Link to the articlehttp://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/19/nyregion/easy-on-the-environment-but-not-necessarily-neighbors-eyes.html?module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3Aw%2C%7B%222%22%3A%22RI%3A13%22%7D
Summary
Thomas Paino is an architect who lives in Long Island City, Queens. He recently renovated a row house built in 1903 in consideration of the environment. First he was informed that the area he lives in is considered as a zone B which is an area that is exposed to rising sea level and storm surges. But instead of rising the entire building by 3 feet, Mr. Paino decided to renovate his house in to more energy efficient way. As an architect, Paino believes that once a house is built, it should last about 50 to 100 years and for many houses to last that long, that is a lot of energy that each one of those houses will be consuming. So he decided to use a method called passive housing which got popular in Germany. Passive housing system allows a house to use 95% less energy for heating and cooling than traditional houses. Heavy insulation system and intricate ventilation system keeps cold and hot air from coming in and sustain a moderate temperature inside. Paino also included green roof and solar powered water heating system to make the house much more energy efficient and eco-friendly.
Human Impact
Like Mr. Paino said, houses consume incredible amounts of energy and it is all under the name of "human essentials". Humans use electricity, and heating and cooling system by seasons, water system and so on to keep us comfortable. But these large amount of energy being used at home can harm the environment around us. But like Paino, humans can also have a benevolent impact on the environment. By applying passive housing systems and solar powers and green roof and other great eco friendly systems to our home will definitely give a huge impact on the environment. Each individuals can do a small things to give a change like recycling and walking rather than driving but if humans can change a whole house then that is a greater and bigger impact and can possibly decrease the pollution in the environment faster.
Environmental Impact
If more and more houses can be renovated or newly built in this eco friendly way, then it will have a great impact on the environment. Less energy means less pollution. It is estimated that America will use about 10 trillion kilowatt-hours per year. This immediately means that use of electricity will be at its highest and will effect the climate with its green house gases produced from the cooling system and continued consumption of incredible amounts of electricity. Climate change will definitely lead to changes in our environment. It can make certain species go extinct and even cause natural disasters which will eventually harm humans.
Economic Impact
Heating and cooling system takes about half of the energy expense for houses. Which means half of the bills that is related to houses are for those systems. If we have the passive housing system then those expense will cut in half. Which is far more beneficial in economic sense. It may be expensive to install the insulating systems, solar energy systems, and so on but in a long run, passive housing system is far better than the traditional housing systems. One can simply say that with all those moneys spent on air conditioning and heating system, you can build a house that will be environment friendly and later add up to save you a lot more money.
Government Legislation
Since houses are private properties that belongs to each individuals and government has no saying or any right in intervening on someone's property (exception of extreme circumstances), as long as an unexpected problem rises for passive housing systems, government should actually support the passive housing system to their citizens.
