Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2011 13:22:02 -0400
From: chathammatters
Subject: Jackie Strouble – Conundrum
Responding to Jackie Strouble:
There really isn’t much of a “conundrum” here, and we most certainly are not “in the quest for answers to the biggest challenges ever faced by the human race”.
Our new commissioners have, for the first time, asked that the cost of new county building construction be weighed against the energy savings of the building.
As responsible stewards of our hard earned tax dollars they are now requiring that 5-7 yr energy savings be evaluated against the cost of building and options put on the table so that our county is able to make an informed decision.
This seems to me to be both sensible and responsible as the sheer cost of LEED outweighs any potential cost savings in energy consumption – and, as previously noted, LEED does not give you energy savings over traditional construction unless (as Richard pointed out) you go to the gold or platinum levels which are even more outrageously expensive.
To correct you, I never stated, or implied, that the county is using energy star as a “standard” for construction (makes no sense) – I simply said that, unlike LEED, energy star is an energy efficiency standard (most people would recognize energy star ratings on their appliances). And that energy star methodology uses Source Energy instead of Site Energy for a more comprehensive methodology, this was added to give you a little background into a scientific analysis of LEED construction vs traditional construction – Link to the Oberlin Physics Department study:
http://www.oberlin.edu/physics/Scofield/pdf_files/Scofield%20IEPEC%20paper..pdf.
It was difficult to follow or understand your other comments about energy star/BOC/government/pillaged/mass consumption/quick profit/whatever – they didn’t seem to be in any way germane to the subject at hand.