Meh , just buy some carbon credits to offset the losses ....

So what is a "green" building doing using electricity from a polluting source anyways???? Where are the solar panels and giant fans???
Hypocritical a**holes. But this is no surprise coming from greenies.

Probably doesn't have any of that life destroying nassssty pink fiberglass insulation in it.

Don't stand too close to the space heater, kids.

Kate's tagline is closer to the truth than we realize...

My daughter's Grade 1 teacher told the class that water was burned up in the production of electricity, so that low water levels and water shortages are due to the desire to keep lights on, and how selfish is that?

Them that can; do.
Them that can't; teach.

The typical greenie attitude is that hydro power should be included in the CO2 metric. You see, if the Whistler library doesn't use that extra power, it possibly might be diverted for sale in a jurisdiction where it might possibly cause a wee bit of that nasty coal fired generation to be backed off. So all you Left-coasters, Manitobeans and Kwebeckers, when you use electrical energy, you are just as nasty to the environoment as anybody living in a coal jurisdiction.

And, by the way, if you are a Whistler latte greenie, you know that the cost of CO2 emissions is far, far greater than the cost of producing the electrical energy itself, as is manifest in the attitude of the mayor and municipal staff set out in this extract from the article:

""The general attitude of the mayor and staff is that we've got to keep spending money on green stuff because it's so great and it makes us feel so good and we just don't have the time or money to see if what we spent the money on worked out. And that's what I think is outrageous," said Milner in a later interview."

That is an eco-building?

Holy crap, look at the window frontage? Not going to save much on electricity bills with those windows IN WINTER!

If I were a Whistler taxpayer, I would be looking for the fraud!

Assuming that architects would reliably estimate energy costs is laughable in the first place. I am sure their invoices for billable hours is right on the money though.

Solar panels, wind turbines? How much of that "dirty" CO2 would be produced to manufacture those "green" items?

By the way, when I lived on the "wet coast", it rained most of the time, all year long! About 300 inches of it a year. Rain comes out of the clouds of moisture piling up against the Coast Mountains from the moist westerly moving, Pacific air. Duh!!

They don't call it the "Sunshine Coast" for nothing other than to suck in gullible patrons to the area. Bring your rain gear and rubber booties folks, it rains mostly in winter there, below the snow line, in the valleys.

See ya at the 'Lympics.

jt....c'mon.Get with the pogra....err...program.All that CO2 used to produce "green" energy thingies does not count to the eco-facists.All that rain turning your brain to fungii? off to the re-education camp for you!....heh

That article so perfectly demonstrates the problem with career politicians and bureaucrats. Have to spend that money, or your empire might shrink!

" Mayor Ken Melamed questioned spending the time and money on such a report when building to green standards is simply the right direction"
Right, costs do not matter, taxpayers would pay anyway so why bother to check efficiency.

Libraries are full of books and magazines. MAde of paper. energy is used in large quantities and co2 consuming trees are felled to make paper. Everything on a libraries shelves could be made available in digital format. Thus librairies themselves are about as anti-green as it gets, so why is the whistler council even approved building a new library in the first place?

"For example, heat tracing was added outside, something that was not anticipated in the modeling. Tracing is still cheaper, said MacPherson, than shoveling snow."

Snow wasn't anticipted in Whistler?

If we don't reduce emissions, he said, we're heading for economic destitution.

Mayor Ken Melamed

And if you don't mind your p's & q's you will still end up in economic destitution. Neither route will make you feel better at the end of the day.

When I bought a new furnace I asked about geothermal. The guy doing the audit said it would start at about 40,000. My new furnace is 96.7% efficient and costs about 4,000. Given that at -40 I probably would need a supplemental heat source. I didn't need a math degree to figure that one out.
Wouldn't I be contributing to global cooling more than I was already doing?

When I bought a new furnace I asked about geothermal. The guy doing the audit said it would start at about 40,000. My new furnace is 96.7% efficient and costs about 4,000. Given that at -40 I probably would need a supplemental heat source. I didn't need a math degree to figure that one out.
Wouldn't I be contributing to global cooling more than I was already doing?

Speedy is onto something.

geothermal uses a reversing refrigeration principle to heat or cool, drawing heat from the ground or putting it back during cooling.

remember Dr. Suzuki TV ad chastising Bob for his basement beer fridge?

A heat pump is that fridge.
(plus a bunch other stuff)

Those beams aren't from old growth timber, are they....are they...???? The inhumanity.....

All the inconvenient truths....
The science is settled.....
With hydro bills like that....the ecotards already know the "reports" will be inconvenient truths....
Getting re-elected will be perhaps a problem...unless the voters have a critical mass of eco-idiots....it is the left-coast after all.

Well, speaking as someone who actually had geothermal installed, $40,000 is definitely on the high side, my system was less than $30. I do not need a supplemental heat source, even at -40. Take away the $17,000 that SaskEnergy estimated it would cost to trench a gas line to my place....

Maybe a math degree is in order?

A good rule of thumb to tuck in the back of your mind is this:

If the word 'green' or 'LEEDS' or 'saves energy' shows up in a discussion where money is spent, turn to your lawyer and ask 'is fraud a criminal charge?'.

Derek

Ah yes, LEED....I'm in construction and attended a LEED seminar to learn about it. Lots of extra capital cost to the building just to own a Prius..."Look at me! I'M green and YOU'RE not!" Now it appears the savings aren't there...unless the Contractor cut corners...Oh those nasty Contractors!!!

Don't have to have a math degree to know $30,000 would buy a lot of electric or propane heat. Add on the cost of running a heat pump...

Makes me glad I'm no longer on the left coast where someone can make an idiotic comparison of hydropower producing CO2 and no-one questions them on it. There's no shortage of rain in large parts of BC and by converting it to electricity we reduce the kinetic energy of the water which would otherwise cause undesirable erosion in the stream beds. Every British Columbian concerned with conservation of their river habitat should crank up their air conditioners full blast to make sure we preserve riverbeds unaltered for future generations. Unfortunately where I live there are no greenies around to try this argument out on.

Kevin.. I didn't cost it out, that is the figure I got. The guy did energy audits not install systems but it was close enough for me.

The road to the greenhuts is paved with demented popular intentions

Looks like the Whistler council got snookered by some engineering consultants and don't want to face up to it.

I've seen a few cases of this over the last 6 years.
The local government are usually technically clueless and rely on policies that include running everything through consultants.
The consultants then propose things that sound great along with all the "Green" mumbo jumbo.

LEED certification being the popular pitch these days.

The locals feel great because they think they're well informed after the studies and plans are all explained.
After all they've been promised the coveted recognition of the LEED program!

LEED

After the developments are done .... there's too often a big surprise .... things that were not covered so well in the plans.

They should check the basement, someones running a grow-op.

I bought a mid efficiency furnace with two speed fan last summer. When winter came along the thing could not keep my house warm. It ran all the time resulting in double the natural gas used and double the cost of home heating. All done in the name of saving me money and wanting a newer more efficient furnace. Looking back I miss my thirty year old Coleman fire belching monster.