{"id":151,"date":"2014-05-21T11:59:26","date_gmt":"2014-05-21T15:59:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?p=151"},"modified":"2014-05-21T12:00:12","modified_gmt":"2014-05-21T16:00:12","slug":"151","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?p=151","title":{"rendered":"Some Thoughts on Climate Change"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The climate related news lately has been pretty bleak.\u00a0 The news includes:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Separate studies by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.jpl.nasa.gov\/news\/news.php?release=2014-148\">NASA<\/a> and the <a href=\"mailto:http:\/\/www.washington.edu\/news\/2014\/05\/12\/west-antarctic-ice-sheet-collapse-is-under-way\/\">University of Washington<\/a> both find that the Western Antarctic ice sheet is collapsing into the sea.\u00a0 At this point the melting is unstoppable and could raise global sea levels by 4 feet.\u00a0 To put this into perspective, the average elevation of Miami is 6 feet above sea level.<\/li>\n<li>The Carbon Tracker Initiative has <a href=\"http:\/\/www.carbontracker.org\/wastedcapital\">estimated<\/a> that 60% to 80% of our coal, oil, and gas reserves are \u201cunburnable\u201d if we are to limit global warming to a somewhat manageable 2\u00b0C.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.esrl.noaa.gov\/gmd\/ccgg\/trends\/weekly.html\">According to NOAA<\/a>, CO2 levels measured at Mauna Loa, Hawaii have risen by 24% in just the past 56 years.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Which naturally had me asking what I can do as a citizen and as a lighting professional.\u00a0 My initial thought was, \u201cNot nearly enough to make a difference.\u201d\u00a0 But, once I recovered my balance I realized that things aren\u2019t as gloomy as they seem.\u00a0 Yes, we still have a long way to go in order to maintain a livable planet.\u00a0 This includes that fact that some industries are going to fade away, be legislated away, or be forced to adapt to new circumstances.\u00a0 The economic impact of that doesn&#8217;t worry me too much for several reasons.\u00a0 First, the IPCC finds that the sooner we act the easier the transition will be, and that the cost of addressing climate change would result in an <a href=\"#sthash.YeYEWwGS.dpuf\">average annual reduction in economic growth<\/a> of a mere 0.06% for the rest of this century.\u00a0 Second, those industries that become obsolete will be replaced by new industries.\u00a0 Imagine the jobs that would be created if every flat roof in every city were to be outfitted with solar panels.<\/p>\n<p>We also need the Republican Party to join the real world.\u00a0 When 97% of the world\u2019s climate scientists in industry, government, and research institutions agree that climate change is happening and that the cause is man-made only a fool would join with the remaining three percent.\u00a0 When someone like <a href=\"http:\/\/www.latimes.com\/nation\/politics\/politicsnow\/la-pn-rubio-denies-climate-change-20140511-story.html\">Marco Rubio<\/a> says that he\u2019s not convinced, he doesn\u2019t mean that he\u2019s reviewed the research history and, because of his deep expertise in this field, finds the conclusions lacking.\u00a0 He means that some of his biggest donors are companies and individuals who rely on fossil fuels for their wealth and that rather than adapt they are going to deny.\u00a0 Fortunately, although only 25% of Tea Party Republicans believe that there is evidence for climate change, 84% of Democrats and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.people-press.org\/2013\/11\/01\/gop-deeply-divided-over-climate-change\/\">67% of all American adults<\/a> do believe the scientists.<\/p>\n<p>On the positive side, our profession has accomplished quite a bit. For example, the maximum lighting power density (LPD) allowed under ASHRAE 90.1for an open office was 1.9 w\/sf in 1986, 1.3 w\/sf in 1999, and .98 w\/sf in 2010. \u00a0And, our clients are asking for more.\u00a0 Here are the number of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.greentechmedia.com\/articles\/read\/leeds-stunning-growth-and-whats-behind-it\">LEED certified buildings<\/a> 2000 \u2013 2012.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_152\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-152\" style=\"width: 582px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/LEED-certified-over-time.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-152 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/LEED-certified-over-time.jpg\" alt=\"Source:  U.S. Green Building Council\" width=\"582\" height=\"285\" srcset=\"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/LEED-certified-over-time.jpg 582w, https:\/\/designinglight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/LEED-certified-over-time-300x146.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 582px) 100vw, 582px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-152\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: U.S. Green Building Council<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>That last number is 4,605 projects in 2012, when <a href=\"http:\/\/www.usgbc.org\/articles\/green-building-facts\">41% of all nonresidential buildings starts<\/a> were green, as compared to 2% of all nonresidential building starts in 2005.\u00a0 Better than that, <a href=\"http:\/\/living-future.org\/lbc\">Net Zero<\/a> buildings are a reality, and as the design and construction industries adapt we\u2019re going to see more of them. Other organizations are working on this, too.\u00a0 For example, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.architecture20320.org\">Architecture2030.org<\/a> already has commitments from a number of U.S. cities and property owners representing about 100,000,000 square feet of real estate to dramatically reduce fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.<\/p>\n<p>So designers and builders have begun, and we\u2019re moving with increasing speed toward reducing the effect of the built environment on climate change.\u00a0 But there\u2019s more to do, including convincing those who oppose action that a planned transition is achievable, affordable, sustainable, and in the best interest of the entire planet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The climate related news lately has been pretty bleak.\u00a0 The news includes: Separate studies by NASA and the University of Washington both find that the Western Antarctic ice sheet is collapsing into the sea.\u00a0 At this point the melting is unstoppable and could raise global sea levels by 4 feet.