Episode 6- Energy: Is sustainability all about Energy?
Our buildings produce 40% of the world’s CO2 emissions as a result of their energy consumption, thereby contributing more to climate change than either industry or transportation. Yet we continue to design buildings that waste energy. Generally, building designers attempt to conserve energy by applying more efficient technologies, and they can easily achieve 20% savings. However, it’s actually cheaper to achieve 40% or 50% energy savings by understanding the interrelationships between systems to reduce the building’s demand for energy in the first place. But is this enough; is cutting our energy use by 50% sustainable?
Our guest, Marcus Sheffer, is a founding Partner of 7group, an internationally recognized green building and sustainability consulting firm. He has focused his efforts on energy issues for 25 years, and he has been involved in more than 100 LEED projects. He also currently serves as the Vice-Chair of the U.S. Green Building Council’s Energy Technical Advisory Group.
