Calwell zero energy homes talk in san diego
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Making a World of Difference Chris Calwell CCSE Clean Energy Conference San Diego September 16, 2010 Bending the Curve Downward: What Will It Take To Sharply Reduce Residential Greenhouse Gas Emissions?
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Transcript of Calwell zero energy homes talk in san diego
Making a World of Difference
Making a World of DifferenceMaking a World of Difference
Chris Calwell
CCSE Clean Energy ConferenceSan Diego
September 16, 2010
Bending the Curve Downward: What Will It Take To Sharply Reduce Residential Greenhouse Gas Emissions?
Key Source Material for This Talk
www.eceee.org/sufficiency
The volume of the atmosphere is fixed.
So, increasing annual carbon emissions lead to rising CO2 concentrations that persist for a century or more.
Those, in turn, lead to higher global temperatures, which trigger major environmental impacts
It will be expensive and slow to convert our entire energy infrastructure to sources that do not emit CO2 or find big ways to take it out of the atmosphere.
So, we face a near-term limit on absolute energy consumption.
The Magnitude of the Climate Challenge Is Sobering and the Lag Times Are Long
“We’re already past 350 -- way past it. The planet has nearly 390 parts per million carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. We’re too high. Forget the grandkids – it turns out this was a problem for our parents…” --Bill McKibben
We Have Preferred to Focus on the Positive
Source: OnEarth Magazine
But Flat Per-Capita Electricity Use Doesn’t Help Much if the “Capita” Keep Rising: CA Use Rose by 400% from 1960 to 2005
California Electricity Use and Population Since 1960
0
50,000
100,000
150,000
200,000
250,000
300,000
1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000
Year
GW
h/y
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r
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5
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Po
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lati
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(M
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Electricity Use Population
AB32 May Get California Back to Flat by 2020, but an 80% Reduction by 2050 will be Much Harder
California’s Electricity Forecast Keeps Rising, But the Rate of Growth Is Slowing
California’s Strict Title 24 Requirements Have Ensured that New Homes Are More Energy Efficient than Older Homes.
But They Are Still Using More Energy. Why?
We Consume More Energy as We Become Wealthier
Source: California Energy Commission, California Statewide Residential Appliance Saturation Study, 2004.
Nationally, We Have Had Huge Success Improving Lighting, HVAC Systems, Insulation, Windows, Water Heaters, and Appliances,
But Plug Loads Are Soaring
We Need a Means of Tracking All of the Factors That Drive Energy Consumption and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Upward for Homes
and Consumer Products
What Does IPALUCEMD Mean for Homes?
Attribute Generic Units Specific Question for Homes Trend
Impact kg CO2/year Are residential CO2 emissions rising? ↑
Population persons How many people do we have? ↑
Acquisitiveness devices/person How prevalent are second homes? Are average household sizes shrinking?
↑
Luxury amenity/device How big is each house and how many upgrades does it have in it?
↑↑
Usage hours/year How often are we home, and how much stuff keeps operating even when we’re not?
↑
Carbon intensity
kg CO2/unit of energy
How much of our electricity and natural gas comes from fossil fuels?
↓
Efficiency amenity/unit of power
How many square feet of home space can we operate per watt?
↑
Manufacturing kg CO2/device How carbon-intensive is it to build, transport, assemble and ultimately recycle
the components of a home?
↑
Durability years How long do our homes last? =
The Good News: More Use of Solar Energy in Homes Each Year
• Roughly 180,000 to 200,000 off the grid US homes in the US in 2007 (mostly PV). About 25,000 of those are in California.
• More than 10,000 US homes running entirely on solar energy and another 190,000 that make some use of PV.
• 34,500 residential PV systems totaling 164 MW installed in CA since early 2007 with rebates. Another 50 MW pending.
• 1.5 million US homes use solar water heaters for domestic water heating, space heating, or pool heating.
Sources: www.solardev.com/SEIA-sunshinehomes.php , www.californiasolarstatistics.ca.gov/reports/9-08-2010/Dashboard.html
8 separate rectangular structures and rooflines
5600 square feet
Reclaimed stone shipped from Chicago
20+ kW of PV to power home and 5 EVs
“Costs 2-5% more than typical homes in this neighborhood, which start at $5 million”
The Basics of Progressive Efficiency and Sufficiency
• Sufficiency means establishing an absolute limit for the energy or power consumption of a product, beyond which it may not increase, regardless of product size or functionality
• Energy efficiency levels need to get progressively more efficient in the most luxurious or largest products in order to stay below that limit
• LEED, ENERGY STAR, REMP and other green homes programs heading this direction by discouraging very large homes and crediting smaller ones
ENERGY STAR TV Specifications – First High Profile Application of a Progressive Specification
The Market Is Moving Beyond ENERGY STAR Levels in Homes
• ENERGY STAR: >1,000,000• LEED-certified: 6,500• Passive House-certified: ~20
One builder’s effort to move beyond ENERGY STAR:
Source: http://www.100khouse.com/2010/09/08/energy-star-home-hybrid-construction-way/
Less Coal Burned in the US in 2009 than in Any Year Since 1995
www.grist.org/article/coal-fired-power-big-loser-in-economic-downturn/
US Greenhouse Gas Emissions Dropped Decisively in 2008-2009
Source: http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/environment/emissions/carbon/
With Your Help, We Can We Sustain That Progress Even in the Face of More and Bigger Energy-Using Gadgets
