Greening our commercial buildings
Soaking Up the Sun to Squeeze Energy Use to Zero – NYTimes.com.
Great article from the Times. Did you know commercial buildings use 18% of total energy consumed in the U.S. each year? This article describes innovation at its best. An affordable solution that will save both money and energy. Here’s an excerpt:
Most office buildings are divorced, in a way, from their surroundings. The energy lab’s Research Support Facility building is more like a mirror, or perhaps a sponge, to its surroundings. From the light-bending window louvers that cast rays up into the interior office spaces, to the giant concrete maze in the sub-basement for holding and storing radiant heat, every day is completely different.
The backdrop to everything here is that office buildings are, to people like Mr. Blocher, the unpicked fruit of energy conservation. Commercial buildings use about 18 percent of the nation’s total energy each year, and many of those buildings, especially in years past, were designed with barely a thought to energy savings, let alone zero net use.
