Implementing Plan C – conservation, curtailment and cooperation

NewSolutionsNovember-December 2008 Number 15 Saving Energy the “Passive Way” – Lessons from a Recent Home Retrofit By Megan Quinn Bachman for reducing home energy use do not at Murphy and his wife Faith approach the 80 – 90 percent reduc- P Morgan of Community Solu- tion targets of the Passive Houses, tions knew a little about retrofitting nor do they even approach the efforts buildings for low-energy use when made during the 1970s . they decided to turn their small 100- So-called “green building” and year-old carriage house into an artist’s energy efficiency programs for new homes like the U.S. Green Build- studio and apartment. ing Council’s Leadership in Energy After they learned how the new and Environmental Design (LEED) German “Passive House” concept can certification and the U.S. ENERGY reduce energy consumption in exist- STAR qualified homes only save, on ing buildings by up to 80 percent, average, about 25 – 30 percent of they decided to find out – and share the energy used in a typical building, with others – how much energy they according to Community Solutions. could save in their 1,000-square foot, Linda Wigington, a manager at two-story building, once used by Affordable Comfort, Inc., another horses and buggies. The Carriage House near completion (Photos: Faith Morgan) organization promoting deep energy “A Passive House is a very well- retrofits, said, “Recently much of insulated, virtually air-tight building the emphasis for low energy homes that is primarily heated by passive in the US has focused on expensive solar gain and by internal gains from mechanical and renewable systems, people [and] electrical equipment,” such as geothermal heat pumps and according to Katrin Klingenberg of solar photovoltaic arrays without the Urbana, Illinois-based Passive substantially reducing the energy load House Institute U.S. With reduced through much higher levels of insula- energy losses, Passive Houses can tion and air tightness.” be heated with an extremely small Wigington commended Commu- external source or none at all. nity Solutions for its effort to demon- “At first I was skeptical about strate the potential to focus first on the Passive House concept,” said load reduction. “A smaller and less Morgan, board president of Commu- expensive renewable energy system nity Solutions, a non-profit in Yellow can make a bigger impact when the Springs, Ohio, which educates about load is reduced first,” she said. household sector solutions for deal- The building had never before Framed double-walls were used to increase the insulation. ing with and the peak been a living space and it had no and decline of world oil production. floors, ceilings and roofs – in essence, floor, foundation, electricity, plumb- “To not have a furnace in a house in thickening the building envelope,” ing, or utilities. In some places, Ohio seemed impossible,” she said said Murphy, Community Solutions’ the structure was leaning up to 12 With the world facing the end of Executive Director. Rather than inches. Because of the unfinished cheap energy as well as the prospect using conventional 2x4 single-wall condition of the building, German of catastrophic climate changes, construction, they built two 2x4 walls Passive House principles could be Community Solutions believes sepaated by a five- to ten-inch space, incorporated from the outset. homes that use little energy will making the walls nine to fourteen “It was clear at the beginning be critical in mitigating these twin inches thick. As a result, the walls that we would need thicker walls, challenges. Yet conventional methods continued on next page

November-December 2008 New Solutions Number 15:  Retrofitting Continued from page 1

had an estimated R-value, a measure Truth Or of the rate heat energy is transferred Fiction: through a material, of between R-30 Green and R-40, far exceeding the building Machines? code standard. To minimize heat loss through the floor, they decided to build a floor on top of the existing slab. First, plastic and two inches of rigid foam were put down over the slab. On top of the foam, 2x8 floor joists were installed, supported by ledgers on the In recent years, exterior walls. Fiberglass insulation proposals have was placed between the joists. been made for As a result of this layering the what is called floor was raised 12 inches, which a “Pluggable Hybrid Electric changed the ceiling height from eight Vehicle (PHEV).” and a half feet to seven and a half Such a car with feet. The result was an R-value of its heavy depen- more than R-30 for the floor, nearly dence on bat- three times as much as the R-11 Contractors blow in cellulose insulation. One way to assess the quality of an tery operation called for in the building code. The insulation contractor is to ask them to verify the installed density of the material. just shifts where If they can’t do that, get a different contractor. the CO2 is pro- ceiling of the first floor was also insu- duced, replacing lated to minimize both sound and and there is significantly less energy need to pay attention to the quality gasoline burned heat transfer between the first and used in the manufacturing process,” of the cellulose insulation instal- by the engine second