My dad clipped a really interesting newspaper article for me this week that highlights the greening of the Empire State Building. Besides the fact that I love to write about examples of energy efficiency and reduced carbon footprints, this article also gives me a chance to gloat about a bit of Boles family history that I am quite proud of.

As a young man my grandfather Howard Boles was a mechanical engineer for the Otis Elevator Company. In the late 1920s and early 1930s Howard was stationed in New York so that he could contribute to the design and oversee the construction of the Empire State Building’s elevators. No wonder New York has always held a soft spot in my heart, and is the place that my seven year-old daughter wants to visit more than any other.

So I was very impressed when I read the article about the actions the Empire State Building is taking to reduce its carbon footprint and in the process save a lot of money! The building’s greening program officially starts this month and features 8 key measures that are expected to reduce energy use by 38% within 5 years and save more than $4 million (US) per year! About half of those savings are going to be realized within the first 18 months of the project. Here is a list of the 8 actions that are going to be undertaken at the Empire State Building:

• Window retrofits
• Radiator retrofits
• Lighting upgrades
• Air conditioning upgrades
• Chiller plant retrofit
• Building control system upgrade
• Ventilation control upgrade
• Energy management system for each tenant

Most buildings are not going to realize annual savings of $4 million, but then again most buildings don’t have over 20,000 people that work there each day like the Empire State Building does. But even an office complex with only 200 employees can save tens of thousands of dollars a year by taking similar actions as the Empire State. And on top of the annual energy savings that will be realized, there are dozens of incentive and rebate programs from utilities and different levels of government that will cover a portion of the cost to do the work. A word of warning that was passed along by one of my readers when I discussed rebates in a previous post - always make sure to get energy audits done before and after the work is done to make sure you qualify for the incentives.

I’m feeling a bit guilty because it is an hour past the end of Earth Day here in the Eastern Time Zone and I haven’t posted anything yet. Better late than never I suppose.

I came across a great publication that has been produced by a Pennsylvania company called Green and Save. It is called the Family Guide to Going Green and Green and Save is offering it as a free PDF download. This guide does a great job of presenting loads of information on how to green your household in a format that is easy to read and understand and talk about with the little ones in the house. Even if there are no kids in your home it is still jam-packed with good information. I was especially impressed with the several pages dedicated to the costs and benefits of dozens of common (and some not so common) greening initiatives that homeowners can do. They provide the upfront costs of each action, the annual savings that can be expected, the 20-year savings, and the percent return on investment. These kinds of statistics are incredibly valuable for homeowners as they plan on greening their homes and need to decide which actions are going to have the biggest bang for the buck.

To my Canadian readers - the publication is written for Americans but I still think you will find that most of it is incredibly useful for your homes as well.

Happy reading, happy greening, and happy belated Earth Day!

Globe image provided courtesy of a Creative Commons license by ONT_Design

NOTE: This is an update of a post that I wrote for the blog Red Green and Blue on March 14, 2009.

You may have noticed that the subject of global warming and climate change have been undergoing some paradigm shifts recently.

The first component of this shift has been the transition from the phrase ‘global warming’ to ‘climate change’. As Secretary of State Clinton recently pointed out it has become increasingly difficult to preach about the dangers of global warming during a decade that has featured a significant reduction in the temperature increases that occurred in the 1990s.

The second aspect of this paradigm shift is the noticeable increase in skepticism amongst the general public about the causes and impacts of climate change. Until recently that opinion has remained the domain of primarily right-wing media types - Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, and Czech Republic President Vaclav Klaus to name a few. But there is a growing body of evidence that suggests a majority of Americans and Britons are now questioning the causes of climate climate.

