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There are a lot of people who don't think we can kick our fossil fuel habit.
It's too hard, it's too expensive or too late
I think we can and my story is really about how we might start.
My partner and I have build what we think it's North America's greenest hotel,
right here in Toronto: "Planet Traveler".
And by green I am not talking about recycled toilet paper.
Global carbon emissions have got to come down by at least three quarters, we know this now.
So I decided to set that goal for "Planet Traveler".
Three quarters cut in carbon and see what I get!
And when I started I haven't had the slighest idea
how to do it... I didnt know it was possible!
I didn't know geothermal from a hole in the ground to be honest!
But I did know--
(Laughter)
But I did know
as someone who builds companies for a living that is got to be profitable if it's gonna fly.
So that was part of the experiment, that everything had to pay for itself.
And I discovered something quite profound, which is gonna be the moral of the story.
But first I'll tell you how we did it.
The bad news is we have to throw out all the guide books
lead the rest of it.
They don't come close to three quarters, they're inadequate.
The good news is that everything we needed has already been invented!
So at "Planet Traveler " we have geothermal heating and cooling.
That's the workhorse of the hotel.
So instead of a furnace we suck heat out of the ground,
and instead of air conditioning, we push heat into the ground.
We've used the sun for hot water as well as a bit of electricity.
We have efficient lighting and we grab heat out of the drain before hits the sewer.
And that's it!
That's enough to get you to the three quarters mark.
The only problem we really had is that we didn't have any place to bury the geothermal pipes.
So we ask the city of Toronto
"Please, may we use this public laneway running besides the building?"
and the city responded beautifully.
They're championing this idea now.
As a matter of fact, geothermal laneway throughout the city of Toronto is a real possibility
So it is kudos -- really! -- to our mayor, David Miller, and the city, who really stepped up on this one.
"Well, it's all very good!" one might say
"if you are just gonna throw money at the problem! It's probably not hard to reach that target",
but this is the kicker.
The total cost of all that stuff was less than 5% of the building's value.
And to put that in perspective, if I borrow that money against the building
the loan payments are less than what I save on the energy bills.
So we're making money cutting carbon!
This is a no brainer.
But my story, of course, is not really about my little hotel.
The moral is this:
buildings around the world account for 40% of our green house gas emission.
And if everybody did what we did.
we would cut global emissions by a third!
And everybody who did it will be making money.
This is low-hanging fruit!
And I will tell you how we pick it!
There is a rule for government here.
So president Obama, Prime Minister Harper
backstop or force those commercial banks
to lend money at low interest rates for these kinds of retrofits.
Better yet! Mandate the retrofits!
It creates local jobs, It cuts carbon and it forms the basis of a new clean tech economy.
That's an economic stimulus package!
For twenty years, we've been frozen in taking any action in climate change, by bickering!
And my story says: "We can kick the fossill fuel habit."
And "Planet Traveler" offers a very simple and very constructive way forward.
My name is Tom Rand
and if you want to learn more about what I get up to, you can find me at www.tomrand.net !
Thanks a lot!
(Applause)