Yeah, What They Said...
There was an article from MarketWatch magazine (Bigger houses bring energy woes: Efficient materials, appliances have limited cost effects) that echoes things that I wrote about in my post on house energy efficiency: efficiency measures are good, but first, build your house smaller if you want to have an effect. Also, it seems like consumers are still pretty clueless about this truth. As it states in the article:
Research suggests utility costs rank low among homebuyers' priorities. But after a winter of bigger bills, some spring buyers may want to consider the additional long-term energy costs they may incur by going big and look for energy-efficient features.
"I don't think the average homebuyer is considering that," said Marshall Eames, assistant professor of environmental science at DePaul University in Chicago. "They're more worried about does it have a deck or an island in the kitchen."
Then again, most of my readers are probably in agreement with my line of thought, so this really doesn't change much.
In other news, it appears that Blogger has broken its photo posting feature: I've been trying to send photos of the biggest power strip I've ever seen, with no success. [Edit: looks like they fixed it. Will post matching descriptions to the photos soon.]
Finally, in an astoundingly wonderful piece of news, I had a conversation with my former employer, and they are planning on opening a 'satellite office' in Somerville. Since I'm planning on returning to work for them, so this made me incredibly happy. The single thing that I was dreading the most about returning to my old job was going back to 45 minutes of driving each way, instead of 20 minutes of walking. I have gotten used to my low carbon/low car use/high walking lifestyle here in a Canadian university town, it has been great for environmental, financial, mental health, and physical health reasons.
posted by Bats @ 11:06 AM
8 comments
8 Comments:
...yet another depressing aspect of McMansions (as if there weren't enough already).
On the bright side: Yay former employer! another bid from the Boston contigent!
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I've been wondering about this since we first talked about what you do: is better efficiency just a way to spend the same amount on heating a larger house?
Any chance your employer needs a Canadian office?
[This message paid for by Citizens for Bats in Canada.]
Dude. I think I made my walking commute actually too short! It's about 5 minutes at most - not enough exercise - should have taken that place that would have required the 20 block commute.
Or do something wild and crazy like join a gym. Nah.
New York, Bats! I heard about a $2.3M "environmentally efficient" penthouse in Chelsea, or something ludicrous like that. Go for the big bucks!
I've been wondering about this since we first talked about what you do: is better efficiency just a way to spend the same amount on heating a larger house?
I think you're pretty much right—it's like the way that new hybrids trade off mileage (dropping from excellent to passable) in exchange for higher performance (acceleration/zippiness).
Any chance your employer needs a Canadian office?
[smile] Thanks for your campaigning… I definitely like and appreciate parts of my current Canadian lifestyle, and wouldn't mind continuing them. But I'm afraid Boston is a stronger draw for me.
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I'm Batman, and I approve this message.
Well, ya can't hurt a guy for trying.
[And, actually, if you move back to Boston, and are amenable to offering crash space, well, I won't be too resentful...]
And, actually, if you move back to Boston, and are amenable to offering crash space, well, I won't be too resentful...
Absolutely! I'd be very happy to host you and Daniel when you swing through Boston, once I'm back. Hopefully, it will even be T-accessible. And of course, wireless access/high speed is always a value-added service offered in any geeky household I'm in.
Given many wildly entertaining posts, some of us hope a Dan & Daniel Boston visit would include some kind of meet/cook/eat fest.
I hereby offer to host, whether or not I still live close to Russo's (i.e. excellent produce).
That's kind of you, A.J. (I seem to make it to Boston about once a year, ideally in the spring, which is the one season in Boston that I really like.)
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