August 2019 |
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Building Climate Emergency As his mentee, I agree with
this article as a harbinger of some of the major changes we will see.
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Our younger contributing editor, President of SES Consulting, provided this article for our July issue talking of a seismic shift. As his mentee, I agree with this article as a harbinger of some of the major changes we will see with our Recalibrate for 2020 Vision.
Buildings in the Age of the Climate Emergency Brad White, SES Consulting Inc. Editor
Decarbonization, Electrification, and
Resilience is quickly becoming a common part of our lexicon as cities
across North America and around the world start to take aggressive and
urgent action to curb emissions from buildings.
There has been a slew of
recent legislation from municipal governments targeting commercial
buildings, both new and existing, with aggressive greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions targets. Here in Vancouver, it all started with the
declaration of a “Climate Emergency” by our city council, joining over
400 other cities around the world. In response to this declaration,
city staff developed a response plan consisting of six big moves.
In a city that relies
primarily on burning natural gas for space heating and hot water, “Big
Move” number 4 represents a seismic shift. While the details are still
being sorted out, they will largely be modelled on the recently passed
New York City Climate Mobilization Act that requires a 40% reduction in
emissions from buildings over 25,000 sq ft by 2030, and an 80%
reduction by 2040. In NYC’s case, penalties for missing these targets
will be $268/ton. At that price, adopting low carbon technologies for
heat and hot water starts to become the cheaper option. With the onset
of these regulations only a few years away, building owners are already
starting to include steps toward aggressive emissions reductions in
their capital plans.
Although the Vancouver declaration of a “Climate Emergency” is a victory it comes after a major Canadian national failure that results in selling of carbon to the world.
Declarations of Climate Emergency are a start —
these declarations can unify the shared commitment of the movement,
clarify the truth of the situation, and put lawmakers on record. But
they are not enough — only a sustained global movement focused on
winning power, launching a mobilization, and bringing the fossil fuel
industry to heel will give us a chance at survival.
It
has become clear that our countries' governments do not want to
deal with the unpopular reality of a Climate Emergency. Our cities that
are closely connected to the young people are prepared to ignore the
manipulation of our governments by the fossil fuel industry.
Worldwide governments and the UN seems incapable of acting on the
concept of a climate emergency, but the reasoning of a 15-year-old
coupled with the power of the incoming generation Z plus some 400 major
cities got the message and have acted on it.
Gen Z Republicans are ready to force America to address climate change as a reality instead of a myth
Gen Z
is leading the movement to address climate change, as young people on
the right and left demand the government take action. Only
18% of Gen Zers who identify as Republicans said they believe the Earth
is warming because of natural patterns in a Pew survey, compared to 30%
of millennial, 36% of Gen Z, and 42% of baby-boomer Republicans. "We
see younger generations being more concerned, and part of it is a
realization that they're going to have to inherit a lot of the
decisions," Melissa Deckman, a political science professor at
Washington College, told Business Insider.
Millennials and Gen Z are finally gaining ground in the climate battle — here are the signs they're winning
In the
last eight months, global agreement about the need to address climate
change has skyrocketed, according to environmental activist and author
Bill McKibben. Much of the push to do something about the climate problem has been spearheaded by young people. Worldwide climate strikes and the Green New Deal are just two pieces of evidence that these efforts are having an effect.
'We Are in a Climate Emergency, America': Anchorage Hits 90 Degrees for First Time in Recorded History
"This is unprecedented. I tease people that Anchorage is the coolest
city in the country—and climatically that is true—but right now we are
seeing record heat," said Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz "We are in a
climate emergency, America," wrote meteorologist Eric Holthaus in
response to the news.
Action to date
What is a Green New Deal? A
Green New Deal is a big, bold transformation of the economy to tackle
the twin crises of inequality and climate change. It would mobilize
vast public resources to help us transition from an economy built on
exploitation and fossil fuels to one driven by dignified work and clean
energy.
New York City Passes Sweeping Climate Legislation ALEXANDER C. KAUFMAN APR 18, 2019
“We are on the
precipice of climate disaster, and New York City is acting,” Corey
Johnson, the council speaker, said in a statement. “I hope other cities
follow suit.”
The effort
demonstrates one of the clearest examples yet of what a municipal
version of the Green New Deal, the national movement for a
multi-trillion-dollar climate-friendly industrial plan, might look
like. The legislation is forecast to spur thousands of blue-collar jobs
and make it easier for the city to take advantage of future state and
federal funding for clean-energy projects and climate change-ready
infrastructure.
Climate Emergency https://www.theclimatemobilization.org/
We’re working to compel governments in the US and throughout the world
to declare Climate Emergency, adopting an emergency response to climate
change and the broader ecological crisis.
Climate Emergency Campaign
We demand governments adopt an emergency response to climate change and
the broader ecological crisis. Declaring Climate Emergency is the
critical first step to launching the comprehensive mobilization
solution required to rescue and rebuild civilization. We are working to
compel governments in the United States and throughout the world to
declare Climate Emergency.
