Page 43 - The Celestia Project
P. 43
THE CELESTIA MUSEUM 41
Close Call.
Outlawed by
most nations in
2025, window
air conditioners
proliferated
globally for the
10 years prior
to the ban, and
did tremendous
atmospheric
damage.
ILLUSTRATION BY KIP AYERS
AN EPIDEMIC OF POLLUTION www.greenbuildermedia.com 08.2014
According to The New York Times, “Leading scientists in the field have Wrist-Mounted Sensors. Why cool a whole room when a wrist-
just calculated that if all the equipment entering the world market mounted device can make you feel cool?
uses the newest gases currently employed in air conditioners, up to
27 percent of all global warming will be attributable to those gases Retractable Awnings. Low tech and a ordable, retractable awnings
by 2050.” protect windows from sun when and where you need them.
We need to transition to other methods of cooling our homes and our Mini-Split Heat Pumps. In the greenest homes being built today,
bodies. Here are a few current and prototype alternatives: ductless mini-split systems are taking the place of ine cient window units.
Quiet Whole-House Fans. These air-moving units are quieter and more This report (http://tinyurl.com/pau2lwz) suggests how to improve
e cient than their predecessors. air conditioner e ciency (a modest 10 percent), but ignores damaging
impacts of the proliferation of these devices.
Geothermal Systems. Although a bit pricier to install upfront, the
lifelong costs of these systems are far more reasonable than multiple This article addresses some of the environmental impacts of air
window air conditioning units, and do less harm to the atmosphere. conditioning and small-scale solutions: http://tinyurl.com/omk5xkf
(Environmental Impact of Air Conditioners).
But unless the technological change happens in tandem with conservation, but, even in this benign example, there is likely to
behavior change, we won’t live to reap the bene ts of the “ecotopia” be a rebound. People with well-insulated homes and lower heating
proposed by The Celestia Project. bills are likely to keep their houses a little warmer. Cheaper and
more e cient insulation allows us to build bigger houses with
Caveat: Cheaper Energy Is Only Step One cheaper materials. A more efficient furnace would appear to
conserve energy, but here again, e ciency improvements tend to
The cover of Steve Hallet’s book, The E ciency Trap, shows a planet make it more cost e cient to build bigger homes.
made of glass that is less than half full of liquid. It’s an apt metaphor
for his bleak perspective on our chances of surviving Earth’s tipping “What e ciency conserves with one hand,” he continues, “it
point. Hallett’s thesis is simple: Whenever human beings discover consumes with both hands.”
new ways to create energy more e ciently, they inevitably ratchet-
up consumption to take advantage of the new bounty, resulting in If Hallett is right about the human tendency to take advantage
the use of even more resources. This process, he says, happens in of e ciency gains by using them elsewhere, how do we break
every sector of the economy, including homebuilding. the cycle? By linking gains in e ciency to changes in behavior.
By rewarding real conservation and penalizing overconsumption.
“In heating your home, you may invest in insulation to reduce With carrots and sticks. And taking a hard look at technologies
heat losses in the winter, a seemingly obvious example of energy
continued on page 42
