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The Importance of Energy Efficient Buildings

Hi everyone!

Hope you've been making some progress on those position papers! (the deadline is February 3rd if you want a research award!!)

Here's an article to help stimulate some thinking around one of our topics -- Efficient Energy Capture, Storage, and Transportation.


Buildings account for a massive amount of energy use in the United States and many other countries. When it comes to the future of our energy crisis, it is not only about where our energy comes from, but also how efficiently we are using it. There are also many other benefits that come with increased energy efficiency as well, such as lower long-term costs. Think about what policies certain states can enact to increase building efficiency and what specific technologies they can implement to carry out such a task.

I'm excited to hear all your thoughts!

Emma

Comments

  1. Siddhant GuptaFebruary 4, 2019 at 9:58 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Siddhant GuptaFebruary 4, 2019 at 10:23 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  3. Siddhant GuptaFebruary 4, 2019 at 10:27 AM

    The Delegation of China sends its greetings.

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownFebruary 27, 2019 at 4:57 PM

    Although this has less to do with the efficiency of energy consumption within buildings, the delegation of Nepal would like to elaborate on a similar issue plaguing developing countries- namely, pollution withing buildings also know as indoor air pollution. Using biomass as fuel within a building results in an emission of Carbon Dioxide alongside other carcinogens. The result of this are increased rates in cardiovascular and lung cancer alongside a disposition to respiratory diseases.

    With this issue in mind the delegation of Nepal promotes a reform in energy consumption within buildings, not only to prevent the waste of energy but also to minimize the health risks less developed nations face from energy consumption within buildings. This would entail quantitative data analysis of energy usage models in urban centers to ensure each building is receiving the correct amount of energy while avoiding letting any go to waste. Furthermore, it would be imperative to ensure that buildings where firewood biomass is used as an energy source receive alternatives that don't pose health risks to the inhabitants.

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  5. AnonymousFebruary 27, 2019 at 9:08 PM

    Kazakstan and many other nations part of the former USSR also struggle with inefficient Soviet-style buildings. Specifically in schools, distribution of heat presents a constant challenge, with rooms often being extremely hot or extremely cold. Kazakhstan has started to tackle this problem in its capitol, Astana, with the help of partnerships with Denmark and the UNDP. These entities helped Kazakhstan get over the initial investment hump so that the nation could start upgrading its heating systems, and one school reported that the new technology caused their heating bill to decline by 25%!
    As demonstrated by Nepal's comment above, inefficient buildings look different in different nations. While Kazakhstan struggles with heat, Nepal and other nations struggle with indoor air pollution. Because of this, any protocol for increasing energy efficiency must be left open ended enough to allow nations to implement policy that best serves their own energy needs. With that being said, open ended solutions can quickly spiral into becoming vague solutions that don't hold countries accountable. Therefore we must balance flexibility with accountability in creating solutions.

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  6. Siddhant GuptaFebruary 28, 2019 at 12:23 AM

    The delegation of China sees the concerns of Kazakhstan and applauds its initiative in partnering with other entities to increase energy efficiency! China, similar to ex-USSR nations such as Kazakstan shares the goal of a protocol with flexibility for nations based on their current economic-stability and depending on their government's involvement in the nation's market. One challenge China found, and believes Kazakstan might find as well is that incentivizing businesses to create buildings that meet green energy standards is extremely efficient but businesses with large buildings such as Beijing skyscrapers are reluctant to invest renovate all of the infrastructure and reduce cash flow for the months of renovation. China has found success partnering with an NGO that can be found in the hyperlinked comment! This delegate believes that the policy of China can be seen as extremely progressive while striving to protect severity and flexibility and believes that this goes hand-in-hand with Kazakhstan.

    Look forward to hearing solutions in committee!

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