Building r euse v2

Fall River Mill Building Re-Use
and
Avoided CO2 Impact

R. Kieronski rnrower@msn.com
Fall River Mill Owners Association

• “There are huge scientific
obstacles to making sense of
green economics. The metrics
are far from straightforward.”

New Scientist , 30 June report on
2012 Earth Conference – Rio de Janeiro

CO2 Contributes to Global Warming

Anthropocene

The National Academy of Science report* on climate
change concludes that:

“The world is entering a new geologic epoch, sometimes
called the Anthropocene, in which human activities will
largely control the evolution of Earth’s environment.”

The responsibility is ours to manage CO2 buildup either
with knowledge and diligence or without.

* http://dels-old.nas.edu/climatechange/understanding-climate-change.shtml

1. Travel reduction by activity concentration
2. Energy (& CO2) Reduction by incorporation of
Intrinsic Site Geometry
3. Building non-Demolition/Construction
Savings

But FIRST: A Bit on Carbon Credits

• Carbon credits purchased by emitters* are the
source of funding for energy saving projects that
result in the reduction of greenhouse gasses

• These can be used to help us migrate to a low
carbon economy

* such as power plants

BRAYTON POINT

Power PLANT
CO2 Output
Approx. .9 tons CO2 per MWh

Tons CO2 MWh Energy Intensity

BRAYTON
2000: 7,925,715 8,163,924 1,942
POINT
Present: 7,879,629 9,014,123 1,748
United States
Future: 7,929,829 9,084,372 1,746
Fall River, Ma

http://carma.org/dig/show/city+88827+plant

A TON OF CO2

This cube represents a metric ton of CO2 which is 2,204 pounds. It is 27 feet
wide by 27 feet high by 27 feet deep – about what the average US citizen creates
in 2 weeks

CASH FLOW
• Given the baseline allowances for plant emissions, the
Brayton Point power plant should be buying carbon
allowances for 7.9M tons of CO2 annually

• At $1.94/ tonne*, they are paying ~ $15.3 M annually
for their indulgence.

• This money should be credited toward the reduction of
greenhouse gasses achieved through energy efficiency
measures.

• Compliance Requirement Auction –
• Price from RGGI # 16 data, June 2012
http://www.rggi.org/market/co2_auctions/results

Making & Receiving Carbon Credits

Whether they in fact lead to a reduction in greenhouses compared with the do-nothing case, carbon credits unquestionably cause
industries in rich countries to pay money into a marketplace, and receive a certificate of indulgence for doing so. The resulting
money must find an outlet. The system is highly controversial, as it allows wealthy countries to go on polluting as long as they can
pay others to cut back for them.

But they do provide financial incentives for the creation of green projects.

Df: ADDITIONALITY

• It is important for any carbon allowance (offset)
to prove a concept called additionality.
• The concept of additionality addresses the
question of whether the project would have
happened anyway, even in the absence of
revenue from carbon offsets. Only carbon offsets
from projects that are "additional to" the
business-as-usual scenario represent a net
environmental benefit

A study by the Preservation Green Lab* provides
the most comprehensive analysis to date
of the potential environmental impact reductions
associated with building re-use

But

Satisfactory means for measuring CO2 avoidance
for building re-use
have not been established

* www.preservationnation.org/issues/sustainability/green-lab/


2. Energy (& CO2) Reduction by incorporation of
Intrinsic Site Geometry
Savings

1. Travel reduction by activity
concentration
• In the 1800s, before widespread automobile use,
cities based around mills were compactly designed
for foot traffic and low energy materials transport

• The Mills were the essential part of that structure

• Returning to that paradigm in a modern context will
result in large savings in automobile commuting
energy

• Travel Reduction is an additionality that
would not occur without the planning
and execution that re-creates the mills as
combined live-work spaces

Changing travel patterns by activity concentration
Personally Owned Vehicle data
NHTS – National Household Travel Survey in Massachusetts 2009
By purpose of trip
a division of the
Federal Highway Administration
maintains a statistical database
Of U.S. travel patterns

• The average POV commute time is
20 minutes over an average
distance of 16 miles – on a bad
day 46 minutes*

• Bringing work and living together
would save an average of around
4800 miles and 100 hours per year
per person.