floors. This was done to allow Morgan said. And it takes about the lation. “One criticism of cellulose with electric- ity generated division of the building into two same amount of time to install as is that it can settle over time. To through the apartments and allow independent other types of insulation. Cellulose is prevent this it needs to be blown in national power control for any HVAC systems. also less expensive. at a high density,” she said, adding, system. Since Insulating the walls and ceiling In sections of the wall deeper than “One way to assess the quality of an 50% of electric- proved difficult due to the limited 14 inches, and in the ceiling, damp insulation contractor is to ask them ity is generated spray cellulose could not be used, to verify the installed density of the from coal, 20% local availability of materials and from natural installers and the challenges of as it would fall out, according to material. If they can’t do that, get a gas, and 20% finding reliable data. “You have to the installers. Instead, dry blown-in different contractor.” from uranium, get past the rumors and marketing cellulose was used in the walls, and Good quality windows and the electricity hype,” said Murphy, who is also a standard fiberglass in the ceiling, doors were the next consideration. used by a plug- which have a comparable R-value. While the double-paned (or double- gable hybrid is former builder and building software company owner. “Deep retrofits The R-value of the ceiling ended up glazed) high performance windows generating CO2 at the power using optimum insulation are being about R-40. selected are an improvement over plant slightly uncommon in the industry,” Murphy Wigington, in her analysis of the most windows, they were not up to less than that added. “Until consumers request building, suggested that an inch or Passive House standards, which call generated from well-insulated houses, builders will two of spray foam applied on the for triple-paned windows with an the tailpipe of a gasoline not offer this as an option.” Differ- inside surface of the exterior sheath- R-value of eight, much higher than engine. (Power ent types of insulation were therefore ing (between the studs) would have the R-3 of most high performance plants are 33% used in different walls of the house to prevented air movement in the wall windows sold in the U.S. and the efficient while gain experience with insulation types cavity, making it warmer. This would ones used in the retrofit. engines are 25% and methods. also help minimize the potential However, the windows chosen efficient). It is not exaggerat- On most of the walls, damp spray for wintertime condensation in the were made of solid vinyl, which does ing to call the cellulose was applied, which doesn’t cavity. Other builders suggested that not transfer heat as readily as wood. PHEV a “coal” settle as dry cellulose tends to do and caulking the joint where the framing The builders also insulated around car. is both fire-retardant and insect-resis- met the sheathing, or placing strips of the outside of the windows. tant. “An advantage over spray foam vinyl against the exterior sheathing, “The more windows, the more is that cellulose is made from natural would reduce air loss. heat loss,” said Chris Glaser, the materials rather than petrochemicals Wigington also expressed the contractor hired for the project.

 : New Solutions Number 15 November-December 2008 Thus, few windows were included – between the siding and the stud, In existing homes being addressed How Will in the plans, especially on the north around doors and windows, and using a comprehensive whole house You Save? side of the building. Though placing wherever there were penetrations for approach such as Home Performance Contractor Chris windows for solar gain was a con- wires, plumbing, and other ducts. In with Energy Star, 1000 cfm/1000 Glaser suggest- sideration, it proved difficult due to addition, aluminum taping was used square foot is a common benchmark. ed the carriage the location of the building and the on all corners and windows and the This house exceeded that two-fold! house will use abundance of trees on the southern back side of the exterior siding was However, the carriage house’s about 70 less exposure. painted to seal the wood. measure of air tightness did not energy; about 20 percent of The doors were rated at R-15, To measure the tightness of the meet the Passive House standard, the savings will much higher than standard doors, building and to identify remain- developed and regulated by Passive result from the Glaser said. The dual-glazed windows ing leaks, a blower-door test was House Institute U.S. The institute energy-efficient in the doors also had internal shade performed. A portable, calibrated requires a 1,000-square-foot building windows and mechanisms between the panes of fan mounted in the building’s door to achieve approximately 100 cfm50 doors, 40 per- cent from the glass which can be used to gain heat created a pressure difference between or less, five times as tight. new walls or prevent heat loss, depending on the inside and outside of the building To ensure air quality in such and their insula- the season and time of day. equal to a 20-mph wind on all sides a tight house, an air-to-air