I've been closely following Daniel Gross' The Efficient Life series at Slate.com for the last few months, interested to see where his efforts to reduce home energy usage by 10 percent take him. As part of the series, Gross solicited efficiency and conservation ideas—both big and small—from readers, and had a contest to whittle the submissions down to a single winner. Just recently, he announced the results as determined by reader votes and a panel of experts. The favorite? A renewable energy X-prize (similar to the Progressive Automotive X-prize) to encourage the creation of a low-cost solar shingle, coupled with rebates for consumers to purchase such a shingle when it's available.
While I applaud the series and the lively debate it inspired, I have to say that I'm more than a little bummed that the development of a new form of solar shingle was the favorite efficiency idea among Slate voters, especially considering some of the other contest finalists. Many of the other top choices—adding insulation to your home or air-drying clothes rather than using a clothes dryer, for example—would have provided much more immediate and cost-effective energy savings.
Unfortunately, I think that this contest highlights one of the real difficulties in implementing residential energy efficiency solutions: the fact that many folks seem more interested in offsetting their energy usage with renewable energy installations rather than reducing their energy usage through efficiency or conservation. It's a phenomenon I like to call “conspicuous conservation” (apparently I'm not the only one—check out former Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels talking conspicuous conservation). Why add a couple more inches of insulation to your attic (an efficiency measure that no one but you will ever see) when you can install a flashy renewable energy system that the whole neighborhood will notice?
Don't get me wrong; I can understand the draw of a residential renewable energy system, and I'm just as excited as the next gal by cutting-edge energy technologies. But energy efficiency solutions like duct sealing just make more sense as a first step towards reducing your home energy use. And, as a bonus, implementing energy efficiency solutions will reduce your overall energy needs and likely reduce the amount of money you'll have to spend on a renewable energy system down the road. The U.S. Department of Energy has a great post that uses the concept of energy pyramids to explain which energy efficiency efforts to do first. However you slice it, renewable energy is at the top of the pyramid—a last stop rather than a first.
No matter how many times President Obama says it, it's hard to convince folks that energy efficiency measures like insulation really are sexy—especially when they have to compete with the undeniable allure of a technology like solar shingles. But the good folks at Mother Earth suggest you can save $5 off a price of solar generating equipment for every $1 you spend in efficiency upgrades. And money in the bank? That's sexy.
Amy Foster Parish is on staff with the Washington State University Extension Energy Program, where she works to assist inquirers with their energy efficiency and renewable energy questions. In her spare time, she enjoys encouraging friends and neighbors to be proactive about residential insulation. Sadly, this makes her a real downer at parties.
Image source: http://www.nrel.gov/data/pix/