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Electrification requires energy-efficiency savings. Insulation is specifically an absolute no-brainer - it's cheap and save a lot of energy (and money). Current

Electrification requires energy-efficiency savings. Insulation is specifically an absolute no-brainer - it's cheap and save a lot of energy (and money). Currently it seems that rentals are the issue more than anything.

constGard 5y ago
Insulation is a no brainer until you pump it into an older house with poorly sealed walls and end up with a sodden mess next time it rains. Some of the best advice from "green" building professionals is focus on air sealing, efficient electric heat (heat pumps), and eventually rooftop solar. These have complications as well (slave labor solar panels, high gwp refrigerants) but those are often easier to fix than your 1930s wall assembly. The individual cost of a deep energy retrofit to address the systemic problems with a home can be incredibly high (100k+ for people like me in California), so hopefully market innovation and government regulation will help solve some of the issues I mentioned with electrification + rooftop pv.
- ominous_prime 5y ago
  Yup, old houses can be insulated, but they do not insulate well. Currently in an 1890s house which has been superficially renovated at least 2x in its life, with all the insulation you could possibly pump into the walls. Winter heating is still grossly expensive, and you can never stop all the drafts. During a kitchen reno we tried pulling everything back to the studs and using spray foam as the insulation and vapor barrier -- better than the rest of the house, but still noticeably draftier than a modern house. There's no real way to fix that without completely stripping the house down to the frame and rebuilding with modern techniques and materials.
thatcherc 5y ago
> Electrification requires energy-efficiency savings. I don't think it does. In principle, you could stay relatively inefficient with low cost to the climate as long as you were drawing power from overprovisioned wind and solar. Of course, that energy may be better spent elsewhere so efficiency is critical, but we can't get carbon emissions down to zero by only increasing efficiency of systems that ultimately draw power from coal and natural gas power plants.

constGard 5y ago

Insulation is a no brainer until you pump it into an older house with poorly sealed walls and end up with a sodden mess next time it rains. Some of the best advice from "green" building professionals is focus on air sealing, efficient electric heat (heat pumps), and eventually rooftop solar. These have complications as well (slave labor solar panels, high gwp refrigerants) but those are often easier to fix than your 1930s wall assembly. The individual cost of a deep energy retrofit to address the systemic problems with a home can be incredibly high (100k+ for people like me in California), so hopefully market innovation and government regulation will help solve some of the issues I mentioned with electrification + rooftop pv.

ominous_prime 5y ago
Yup, old houses can be insulated, but they do not insulate well. Currently in an 1890s house which has been superficially renovated at least 2x in its life, with all the insulation you could possibly pump into the walls. Winter heating is still grossly expensive, and you can never stop all the drafts. During a kitchen reno we tried pulling everything back to the studs and using spray foam as the insulation and vapor barrier -- better than the rest of the house, but still noticeably draftier than a modern house. There's no real way to fix that without completely stripping the house down to the frame and rebuilding with modern techniques and materials.

thatcherc 5y ago

> Electrification requires energy-efficiency savings. I don't think it does. In principle, you could stay relatively inefficient with low cost to the climate as long as you were drawing power from overprovisioned wind and solar. Of course, that energy may be better spent elsewhere so efficiency is critical, but we can't get carbon emissions down to zero by only increasing efficiency of systems that ultimately draw power from coal and natural gas power plants.