The Hotline Newsletter

Summer 2009

From the President:

Reduce Carbon Emissions – You don’t have to plant 12 million trees

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has declared global warming a danger to public health which ensures widespread regulation of carbon emissions in the United States. A proposed bill in Congress seeks to lower carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to 20% below 2005 levels by 2020.

Planting over 12 million trees each year or taking 800,000 cars off the road will each reduce carbon emissions by an estimated 3.6 million metric tons per year. Here is another idea. Let’s set a goal to reduce the energy used to heat all the warehouses in the United States by 35%. The reduction in CO2 emissions will be the same. That’s because saving energy also means a corresponding reduction in carbon dioxide. Data from the Department of Energy (DOE) estimates warehouses account for 8% of the total energy consumption for all commercial buildings and gas fired warehouse heating consumes about half the onsite energy. This totals 200 trillion Btu per year. A 35% reduction of the energy used to heat existing warehouses will save 700 million therms and reduce carbon emissions by 3.6 million metric tons.

High temperature rise, Blow-Thru technology is recognized as the most energy efficient way to heat warehouses. This fact has been documented by both building studies and now computer energy modeling. That being said, it only follows that this technology can also help reduce the carbon footprint for these buildings. At $1.00 per therm, a 35% energy savings will reduce national warehouse operating costs by $700 million dollars per year. Federal tax benefits and utility rebates may also be available for installing a more energy efficient heating system. That means reducing the carbon footprint for warehouses and helping to stop global warming will end up saving money for warehouse owners and tenants. Sounds like a “win-win” idea to me!