While Peter Clewes is right, the systems we install today will likely be there for decades, his solution to tax energy is a joke he plays on the people who buy units in his all-glass buildings (even if it is the right thing to do). No matter how you swing it, a building that is all-glass on the outside is a building without meaningful insulation. Using energy you can make an all-glass building relatively comfortable. You might be able to save a bit by using heat pumps to push the energy from the warm side to the cold side during the day. But at night in a cold climate it is all-energy all the time, which will get worse as the seals age and the building gets more leaky. The solution is to build buildings that are designed from the get-go to minimize energy use for heating and cooling. All-glass buildings might look swanky but frankly, we are stupid to build buildings where energy waste is an afterthought. Since the building sector uses WAY MORE energy and releases more greenhouse gases than any other sector (approximately double the transportation sector), building low energy buildings is the lowest of low-hanging fruit to a more sustainable future and to reducing the increase of the greenhouse gases that threaten us and other creatures in myriad ways. If designed properly, low energy buildings require no change in lifestyle other than living with a more healthful interior environment. Relying on the marketplace to come up with ways to deal with problems we know we are creating now is a cop-out that will not reflect well on Mr. Clewes in days to come. Ted Kesik is right to advocate for action now. theglobeandmail/life/home-and-garden/architecture/celebrity-versatility-technology-favour-the-glass-draped-condo-tower/article14795835/#dashboard/follows/
Posted on: Tue, 15 Oct 2013 00:49:11 +0000
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