NEW ENERGY AND ECO-BLING

Is renewable power "eco-bling"? Report raises question
January 22, 2010 (USA Today)

"…I first heard "green bling" last year when a friend used it to describe the geothermal heating and cooling system she installed in her new, very well insulated home in Falls Church, Va. She said she first heard it in a green-building workshop to describe pricey (unnecessary?) systems.

"…[ Paul McFedries’ Word Spy] defines eco-bling [as]…a noun…’Ineffective green technology, particular equipment added on to an existing building that does little to reduce the building's use of natural resources…’ [and] cites several recent use, including one [in] a new report by the Royal Academy of Engineering that recommends how the United Kingdom can best reach its ambitious goals for cutting [new building] carbon emissions…[to] zero-carbon (produce as much energy as they use) by 2016…"

Only the best efforts at building Energy Efficiency AND New Energy can meet this challenge. (click to enlarge)

"Doug King, the report's author and a visiting professor of building engineering physics at the University of Bath, said it's become fashionable for people to install wind turbines and solar panels on their homes but warned against it…[because] unnecessary renewable energy visibly attached to the outside of poorly designed buildings…[means the building] is just as energy-hungry as every other building…[Putting] wind turbines and solar cells on the outside [to address] a few percent of that building's energy consumption [achieves little]…

"King added that eco-bling seemed to be more about showing off than saving carbon. The solution, he said, was building a well-insulated envelope or exterior and making good use of natural light.

The solution is often a hybrid. (click to enlarge)

"President Obama called insulation ‘sexy’ [recently and cited]… the money that can be saved by retrofitting homes for greater energy efficiency…Homes that need little or no heating and cooling -- and thus no renewable power -- are gaining more attention…[Passive homes]…a concept begun in Germany, are now being built in the United States…

"To be sure, some homes can actually produce more energy than they use by adding solar panels or wind turbines…[A] home may now be a net producer of power, but the homeowner [must use] a lot of insulation to lower…energy needs…"