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Greenhouse gas emittors pinpointed

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- A new, high- resolution, interactive map of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels has found that the emissions aren't all where we thought.

The maps and system, called Vulcan, show CO2 emissions at more than 100 times more detail than was available before. Until now, data on carbon dioxide emissions were reported, in the best cases, monthly at the level of an entire state. The Vulcan model examines CO2 emissions at local levels on an hourly basis.

Researchers say the maps also are more accurate than previous data because they are based on greenhouse gas emissions instead of estimates based on population in areas of the United States. To create the Vulcan maps, the research team developed a method to extract the CO2 information by transforming data on local air pollution, such as carbon monoxide and nitrous oxide emissions, which are tracked by the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Energy and other governmental agencies. "These pollutants are important to determine the ozone levels and air quality in major cities, and they are tracked on an hourly basis," Gurney says. "We've been able to leverage that data to determine the levels of CO2 being produced."

Where CO2 is being emitted [ see detail ]

Carbon dioxide is the most important human-produced gas contributing to global climate change. The United States accounts for about 25 percent of global CO2 emissions.

Emissions are greater in the southeastern United States [ see detail ]

The increased detail and accuracy of Vulcan will help lawmakers create policies to reduce CO2 emissions while also increasing scientists' understanding of the sources and fate of carbon dioxide, researchers say. "Before now the only thing policy-makers could do was take a big blunt tool and bang the U.S. economy with it," Gurney says. "Now we have more quantifiable information about what is happening in neighborhoods, on roads and in industrial areas, and track the CO2 by the hour. This offers policy-makers something akin to a scalpel instead."

Gurney says the inventory system, which is named for the Roman god of fire, quantifies all of the CO2 that results from the burning of fossil fuels such as coal and gasoline. It also tracks the hourly outputs at the level of factories, power plants, roadways, neighborhoods and commercial districts.

A preliminary analysis of the Vulcan data suggests that previous maps of U.S. fossil fuel emissions were inadequate for current scientific and policy-making needs, Gurney says. Gurney says this change isn't only due to people moving to the southeast, but also because of the approximations of previous estimates.

The three-year project, which was funded by NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy under the North American Carbon Program, involved researchers from Purdue University, Colorado State University and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory The Vulcan data is available for anyone to download from the Web site at www.eas.purdue.edu/carbon/vulcan

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LA ordinance adds requirements

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles City Council has established a Standard of Sustainability for the city that requires new non-residential projects with at least 50,000 sq.ft. of floor area or low-rise residential (less than six stories) with at least 40 dwelling units within buildings of at least 50,000 sq.ft. of floor area to meet U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) LEED Certification requirements. The ordinance also applies to existing buildings that meet these criteria when redevelopment construction costs exceed a valuation of 50% of the building’s replacement cost.

Specifically, these building projects must include, on the project team, a LEED Accredited Professional. The projects must meet LEED requirements, but are not obligated to apply for formal LEED accreditation.

In addition, the ordinance establishes a voluntary incentive program, called the Standard for Sustainable Excellence, for projects that register with the USGBC LEED program, contract with a LEED AP, and can demonstrate how the project will achieve LEED Certification at the silver or higher level. For more information, see cityplanning.lacity.org

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Execs invest in energy efficiency

HOUSTON – With everyone talking about skyrocketing energy costs and the environment, executives are continuing to focus on energy efficiency investments, according to new research commissioned by Johnson Controls.

According to the second annual Johnson Controls Energy Efficiency Indicator Survey, nearly three-quarters (72%) of organizations are paying more attention to energy efficiency than they were just a year ago. However, the percentage of companies expecting to make energy efficiency improvements, as well as their planned investment over the next year, has remained constant.

It may be that the full impact of risings costs is yet to be acted upon by industry.  In last year's survey, 79% said they expected energy costs to rise, and the average anticipated increase was 13.25%. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, however, the reality was that while crude oil prices jumped about 30% between the first and fourth quarters of 2007, commercial natural gas and electricity prices were flat. In this year's survey, 80% of respondents believe that natural gas and electricity prices will rise an additional 13.79% over the next year.

While interest in energy efficiency and energy management has increased significantly from last year, related investments have remained steady. The most significant growth in energy efficiency measures include replacing inefficient equipment before the end of its useful life (41%, up 13% from 2007) and switching to energy efficient lighting (78%, up 11%). Also, 88% claim that energy efficiency is a design priority in construction and retrofit projects, up 11% from a year ago.

For 53% of respondents (up 5%), environmental responsibility is an equal or greater motivator for investing in energy efficiency than cost reduction.  Fully 17% of respondents cited environmental responsibility as the stronger motivator, up from 13% in 2007. And 36% (about the same as last year) said they were equally motivated by environmental responsibility and cost savings.

For the first time, the Energy Efficiency Indicator probed deeper into how environmental and financial factors influence their company's energy efficiency decisions:

• 28% of respondents feel climate change is an extremely or very significant influence, and 31% said it was somewhat significant.
• 38% believe utility or government incentives are extremely or very influential. For executives with large facilities that number rose to 45%. In the only significant regional difference in the results, an even higher percentage of executives in the Western part of the United States (47%) said incentives were extremely or very influential.