• This saves 160 gallons of gas and
1.4 tons of CO2 . ( It also
promotes a healthier life style and
reduces traffic congestion)

2. Energy (& CO2) Reduction by incorporation
of Intrinsic Site Geometry
Savings

2. Energy (& CO2) Reduction by
Incorporation of Intrinsic Site Geometry

• The compact multi-story structure of most mills has a good
ratio of volume to surface area, allowing efficient HVAC
utilization.

• Most modern industrial structures are less HVAC efficient

• Suburban tract housing is far less efficient

A Comparison …
Industrial
Building

Housing
Assuming uniform R Value on outer shell Mill Tract
Building

Compare surface heat loss for a 100 x 200 ft, 4 story mill with
that of a 1 story industrial building, and a group of 1 story
housing units all having equivalent total floor space

Large Mill Buildings are Intrinsically
More Energy Efficient
80,000 SqFt
1.53x HVAC

80,000 SqFt 80,000 SqFt
1.00x HVAC 3.53x HVAC

Assumes uniform R Value on outer shell

SITE GEOMETRY SAVINGS
• Benefits of siting either housing or industrial
activity within re-formatted mill spaces are
immediately calculable in terms of HVAC
savings in the aggregate

• Each project will require individual calculation
but the savings would be reckoned on the
additionality gained by new siting for an
activity

• Standard insulation applied to a re-utilized mill
structure of suitable geometry is substantially
more effective than a similar amount of
insulation applied to a building having a
greater ratio of surface area to contained floor
space

2. Energy (& CO2) Reduction by incorporation
of Intrinsic Site Geometry
Savings
Savings

3. Building non-
Demolition/Construction Savings

• Reuse of mill buildings with an average level of
energy performance consistently offer
immediate climate-change impact reduction
when compared to more energy efficient new
construction*.

* www.preservationnation.org/issues/sustainability/green-lab/

Energy costs of new building construction
SAVED
Demolition at site With re-use
Diesel fuel
Energy cost Totally avoided costs
of Haulage to Landfill
demolition Diesel fuel Partially avoided
costs
+ [ Labor ]

+ Building materials creation
Embodied fabrication energy cost

Energy cost Building materials haulage
of Diesel fuel
construction
Energy required for assembly
Gas, Electric, Diesel

+ [ Labor ]

Demolition Costs vs. Value
Existing structure Incremental improvement
Re-Use Cost $0.00 To desired standard

Building Envelope - R Value
• The R-value is a measure of thermal resistance [1] used in the building and
construction industry. Under uniform conditions it is the ratio of the temperature
difference across an insulator and the heat flux Qa (heat transfer per unit area, )
through it or R = ^T / Qa

• Typical R Values:
Material R Value
8” thick Brick Wall 1.6
2” thick foamed Poly Panel 15
8” thick Poured Concrete 0.64

• Appropriate R values can be chosen at time of design to meet or exceed that of
any new structure. The basic building support elements are already in place.

Key Findings
• In this presentation, we have identified 3 measurable characteristics
that will contribute to the reduction of CO2 when mill building
structures are renovated

• In addition to energy and CO2 saving, the re-utilization of pre-
existing mills presents some unique opportunities that restructure
human usage patterns leading to sustainable development factors
that avoid global warming and reduce sprawl.

• With suitable case analysis, the features identified here have
characteristics that can be incorporated into a deep retrofit
program that should qualify for carbon credits

CDM
• The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is one of the flexibility mechanisms
defined in the Kyoto Protocol (IPCC, 2007) that provides for emissions reduction
projects which generate Certified Emission Reduction units which may be traded in
emissions trading schemes.[1]

• However, a number of weaknesses of the CDM have been identified (World Bank,
2010, p. 265-267). Several of these issues were addressed by the new Program of
Activities (PoA) that moves to approving 'bundles' of projects instead of
accrediting each project individually. In 2012, the report Climate change, carbon
markets and the CDM: A call to action said governments urgently needed to
address the future of the CDM. It suggested the CDM was in danger of collapse
because of the low price of carbon and the failure of governments to guarantee its
existence into the future. Writing on the website of the Climate & Development
Knowledge Network, Yolanda Kakabadse, a member of the investigating panel for
the report and founder of Fundacion Futuro Latinamericano, said a strong CDM is
needed to support the political consensus essential for future climate progress.
"Therefore we must do everything in our hands to keep it working," she said.[7]

Building r euse v2

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Editor's Notes