Go Green Facts
Renewable Choice Energy
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Achieving a 20% wind contribution to U.S. electricity supply by 2030 would
reduce CO2 emissions by 25%.
Wind power is the fastest growing source of energy in the world.
Wind power capacity grew by 45% in 2007, but only represents about 2% of the
nation’s total electricity supply.
Conventional, fossil-fuel electricity production is the leading cause of industrial
air pollution in the U.S. and leads to other social problems including water
pollution and lung disease.
In the U.S. alone, buildings account for 72% of electricity consumption.
The U.S. uses 25% of the world’s oil, but only has 3% of the world’s oil reserves.
Coal-fired power plants and the pollution they release every day are a major threat
to human health and our environment.
Burning coal accounts for half of America’s electricity production.
New wind power capacity completed in 2008, according to initial estimates will
avoid up to 44 million tons of carbon emissions the equivalent of taking 7 million
cars off the road
According to the World Wind Energy Association, worldwide, wind energy is
expected to grow 25% in 2009.
Go Green Facts - Energy Use
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in 2008, Americans and Energy Star saved enough energy to power 10 million
homes and avoid greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from 12 million cars while
saving $6 billion USD
+ 5,000,000 – Combined # of commercial and industrial buildings in the US
$202.3 billion – Combined annual energy costs for US commercial and industrial
buildings
30% – Portion of energy in buildings used inefficiently or unnecessarily
45% – Combined percentage of US Greenhouse Gas emissions generated by
commercial buildings
10% – Percentage of energy use reduction targeted by the ENERGY STAR
Challenge
$20 billion – Amount of money that would be saved if the energy efficiency of
commercial and industrial buildings improved by 10%
Global Energy Facts
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1 Btu – The approximate energy release in the burning of a wood match
99.89 quadrillion Btu – Total energy used in the US each year
86% – Portion of US annual energy use created by the combustion of fossil fuels
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6,000 million metric tons – Amount of global carbon dioxide (CO2) release into
the atmosphere in 2005
20% – US contribution of global greenhouse gas emissions
5% – US population relative to the world
70% – Amount of greenhouse gas emissions that have increased between 1970
and 2004
1995 – 2006 – Period of time in which 11 of the 12 warmest years on record have
occurred
Go Green Facts – Paper
Recycling 1 Ton of paper saves:
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17 mature trees
7,000 gallons of water
3 cubic yards of landfill space
2 barrels of oil; and
4,100 kw hours of electricity (enough to power a home for 5 months)
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500,000 – number of trees cut down to produce each week’s Sunday newspapers
25,000,000 – number of trees saved a year IF every American recycled just 1/10
of their newspapers
75,000 – number of trees saved recycling a single run of the Sunday New York
Times
250,000,000 – number of trees saved if all our newspaper was recycled
The average American uses 7 trees a year
1 Billion – estimated number of trees worth of paper thrown away every year in
the US
85,000,000 Tons - amount of paper Americans use per year
17 trees saved can absorb a total of 250 pound of carbon dioxide; burning 17 trees
would create 1500 pounds of carbon dioxed
More than 56% of paper consumed in the US in ‘07 was recycled! That equals
360 pounds for each person in the Country!
400 paper mills use recovered materials for their paper producing process
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Go Green Facts – Water
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5 Billion Gallons – amount of water used to flush toilets each DAY!
Americans use an average of 100 gallons of water each day!
Surveys show 36 states anticipate water shortages by 2013!
If all US residential homes installed water-efficient appliances, the country would
save more than 3 Trillion Gallons of water and more than $18 Billion dollars per
year!
If 1 out of every 100 residential homes converted to water-efficient fixtures, we
would roughly save 100 Million kWh of electricity per year and 80,000 Tons of
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GHG (Greenhouse Gas Emissions). That’s roughly taking 15,000 vehicles from
the road for 1 year!
Between 1950 and 2000, the US population nearly doubled. However, in that
same period, public demand for water more than tripled! Go Green, save water.
If your toilet is from 1992 or earlier, you probably have an inefficient model using
at least 3.5 up to 6 Gallons per flush! Now you can install 1.3 Gallons per flush
or Zero-Gallons per flush!
Faucets generally flow 2 Gallons per minute. Save 8 gallons every time you
brush your teeth by turning the faucet off.
Today’s faucets run as low as 0.5 gallons per minute!
Today’s showerheads run as low as 1.0 gallons per minute!
56 billion kWh per year – the amount of electricity consumed by public water
supplying and treating facilities!