A recent poll conducted by the Pew Research Center ranked global warming as the least important issue amongst 20 political priorities that were included in the poll. And a January survey by Rasmussen Reports indicates that a greater number of Americans (44%) believe that long-term planetary trends are the cause of climate change than the number of Americans (41%) that believe human activity is the culprit. Less than a year ago the reverse was true – 47% of Americans blamed climate change on human actions while 34% believed it due to a long-term cyclical effect. And its not just in the US either – polls in the UK have shown similar doubt amongst a majority of Britons about climate change causes.

So how do those of us that are trying to promote reduced-carbon lifestyles and greener businesses deal with the public’s changing attitudes towards climate change?

I think the most effective communicators are the ones that are able to tailor their message to what the audience wants to hear. I honestly believe that a growing number of individuals and businesses are interested in making more sustainable choices. However, I think their reasons for doing so are not entirely based on fears of climate change, as they might have been just a year or two ago.

Unfortunately during the beginning of a potentially long and painful recession the environmental movement might lose some of the steam that it had picked up over the last five years. This just means the message has to be changed, even if the end goals are still the same. A renewed focus has to be made on energy security and reduced energy costs – the sky-high prices for gasoline, natural gas and heating oil from last year are still fresh in people’s minds. If green practices are promoted as a way for individuals and businesses to save money and reduce dependence on volatile fossil fuel markets, the momentum of the green movement should continue to grow.

For those of us that have been writing about the cause and effect of climate change, this change in communication strategy should not be considered to be giving up. It is simply adapting to the current social and economic realities. Even the Rush Limbaughs of the world will have a difficult time arguing against increased profits and reduced dependence on foreign oil.

So the take-home message to my fellow citizens that are concerned about climate change: stop focusing on the polar bears. Start talking about saving money – and don’t forget to remind people that we are trying to avoid paying $4.50/gallon for gas like we did just last summer.

A few days ago my office thermostat decided to call it quits. Besides the inconvenience of having to replace it, at least it provided me with something to write about in this edition of ‘The Buzz’. And I suppose I should be relieved that it decided to die during the fall. At least I have a few weeks before I’ll be using it full time. In the middle of winter I would have to make a frantic visit to the local hardware store before my office pipes froze.

Only a couple of days after the thermostat quit I received my natural gas bill. To my delight inside was a rebate coupon from my utility for $15 on the purchase of a programmable thermostat. This is just one example of the hundreds of rebates that are available to homeowners and businesses for new energy-efficient products and/or upgrades. These rebates can be up to several hundred dollars for some larger products like heating/cooling systems, appliances, and even automobiles.

If you are in the market for an energy-efficient product make sure you check out the websites of your local utility and government - it could save you money! Here are a few sites to get you started:

Environment Canada incentives and rebates database

DSIRE (Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Energy)

Energy Star Rebate Locator

Recently I was in talking to my lawyer about the Kuzuka website and she made a comment that shocked me. She said that she wanted to hang a clothesline to cut down on some of her home energy use and take a step towards reducing her carbon footprint. She decided not to get a clothesline because the city of London (Ontario) had an antiquated by-law that bans the use of clotheslines!

I was so appalled by this news that I did a quick internet search when I got home about clotheslines bans. It turns out London is not alone - communities and home owner associations across Canada and the USA have similar policies in effect. Included in this list are large governments like the city of Vancouver and the province of Nova Scotia. There is even a website dedicated to these unnecessary laws: http://www.laundrylist.org/.

The frustrating thing about these clothesline bans is that they are not at all based on anything scientific or energy-related. These bans were put into place to preserve the aesthetics of residential areas - basically clotheslines were thought to be ugly. I think public opinion has shifted on this issue, and having a clothesline is now considered a ‘thumbs-up’ in many people’s eyes.

In response to the changing perceptions of clotheslines, the province of Ontario and the city of Southampton NY recently passed laws that outlaw any existing clothesline bans - kudos to them for their action on this issue. If your government still has clothesline bans in effect, contact your local representative and let them know what you think about it.

Meanwhile, I’ll send my lawyer an email to let her know that its OK to go get that clothesline after all.

Photo courtesy of Kevin P on morguefile.com.