Growing up in Johannesburg in the ’70s and ’80s, there was one thing everyone could agree on: We had the best weather in the world. Summers weren’t hot, and the winters never got too cold. The sun was almost always shining, and there was zero humidity. Global warming was not a part of our vernacular, and “fossil fuels” were a luxury – not swear words.
None of the housing I grew up in had heat or air conditioning. We never needed that type of engineering, and only expensive houses in fancy neighborhoods had those (unnecessary) built-in amenities.
When a rare summer day got too hot, we would go to the public swimming pool to cool off. We got creative when there was a rare winter cold spell, and the temperature dropped below 40 degrees Fahrenheit. On those nights, my mother, two sisters, and I would congregate in the warmest room of the house—the kitchen. We would have the gas stove and oven on with the door slightly open – so we had a built-in furnace.
In our bedrooms, we had electric asbestos heaters. On special occasions, we would melt chocolate right on top of the heater before eating it. We’d then crawl into bed and doze off blissfully with our hot water bottles to keep us warm through the night.
We were totally unaware of the dangers of asbestos or the importance of fire safety codes. I don’t know how much fossil fuel we were burning, but it was less than the poorer people in the country. Most of them lived with ten or more people crammed into one room, sitting over a wood fire, trying to keep themselves warm. The skyline of Johannesburg on a winter morning was always cloaked in smog.
Our desire to find creative ways to keep warm in the winter and cool in the summer is certainly not something that made us unique. Going back to the time of Neanderthals, there were different solutions for heating and cooling to make life more comfortable. When it comes to temperature regulation, only a little had evolved between the cradle of civilization and my life in 1980’s South Africa.
However, a lot has changed since that time.
In 1989 the EPA tried to ban asbestos, but it is still used and seen in the US in some building materials such as gaskets and roofing products. However, there are no more electric asbestos heaters to melt chocolate on. We have microwaves for that. Fortunately, most people don’t have to heat their homes with a gas stove or sit around an open fire for heat today either.
While the move towards energy efficiency and environmental responsibility is imploding spectacularly on the world stage, local governments and businesses are taking matters into their own hands. Next time you walk past a residential building in NYC, you’ll notice a grade report in the front window. Like the ones you find on the front door of a restaurant, grading it with an A, B, or C for cleanliness – except the grade in a residential building is the rating for energy efficiency.
The planet’s health and the implications of our engineering on carbon emissions have become major political and social issues. And they should be.
Buildings account for approximately two-thirds of greenhouse gas emissions in New York City, and there is a plan to make the city carbon neutral by 2050.
In 2019, the City Council passed Local Law 97, part of the Climate Mobilization Act and one of the nation’s most ambitious plans for reducing emissions. Under this law, most buildings over 25,000 square feet are required to meet energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions limits by 2024, with stricter limits coming into effect in 2030. The goal is to reduce the emissions produced by the City’s largest buildings by 40 percent by 2030 and 80 percent by 2050.
There are about 50,000 buildings in NYC that will be expected to comply. Think about all the money and time for changes that will be made to boilers, chillers, furnaces, water heaters, and generators that rely on oil or natural gas to operate. Electricity and steam are both created (partly) at fossil fuel-generated power plants, so this electricity use also contributes to the building’s carbon profile.
Buildings that don’t comply with Local Law 97 will pay the price. The City will (and has) imposed hefty annual penalties of $268 per metric ton of emissions that exceed the building’s carbon cap. Fines will exceed $100,000 if boards and building owners don’t take necessary steps to reduce carbon emissions, and the penalties could climb to over $1M. That should get everyone on the board onboard.
I don’t know how much this will achieve if we haven’t solved the more significant problem. We will need to invent carbon-free technology that saves our natural resources. Wind, solar and nuclear power are great, but only temporary stop-gap measures. I’m confident we will find a solution. We always have.
Wherever we go, though, I will always love the feeling of sitting in front of an open fire. It always sparks something very deep in me. Our DNA is programmed with the memories of our ancestors, and it always reminds me of home.
However, until my dying day, I will swear that nothing is better than a hot water bottle tucked at the foot of our bed on a cold winter night. And as far as I know, they emit almost zero carbon emissions.
Side Bar:
One of the best books I’ve read recently that clarifies the confusing global warming issue is Vaclav Smil’s “How The World Really Works.” He presents just unbiased facts in an intelligent, digestible way.
Let’s do this.
-Shaun