Why Focus on local governments?
Cities and local governments have historically been the spark for
progress, from minimum wage to civil rights. Local wins inspire other
communities to follow and build a mandate for much-needed national
mobilizations. For example, the Climate and Environment Emergency
Declaration in the United Kingdom started in cities and local councils.
RIBA declares climate emergency saying it is architecture's "biggest challenge"
The Royal Institute of British Architects has declared a state of
climate emergency, committing to a five-year plan of action for climate
change. The
decision to formally acknowledge the role that architects have in
causing climate change and alleviating it was made at a council meeting
of the RIBA. "The climate emergency is the biggest challenge facing our planet and our profession," said RIBA president Ben Derbyshire. "But
to have a significant impact we need to do more than make symbolic
statements – we need to turn warm words into impactful actions." Architects must "transform" their practice
Amazing how we are all connected globally how if you care about climate justice and the living planet. We can go forth in the world to create global change,
Using the problem as the solution, I love my friend Art's twist on the climate emergency.
Six ice rinks at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics will use CO2 as a refrigerant, according to Art Sutherland, president and CEO of Victoria, B.C.-based ice arena contractor Accent Refrigeration Systems.
Sutherland explained that five rinks that are being built will use CO2
while four existing rinks, which were using R404A, plan to employ
R449A, except for one that decided to switch to CO2.
"Once those other four ice rinks saw that [the new rinks] were going
with CO2, one them then jumped on board," said Sutherland, who gave
this update during the contractor's panel discussion on day two of
ATMOsphere America, held June 17-18 in Atlanta, Ga.
ATMOsphere America is a place where key experts, policy makers and end
users gather to learn about the very latest developments in the
industry. It is interactive workshops bringing together decision makers
from industry and government to change the future of natural
refrigerants.
R744, or carbon dioxide, is making its re-entry into the industrial
refrigeration scene. Once thought to be a wasteful chemical requiring
too much high pressure to be feasible as a coolant, environmentalists
now hail R744 as an answer to growing concerns. Concerns regarding
traditional and widely used chemical refrigerants include global
warming contributing factors, as well as ozone layer destruction
factors. Proponents of R744 technology insist that the use of R744 as a
coolant for refrigeration and other cooling systems (including heat
pumps) are the wave of the future for industry wide equipment. R744
technology has advanced in recent years.
CO2 efficiency vs.ammonia From a purely theoretical standpoint, CO2 is slightly less efficient
than ammonia, but this difference decreases as the evaporator
temperature drops. But because CO2 is a very dense gas, the size of the
equipment needed to provide the same refrigeration effect is
significantly smaller. But giving the danger of ammonia CO2 technology
is very attractive as it is environmentally benign and safe.
In Brad's article he sums it up well; This
is all going to require that our industry is at the top of its game,
with high demand for skilled practitioners capable of making these
systems work effectively. Fortunately, this sense of greater purpose,
which has often been missing in the past when discussing building
automation, should also be effective in attracting the talent that will
be needed to meet this challenge. To badly paraphrase that old Chinese
proverb - In every (climate) crises, there is an opportunity.
This advice was echoed in this 2006 article by our original Contributing Editor Tom Hartman
A sustainable
building industry will not only require new technologies, but also a
vastly improved process for designing, constructing, and operating
buildings
It’s hard to
think of North America as a backwater part of the world, but in terms
of our appreciation of climate change issues this may be an apt
description. Hardly a day goes by without a report of new research
findings regarding the perils of greenhouse gasses and the effects of
human activity on climate change, but on this continent such news seems
hardly noticed. A month ago the UK issued a devastating assessment of
the situation and the need to act quickly to avoid almost certain
disastrous consequences later in this century. More recently at the
climate change conference in Nairobi, the discussions turned to the
enormous costs that will have to be borne from global warming. And the
UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is working on a
soon to be released major report that from early descriptions will
offer similar projections of climatic and economic disaster by the end
of the century if the issue is not promptly addressed on a massive
scale. All this has been received with barely a ho-hum in our news.
So will we "Fiddle While Rome Burns?" or follow our
cities' lead while listening to our younger mentors? This is yet another
amazing opportunity to raise the importance and purpose of our building
automation industry. The decision is yours. Even if you are still
a skeptic the cartoon sums it up well, what if, "we create a better
world for nothing?"
Wow! We started OVER 50 CHAPTERS ago of OUR NEVER ENDING ONLINE BOOK started with Sensing the Change and now we are at the Chapter about a Climate Emergency, what is next?
Our next Chapter will expand our 2020 vision with our education sessions for https://ahrexpo.com/
The AHR Expo is the world’s largest HVACR event, attracting the most
comprehensive gathering of industry professionals from around the globe
each year.
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