heat tion, and the After creating a thick and well- of the building. The air leakage rate exchanger, another Passive House rest from insu- insulated building envelope and was 480 cubic feet per minute at stipulation, was installed. “Most lating the attic and crawl space ensuring high quality windows and 50 Pascals of pressure (480 cfm50). houses get their ventilation through and reducing doors, Glazer focused on making the “This is the lowest reading I’ve had air leakages, which can pick up leaks. house as tight as possible to prevent on a two-story house this size,” said contaminants on the way,” Klahn any heat from leaking out of the Bob Klahn, a Yellow Springs-based said. Air-to-air heat exchangers are a building. Foam was sprayed in large home energy consultant. “I would’ve much more efficient way of bringing cracks and caulk was used extensively expected double that.” fresh air into the house, as the heat Bob Klahn performing a blower-door test to find leaks.. is transferred from the air leaving the house to the air coming in on cold days. Because of this, Passive Houses often have better indoor air quality than conventional buildings, and fewer problems with condensation and nail-popping, two problems caused by a tight house. Still, the retrofit project had its share of challenges. A lack of early planning led to cost and time over- runs. In all, the project cost around $100 per square foot and took six months of full-time work for the crew of three – aided by various sub- contractors – to complete. However, that cost includes the extensive structural work as well as the plumb- ing, electric and utilities installation which might account for up to 25-40% of the square foot cost. Most homes would not have this addi- tional expense in a simple retrofit. In addition, Murphy and Morgan found it difficult to keep ahead of the builders in trying to provide information for such an innovative deep retrofit project. “Knowledge of the Passive House is scattered around continued on page 7

November-December 2008 New Solutions Number 15:  The Fifth U.S. Conference on and Community Solutions Peak Debt October 31 – November 2, 2008, Oakland The true crisis may be the inability to afford the dwindling oil. University, Rochester, Michigan contrary, the warming of the atmo- Plan C: Individual and sphere seems to have begun a process Community Survival Strategies of acceleration partly independent of cutbacks in emissions, for the Energy Crisis as the northern permafrost regions melt and the methane trapped there is released. Over the last five years, the effort to educate an often unwilling popu- Energy Housing Transportation Food lation on these two peaking problems This year’s conference, held in Yellow Springs, Ohio since has generated an impressive store of 2004, will take place in Rochester, Michigan. Several books, films, and conference pro- hundred community activists, sustainability educators ceedings. That work continues today and lifestyle change advocates are expected at the annual at organizations such as ASPO-USA, event, this year co-sponsored by Michigan-based Upland Post-Carbon Institute, and our own. Hills Ecological Awareness Center. But while that work has been pro- Participants will learn how to cut their household By Rob Content ceeding, yet a third peaking problem energy use and create resilient, sustainable communities has caught up to us. And this one embers of Community is unlikely to be a stranger to your to weather the coming economic and ecological storms. Solutions have distinguished Sessions will cover survival strategies for growing food, M neighbors. themselves by their willingness to Our friend Thomas Quinn called creating local , home retrofitting for low support the study of problems that energy use, and education for communities to prepare this month to urge us to turn our many of their neighbors might regard attention to what he’s calling “peak for the difficult times ahead. as obscure, exaggerated, or even Speakers include keynoters , debt.” As we began to take Tom up manufactured. Such problems might on this, we discovered passages like author of the forthcoming book, The Long Descent: A also have been assumed to be of the User’s Guide to the End of the Industrial Age, and Dmitry the following: far-distant, “not-in-my-lifetime” Peak Oil (and , coal etc.) Orlov, author of Reinventing Collapse: Soviet Example category. and American Prospects. , the world’s is a very real issue. But, by a very Together, fossil fuel depletion wide margin, it’s not the most press- foremost educator and author of several and climate change lead the list of best-selling books including Peak Everything: Waking Up ing, or the worst, issue the world will these problems. Both share a quality face in the short term, say the next 5 to the Century of Declines, will speak via webcast. captured by the word “peak.” Peak There will also be workshops and panels, Connection years. This is because long before the Oil names the period of time during availability of energy becomes a real Café roundtables with area experts, an eco-tour slide show, which the global petroleum produc- screenings of award-winning films, entertainment, tours problem, the availability of money tion system reaches its maximum to pay for the energy will be. And