Energy efficiency a great New Year's resolution

Zenin Adrian, Contributor The Jakarta Post

For those who do not have a New Year's resolution yet, may I propose a good one?

The recent UNCC conference in Bali highlighted global warming as an important problem which requires a global effort. Although the agreement the conference reached did not satisfy all parties, the impact is still real and it takes each one of us to start making a difference.

Buildings are a good place to start. According to a report by the USGBC (United States Green Building Council) and IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), the buildings sector consumes 40% of the world's energy and material and accounts for 30% of carbon dioxide emissions.

Measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from buildings fall into three categories: (i) reducing energy consumption in buildings; (ii) switching to low-carbon fuels, including a higher portion of renewable energy; or (iii) controlling the emissions of non-CO2 greenhouse gases.

The first method, energy efficiency, has become the primary focus.

In the complete life cycle of a building, starting from preconstruction, construction and operation to demolition, energy consumption can be split into two categories: (i) embodied energy and (ii) operating energy.

For typical standards of building construction, embodied energy is equivalent to only a few years of operating energy. Thus, over a 50 year time span, reducing the operating energy is normally more important than reducing the embodied energy.

Occupant behavior, culture, consumer choice and use of technology are major determinants of building emissions.

Generally, for hot countries, especially Indonesia, the main agent in energy efficiency is reducing the lighting and cooling load.

There are many strategies that can be applied, including changing behavior, increasing the efficiency of appliances, using a high-performance building skin, tapping into alternative energy sources, and using an integrated design process.

The simplest way to change our behavior is adjusting our notions of comfort. This means that we need to stop pretending that we are in a cold climate where we can use our winter clothing.

Raising the thermostat to 24-25 degrees Celsius is generally acceptable to most people and requires less electricity than setting it at 15-17 degrees Celsius.

At home, the next step is reducing our reliance on air conditioning. You can start using the timer and set it in accordance with your daily routine.

Consider using air conditioning only in the first two or three hours of sleep, then setting the unit to increase the temperature slightly each hour.

Lighting loads can be reduced with natural day lighting as well as combining ambient (general lighting) and task lighting. Maximize your use of day lighting by organizing the interior furniture based on daily activities and arranging it so you can get the most natural lights from the windows.

Ambient lights are grouped into zones corresponding to natural light, so you can switch on the lights depending on the amount of natural light penetration in the room.

Blinds, louvers, or curtains are conventional devices used to control daylight. Controlling daylight reduces not only the lighting load, but the cooling load. For commercial or apartment buildings, retrofitting with shading devices and light shelves can increase the efficiency of both lighting and cooling.

Ideally, energy efficiency measures should be included starting from the design stage through an integrated design process, in which building performance is optimized by involving all members of the design team from the beginning.

However, the fragmentation of the building industry and the design process into professions, trades, work stages and industries has become a barrier to this approach.

Retrofitting existing, inefficient buildings, most of which will still be here for the next 20 to 50 years, is key to energy efficiency efforts.

Cost-effective measures can be undertaken without major renovations. These include improving the building envelope and replacing inefficient boilers, water heaters, air conditioning and lighting. This can dramatically affect emissions.

Thus, we can achieve substantial reductions in emissions from energy use in buildings over the coming years using mature technologies that already exist and have been widely used.

Changing our energy consumption can play a key role in achieving greenhouse gas goals, and would be a great New Year's resolution for all of us.

So, before going to sleep tonight, turn off the lights and start using your air conditioner's timer function. Happy New Year!

Zenin Adrian has a website www.zadl.net and can be reached at zenin.adrian@zadl.net