Some interesting expectations for the coming years include the following:

• Nearly 40% believe it is extremely or very likely that, within the next two years, legislation will mandate energy efficiency and/or carbon reduction.
• Nearly one-third (31%) believe that green buildings will be extremely or very important in attracting and retaining future employees.

As in 2007, executives responsible for larger facilities (500,000+ sq.ft.) place more importance on energy management. A significantly higher proportion of them (84% vs. 56% for all respondents) plan to invest in energy efficiency measures in the coming year, and they are willing to tolerate a longer payback period for those investments. The ROI tolerance compared to five years ago for the group as a whole was essentially flat, but for executives with large facilities a large percent (29% versus 21% for all respondents) will tolerate a longer payback period than five years ago

Executives surveyed appear increasingly open to investments in renewable energy. In response to a new question this year, 38% said that solar electric panels were being either included or considered in their new construction or retrofit projects, and 24% said they were including or considering solar thermal panels for their projects. One possible explanation is that a significant percentage of executives (38%) said their companies felt it was extremely or very important to minimize dependence on traditional energy sources such as gas, oil, and electricity.

Few (8%) companies claim to have any green certified buildings. About 40% have buildings with green elements.

• One-third of new construction projects intend to seek green certification, compared to just one-fifth for retrofit projects. In most cases, the projects will incorporate green elements but not seek certification.
• A higher percentage of executives with 500,000+ sq.ft. facilities, 21%, said they had at least one certified green building.
• A higher percentage of executives with 500,000+ square foot facilities, 38% vs. 31% for all respondents, said they thought green buildings were extremely or very important in attracting and retaining employees.

Carbon reduction goals

• Only 12% of respondents' companies have a publicly stated carbon reduction goal (up slightly from 11% in 2007).
• Those with a publicly stated carbon goal are considerably more likely to state that climate change has a significant influence on their energy efficiency decisions and expect legislation mandating carbon-reduction or energy efficiency in the next two years.

For the first time this year, the survey reached out to a particular industry segment, members of the American Society of Healthcare Engineers (ASHE) to gauge its attitudes and actions about energy efficiency, (These respondents were not included in the 1,150-sample totals.) Interestingly, the health care-specific sample expressed some different opinions:

• Health care executives are more willing to invest in energy efficiency using capital expenditures than the general sample (67% vs. 56%).
• Their motivation is much more about cost savings (59% vs. 47%).
• Smaller influences were climate change (20% vs. 28%), reducing dependence on traditional energy (17% vs. 38%) and the possible positive impact on recruiting and retaining employees (17% vs. 31%).
• Renewable energy sources were less of a factor for health care executives.

For more information, see www.ifma.org

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What does sustainability cost?

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The cost of capping global warming pollution over the next two decades is almost too small to measure, according to a report by the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF).

The report, What Will It Cost to Protect Ourselves from Global Warming,? finds that:

• We can afford an aggressive cap-and-trade policy to tackle global warming. The cost to the economy will be minimal, less than 1% of U.S. gross domestic product in 2030.
• We cannot afford to wait. Further delay will greatly increase the costs of making necessary emissions cuts and will risk locking in irreversible climate change.
• Strict limits on global warming pollution can harness the power and creativity of capital markets. Transitioning to a low-carbon economy is best done through the powerful engine that drives our economy.

The economic effect, says the EDF, would be minimal. A business-as-usual approach, continuing with today's policies, puts the U.S. economy on a path to reach $26 trillion in January 2030. With a cap on the greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming, the economy would reach the same level two to seven months later.
Likewise, says the EDF, there would be little effect on Americans. Total job loss would be minimal, including within the manufacturing sector. In addition, the new carbon market would create new jobs.

The effect on household consumption is expected to be 1% or less. American households will be most affected by energy costs, but even here the increases would be modest. Overall costs would be small enough to allow us to expand programs to offset the burden for low-income households.

Under cap and trade, the government would set a hard limit is set on the amount of allowable global warming emissions, that's the cap. Each individual company could choose how to cut emissions. Companies that cut more than they need to can sell their extra allowances to others for a profit -- that's the trade. Cap and trade gives the economy the most flexibility to reduce pollution in the most cost-effective ways and, according to EDF, it is affordable.

However, the EDF factors time into the cost equation: costs will remain low only if we act quickly. The longer we wait to curb pollution, the steeper the cuts must be to avoid catastrophic climate change. We need time to develop new technologies and build infrastructure. Plus, developing countries like China and India are waiting for us to act before they take action. For more information, see the report at www.edf.org/documents

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It ain’t easy being green

NORWALK, Conn. – Work colleagues may have some strong objections to those who don't walk-the-green-talk at the office.

Almost 40% of U.S. respondents said their number one office environmental pet peeve was mindless printing resulting in abandoned pages at the printer, followed closely by leaving the lights on in unused offices (37%), according to a study by Xerox Corp.

