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Referred to by one website as “an industry thought leader,” Carl Seville is known for making some important (though perhaps controversial) remarks. In a recent blog, Seville suggested that advertising for green products should be banned.
“These products — solar modules, geothermal equipment, spray foam insulation, high-performance windows, bamboo floors — can all be effective parts of a green building,” wrote Seville, “but none of them will add much to the project if not integrated properly. Maybe it’s time to ban advertising for green building products — they did it with cigarettes, didn’t they?”
Carl Seville, a former contractor, makes his living through speaking engagements, writing articles and by performing certification inspections for green building organizations, such as the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program.
And now, a recent article that he wrote for Fox News states that “fancy solar panels decorating your roof” do less to conserve energy than other green building strategies. To be sure, Seville is correct that “process over products” makes the difference in a home’s performance. And many of Seville’s suggestions are good ones, such as unplugging electronic devices and turning off lights.
Just Build another House?
Unfortunately, Seville’s primary suggestion is not one that many Americans can follow. He suggests building a smaller house. Small homes are easier to make energy-efficient, he argues, and by constructing a new home, people can easily orient the house toward the sun to cut energy costs.
The argument that new construction is greener than green home improvements to an existing home is hard to fathom. New home construction not only entails a substantial amount of energy expenditure, but adversely affects the environment.
According to the EPA, “building-related construction and demolition debris totals approximately 160 million tons per year, accounting for nearly 26 percent of total non-industrial waste generation in the U.S.”
Seville: Forget Those “Fancy Solar Panels”
Seville’s main argument that homeowners can save more money by unplugging electronics, opening windows and adding insulation than they would with “fancy solar panels” is insupportable, which may explain why he doesn’t attempt to back up any of his claims with data.
Residential solar photovoltaic (PV) systems typically reduce conventional energy usage by about 45 percent or more. After installation costs are recovered through monthly savings on energy bills, home solar systems provide years of free, green electricity.
Seville does not address the environmental benefits of solar energy. He seems unconcerned about the negative consequences of continuing the nation’s reliance on gas-emitting fossil fuels, a strange stance for an advocate of green building to assume.
In interview after interview with solar system owners, they point out how going solar has made them more aware of other energy-saving strategies. Solar panel owners often revel in home improvements that make their system run even more efficiently. It spurs them on, fueling their interest to make their homes even greener than they already are.
These homeowners have learned something critical: that when combined with common-sense energy-saving home improvements, a residential solar power system not only saves homeowners the most money, but helps conserve the planet’s precious resources as well.
What Do You Think?
Start the conversation in the comments below.
Photos via EUObserver and Elephant Journal
Posted
on January 18th in Solar News by Feyth.
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