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| http://engineering.columbia.edu/model-created-map-energy-use-nyc-buildings |
Henry Gifford often points out the we need to measure our energy use if we want to manage it successfully.
January is an excellent month to look over our energy bills for the past year, comparing it with the average use of fellow New Yorkers. We can set goals for the new year and decide on strategies to achieve them.
Here, where many people don't have private cars, our buildings account for two-thirds of the energy used by the city.
Drilling down to the unit level, take a look at the following table. Note these default values represent a very high rate of energy use. Nevertheless our energy cutting needs to start with measurement, so let's fill in our own table of monthly energy use.
Convert therms to kWh by a factor of 29.3
or use the conversion calculator at http://www.unitconversion.org/energy/therms-to-kilowatt-hours-conversion.html.
Convert Btu to kWh by a factor of 0.000293
or use the calculator at http://www.rapidtables.com/convert/energy/BTU_to_kWh.htm.
Default Values for Residential Tenant Space Column 1
|
Column 2
|
Column 3
|
Month
|
Tenant-paid electrical energy use (kWh/unit)
|
Tenant-paid heating energy use (kWh/unit)
|
January
|
420
|
1454
|
February
|
370
|
1238
|
March
|
350
|
1022
|
April
|
340
|
562
|
May
|
360
|
202
|
June
|
430
|
29
|
July
|
530
|
0
|
August
|
570
|
0
|
September
|
440
|
58
|
October
|
360
|
360
|
November
|
350
|
749
|
December
|
380
|
1209
|
Source: Values are based on averaged New York State Energy Research and Development Authority data for multi-family residential buildings in New York City from 2006 – 2009 and correspond to the 25th percentile of building energy performance. http://www.nyc.gov/html/planyc2030/downloads/pdf/040111_final_benchmarking_rule.pdf
Some strategies for reducing home energy use - http://www.motherearthnews.com/renewable-energy/Save-Money-On-Energy.aspx#axzz2MXy3Z1ff
Notice how clever some nonhuman New Yorkers are in energy management:
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| NYC pigeons know have to make use of passive solar gain and thermal mass |
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| On the other hand, designing a pigeon roost over a pedestrian walkway...well...
Typical Buildings are energy wasters in their construction and operation.
Resilient Buildings are environmentally friendly and energy efficient to the point where they can maintain livable conditions even in the event of extended loss of power or
heating fuel.http://www.resilientdesign.org/resilient-design-strategies/
The Passive House standard for
building heating and cooling is met with only 15 kWh per sq meter per year
(approximately 4750 Btu per sq foot per year or .0475 therms per sq foot
per year). http://www.passivehouse.us/passiveHouse/FAQ.html
Net Zero Buildings have zero net energy consumption and zero net carbon emissions on an annual basis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-energy_building Living Buildings are environmentally sound, generate their own energy, capture and treat all of their water, operate efficiently, and are aesthetically pleasing. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=earth-talks-living-building Where are we in the spectrum of home energy usage? What can we do to improve?
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Typical Energy Use Resilient Building Passive House Net Zero Living Building |
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