I hope that the Climate Chief’s call for an economic analysis leads to a thorough review of the resources required to achieve our goals for decarbonization of existing buildings.
Carbon and Climate
building energy, divestment, emissions data, personal footprint, preparing for climate change, reducing emissions in ma, science and goals
Energy conservation expectations
In existing homes, we are likely to have to get most of our carbon reductions by decarbonizing heating systems as opposed to improving building envelopes.
Building envelope improvements
Non-envelope improvements — electrification, burner efficiency, behavior changes — account for the majority of the observed decline in residential fossil energy use intensity before 2009.
Behavior changes
An approximately 8 degree reduction in thermostat settings since the 1970s saves approximately 26% off our home space heating consumption.
Appliance efficiency improvements
Fossil appliance efficiency improvements were an important contributor to the 58% drop in residential fossil energy use intensity in Massachusetts from 1972 through 2009.
Shift to electric appliances
The modest shift to electric heating and other appliances from 1972 to 2009 accounted for only approximately 1 kbtu/sqft/year reduction in fossil EUI in 2009 — a relatively small contribution to the overall drop in fossil EUI of 78 kbtu/sqft/year from 1972 to 2009.