if of local sustainably-designed buildings, a Green Living capacity to bring oil to the market. Expo and healthy, shared meals. the number of people who can afford Peaks in natural gas and coal produc- to pay for gas, and heating oil, and Other conference speakers include Katrin Klingenberg, tion lie ahead as well. Climate change director of the Passive House Institute U.S., an organiza- electricity, declines, and does so at an can also be understood as a peak, increasing pace, energy availability tion promoting super-efficient, carbon-neutral, cost effec- namely the maximum capacity of tive building; Peter Bane, editor of Activist turns into an afterthought, and even the ocean and atmosphere to serve a moot point, for the time being. magazine; Pat Murphy, author of Plan C: Community as a safe sink for carbon emission Survival Strategies for Peak Oil and Climate Change; Recent increases in the price of pollution. gasoline, home heating fuels, and Christopher Bedford, President of the Center for Eco- These two peaks are closely nomic Security and the Sweetwater Local Foods Market; electricity had not escaped our interconnected since it is primarily notice, of course. In fact, we’ve John Richter, co-founder of the Institute for Sustainable through the burning of fossil fuels Energy Education and former president of the Great experienced a broader willingness to that man-made climate change has consider our concerns about Peak Oil Lakes Renewable Energy Association; and Megan Quinn been induced. However, as Richard Bachman, Outreach Director of Community Solutions. now that increasing energy costs have Heinberg pointed out recently, the become a clear trend, reported in the Get complete information and register for the relationship is not linear. On the mainstream media and felt in the conference online at www.plancconference.org, call 248-693-1021 or e-mail [email protected]. wallet. But the peak debt challenge

 : New Solutions Number 15 November-December 2008 Peak Debt From the Director The true crisis may be the inability to afford the dwindling oil. A New Format and New Developments to Note has set us to some further thought of household expenditures. On the his is the first issue of a new about how we can best be of service transportation side, we have made T format for New Solutions. to our members, neighbors, and the case for downsizing personal The earlier editions were in- fellow citizens. vehicles, increasing passenger miles depth analyses of key trends and First, we ask ourselves if it’s true by ride-sharing, and traveling when energy-relevant information that many among us will soon be possible by foot and bicycle. which formed the basis for the so lacking in income or savings that Our housing recommendations book Plan C: Community Sur- “energy availability turns into an have spanned the gamut from deep vival Strategies for Peak Oil and afterthought.” Grim though it is, retrofitting for those with sufficient Climate Change. With our energy the current financial crisis seems a resources, to the lowest of low-tech curtailment program and com- necessary correction to an extended solutions pioneered by members munity orientation spelled out period of growth and “prosperity” Larry Halpern and Gail Kean. Dur- in Plan C, we are now shifting to a more current approach with (albeit largely concentrated among ing the cold months, Larry and Gail ideas that fit within that context. the already prosperous). The boom wear warm clothes inside, put fabric- It’s interesting to consider and bust cycle is a familiar aspect of filled pop-in frames into their win- what has happened since the book went to the publishers capitalist markets. dows, and block off sections of their at the beginning of the year. Most noteworthy have been Against a broader historical house from use. Just this month, they the very rapid increases in the , natural gas background, today’s level of national have achieved the long-sought goal and coal. Records were set and even though the prices are debt is challenging, but not unprec- of reducing their home electricity use off their peak, the long range trends have been estab- edented and in fact only of aver- to zero. lished. There have been no massive finds of fossil fuels, age size. Or is today’s debt crisis in When it comes to food, we have the carbon sequestration hope for coal is as far distant fact something new because of the been advocates of shopping at farm- in the future as it has ever been, and the PHEV, or coal advanced state ers’ markets, subscribing to Com- car, is not only years away, but with sufficient modeling “...if the number of globalization, munity Supported Agriculture (CSA) is shown to offer only a small reduction in CO2, in the of people who can the failure of farm shares, and making nutritious range of 15-30%, while we need a 4% reduction each afford to pay for gas, governments to choices low on the food scale. year to ameliorate climate change. and heating oil, and maintain regula- All of these approaches involve Several new books have come out in recent months that don’t spend much time describing Peak Oil and electricity declines... tory systems reductions in personal fossil fuel con- sufficient to sumption and so in carbon emissions. climate change but focus on ways of curtailment