I been cooking for a long time…
Stimulus bill offers incentives to cheapen buildings in the name of energy efficiency.
The energy star website was updated March 6, 2009 to include federal tax credits for energy efficiency. These are only for existing homes, not for new construction. What’s at the top of the list?
Windows and doors.
Insulation.
Roofs (metal and asphalt).
We are going to see a lot of needless work done to our stock of traditionally constructed, pre-war homes in the coming years. This is very disappointing because the systems these new products replace are often superior to the new units. If you account for embodied energy, operational energy, and life-cycle energy most traditional forms of construction come out on top over newer systems. Especially systems that are already in-place. Think twice before jumping on the bandwagon. Remember the words: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Replacing a perfectly good system in the name of reduction in energy isn’t really a net reduction. You can’t consume your way to sustainability.
Now remember the architectural equivalent of this mantra:
Maintain before repair.
Repair before restore.
Restore before replace.
Replace only as a last resort.
Live it.
Posted 6th April 2009 by Kurtis
Trad Building 