Subscribe free to our daily email newsletterContributor Opinion By John Britton: Collective Action Can Help Achieve Environmental Goals
Nov 18, 2008 9:22 - 1 Comment
>The following contributor opinion is by Rockville City Council member John Britton. (Hyperlinks have been added.) This Friday’s Rockville Central Radio show will focus on sustainability and the environment, so this piece is particularly timely!
On November 12, 2008, the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) adopted the National Capital Region Climate Change Report. The Report offers recommendations and voluntary commitments for the local, county and state jurisdictions in the metropolitan Washington region for the reduction of our region’s carbon footprint and greenhouse gases. It is a Report that focuses on the macro trends of housing, land use, transportation and energy generation and their profound impacts on the environment and, by extension, our public health. The COG staff presented a few weeks ago a briefing on the Report to a joint meeting of the Rockville and Gaithersburg mayors and councils.
The Report is a worthwhile, albeit possibly daunting, read. There is one section in the Report that should be of particular interest to our residents and businesses — Table 5 “Household/Business Actions to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions.” It identifies no cost, low cost, medium cost and high cost activities that we can undertake to achieve certain greenhouse gas reduction benefits.
The no cost activities include such things as: recycling; change thermostat settings in both winter and summer; set computers to energy-saving setting; drive 10 fewer miles per week; set water heater thermostat no higher than 120 degrees; wash clothes in cold water. A low cost suggestion: change incandescent lighting to compact fluorescent (maybe Rockville should sponsor a change-your-light bulb day). A medium cost activity is to conduct an energy audit of your home. Such an audit could reduce greenhouse gases, create green jobs and, in the long term, put dollars back into the pockets of our homeowners.
The above may seem like trivial activities but if you believe, as I do, in the efficacy of collective action, then they become a significant contribution to our environmental goals.
Councilmember John Britton
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Thanks for giving us this update on the local progress on responding to climate change. I reviewed the report and it does provide many useful strategies for promoting “green” practices. Where it fails (as do many other similar reports) is that it overlooks that that >re-using existing buildings is far, far more energy efficient than new construction and can greatly reduce carbon emissions.
Most people believe that building new is much better than saving an old building. But consider this: if a project is evaluated based on the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) system, any existing building can receive a “certified” rating with very little effort and achieving “silver” requires just a bit more effort. How is this possible? It’s all about the “embodied energy”-the energy that’s already been expended in construction.
If you witnessed the construction of the new Richard Montgomery High School, you will have seen several buildings demolished and hauled to the dump. All the energy that was used to construct the old buildings, including materials and labor, was lost as soon as they were demolished. Then more energy was used to haul it all to the dump, which in our case is out of the county (and frequently out of state). And finally more energy for materials and labor for new construction. New construction is a very energy intensive process, especially if it involves demolition.
If you believe this is a minor issue, remember that demolition and construction results in more than 2 million tons of waste annually-a quarter of Maryland’s trash. Okay, it’s hard to imagine all that trash, so let’s convert that into something we understand. The old Rockville Library is just about to be demolished and I’m guessing it’s about 50,000 sq. ft. The amount of energy that was used to construct the old building and energy to demolish now it is equal to 4.7 million gallons of gasoline. Yikes! That energy would have been saved if the State decided to incorporate the old building in the new courthouse.
You’ll see this repeated over and over again in Rockville until we all agree on some serious and meaningful environmental standards, going far beyond carpooling, recycling cans, and using energy efficient light bulbs (but don’t get me wrong, change over to compact florescent!). To learn more, visit http://www.thegreenestbuilding.org or http://www.preservationnation.org/green.