and energy availability protect their But they also promote a healthier low-energy living, such as Sharon Astyk’s writes about, turns into an citizens, and the and less costly style of life for the and long-range views of society or the future such as the afterthought....” continuing rapid individuals who embrace them. In writings of and John Michael Greer. Rich- expansion in the that sense, we have been advocating ard Heinberg is busy writing another book on coal. One number of human beings who need a way of life in which the pursuit of hopes he provides a deep analysis of carbon sequestration to be fed? wealth is minimized, and happiness – the last gasp effort of the uber technologists to stave off We are still exploring the answers is thereby increased. low energy lifestyles. to this question. One thing we are If peak debt forces toward sig- I had been studying Peak Oil for some years before climate change entered my awareness. I realized the Peak sure of is that from the Community nificant curtailment of their energy Oil was very serious, but climate change is actually life- Solutions perspective, a most trou- use, a decline in consumption-driven threatening. Climate change tells us that we can’t burn bling feature of peak debt is its impli- behavior may yield an involuntary the other half of the oil or the even greater percentage of cations for inequity. Our presenta- increase in healthful physical activity. natural gas and coal that remains. The carbon that these tions on Peak Oil and climate change An involuntary increase in happiness fuels contain must remain buried or life on earth is threat- over the years have paid considerable might not be far behind. n ened. It was disturbing to realize the threat had become attention to global inequity. Financial Rob Content is the Program Manager for Community much more significant in only a few years. irresponsibility and market manipu- Solutions. In recent months, the specter of a great depression has lations, with taxpayers shouldering suddenly appeared under the nomenclature of sub-prime the burden of subsequent bailouts, loans and many acronyms that basically describe modern have increased inequity in the version of Ponzi schemes intended to bilk the public. It . seems that these schemes, called investment vehicles and Our message for some time now re-packaging. etc., were modern versions of the financial has focused on voluntary curtailment continued on next page

November-December 2008 New Solutions Number 15:  From the Director Community Food: Continued from page 5 A Progress Report excesses of the 1920s which led to the October 1928 crash of the stock market. This was followed by the pas- sage of The Glass-Steagall Act in 1933 which prohibited a bank from offering investment, commercial banking and insurance services. This act also established the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and included banking reforms designed to control speculation. Glass-Steagall was repealed by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Financial Services Modernization Act, signed into law by president Clinton in 1999. This opened up competition among banks, securities companies and insurance compa- nies and allowed bank holding companies to own other financial companies. While the oil companies, power companies and car companies were threatening our life support systems, the banks and securities company were threatening our economic support systems. John Michael Greer has pointed out that our solu- tions to Peak Oil and climate change are always proposed By Rob Content people for one year. This is food we within the context of a free market. But our unfettered y wife and I made progress have purchased as individuals. Our capitalist system in not going to help us. He notes, “Track producing food in our home plan is to offer it to others in our the economic history of the United States in the 20th M gardens this summer, and are now community if it is needed in the century, for example, and an interesting pattern emerges. busy on evenings and weekends pre- year ahead. Until the 1920s, a free market ideology far more prin- serving much of the surplus. We are A clear disadvantage of this plan cipled than its current equivalent dominated American new to growing, and still at an early is that the canneries are located on politics; government kept its hands off business until the stage in carrying out a seasonal effort the west coast. Here at Community crash of 1929 and the Great Depression made that politi- Solutions, our approach to food is cally impossible. During the Depression years, politicians to store the harvest. So we’ve also bought up extra dried beans, grains, focused on the benefits of dietary imposed an alphabet soup of regulations on the American change and of local production. economy, and those remained in place until the early pasta, and canned goods when the price was right at our local markets. Our emergency food was grown and 1980s, when most of them were removed. If the myth processed far from where we live. of the market is to be believed, the American economy Between the preserved food and the extra purchases, we calculate that It was shipped to us by truck more should have been more prosperous before the mid-1930s than 2000 miles. As we