How to Make Something Green

The color GREEN has been used to describe various approaches to energy development and usage.  It is very difficult to define what is meant when using the word green.  As one source puts it:

“Recent political groups have taken on the color as symbol of environmental protection and social justice, and consider themselves part of the Green movement, some naming themselves Green parties. This has led to similar campaigns in advertising, as companies have sold green, or environmentally friendly, products.”

When it comes to energy, the term is most often a reference to sources and equipment that are considered “sustainable”.  Unfortunately, that is another vague term when applied to energy engineering.  Here are two attempts at defining “sustainable” in this context.

Encarta Dictionary: Sustainable

1. able to be maintained

2. maintaining ecological balance

            Exploiting natural resources without destroying the ecological balance of an area

Brundtland Commission of the United Nations on March 20, 1987:

“sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

These are absolutely honorable and desirable goals.  However, being married to a watercolor and pastel artist, she has explained to me that:

GREEN is not a primary color. 

It is a mixture of other colors.  I believe that being GREEN with energy can only come from a mixture of actions.  The current definition of a GREEN energy source includes being renewable, non-polluting, minimal carbon dioxide impact, and minimal environmental impact.  I suggest that these impacts must be considered all the way back to the manufacturing stage of these resources.  For instance, how much impact does the factory making the photovoltaic cells have in all these categories?

Because no matter how good your energy source is, it will always be better and cheaper to use less, it becomes even more important that energy conservation must be a key ingredient to be GREEN.  In fact, the best way to start is to use less energy, then go to the most GREEN source available.  In my opinion, you can’t be GREEN if you don’t look at efficiency and reductions first.

I consider sustainability to be the yellow that is added to the blue of efficiency that makes the result green.  The order is important!  Sustainability added after efficiency.  And the actual shade of green will change with the shades of efficiency and sustainability that are used in the process.

Face it: so-called GREEN energy sources are currently more expensive than conventional sources.  So it just makes sense to reduce the amount of energy you need before you GO GREEN in a big way, it is very smart to GO LEAN first.

Rich

The Intelligent Use of Energy: Introduction

Why am I talking about using energy?  Isn't it unpatriotic to use energy?  Let me start off with heresy (one of many, I hope, in the future).

The Intelligent Use of Energy is NOT about conservation.  That is because energy is not a "thing".  Energy is "the capacity to perform physical work".

Using energy is almost magical.  But it is ALWAYS wasteful.  Every step along the way you cannot win or tie.  You always lose some of the energy.    

If your goal is to squeeze a higher percentage into a useful form, then you are probably a scientist, not someone with a building to run or pay for.  If you have a building to run or pay for, then all you are dealing with is the ever smaller percentage at the end of the line that is available to you.  That is all that you have at your service to use.  What matters is that the more you use the more you spend.  But nothing is ever that simple.  Because you have choices that involve not only how much total energy you buy, but also what form that you buy it in.  Different forms cost different amounts.  In later writings I will show you examples where you actually use MORE energy but spend LESS money.  That is why this blog is about the intelligent use of energy.  This blog is about how to look around your business and get the job done while using the least amount of the precious, small amount of energy that finally makes it from the fuel supply to the task at hand.

But remember, our goal is not using energy.  Our goal is light, comfort, producing a product, etc.  DO NOT LOSE SIGHT OF YOUR GOAL.  It is true that the energy per mile to run an automobile goes up as the speed goes up.  So going slower saves energy.  BUT going slower wastes TIME.  Time is the only commodity that you have that will run out!  Worse yet, time cannot be replaced with something else.  If you are going to the video store to rent a movie, perhaps going slower to save the energy is easily justified.  If, however, you are in an ambulance going to the emergency room, the value of the time is significantly greater than the value of the energy.

My point is that saving energy for energy's sake is certainly altruistic, but usually counterproductive.  Carelessly using energy is costly, but much easier to do.  The trick is to recognize when energy is being used and then to do it on purpose.  In my opinion I believe that you only "waste" energy by doing one of two things:

                1.             You consumed it when you didn't need it.

                2.             You consumed it when you did need it, but there was a better way that would have consumed less, and you could afford to make that change.

Leaving lights on in an empty office is consuming energy when it isn't needed.  But installing occupancy sensors may cost ten times more than the energy saved is worth.  If the occupancy sensor will only last for ten years, or less, then there is no net monetary gain from installing it.   

But is monetary gain the only measure?  Isn’t the goal to save the precious electricity to save the precious oil to limit the ruining of our environment?  If that was the only goal, then the solution is simple, and very cheap: shut off the main switch and the building will save all the energy that it was using.  However, you will be looking for a job soon after you do that. 

Trust me on this: it will be hard to find a job with that approach on your resume. 

The truth is that your job is to optimize the relationship between capital costs and operational costs for your building.  I am not suggesting that environmental issues are unimportant.  But they do need to be kept in perspective.  Remember; it is always a good thing to see if you can do your job and not hurt the environment. 

 

Rich