Steve Erdman, Norm Scott, and Tom Travis, Residents of The Academy Village
Wednesday, April 19, 2023,
2:30–3:30 pm,
Koffler Great Room, ASA Building and Zoom
Heating and cooling account for the largest energy use in a typical home. Why is everyone going to need a heat pump? In this seminar this question will be addressed because heat pumps are a two-way solution for year-round home comfort. They are a cost-effective and energy-efficient, climate-friendly solution for heating and air conditioning buildings.
Heat pumps are different than our traditional HVAC systems in several ways. First, heat pumps operate in both a heating and cooling mode, thus replacing roles of an air conditioner and a furnace. Second, they are our best opportunity to phase out fossil fuels for heating, and third, heat pumps are much more energy efficient. The principle is simple, heat pumps move heat from outside to the indoors during the heating season and just the opposite, move heat from the indoors to the outside during the cooling season. Because the heat pump moves heat rather than generating heat the energy used is greatly reduced.
Steve Erdman (part-time pediatrician) and his wife Terri joined Academy Village in January of 2022 moving into their sixth home on Langtry Lane. They recently replaced both original faltering HVAC units with heat pumps. Home improvement projects are mental therapy for Steve who works to be an educated, environmentally responsible consumer and homeowner.
Norm Scott is Professor Emeritus at Cornell University having served for more than 60 years at Cornell in research and teaching in biological engineering, and University administration. Interests are sustainable development with emphasis on biologically derived fuels and renewable energy. He is member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering.
Tom Travis has served as Administrator, Hawaii’s Emergency Management Agency (HI-EMA); Vice President of Puna Pono Alliance, a community group dealing with environmental justice and energy; Study Director, Joint Center for Operational Analysis, US Department of Defense; and a study director and managing editor for the study on the DOD response to Hurricane Katrina.
Compiled by Norm Scott, Academy Village Volunteer and Chair, Sustainability Committee
You can connect to Zoom either by using the following URL: https://zoom.us/j/95456511620?pwd=OC9GcnJRNmJpMTdXdXFhaUpCUkx4QT09 or by opening a browser to zoom.com/join and typing in Meeting ID: 954 5651 1620 and Passcode: 85747