I’ve never coined a word and never wanted to either. The English language has approximately 600,000 words: that’s enough. However I need some catchwords for Saturn’s efforts in the new year of 2012. My first new word is the verb: complexify. We complicate, we obfuscate. We over-reach with our blind faith in standards, certification, and great mountains of paperwork. In short, we complexify.
Complexify means: To complicate beyond any need or logical purpose. The ARRA energy stimulus brought sweeping complexification starting in 2009. In 2012 here at Saturn, we struggle to decomplexify. Decomplexify means to simplify what has been needlessly complexified. We wish to decomplexify what is confusing us and our industry. Please help us if you can.
We have too many standards, too many certifications, too much curricula, and too much competing guidance from the Department of Energy, the Building Performance Institute, RESNET, ASHRAE, IREC, ACCA, and a host of other industry organizations.
These organizations have created an ever-growing pile of complexification that few of us have yet attempted to comprehend. This great pile stifles our efforts to conserve energy. I wouldn’t complain if such complexity was necessary, but it isn’t.
The ultimate in decomplexification for weatherization or building performance (or whatever else you want to call our industry) would be to tax energy. Or please, just remove all the subsidies for fossil fuels and nuclear. If Obama or the congress really wanted to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy, they would find a way to raise energy prices to reflect its real benefits and costs to society. Then the federal government could get out of our way while we create millions of jobs and build an energy-efficient economy. We could actually compete with the Chinese and Northern Europeans who are busily creating wealth with energy technologies pioneered here in America, while we Americans waste time complexifying.
Information should be no more complex than necessary. What bureaucracies complexify, we will decomplexify. That’s our mission here at Saturn. Thanks to all you customers who support decomplexification!
