Fall River Mill Building Re-Useand

Avoided CO2 Impact

R. Kieronski rnrower@msn.comFall 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 on2012 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

3 areas of CO2 ReductionGained by Mill Building Re-Use

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

Tons CO2 MWh Energy Intensity

BRAYTON POINT United StatesFall River, Ma

2000:Present: Future:

7,925,7157,879,629 7,929,829

8,163,9249,014,123 9,084,372

1,9421,748 1,746

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

Power PLANTCO2 Output

Approx. .9 tons CO2 per MWh

BRAYTON POINT

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 2012http://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/

1. Travel reduction by activity concentration

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

3. Building non-Demolition/Construction Savings

3 areas of CO2 ReductionGained by Mill Building Re-Use

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

1. Travel reduction by activity concentration

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

• 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)

Changing travel patterns by activity concentration

NHTS – National Household Travel Survey a division of the

Federal Highway Administrationmaintains a statistical database

Of U.S. travel patterns

Personally Owned Vehicle data in Massachusetts 2009

By purpose of trip

1. Travel reduction by activity concentration

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

3. Building non-Demolition/Construction Savings

3 areas of CO2 ReductionGained by Mill Building Re-Use

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

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

A Comparison …

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

Housing TractMill

Building

IndustrialBuilding

Assuming uniform R Value on outer shell

Large Mill Buildings are Intrinsically More Energy Efficient

80,000 SqFt1.53x HVAC

80,000 SqFt1.00x HVAC

80,000 SqFt3.53x 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

1. Travel reduction by activity concentration

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

3. Building non-Demolition/Construction Savings

3 areas of CO2 ReductionGained by Mill Building Re-Use

3. Building non-Demolition/Construction 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 cost of

demolition

Energy cost of

construction

Energy costs of new building construction

+

Demolition at siteDiesel fuel

Haulage to LandfillDiesel fuel

+ [ Labor ]

Building materials creationEmbodied fabrication energy cost

Building materials haulageDiesel fuel

Energy required for assemblyGas, Electric, Diesel

+ [ Labor ]

Totally avoided costs

Partially avoided costs

SAVEDWith re-use

Demolition Costs vs. ValueExisting structureRe-Use Cost $0.00

Incremental improvement 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:

• 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.

Material R Value8” thick Brick Wall 1.6

2” thick foamed Poly Panel 15

8” thick Poured Concrete 0.64

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

END

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]