look ahead to and after the mid-1980s than in the intervening period. we’ve stored enough to feed our- selves until the next summer harvest maintaining the same level of supply, “The problem, of course, is that this isn’t what hap- we will seek to find producers and pened. Until the 1930s, the American economy was begins. If there is no food emergency between now and then, we are processors nearby. racked at regular intervals by a disastrous cycle of booms In the meantime, we are let- and busts that drastically limited American prosperity and prepared to eat solely from our own provisions. ting people know that when food made severe economic depressions a frequent experience. is needed, we will have a supply to As the New Deal took hold, the economic cycle damped A food supply emergency seems unlikely to us, especially in the short provide. We are inviting people over down to livable levels, and the United States entered the to see what we have done in the longest period of general prosperity in its history. That term. Particular emergencies often arrive unexpectedly. But it is prudent way of growing food and preserving prosperity waned in the 1970s as US oil production excess, and to share our plans to keep peaked and began to decline, but the deregulation of the to anticipate that some emergency or other will occur. We should therefore expanding the garden’s capacity in 1980s did not bring it back. For most Americans, per the years ahead. We’re also showing capita income in constant dollars has declined since the prepare for emergencies in advance. That is why we’ve decided to become the stock of stored foods. early 1970s, and many other measures of effective wealth Discussing what we each have to have slumped accordingly; the rate of infant mortality in prepared for a food emergency now. We aren’t sure whether any of our offer seems to have helped our com- America today, for example, is roughly on a par with that munity understand the scope of the of Indonesia.” friends or neighbors have made the same decision. For that reason, we need, should a food emergency actu- Our consumption must decline to survive Peak Oil ally occur. As part of these discus- and climate change. And we need some model (we sug- recently made a one-time purchase of a much larger stockpile of food. This sions, we are also learning to identify gest community!) to replace the competitive way of living who will be in the best position to that is generating monstrous levels of inequity. n was expensive. We paid $10,000 for an inventory calculated to feed ten offer other needed resources in an – Pat Murphy emergency. n

 : New Solutions Number 15 November-December 2008 Retrofitting A New Idea – Locality- Continued from page 3 Dependent Energy the country and Europe,” Murphy crawl space and reducing leaks. By Pat Murphy explained. Preliminary testing of the building s we learn more about energy and how to reduce its “We have no regrets, because we showed that it was only using 12 A use, new ways of looking at things must be developed. learned a lot and it will be a dem- kilowatts per day to keep it at 59 One example is the local nature of energy generation onstration for what other people degrees Fahrenheit when the average and conservation. can do,” Morgan said. “My advice outside temperature was 41 degrees. In an article in the Dec/Jan 2008 issue of Fine Home- to others wanting to do this is don’t When the building is complete this building entitled, “Solar Energy: Why it’s better than just start – plan first.” Glaser agreed. may decrease due to fewer leaks and ever,” by Scott Gibson, a graphic shows the cost of a solar “The more you can plan ahead, the more appliances and body heat to system in five different areas of the county. A 4-kilowatt more cost savings can be realized in keep it warm. (kw) photovoltaic (PV) system was installed at each of the construction project,” he said. In addition to requiring little the five locations. The estimated installation price of the Glaser suggested some interview energy to operate, the building’s system was $36,000, which is about $9 per kw, a typical questions for potential retrofit con- construction also utilized local and price for installing solar systems in the U.S. However, the tractors. “Ask about the R-values for recycled materials, which reduced energy produced with the same equipment from the five windows, walls, ceiling, and floors, its embodied energy. Local walnut, locations varied as shown in the following table: the quality of the windows, and how pecan, and hickory were used for the City Energy Ratio – Seattle they deal with details like small pen- window trim and cabinets. Produced to Others etrations and balloon framing,” he “Changing the building envelope Seattle, WA 3,880 kwh 1.00 said. People also choose a contractor – including the structure, windows, San Diego, CA 5,994 kwh 1.54 based upon their experience and per- and doors – was the big investment,” Columbia, MO 5,282 kwh 1.36 sonality, and how involved they want Murphy said. “Because this building Concord, NH 4,943 kwh 1.27 to be in the project. “To save money, will last 100 years and energy costs are Tampa, FL 5,455 kwh 1.41 people can do some work themselves. unknown in just 30 years, it will be a This points out that an energy generating