Replies

1. GBA Editor
   Martin Holladay | Oct 10, 2012 10:44am | #1

   Elisa,
   Here's some information on residential energy consumption in Louisiana:
   http://www.eia.gov/beta/state/?sid=la

   Per capita consumption of natural gas in Louisiana homes in 2005: 9.6 million BTU
   Per capita consumption of electricity in Louisiana homes in 2005: 6,373 kWh

   According to the 2005 Residential Energy Consumption Survey, the average number of people per household in the South is 2.49. So we can now calculate energy consumption figures for Louisiana households:

   Average residential consumption of natural gas in Louisiana in 2005 (per household): 23.9 million BTU

   Average residential consumption of electricity in Louisiana in 2005 (per household): 15,869 kWh

2. 
   homedesign | Oct 10, 2012 11:09am | #2

   Most people don't give the South enough Credit
   When it comes to consuming more "Source Energy" per household....We are not-too-shabby

   I think the South has more opportunity for improvement ... than most other climates

   http://www.buildingscience.com/documents/digests/bsd152-building-energy-performance-metrics/files/BSD-152%20Energy%20Metrics.pdf

   
3. 
   homedesign | Oct 10, 2012 11:22am | #3

   by the way.... I think there are some typos or math/percentage mistakes in the map I posted from the Building Science website ... the percentages are not matching up with the values

4. 
   eliss | Oct 10, 2012 11:43am | #4

   Thanks to everybody for your answers. But I was thinking I would also need an energy consumption per area (rather than per person)...so what can be considered a standard size for a single family house in Louisiana?

   Thanks

5. GBA Editor
   Martin Holladay | Oct 10, 2012 11:55am | #5

   Elisa,
   Here's a table with some data:
   http://www.eia.gov/consumption/residential/data/2005/hc/hcfloorspace_char/pdf/alltables.pdf

   In the South, the average housing unit in 2005 measured 2,161 square feet (average heated square feet = 1,551 square feet; average cooled square feet = 1,295 square feet).

6. 
   eliss | Oct 10, 2012 12:00pm | #6

   That's great. Thanks!

7. 
   eliss | Oct 11, 2012 06:16am | #7

   I have one last question for Martin: in which table is the average number of people per household in the South (2.49)? Is it in one of these tables or did you calculate it by yourself? Sorry but I can't find it! Thanks again

8. GBA Editor
   Martin Holladay | Oct 11, 2012 08:41am | #8

   Elisa,
   I calculated it myself from a table that I can no longer find; however, it appears that I made a mistake.

   This table -- http://www.eia.gov/emeu/recs/recs2005/c&e/summary/excel/tableus1part1.xls -- shows that in 2005, the average number of persons per household was 2.52 in the South and 2.62 in the West South Central region (the census region that includes Louisiana). Sorry for the mix-up.

9. 
   eliss | Oct 11, 2012 10:05am | #9

   That was really useful! Thank you very much!
   Anyway we will be soon launching a website with the results of our research on low energy buildings. You can keep an eye on bigee.net. Cheers

10. 
    homedesign | Oct 11, 2012 10:40am | #10

    BigEE quote: "Energy efficiency may allow savings of nearly 100% of the energy consumed by a conventional building...."
    That is a pretty "Incredible" statement

11. GBA Editor
    Martin Holladay | Oct 11, 2012 10:55am | #11

    John,
    I'm not familiar with the term "BigEE", and I don't know whether your quote has anything to do with this thread. Non sequitur?

    I did a Google search on "BigEE" -- it seems to be some kind of agency in Germany?

12. 
    eliss | Oct 11, 2012 11:13am | #12

    The statement is not so incredible if you think Net Zero Energy Buildings already exist. Anyway here you can find a description of the project: http://www.wupperinst.org/en/projects/proj/index.html?projekt_id=310&bid=43&searchart=projekt_uebersicht. (The website bigee.net is still under construction). Hope this helps.

13. 
    homedesign | Oct 11, 2012 11:55am | #13

    Martin, sorry for being too brief... I should have said BigEE.net ... the link that Elisa suggested

    Sorry Elisa.... my mind jumped to enclosure efficiency ...

14. GBA Editor
    Martin Holladay | Oct 11, 2012 12:07pm | #14

    John,
    OK, I see it now -- my eye glossed right over it upon first reading. I hadn't realize that she provided a link.

15. 
    homedesign | Oct 11, 2012 12:18pm | #15

    posting hint...
    provide the "www" "dot" before the website name ... and it will appear as a bold clickable "hot-link"
    as in
    http://www.bigee.net