Page 6 - Green Builder April 2017 Issue

Green Building NEWS

The latest on sustainability and renewable energy

World’s Coal Industry Misfires in 2016

New survey says the shift toward clean energy may now be inevitable.

LOBAL COAL PRODUCTION took a nosedive in 2016, Myllyvirta, senior global
largely due to changing environmental policies in campaigner on Coal and Air
two of the world’s most-polluted nations. According Pollution at Greenpeace.
to “Boom or Bust 2017: Tracking the Global Coal Plant The survey indicates that
GPipeline,” a survey by the Sierra Club, Greenpeace and despite promises by Presi-
CoalSwarm, construction of new coal plants dropped 62 percent and dent Donald Trump that he
pre-construction efforts declined 48 percent worldwide. Coal plant will revive the American
permit issuance fell by 85 percent in China and 53 percent in India coal industry, the move away
compared to 2015. from that form of energy
The two nations also froze more than 100 coal projects in 2016, may be unstoppable, accord-
and there is no sign that work will resume anytime soon, according ing to Nace.
to the survey. The two nations accounted for 86 percent of all coal- “Markets are demanding
generated energy from 2006 to 2016. clean energy,” says Nicole
“This has been a messy year, and an unusual one,” says Ted Nace, Ghio, senior campaigner for LHOON/FLICKR
director of CoalSwarm. “It’s not normal to see construction frozen at the Sierra Club’s Internation-
scores of locations, but central authorities in China and bankers in al Climate and Energy Cam- Dark days ahead? The number of
India have come to recognize overbuilding of coal plants is a major paign. “No amount of rheto- operational coal plants worldwide
waste of resources.” ric from [President] Trump dropped dramatically in 2016, led
There was also a record-breaking number of coal plant retirements— will be able to stop the fall by Asia, where shifting
120 —in 2015 and 2016, the survey notes. Most of these were in the of coal in the U.S. and across environmental policies have all but
stopped development of new sites
European Union and the U.S. Belgium and Ontario, Canada became the globe.” in China and India.
coal-free, and three Group of Eight (G8) industrialized nations
announced deadlines for coal plant phase-outs, according to Lauri “Boom and Bust: 2017,” http://bit.ly/2pljZKz

Study: ICF Walls Can Outperform Stick Frames

Although it’s not a third-party analysis,

the report is worth a look.

NSULATING CONCRETE FORM (ICF) walls provide up to 60 percent
better thermal mass, air tightness and continuous insulation KEN BAXTER/FEMA PHOTO LIBRARY
than traditional wood frame cavity walls, according to a study
Icommissioned by the Insulating Concrete Forms Manufacturers
Association (ICFMA).
According to the study, a 2,000-square-foot home’s electric bill Hot topic. An inaugural study shows Insulating Concrete Form
would drop by $140 to $190 per month when an ICF wall is used in walls outperforming the traditional wood frame cavity variety by a
place of a typical wood frame wall. The findings assume the home wide margin.
is experiencing “the most extreme cold conditions.” recognized testing facility has made a “realistic side-by-side
The results offer the first definitive proof of ICF walls’ quantifiable comparison” of the two types of wall assemblies, the association notes.
benefits in terms of overall energy-savings and achieved R-Values/
RSI, according to ICFMA. The study, conducted by CLEB Laboratories, “Thermal Performance of an Insulated Concrete Forms Wall System,”
also marks the first time an SCC- and ISO-accredited, internationally http://bit.ly/2oRf73G

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