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How to reduce environmental destruction?

Sustainability: How can I reduce my environmental footprint in my condo?

  • My wife and I just bought a condo in NYC.  fThe apartment is large enough for us to have two kids so we anticipate spending the forseeable future I would like to think about projects that I can undertake to reduce the carbon footprint of our apartment.  Apartments of course are tricky; I have central air so I can't get a more efficient AC unit.   I can't put solar panels on the roof or anything like that.  Any thoughts about how I can reduce our environmental impact would be appreciated.

  • Answer:

    Congratulations on purchasing an inherently environmentally efficient dwelling. Your home is in a multifamily dwelling in a densely populated city well served by public transportation. Excellent start. Because you are in an apartment building rather than a single-family home, a number of the steps you can take to improve the environmental efficiency of your home involve your neighbors and your condo board. - adopt energy efficient measures such as LED or CFL lighting in common areas - if the apartments do not have individual electricity submetering, they should. This makes every owner responsible for their own electricity expenses, and tends to reduce electricity usage - have your building purchase electric power from a green supplier that producers its power from renewable sources - Encourage your neighbors to wash their clothes in cold water. Make cold-water detergent, such as Cold Water Tide, which (supposedly) works as well in cold water as other detergents work in warm water, available in your laundry room. - Identify your building's source of heat and hot water. If it has an oil burner, look into converting to gas, which has a lower carbon footprint. ConEd has incentives to lower the cost of the conversion. Inside your apartment, follow standard energy saving practices, including using energy efficient lighting; eliminate "vampire power" loads; when you purchase new appliances make sure they are energy efficient. And if you do any remodeling/renovating, see if you can donate materials you are getting rid of--such as old doors, windows, hardware, etc. to building material salvage organizations for reuse.

David Schatsky at Quora Visit the source

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It depends very much on the physical character of the property.  Much heat can be gained and lost through windows, so their size and orientation are important in how things like sevondary glazing, insulating shutters and heat absorbent flooring are used. Thermal mass in interior walls and floors could possibly  be exploited depending on construction.  Ventilation can play a role too, its important to have clean fresh air. Water and sanitation can be adjusted for maximum economy,  and obviously good LED task based lighting will help reduce power consumption.  The building owner/operator may be open to suggestions for solar, centralised heating or even a chp plant which can provide both heat and power at up to 95% overall efficiency.

Alan Sloan

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