source of a With coaching, they can do demoli- valuable piece of property,” he said. particular capacity varies with location. Natural gas burned tion and help with insulation and For those who are unwilling or in any of these cities will have the same energy output. caulking,” Glaser said. This could unable to build interior or exterior But it is different in different places for solar and wind. save 10 – 20 percent of the cost. walls to thicken the envelope of their Another example, in the Journal of Light Construction, Another compromise was making homes, Murphy suggested a variety June 2008, points out that replacing single pane windows the house all-electric with an electric of cost effective energy retrofits, with double-pane low-e windows in a typical 2,000 square baseboard heater, which emits about including lighting upgrades (chang- foot house will result in annual savings of just $125 in a twice as much carbon dioxide per ing to compact fluorescents or mild climate like California’s but $340 in a severe climate million BTUs as a natural gas fur- LEDs), air sealing, and insulating the like New England’s. nace. However, efforts were made to wall and attic. This shows the complexity of trying to determine keep the heating load as small as pos- “We know now we can reduce the solutions to energy problems. When it comes to renew- sible, so this may not be a problem. energy use of buildings by 80 – 90 ables such as wind and solar, the return on investment is In addition, photovoltaic panels percent,” Morgan said. And with the dependent on the location. The same device is used but could one day be installed to handle growing need to reduce carbon diox- the energy generated varies. This is not true for coal and the load of the electric heater, refrig- ide generation and energy because of natural gas plants, even though plants closer to coal fields erator, stove, and other appliances. climate change and fossil fuel deple- have some shipping advantage. This may be preferable to depending tion, models like this deep energy At the same time the conventional ways of calcula- on natural gas, since supplies are pro- retrofit and the Passive House will be tion either a return on investment or a payback period jected to dwindle rapidly in North critical, according to Morgan. need rethinking. Today a typical analysis for upgrading America over the next few decades. “I feel a tremendous ease because windows or adding a solar PV system calculates the energy Glaser, who worked inside the of what could be accomplished,” saved, multiplies that value by the price of energy, uses building comfortably with just a Morgan said. n some Net Present Value algorithm and then come up with space heater throughout the winter, a payback in years or a return on investment (ROI) in per- Megan Quinn Bachman is the Outreach Director for estimates the building will use about Community Solutions. cents. But rarely do the equations include a steady increase 70 percent less energy than a typical in the price of energy. For more information on saving energy in existing homes 1,000-square-foot house. He suggests visit the following websites: This is further complicated by the fact that people do about 20 percent of the savings will Passive House Institute U.S.: www.passivehouse.us not stay very long in the same house. Thus, the housing result from the energy-efficient win- Affordable Comfort, Inc.: www.affordablecomfort.org market does not typically incorporate the potential savings dows and doors, 40 percent from the Passivhaus Institute (): www.passiv.de in energy for the future. new walls and their insulation, and How best to model this complex information? We’ll be the rest from insulating the attic and looking for answers and will report back. n

November-December 2008 New Solutions Number 15:  New Solutions is published by Special Membership Offer The Arthur Morgan Institute for Community Solutions, a non-profit For a limited time, you can become a Community Solutions member and organization, has been receive a copy of Community Solutions Executive Director Pat Murphy’s studying and promot- ing small local new book, Plan C – Community Survival Strategies for Peak Oil and Climate community for more Change, for a combined cost of just $50. In addition, as a member, you’ll than 60 years. receive New Solutions to keep you up to date on what we’re doing and to help To subscribe to New you make informed decisions about how best to adapt to a low energy life. Solutions, become a member. Send Please send me a copy of Plan C and enter me on your membership roll. your tax-deductible contribution of $35 (or I authorize/enclose payment of $50. more) to Community VISA/MC number Exp. Date Solutions, P.O. Box 243, Yellow Springs, Name on card OH 45387. Your con- tributions will help us Signature continue this work. To receive regular Daytime phone email communica- Street address tions, send us an email at info@ com- City State/Province Zip/Postal munitysolution.org. Email address © 2008 The Arthur Morgan Institute for Send me New Solutions via postal mail via email Community Solutions. All rights reserved. You may also join Community Solutions via phone at 937-767-2161 or online at www.communitysolution.org

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