\u00a0 To put this into perspective, &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?p=151\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Some Thoughts on Climate Change<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[46,44,47],"class_list":["post-151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sustainability","tag-ashrae-90-1","tag-climate-change","tag-energy-efficiency"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s4gZSw-151","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":172,"url":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?p=172","url_meta":{"origin":151,"position":0},"title":"First, The Bad Climate News","author":"Jason Livingston","date":"June 24, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"There\u2019s more climate change news this week, some of it good and which I\u2019ll get to in a few days.\u00a0 First, though, the bad news.\u00a0 According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) May 2014 was the hottest May ever recorded, and we have records dating back as far\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Lighting Profession&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Lighting Profession","link":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?cat=19"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/designinglight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/201405temps.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/designinglight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/201405temps.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/designinglight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/201405temps.gif?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/designinglight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/201405temps.gif?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":220,"url":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?p=220","url_meta":{"origin":151,"position":1},"title":"People&#8217;s Climate March","author":"Jason Livingston","date":"September 21, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Today is the People\u2019s Climate March here in New York City. Sponsored by peoplesclimate.org, the march here is joined by events in other major cities around the world, including London, Berlin, Bogota, Istanbul, Paris, Rio, Delhi, Melbourne, Johannesburg, Lagos, and Amsterdam. The marches and other events are intended to put\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sustainability&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Sustainability","link":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?cat=4"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/designinglight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/201408.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/designinglight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/201408.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/designinglight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/201408.gif?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/designinglight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/201408.gif?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":138,"url":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?p=138","url_meta":{"origin":151,"position":2},"title":"ALEC On The Wrong Side Of History","author":"Jason Livingston","date":"April 29, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), with funding from fossil fuel producers and the utility industry, has turned its attention to renewable energy, and not in a good way. Their latest push is to levy a surcharge on homeowners who install solar panels and then feed electricity back into the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sustainability&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Sustainability","link":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?cat=4"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":494,"url":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?p=494","url_meta":{"origin":151,"position":3},"title":"Global sea levels have risen 8cm since 1992, Nasa research shows","author":"Jason Livingston","date":"August 27, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Scientists say warming waters and melting ice were to blame for levels rising faster than 50 years ago and \u2018it\u2019s very likely to get worse\u2019 Source: Global sea levels have risen 8cm since 1992, Nasa research shows","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sustainability&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Sustainability","link":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?cat=4"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":176,"url":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?p=176","url_meta":{"origin":151,"position":4},"title":"Now, the Good Climate News","author":"Jason Livingston","date":"June 26, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Ok, the headline is slightly misleading. There\u2019s no good news about the fact of climate change, but there is some good news about the politics and the technology for mitigating it. First, the politics where there are several encouraging developments. First, as I\u2019ve previously mentioned, Michael Bloomberg, Henry Paulson, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sustainability&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Sustainability","link":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?cat=4"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":276,"url":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?p=276","url_meta":{"origin":151,"position":5},"title":"2014 Hottest Year On Record","author":"Jason Livingston","date":"January 17, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"By now you have, no doubt, seen the headline that 2014 is the warmest year since reliable record keeping began in 1880. This was jointly announced by two US agencies \u2013 NASA and NOAA \u2013 and corresponds with an announcement by a similar agency in Japan. I\u2019m not going to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sustainability&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Sustainability","link":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?cat=4"},"img":{"alt_text":"34_9_c365-2-l.jpg","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/designinglight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/34_9_c365-2-l.jpg-1024x812.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/designinglight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/34_9_c365-2-l.jpg-1024x812.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/designinglight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/34_9_c365-2-l.jpg-1024x812.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=151"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":154,"href":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151\/revisions\/154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}