A review of the other top office pet peeves included: lack of recycling bins (33%); excessive air conditioning or heating (29%); excessive use of paper products - like plates and cups (27%); coworkers who don't recycle (27%), and coworkers who print single-sided instead of double-sided documents (24%).

The survey, which polled 1,569 office workers across the U.S. and Canada, revealed that U.S. women (91%) consider themselves more eco-conscious than their male counterparts (86%). Age had a noticeable effect on environmental consciousness too. Of U.S. workers aged 18-34, 27% ranked themselves as "extremely" or "very green" versus the next generation of employees aged 35-44 (17%).

The top ten environmental pet peeves among U.S. office workers:

1. Mindless printing resulting in increased waste (40%)
2. Leaving lights on (37%)
3. Lack of recycling bins (33%)
4. Excessive air conditioning in summer and heat in winter (29%)
5. Excessive use of paper products, like cups, plates, etc. (27%)
6. Coworkers not recycling (27%)
7. Coworkers not printing double-sided when they can (24%)
8. Too many cover sheets when faxing or printing (24%)
9. Having to store paper copies of existing, electronic files (24%)
10. Leaving computer on and not powering down when going home (23%)

For smarter ways to 'green' an office of any size, visit www.xerox.com/environment

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Carbon dioxide rose 3% in 2007

Texas goes low carbon
HOUSTON – Texas has overtaken California as the nation’s largest producer of wind power, according to The Climate Group. It has also reduced the carbon footprint of every Texan by 250 pounds a year.

Having met its renewable energy targets three years ahead of schedule, in 2005 the state legislature passed Senate Bill 20, setting a new target of 10,000 MW of renewable energy capacity by 2025. This will be enough to supply 8% of total electricity use, power 2.6 million Texan homes, avoid roughly five million tons of CO2 emissions a year – and save residential, commercial, and industrial customers $5.5 billion in cumulative energy charges.

These initiatives could create as many of 20,000 new jobs in the state (3.7 times the number that would come from the fossil-fuel business) and generate hundreds of millions of dollars in capital investment, land leases and property tax revenue.

Houston, for instance, plans to meet 50% of its power needs from wind, and its energy conservation activities are already delivering tangible results. Retrofitting vending machines in city facilities saved the city more than $34,000 per year, while switching light bulbs to more efficient T-8 bulbs saved almost $500,000. For more information, see theclimategroup.org

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South Australia goes carbon neutral

ADELAIDE, Australia – The South Australian government has determined to be carbon neutral by 2020.

The State will accomplish this by using the following timetable:

• By 2010, offsetting 30% of greenhouse emissions by purchasing Green Power and the balance through the purchase of other carbon offsets;
• By 2014, offsetting 50% of greenhouse gas emissions from its operations, achieved by purchasing of 50 percent of its electricity requirements from Green Power and the balance by purchasing other carbon offsets; and
• By 2020, offsetting all of its emissions to achieve carbon neutrality by purchasing an equal amount of Green Power and other carbon offsets.

For more information, see www.ministers.sa.gov.au/news.php?id=2791

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Increasing sustainability in 24 easy lessons

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Buildings Owners and Manager Association (BOMA) International has put together 24 strategies for increasing sustainability and optimizing performance in commercial buildings.

BOMA International is asking building managers and owners across the U.S. and abroad to implement the strategies listed below to make energy efficiency and sustainability a priority on Earth Day and every day.
Conserve Water*

1. Install low-flow aerators, which simply screw onto bathroom faucets and can be purchased for about $2.
2. Insert water displacement devices to limit the amount of water used in the toilet tank.
3. Monitor activities with sensors, such as motion-sensor faucets and cooling tower sensors.
4. Implement “dry” cleaning methods. Using a broom, squeegee or dry vacuum cleaner as “dry” instead of “wet” cleaning can save gallons of water.
5. Reduce water pressure.
6. Reset hot water thermostats to the lowest setting possible.
7. Turn off hot water heaters while the building is unoccupied.

Landscape Sustainably

8. Create a landscaping program that makes use of indigenous plants and conserves water.
9. Add composting to your landscape maintenance plan.
10. Use drip irrigation or soaker hoses, which use less water than sprinklers.
11. Schedule an annual review of your property’s irrigation system.
12. Harvest rainwater to water your building’s grounds.

Reduce, Re-use & Recycle

13. Work with vendors who have recycling programs in place.
14. Establish disposal methods to discard electronics and hazardous waste.
15. Use coreless paper products.
16. Ensure that your janitorial service uses “green” cleaning products.
17. Ensure windows and skylights are clean to allow in optimal daylight.
18. Encourage tenants to turn off equipment after hours.
19. Encourage tenants to use ENERGY STAR® equipment.
20. Develop a recycling program for everything (not just paper) - lighting, plastics, metal, glass and cardboard.

Communicate & Educate

21. Institute an energy awareness program.
22. Encourage tenants to institute work from home policies to reduce workplace energy consumption.
23. Create an electronic green newsletter to send to tenants periodically.
24. Encourage tenants and building personnel to utilize environmentally-friendly modes of transportation.

For more tips, strategies and energy efficiency resources, visit www.boma.org/AboutBOMA/TheGREEN/

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