5 minutes of a running faucet equals roughly a 14 hour run time of a 60-watt light
bulb
Bath = 70 gallons of water
Shower = 30 gallons of water (change your showerhead to a low-flow head (1
gallon/minute))
Outdated washing machines use about 40 gallons per load
Newer, efficient washing machines use less than 28 gallons per load
Using too much water also significantly contributes to “nonpoint source
pollution.” This is when water moves across the ground, collecting pollutant from
various sources, and eventually depositing them into our drinking water. Failing
to use water efficiently can hurt our water supply by:
Altering stream flows due to excessive withdrawals increasing the amount of dirty
runoff water that flows into natural water supplies. This runoff water carries
sediments, nutrients, salts, and other pollutants and can be caused, among other
things, by over irrigating urban landscapes or farm fields. Nutrients such as
nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are naturally occurring, but habitats can be
destroyed when excess amounts of any one nutrient, especially phosphorus, are
concentrated in the soil or water
Creating the need to build additional dams. Dams generate nonpoint source
pollution by trapping sediment and other pollutants, affecting water quality both
upstream and downstream. This concentrates pollutants, causes sediment in the
river to pile up, decreases dissolved oxygen and alters water temperatures.
Go Green Facts - Plastic / Styrofoam
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2,500,000 – plastic bottles used every hour by Americans
Recycling plastic saves twice as much energy as burning it the incinerator
25,000,000,000 – amount of Styrofoam cups thrown away every year
Go Green Facts - Metals
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Every ton of recycled steel saves 2,500 pounds of iron ore, 1,000 pounds of coal,
and 40 pounds of limestone.
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Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a TV for 3 hours –
equivalent to a half gallon of gas.
Recycling aluminum saves roughly 95% of the energy needed to produce new
aluminum from raw materials.
Energy saved by recycling 1 ton equals the amount of energy the average
American home consumes over a 10 year period!
Americans throw away enough aluminum they could rebuild our commercial air
fleet in 1 month!
Recycling tin and steel saves 74% of energy used to produce virgin steel.
100 Million – amount of cans used per day!
350,000 – aluminum cans produced every minute
More aluminum goes into beverage cans than any other product
There is NO limit to the amount of times an aluminum can be recycled
80,000,000,000 – number of cans used every year
A 60-watt light bulb can be run for over a day on the amount of energy saved by
recycling 1 pound of steel.
Go Green! Make a conscious effort to save water as it’s our most essential
resource.
Go Green Facts – Glass
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Glass can be recycled forever
Mining and transporting raw materials for glass produces about 385 pounds of
waste for every ton of glass that is made. If recycled glass is substituted for half
of the raw materials, the waste is cut by more than 80%.
Recycling 1 glass bottle causes 20% less air pollution and 50% less water
pollution than when a new bottle is made from raw materials
1 glass bottle would take at least 4,000 years to decompose
In 1994, if all the glass bottles / jars were laid end to end, it would reach the moon
and half way back to earth!
Every month, Americans throw out enough glass bottles and jars to fill up a
skyscraper
Go Green Facts – General
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The average American will throw 600 times their weight (90,000 lbs or 47.5 tons)
in the garbage over their lifetime! Go green, the majority of that trash is
recyclable.
Compact Fluorescent (CF) bulbs use about 1/4 the energy to produce the same
amount of light as a traditional incandescent bulb.
ENERGY STAR equipment uses average 65% less electricity than standard
models.
Printer cartridges take about 450 years to decompose, so Go Green and recycle.
The 1st recycling program was introduced in NYC in the 1890s.
1/3 of an average landfill is made up of packaging material
Water Efficiency- Go Green
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According to the Energy Information System, Water heating in commercial
buildings accounts for nearly 15% of building energy use.
According to the USGBC, lower potable water use for toilets, showerheads,
faucets, and other plumbing fixtures reduces water withdrawn from underground
aquifers and from rivers, streams, and other water bodies that support aquatic
ecosystems.
According to Anne Vazquez, Cooling tower systems are large consumers of water
for a facility, with approximately 3 gallons of water per minute needed for each
ton of refrigeration the system must provide.
Energy, Environment & Atmosphere
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According to the US Department of Energy, properly executed O&M programs
that target energy efficiency have been shown to save 5%-20% on energy bills
without significant capital investments.
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and Hydro fluorocarbons (HCFCs) deplete the ozone
layer and cause Global Warming. Go green and reduce the usage of CFCs and
HCFCs.
According to the US EPA, Simon Property Group implemented a Web-based
tracking tool for energy use. Between 2004-2005 Simon cut 6.8% of their
electricity use compared to 2003 and saved 84,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions
(enough electricity to power nearly 10,800 US homes for a year).