This week, Roland Nikles helped us out with an interesting and thought provoking post. A friend of Roland’s has some very interesting points to add. He wants us to remember part of the reason California has doubled its economic output in the past 20 years without a commensurable increase in energy demand is because of increased efficiency and conservation.
Large buildings in California used to use 5 watts per square foot to light space, now they only use one. The commentor notes the reductions come from technology and consciousness. Everything from motion detectors to the human hand turn off light switches, and improvements in interior insulation, windows, and HVAC systems all add up. He predicts buildings will be twice as efficient in 30 years, but I don’t think it’s too optimistic to think efficiencies will be even greater. Just remember what the world looked like in 1978 if you can think back that far…
Building codes are getting green, and even WalMart has aggressive green initiatives. Take a look at a huge portion of their website devoted to sustainability issues. With trends such as this, ubiquitous adoption of green technology may be closer than we think, and may just beat that 30 year prediction. Even if we end up with buildings that are twice as efficient as today, that’s a pretty good deal.
