Podagrower
Member
- Location
- Central Fl
I'm working on the end of a "Green" building. Low VOC PVC glue, no incandescent bulbs, only so many pounds of refrigerant, etc.
While trimming out the building, I started wondering just how green it was.
In the hallways, all recess cans use 18 watt bulbs(one per fixture) instead of more typical 42 watt. But since there is no free lunch, they had to install twice as many. So we now have twice as much Mercury in the hallways. And what about the extra cost to manufacture twice as many lights, and transportation costs? Then you have to figure the impact of running more flex and wire to operate those lights, and let's don't forget those ballasts suck more wattage to run one bulb than two.
So what about the offices? Lots of one bulb 4' fixtures in them as well. Meaning again, more fixtures, more manufacturing, more wire, more transportation, and less efficient ballasts.
I'm all for cutting energy usage, it is something that must be done. But sometimes I can't help but wonder if we should be flying private jets to a concert to benefit saving the earth.
While trimming out the building, I started wondering just how green it was.
In the hallways, all recess cans use 18 watt bulbs(one per fixture) instead of more typical 42 watt. But since there is no free lunch, they had to install twice as many. So we now have twice as much Mercury in the hallways. And what about the extra cost to manufacture twice as many lights, and transportation costs? Then you have to figure the impact of running more flex and wire to operate those lights, and let's don't forget those ballasts suck more wattage to run one bulb than two.
So what about the offices? Lots of one bulb 4' fixtures in them as well. Meaning again, more fixtures, more manufacturing, more wire, more transportation, and less efficient ballasts.
I'm all for cutting energy usage, it is something that must be done. But sometimes I can't help but wonder if we should be flying private jets to a concert to benefit saving the earth.
