. It is thought that this will improve building performance by bringing to light external issues such as occupant behavior or unanticipated building energy use and water consumption patterns.
I find it hard to go to a hardware or home improvement store without being almost overwhelmed by the many products and new materials competing for attention as a “must have” step toward becoming environmentally “correct.” How to make my home into a “greener” place has become an ongoing learning process for me.
Having a “green” home is not just a fad. A “green” home uses less energy, water and natural resources, creates less waste, reduces greenhouse gases, and is healthier for the people living inside, compared to a standard home.
A home can be built “green,” or one can make it “green” later. A “green” make-over can happen all at once, or it can be a gradual process. But what it all comes down to, I think, is a new way of thinking and a new way of living. Commercial developers and building owners are perhaps the most important part of the equation. Architects and engineers have traditionally taken their cue from clients regarding a building’s environmental performance. The standard practice has been to focus more on construction costs than long-term operational costs. With a typical building lifespan of 75 years, however, maintenance and other ongoing expenditures often prove to be much greater than the initial costs. This makes energy efficiency, for example, an excellent investment over time.
What Shade of “Green?”
With so many voices advocating different ways to get to “green,” I started looking for some standards. I found that the U.S. Green Building Council, a non-profit trade organization, has been a pioneer in defining standards for “green” building design, construction, operation and maintenance, by offering a LEED certification for those building projects which qualify. “LEED” stands for “Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.” Importantly, it is homes and other building PROJECTS which may be certified, not builders; but any builder is eligible to register a project with LEED. This is a voluntary rating system, with inspections by qualified third parties, and is appropriate for a wide range of “green” situations, including “green” homes, affordable housing, mass-production homes, custom designs, stand-alone single-family homes, duplexes and townhouses, suburban and urban apartments and condominiums and lofts in historic buildings.
Apparently, I was not the only one doing some learning! This year the latest version of the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED building performance certification system will begin requiring the submission of building operation performance data on a recurring basis and as a pre-condition to certification. USGBC had found too often a performance gap between the energy modeling done during the design phase and what actually happens during daily operation after the building is constructed. So, ongoing monitoring and reporting of data will be required. It is thought that this will improve building performance by bringing to light external issues such as occupant behavior or unanticipated building energy use and water consumption patterns.
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