Space is all clear
Upon reading an article on how the people of the Canary Islands feel about TMT (they don’t want it) it occurred to me that a logical location actually is space. Isn’t there an international space station?
Put the TMT up there where the atmosphere is incredibly clear.
Sarah Kay
Keaau
Point of clarification on energy costs
The recent article on the new residential energy codes is so full of misinformation, I wonder if your reporter did any research or just took the word of a few disgruntled architects and builders about the new energy code.
The subject is complicated and requires someone knowledgeable who works in the field of residential energy to really help the layperson understand what the code is all about. Since space is short I’ll counter the information from the story piece by piece:
Yes, the county missed a deadline they have known about for two years to enact their own amendments to the code. However, up to now all the counties have been under the 2006 IECC, which has many of the same wall and ceiling insulation requirements as the 2015.
True, houses built without air conditioning save money. However adding insulated stud walls serves to increase occupant comfort by significantly reducing the amount of heat that comes through the walls into the home. In addition, adding insulated walls and ceilings might mean that it is comfortable enough not to add an inefficient window air conditioning unit while single wall with no insulation would not.
Code does not require double pane windows, but does require that they be efficient in terms of limiting heat gain into the home. This is mostly with double pane windows that are pretty much industry standard these days. The tropical zone does allow for trade-offs allowing builders to use other means like shading windows to meet code.
Sealing up a house does not increase energy costs nor does it encourage mold, fungus and insects. If AC is installed, then sealing the home and adding insulation will allow for smaller more efficient systems to be installed. Without AC, sealing will again reduce heat gain and occupant comfort as well as keep out insects. Mold is a whole other topic, but just sealing a house will not cause mold in and of itself.
Ceiling fans are a great option and the code only requires that a ceiling junction box be installed to allow for a fan. Code does not require ceiling fans themselves. The 14% operable requirement means that in a typical 100-square-foot bedroom, 14 square feet must be open to the breeze. A typical 6×8 sliding window has 24 square feet of operable area. Jalousie windows also work as 90% of their area is operable, so a 5×3 window would meet code. How does any of this add up to $10,000?
Finally, why is there no mention of the annual cost of operating a home?
Even if code adds $5,000 to the cost of building the home, saving just $75 per month in energy costs by having an efficient home means you recoup that cost in five and a half years without accounting for inflation. If you are in your home for 20 years or more then everything beyond year six is money in homeowner’s pocket.
Peter Stone, HERS, LEED-Homes Green Rater
Green Building Hawaii