The Great Development of Construction – by Bill Gates
Buildings are bad for the climate. (part two)
Here we explain what we can do
Heating is another issue. Some heaters run on electricity and others run on fossil fuels such as oil and natural gas. The best solution – from a climate point of view – is to electrify as many of these devices as possible (again, creating the same high conditions in the situation where the electricity grid is used) and the rest from carbon-free fuels such as hydrogen fuels or We provide advanced biofuels. Currently, though, these options cost two to three times more than conventional fuels, so we will need a lot of innovation to make them affordable.
I am aware of some promising technologies that can help buildings use healthy energy. I’m fascinated by windows that use so-called smart glass, which automatically darkens when the room needs to be cooler and brightens when it needs to be warmer. And BEV has invested in a company called 75F, which uses wireless sensors to measure temperature, humidity, darkness and other factors, and then uses that information to adjust heaters, coolers and lights. They found that this system can reduce the building’s energy consumption by 50%.
Reducing greenhouse gas production is not the only problem to be solved through technology. Government and corporate policies can also help.
Governments have already promoted energy efficiency by setting high standards for buildings. We know a lot about how to make buildings greener, and the right policies will encourage more people to do so. Governments have also helped in the marketing of heaters and A/C units by issuing certification through programs such as the energy star rating that you must have seen on various products.
But what if the labels didn’t just show how much energy the item contained, they also showed how much the item was responsible for emitting greenhouse gases? Our intention is to show the application of this idea to calculate the carbon emissions of construction, which tells you how much carbon was used to produce steel, cement and other materials made by companies that volunteer to release the information. This data will be even more important in the coming years. Currently, 80 to 90 percent of greenhouse gas emissions come from building use over its lifetime, but as we use cleaner sources of electricity and make buildings more efficient, greenhouse gas emissions It shows a greater share of construction materials.
Another step that will help is for companies and governments to commit to purchasing low-carbon materials for use in their building projects. For example, California has a new clean buying policy, and Microsoft plans to reduce its carbon footprint by 15 to 30 percent by renovating part of its headquarters in Redmond.
Finally, we can strengthen our building guidelines to ensure that buildings are not only energy efficient but also made from low carbon materials. Unfortunately, some laws actually make it difficult to use these materials. (Translated by Bijan Amin Farshchian)
Join the supporters of saving energy.
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