Referred to by one website as “an industry thought leader,” Carl Seville is known for making some important (though perhaps controversial) remarks. In a recent blog, Seville suggested that advertising for green products should be banned.
“These products — solar modules, geothermal equipment, spray foam insulation, high-performance windows, bamboo floors — can all be effective parts of a green building,” wrote Seville, “but none of them will add much to the project if not integrated properly. Maybe it’s time to ban advertising for green building products — they did it with cigarettes, didn’t they?”
Carl Seville, a former contractor, makes his living through speaking engagements, writing articles and by performing certification inspections for green building organizations, such as the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program.
And now, a recent article that he wrote for Fox News states that “fancy solar panels decorating your roof” do less to conserve energy than other green building strategies. To be sure, Seville is correct that “process over products” makes the difference in a home’s performance. And many of Seville’s suggestions are good ones, such as unplugging electronic devices and turning off lights.
Just Build another House?
Unfortunately, Seville’s primary suggestion is not one that many Americans can follow. He suggests building a smaller house. Small homes are easier to make energy-efficient, he argues, and by constructing a new home, people can easily orient the house toward the sun to cut energy costs.
The argument that new construction is greener than green home improvements to an existing home is hard to fathom. New home construction not only entails a substantial amount of energy expenditure, but adversely affects the environment.
According to the EPA, “building-related construction and demolition debris totals approximately 160 million tons per year, accounting for nearly 26 percent of total non-industrial waste generation in the U.S.”
Seville: Forget Those “Fancy Solar Panels”
Seville’s main argument that homeowners can save more money by unplugging electronics, opening windows and adding insulation than they would with “fancy solar panels” is insupportable, which may explain why he doesn’t attempt to back up any of his claims with data.
Residential solar photovoltaic (PV) systems typically reduce conventional energy usage by about 45 percent or more. After installation costs are recovered through monthly savings on energy bills, home solar systems provide years of free, green electricity.
Seville does not address the environmental benefits of solar energy. He seems unconcerned about the negative consequences of continuing the nation’s reliance on gas-emitting fossil fuels, a strange stance for an advocate of green building to assume.
In interview after interview with solar system owners, they point out how going solar has made them more aware of other energy-saving strategies. Solar panel owners often revel in home improvements that make their system run even more efficiently. It spurs them on, fueling their interest to make their homes even greener than they already are.
These homeowners have learned something critical: that when combined with common-sense energy-saving home improvements, a residential solar power system not only saves homeowners the most money, but helps conserve the planet’s precious resources as well.
What Do You Think?
Start the conversation in the comments below.
Photos via EUObserver and Elephant Journal
Time to Ban Advertising for Solar Panels?
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Thanks very much for referring and linking to two articles of mine and I am glad that I have stimulated discussion on the subject. In the 2nd part of your article, you make some disparaging remarks about my opinions which I think deserve both clarification and some push back. You misinterpreted my suggestion that we live in smaller homes to imply that people should build new small homes instead of improving those that they already live in. I neither said nor implied this. Improving existing homes is, in almost all cases, more sustainable than building new ones, for exactly the reasons you stated. We are in agreement there. Your comments regarding my claims that energy efficiency measures saving more energy than solar panels can generate has also been misinterpreted, whether intentionally or not, to further your mission to sell more solar equipment. You might be surprised to learn that I am not against solar power, it is just that it needs to be considered in context of an entire project. The concept of efficiency first is critical and, in fact, most efficiency measures are significantly less costly to implement per kWh of savings than the cost of solar installations to match those savings. Beginning with behavior – simply turning things off, opening windows for natural cooling and heating when the weather is appropriate, to improving insulation and air sealing, and repairing and tuning up HVAC systems – any and all of these will save more money per dollar invested than solar PV. When PV is installed on otherwise large, inefficient, homes that are occupied by people who leave on electrical devices and run HVAC when unnecessary is a pitiful use of resources. Installing PV on homes that are efficient, modest in size, and efficiently managed is an appropriate use. It would however, reduce the size and frequency of sales of equipment. Your attitude is not too far from utility companies who neglect or fight efficiency measures because it will reduce their sale and ultimate profits from selling energy. Improved efficiency will do the same to solar power sales. Buck up and pay attention to the big picture. We are actually on the same side.