The Hartman Company Newsletter

Issue: May 2007
Topic: Changing Public Opinion

Dear Hartman Company Newsletter subscriber,

The big story in 2007 thus far is the quiet but enormous shift in public 
opinion that has taken place early this year regarding environmental 
issues and greenhouse gas emissions. A recent New York Times/CBS poll 
found that over 90% of the population now favors change to reduce energy 
consumption and its global warming effects. This is a big shift from a 
year ago when those who approved such action were shown by polls to be 
in the minority. This huge shift puts our industry is a very precarious 
position because of our very slow pace toward progress. New technologies 
permit us to build and operate buildings with far less energy than many 
of the more efficient buildings today actually achieve. Our industry has 
been plodding and is now suddenly called to sprint. If each of us doesn't 
speed up, many who presently see ourselves as part of the solution in 
moving toward a more efficient industry may very soon find ourselves 
to in reality be part of the problem. 

To help us speed and lengthen our individual and industry wide stride 
towards improved energy efficiency, here are some materials that may add 
to and help direct our vigor:

1. Compared to their potential, current efficiency and conservation efforts 
in existing buildings are an enormous disappointment. But the electric 
utilities and their regulators who spearhead much of this effort seem not 
to have a clue on changes necessary to make efficiency improvement in 
existing buildings the effective bridge to a new era of ultra-low emissions 
power it could be. To help invigorate this effort, efficiency and 
conservation should be seen and treated as an energy resource rather than 
an investment option for end users. To consider new ideas for exploiting 
this important resource, please read Tom Hartman's Article that appeared 
early this year in HPAC magazine titled "The Perfect Resource." It's 
available at:

http://www.hpac.com/Issue/Article/45217/The_Perfect_Energy_Resource
 
 2. Meanwhile, improving the efficiency in existing buildings is only 
 part of what we must do to catch up with the public's growing demand 
 for a more sustainable world. Our industry's failure to design, build, 
 and operate truly efficient new buildings is also an issue that must be 
 resolved. For most buildings in North America, the answer is the 
 "intelligent building" which needs to be cast, not as a technology showcase, 
 but rather as a performance showcase that new technologies enable. To get an 
 idea of the shift necessary to develop better performing intelligent 
 buildings, read Tom Hartman's essay titled "What Does It Really Take To Be 
 an Intelligent Building" that is available at: 

http://www.automatedbuildings.com/news/apr07/articles/hartman/070326115649hartman.htm 
 
3. The degree of change in the performance of existing and new buildings 
necessary to keep up with the possibilities of newer technologies and the 
expectations of society requires big changes in the conventions we employ 
to design, construct and operate buildings. It's unlikely that any is more 
staid convention in our industry than the widespread use of consensus, not 
only in building design and construction, but also in the guides and standards 
we apply to develop our designs. To see how this taken-for-granted convention 
process may be responsible for limiting building performance, be sure to read 
Tom Hartman's essay titled "The Consensus Conundrum" which is available at:

http://www.automatedbuildings.com/news/may07/articles/hartman/070428061001hartman.htm 
 
Earlier, many of us declared 2007 to be the year of action for real change 
in building efficiency. From the polls we find so far it's the public and not 
our industry that has been most active in change. Let's recommit ourselves to 
work much harder together to be sure we do accomplish the change we know is 
attainable this year!

If you have questions, suggestions or comments regarding these topics, please 
do not hesitate to contact The Hartman Company.

Please use "May 2007 Newsletter" as the subject of your email.

If you have suggestions for a topic you would like to see covered in a future 
newsletter please contact The Hartman Company.

To search the Hartman Resource Library yourself for additional articles on this topic, 
go to:

http://www.hartmanco.com/cgi-bin/dbman/db.cgi?db=resource&uid=default&view_search=1


Linda Stinnett, Editor
THC News
The Hartman Company


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                                The Hartman Company
                        An HVAC Technology Development Firm
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