Super-insulation and green energy could resolve this problem, but the US government is not going in that direction...
Super-insulation and green energy could resolve this problem, but the US government is not going in that direction as of now.
#EnvironmentalPolitics
https://agreenerlifeagreenerworld.net/2018/08/08/heat-waves-and-air-conditioning-will-negatively-affect-human-health-and-the-climate-crisis/
#EnvironmentalPolitics
https://agreenerlifeagreenerworld.net/2018/08/08/heat-waves-and-air-conditioning-will-negatively-affect-human-health-and-the-climate-crisis/
Too much of the housing stock in the USA is ancient and can't be super-insulated at a cost that makes sense. And there have been missteps in insulation in the past that created and then destroyed an industry of retrofitting when it turned out the materials used broke down over time and degassed formaldehyde fumes into homes. People don't forget that who lived thru it.
ReplyDeleteI'm sitting in a 110 year old building, in a place where 70% of the housing stock was built 80 to 120 years ago. Those who live here can't afford retrofit. Nor can one simply sell and move somewhere else and let them build new stock as the market doesn't work that way, all they will build is luxury housing outside the reach of anyone that lives here now.
Unless the government makes it a zero cost to retrofit or rebuild its not going to happen and that won't happen with any Republicans in the system as they are the ones that profit from the luxury housing.
EdwardSlawson MichaelSlawson they did here... problem is the buildings were built before there was air conditioning or sealants possible.
ReplyDeleteMy folks house (about 20 miles from here) was built in 1890.
Insulation when they moved in (1965) consisted of newspaper and horsehair believe it or not. Made it a big fixer upper for them for the first decade that they lived there. (And that was a rather 'posh' house for the area they are in when it was built, it had been the home of the Fire Chief for the city before they bought it).
I'm in a triple decker. a New England common design once upon a time for tenements. Built by ship builders during the off season with original joists that used as few nails as possible to keep costs down. Problem is wood warps over a century in a place that gets 85% humidity in the summer and stands next to what was once a salt marsh for a previous tidal river that was used as a gravity feed power supply aid for a mill printing plant on the river back in the 1920s.
The marsh was filled in after they damned the river, the mill long gone and the land it was on by the river now a public park area.
New England gets huge temperature and humidity swings. We can get as cold as -30F in the winter and as hot as 110F in the summer, we get droughts some years and as many as 6 blizzards in 6 weeks in others dropping a foot of snow each time (and one year in the past decade where we had snow pack on the ground until mid June).
Old buildings are very expensive to retrofit.
EdwardSlawson MichaelSlawson & Joseph Teller Thanks for an informative dialog! It appears my opening statement was overly optimistic. Lucky for me, my house is only about 60 years old and I was able to have it packed with additional insulation a couple of years ago. Though the house still leaks air here and there, it sure makes a difference!
ReplyDeleteEdwardSlawson MichaelSlawson Civility is rare these days, I agree.
ReplyDeleteAs you may already know, those of us who create Google+ Collections and Communities cannot alter or edit posts, but we can delete them if they are personal attacks, off topic, etc.
The Collection of which this post is a part is not bashful, but I aspire to maintain a civil tongue myself and to keep its comment fields respectful.
If you're curious how I distract myself from the political heat of the day, I hope you'll investigate my other Collections. As far as I can see, there's nothing controversial about them.
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