Multi-year drought, distressed forests, and intense wildfires bring awareness of the local impacts of climate change. Efforts to address climate change have long focused on cutting greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions and more recently on sequestering carbon. But because the impacts of climate change are now upon us, we need to add to our efforts resilience planning. What is the focus of these efforts related to our buildings?
In reviewing many “green building” programs, the most common characteristics are energy efficiency, water conservation, and selecting materials that are sustainable and used in a resource-efficient way.
Because energy use is strongly linked to GHG emissions, reducing energy consumption in homes tends to decrease damage caused by burning fossil fuels. There are many ways to reduce energy use in homes: install more efficient appliances, select higher-performance windows, and/or add thicker insulation.