Efficient Buildings Could Save Thousands of Lives in U.S. Every Year

August 24, 2021 by TWN Staff
Efficient Buildings Could Save Thousands of Lives in U.S. Every Year
The 3,000-seat Viking Pavilion is the hub of Portland State Athletics. It became a model of energy efficient design after a major renovation. (Wikimedia Commons)

Buildings in the U.S. are responsible for 40% of the country’s total energy consumption. A new paper published in Science Advances, authored by Yale School of the Environment Economics Professor Kenneth Gillingham and colleagues at Yale’s SEARCH Center and the Yale School of Engineering and Applied Science states by improving the energy efficiency of new and existing buildings, the emissions generated from heating and cooling them could be reduced – preventing thousands of premature deaths every year.

The study lays out two building efficiency improvement scenarios and estimates for how many premature deaths in the U.S. would be prevented in each case. 

The burning of fossil fuels, in addition to greenhouse gasses, releases large amounts of harmful airborne particulate matter called PM2.5 (particles with diameters of less than 2.5 micrometers), which can cause heart and lung disease and aggravate conditions like asthma. The reduction in premature deaths is primarily due to the reduction in PM2.5. 

The “optimistic” scenario, the authors say, envisions a 50% increase in appliance efficiency (everything from refrigerators to boilers) and a 60-90% increase in the efficiency of buildings’ outer shells by 2050. The researchers estimate that up to 5,100 premature deaths would be prevented yearly if those conditions were met. The “intermediate” scenario – still “a big step up” from what is being undertaken today, says Gillingham – could save up to an estimated 2,900 lives each year.

These estimates of lives saved, however, are focused on changes in outdoor air pollution. 

“It is important to also consider the impacts on indoor air quality that may accompany changes in building ventilation,” says study co-author Drew Gentner, associate professor of chemical and environmental engineering and the environment at the Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science. 

The potential drawback of the increased energy efficiency of buildings, says Gillingham, is that when buildings are more tightly sealed to prevent leakage of heated or cooled air, the total amount of circulation between indoor and outdoor air also decreases.

“While tighter buildings can partially isolate you from outdoor pollution, it requires greater attention to indoor pollutant emissions,” Gentner says.

For example, inside a home, emissions from cooking or appliances can impact indoor air quality. “If you close the building shell and don’t accompany it with recirculation and filtration upgrades, then you can actually face some health impacts,” Gillingham says. 

But even without additional indoor air filtration upgrades, the researchers found that improved building efficiency would still save roughly 3,600 per year under the “optimistic” scenario, and 1,800 under the “intermediate” scenario.

The researchers also note that some outdoor air pollution factors, like wildfire smoke, would be reduced indoors if buildings were made more efficient and there was less circulation between outdoor and indoor air. While average outdoor PM2.5 levels have been continually decreasing over time in the U.S., wildfires can sometimes drastically increase outdoor air pollution. And, as recent years have shown, wildfire smoke can spread across large swaths of the country, causing harmful levels of air quality from coast to coast.

“These results, including effects on outdoor and indoor air pollutants, are quite interesting because no one’s modeled both before. People have examined similar questions narrowly in small regions, but no one’s done it broadly over the entire country,” says Gillingham.

A+
a-
  • energy efficient buildings. energy consumption. Yale Search Center
  • In The News

    Health

    Voting

    Energy

    March 27, 2024
    by TWN Staff
    Rep. Cleaver New Co-Chair of House Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Caucus

    WASHINGTON — Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II, D-Mo., is the new Democratic co-chair of the House Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency... Read More

    WASHINGTON — Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II, D-Mo., is the new Democratic co-chair of the House Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Caucus. He was invited to serve as co-chair by Sens. Jack Reed, D-R.I., and Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, the co-chairs of the Senate Renewable Energy and Energy... Read More

    March 26, 2024
    by Dan McCue
    Biden Administration Approves Seventh Offshore Wind Project

    WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Tuesday approved the construction of the Sunrise Wind offshore wind farm, a project off... Read More

    WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Tuesday approved the construction of the Sunrise Wind offshore wind farm, a project off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, that proponents say will eventually power 320,000 homes. The project is the seventh commercial-scale wind farm to be approved under... Read More

    March 26, 2024
    by Dan McCue
    Sen. Blumenthal Lauds Expansion of Tax Credit for Offshore Wind Projects

    NEW LONDON, Conn. — Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., visited State Pier in New London, Connecticut, on Monday to tout and... Read More

    NEW LONDON, Conn. — Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., visited State Pier in New London, Connecticut, on Monday to tout and celebrate the Biden administration’s decision to expand eligibility of federal tax credits for offshore wind projects. “This tax credit has been a long time in coming,”... Read More

    Here Are the Big Hurdles to the Global Push to Build Up Renewable Energy

    The world's governments have agreed they want to triple renewable energy by 2030, a goal laid out at the U.N.... Read More

    The world's governments have agreed they want to triple renewable energy by 2030, a goal laid out at the U.N. climate summit in December. But right now, the post-pandemic global economy is throwing up obstacles that will need to be overcome if the goal is going... Read More

    March 25, 2024
    by Dan McCue
    Energy Department Awards $6B to Decarbonization Projects

    WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Energy on Monday awarded $6 billion to 33 projects across more than 20 states... Read More

    WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Energy on Monday awarded $6 billion to 33 projects across more than 20 states to decarbonize energy-intensive industries while creating jobs and revitalizing the communities in which they are located. Funded by the bipartisan infrastructure law and Inflation Reduction Act,... Read More

    Energy Agency Announces $6B to Slash Emissions in Industrial Facilities

    The Biden administration announced $6 billion in funding Monday for projects that will slash emissions from the industrial sector —... Read More

    The Biden administration announced $6 billion in funding Monday for projects that will slash emissions from the industrial sector — the largest-ever U.S. investment to decarbonize domestic industry to fight climate change. The industrial sector is responsible for roughly 25% of all the nation’s emissions, and has... Read More

    News From The Well
    scroll top