According to a new study 260 lives could be saved if skyscrapers and other big buildings used cleaner oil for their boilers. This number could rise even further if they switched from the high carbon emitting oil boilers to more greener' energy efficient gas boilers.
Estimations carried out by the NYU show that by using natural gas in boilers rather than oil, 259 lives could be saved yearly. This amounts to a saving of $22 billion in health costs over the next thirty years.
The dangerous elements that are being excreted into the atmosphere from these oil boilers is having adverse affects on asthma sufferers, and can also lead to a higher risk of heart attacks when inhaled.
Michael Livermore of New York University's Institute for Policy Integrity said: "Switching to a less toxic fuel is relatively inexpensive compared to the serious health consequences of burning dirty oil".
This comes at a time when energy efficient boilers are on the rise, and an influx during the summer months is expected. With the recession last year the market was struggling, taking an overall dip.
The efficiency of gas boilers has improved greatly over time and there are a number of ways in which these can be even further improved. One way would be to include motorized dampers which block the outlet of the flue pipe when the boiler is not in use, preventing the loss of hot air between cycles. This does however depend on whether you are using the conventional or more modern condensing and combi boilers.