This is old news by now, but New York's Rockefeller Center, home of Radio City Music Hall (where moe. will be playing new year's eve, unfortunately without me in the audience), has gone all green for Christmas, according to just about everybody, including the ever-reliable Daily News.
So what does it mean for Rock Center to "go green?"
Well, efficient LED lights on the tree, for one thing. And NYC's largest solar private solar installation on the roof, which is good. And a thermal storage system that will make ice during off-peak nighttime hours, then use that ice to reduce the load on the building's air conditioners during the peak daytime hours. All good things, to be sure. But I have to ask...is cutting down a tree with a handsaw really that much greener than cutting down a tree with a chainsaw?
So what does it mean for Rock Center to "go green?"
Well, efficient LED lights on the tree, for one thing. And NYC's largest solar private solar installation on the roof, which is good. And a thermal storage system that will make ice during off-peak nighttime hours, then use that ice to reduce the load on the building's air conditioners during the peak daytime hours. All good things, to be sure. But I have to ask...is cutting down a tree with a handsaw really that much greener than cutting down a tree with a chainsaw?