Very soon, biomass energy will be included in green building standards.
ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers), USGBC (US Green Building Council), and IES (Illuminating Engineering Society) are jointly developing new biomass requirements for inclusion in green building standard.
Hurray for biomass! Infographic from Reenergyholdings.com
Right now, the ASHRAE/IES/USGBC Standard 189.1, (short for Standard for the Design of High Performance Green Buildings), recognizes renewable energy systems such as solar, wind, and geothermal. Standard 189.1 is a total building sustainability standard that guides the design, construction, and operation of green buildings to help reduce their impact on the environment. Currently Standard 189.1 allows biomass to be used as an energy source, but is not included in the definition of renewable energy requirements.
The proposal to include biomass came during the recently held ASHRAE’s 2015 Winter Conference in Chicago. Initially, the committee, led by Andy Persily, voted not to accept biomass, but eventually agreed to work on a definition as well as requirements. If ever the proposal pushes through, it will undergo ASHRAE standards development procedures and a public review. This is to ensure utmost care in creating sound and rigorous standards for including biomass as a renewable energy system.
About Biomass Energy
Biomass energy, perhaps the oldest form of renewable energy, is simply living or dead organic matter with lots of stored solar energy captured by plants through photosynthesis. As a recap, photosynthesis is that miraculous process by which plants use sunlight to make food. Since animals eat plants, this stored energy is basically transferred to them, which is why animal waste can also be harnessed for biomass energy.
The simplest and most common form of biomass is firewood, which we directly burn to get heat. But biomass can also be in the form of crops such as corn, sugar, sorghum, wheat, which are then converted to biofuel such as methane, ethanol, and biodiesel. Biomass can also be sourced from agricultural waste such as corn stalks, straw, or from livestock manure. Finally, biomass energy can come from organic municipal waste—the burning of which helps divert tons and tons of waste from reaching the landfills.
Biomass when harvested sustainably complements the earth’s natural terrestrial carbon cycle—the balanced exchange of carbon among the atmosphere, soil, water, plants, and animals. Since photosynthesis is a continuous and never-ending process for plants, biomass is easy to grow and thus very renewable. One more advantage of biomass is the fact that biomass plants emit less pollution (nitrogen oxide, mercury, and sulfur, particulate matter, etc.) than coal plants.
But just as there are good points, there are disadvantages of biomass too. Air pollution is still an issue. Demand for biomass can encourage deforestation which can harm animal and plant biodiversity and erode soil. Crops such as corn that would have otherwise fed people end up being converted to biofuel instead. Also, lands are being cleared and devoted to biomass resources instead of being used to grow food.
No doubt today’s various tech and practices for converting biomass can still be fine-tuned for cleaner and more efficient energy output.
Biomass’s inclusion as alternative renewable energy in green building standards is long overdue. Not only will this broaden choices for green building designers. Instead of relying on the grid, buildings can grow and maintain their own fuel right at the outdoor premises. So long as we harness biomass sustainably, it’ll be one step to eventually renouncing our dependence on fossil fuels.
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