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All good ideas, even tho introducing an air fuel tax would be the best idea of the lot, although fair play to the journo who noted the shorter routes coincided more with the airlines pulling out than with the rise in prices.

A bit later now but they could also encourage a return to better heat insulated buildings that need less A/C in summer and heating in winter. All of those big concrete and/or glass towers so beloved of corporate megalomaniacs and swanky architects.

How about a tax break on ground effect heating ? Or on solar heating panels ? I've been around S Spain a lot and don't see much evidence of the latter and I know the installation costs of the former are pretty steep.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Wed Jul 30th, 2008 at 11:06:23 AM EST
[ Parent ]
I was wondering what Spain is going to do about cooling computer server rooms? Most buildings are horribly designed for keeping a lot of computers cool during hot summer days, even in the winter here in the U.S. many companies spending money to keep running air conditioners to keep server rooms cool while spending money to keep the rest of the building warm for the people. It's a really dumb model that could easily be solved through better building design, I think.
by Magnifico on Wed Jul 30th, 2008 at 11:47:36 AM EST
[ Parent ]
I guess they work on the principle that server rooms are only a small part of the overall energy cost of a building. Nobody has huge processor floors like the ones I knew 10 years ago in banks (do they ?).

But architects never really take working costs into account, else they'd never use so much glass. Bold, award-winning designs are not green and frugal.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Wed Jul 30th, 2008 at 11:54:33 AM EST
[ Parent ]
I don't know, recently I was running 15 times as many processors in a server room as I was ten years ago (Not counting switches and other networking gear which had also massively increased)

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.
by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Wed Jul 30th, 2008 at 12:13:58 PM EST
[ Parent ]
My experience with architects is that, absent a direct mandate from the owner, they see space for electrical and electronic equipment as something to be minimized to the extent possible.  They all pay homage to "Form follows Function" but it is the exceptional architect that follows that dictum.  It is all about visual aesthetics.  I have thought that they should be required to go around campus for a semester in blindfolds in order to learn to appreciate non visual perception.  Perhaps they should also spend a year in classes without heating, ventilation and air conditioning, trying to keep their CAD stations running.

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Wed Jul 30th, 2008 at 02:17:00 PM EST
[ Parent ]
It has been reported that the CIO is usually unaware of these costs because they are not billed separately for the server rooms. Energy costs per area are one to two orders of magnitude higher than for normal office space, mostly so for cooling.

Server rooms have been reported to consume up to 2% of the energy worldwide, rapidly increasing, and about as much as the aviation.

by Humbug (mailklammeraffeschultedivisstrackepunktde) on Wed Jul 30th, 2008 at 01:14:52 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Sealed buildings are an epic design failure, perhaps even worse than SUVs.

Back in my hardcore nerd college days, I lived in an apartment with two other guys. Our dining room was used as a computer room with eight computers and other electronic components. Even in the dead of the frigid Minnesota winter, we usually had the windows in the dining room open during the evening.

you are the media you consume.

by MillMan (millguy at gmail) on Wed Jul 30th, 2008 at 04:10:55 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Sealed buildings are an epic design failure...

Aren't sealed buildings, when discussing heating and cooling for humans, a good idea? Don't they increase energy efficiency by helping maintain the warmth or coolness?

It strikes me that the "epic design failure" is not sealed buildings, but not taking into account the massive amount of heat generated by computer equipment and trying to retrofit computer farms into buildings that were not designed to warehouse machines generating that much heat (and consuming that much electricity).

by Magnifico on Wed Jul 30th, 2008 at 04:20:38 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Sealed buildings - as in can't open windows when the weather conditions warrant - are an epic design failure.

you are the media you consume.

by MillMan (millguy at gmail) on Wed Jul 30th, 2008 at 06:06:07 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Sealed buildings lead to Sick Building Syndrome.

Building occupants complain of symptoms such as:

    * Headache
    * Eye, nose, or throat irritation
    * Dry cough; dry or itchy skin
    * Dizziness and nausea
    * Difficulty in concentrating
    * Fatigue
    * Sensitivity to odors
    * Increased incidence of asthma attacks/appearance of asthma in non-asthmatics
    * Personality changes such as rage/weeping/paranoia/depression
    * Putative cases of bronchitis or pneumonia which do not respond to antibiotic treatment
    * Symptoms resembling Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)

This is a shortened list, as over 50 possible symptoms are known. It is possible for a dozen sick occupants to report a surprising array of individual symptoms which may be dismissed as unconnected. The key to discovery is the increased incidence of illnesses in general with onset or exacerbation within a fairly close time frame - usually within a period of weeks. Some sources will insist that for SBS to exist, these symptoms must disappear soon after the occupants go outside. However, this view discounts the lingering effects of various neurotoxins, which may not clear up when the occupant leaves the building. In particularly sensitive individuals, the potential for long-term health effects cannot be overlooked.

by ATinNM on Wed Jul 30th, 2008 at 09:27:35 PM EST
[ Parent ]

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