How is the energy we use in buildings like fruit?

Buildings in the U.S. account for more energy consumption than automobiles and airplanes combined. We can do much better. Net-zero energy buildings, which produce as much energy from renewable sources as they consume, are popping up from California to New Jersey to India Links to an external site.. With simple (often free) changes, you could reduce energy consumption in the buildings where you live, work, and go to school. In this module you will observe and analyze strategies to save energy in buildings.

 

Read  Sustainable Energy: Without the Hot Air, by David MacKay Chapters 7, 9, 11, & 21

Watch the following videos from the Rocky Mountain Institute

High Performance Building: Performance By Design

High Performance Building: Perspective and Practice

*Last reminder: For each reading and video assignment, you will tweet your one main "epiphany" from the reading(s) and/or video(s). Please do not simply describe one of the readings/videos. Instead, share your #1 insight that was triggered by all of the assigned reading(s) and/or video(s). What had a transformative effect on you? Maybe this is something unexpected, something you will tell your friends, something you can use for your project or in your life, etc... 

Twitter logistics: Please sign up to follow me @leidyklotz Links to an external site. to get my tweets. On all of your tweets, add the hashtag "#150tons" at the end so your classmates can find them (and so you can get participation credit). Every time you tweet an epiphany, you should also scan through all of your classmates epiphanies on that topic and retweet your favorite. Your goal is to make your epiphany the one that is retweeted the most!