Archive for March, 2010
Chief executive of the UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) has backed plans for funding that would help businesses to make their premises more eco friendly and energy efficient.
A letter was sent to the Guardian newspaper, proposing the investment in green building and infrastructure in the UK. UKGBC director Paul King signed his support on the letter.
In total, the letter was signed by 12 notable supporters. This includes Andy Atkins from Friends of the Earth, James Cameron from Climate Change Capital and more. The letter calls for at least £750 billion to go into supporting low carbon infrastructure, improved energy efficiency and low carbon energy within the next two decades.
The government is already taking measures to help upgrade properties around the country, including both residential and business properties, by encouraging measures such as double glazing to reduce the need for heating buildings.
However, the UKGBC believe that more needs to be done for the industry. In order to fulfil their wishes, they are pushing the government to set up a green infrastructure bank to increase investment into a low carbon economy. They believe that a general infrastructure bank would not produce enough focus for environmental issues.
The Scots Housing Association has recently announced that it plans to create a green home that is so energy efficient its bills only cost £100 each year.
The Green Building Press has reported that the housing association will be working together with the architect firms City Building and PRP to create four prototype homes that will then be used on future projects.
The housing association’s executive director of regeneration, Jim Sneddon, said that what they are nicknaming ‘Glasgow House’ has become more than an idea – ‘it is now a development with a real future’.
He added that the energy efficient and cost effective home will come with a number of benefits. First and foremost it will ‘help families enjoy a better quality of life’ making homes more comfortable and far cheaper to run. Homes such as this will also make a big difference to the environment and carbon emissions.
A number of eco friendly measures will be installed in the property, ranging from insulation to double glazing in windows. Homes will also be making use of the latest renewable energy technologies to create even bigger savings.
Since the announcement of the Ravenscraig redevelopment project, Glasgow has been at the centre of a debate about sustainable housing.
At the heart of the Ravenscraig redevelopment are recycled materials, energy efficient techniques and sustainable measures of construction that go into shaping how the site will develop. It is one of the largest regeneration sites in Europe.
On Saturday 27th March, homes around the world and across the UK were encouraged to turn off their lights for an hour in a bid to save energy and become more aware of climate change issues.
Earth Hour is an event organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature, asking that as many people and businesses as possible switch off the lights for an hour. Earth Hour originally began in Sydney, Australia, in 2007 and has since spread around the world.
A number of cities chose to participate in the event, turning off lights on notable buildings and areas to raise awareness of the cause. Cities that took part included Edinburgh and Liverpool.
Liverpool’s executive council member for the environment, Councillor Berni Turner, said that ‘It is really simple and if everyone continues to work together to reduce energy waste, it really will make a huge difference.’
Critics and the organisers themselves recognise that the energy savings made by everyone switching off lights at the same time may be negligible, due to the fact that a lot of electricity will then be required when everyone turns on their lights again. However, the idea is to raise awareness of energy saving measures and how easy it can be to do our bit.
Those who did or did not participate are also encouraged to work towards a ‘low carbon lifestyle’ that can include installing energy efficient measures in homes, such as double glazing in windows and insulation in walls and lofts.
According to a new survey, more than three quarters of people in Britain are finding it difficult to afford their energy bills, according to a price comparison website.
The survey was conducted by moneysupermarket.com, who chose to take action as a way of encouraging the energy providers to cut costs to customers.
British Gas recently led the way in price cuts, followed by the rest of the ‘Big Six’. However, the average bill is still over £1,000 in the UK – and many residents simply don’t realise that there are so many ways to save money in their homes.
Though measures such as double glazing and insulation will cost money to install, they should be seen as a long term investment thanks to the savings they can bring over the years. On average, according to the Energy Saving Trust, double glazing in windows can cut around £135 from annual bills.
The government is also encouraging people to install renewable energy technology such as wind turbines and solar panels. Not only will these help to save money on energy bills, those who install the measures are also likely to make money from them thanks to the government’s new Feed-in Tariff.
Utilities manager of the website, Scott Byron, said that customers should ‘vote with their feet’ and also start changing their tariffs to save an additional sum of money – up to £260 each year.
Residents in Glasgow who are finding their heating bills a little steep may be set to benefit from a new team of advisors created to help householders save energy.
The advisers are known as the Home Energy Advice Team (G. Heat) and will help give advice on how to make properties more energy efficient to reduce carbon emissions.
Special ‘surgeries’ will be set up as a way to deliver the advice, at venues such as the Citizens Advice Bureau, to help encourage more people to take up green measures that can help contribute to long term energy savings.
Measures to be recommended include double glazing, which can help to reduce heat lost through windows by half – amounting to around £135 savings each year. Other measures such as loft insulation, energy efficient boilers and cavity wall insulation will also be recommended.
Councillor George Ryan said that reduced family incomes and unemployment, down to the recession, mean that there are around 105,000 households in Glasgow currently living in fuel poverty which is ‘totally unacceptable’.
He added that launching G. Heat should be seen as a major step in helping to eradicate this fuel poverty – as a number of different agencies have all come together to help tackle the problem.
Research recently taken by the price comparison website gocompare.com has shown that many people throughout the whole of the UK are currently finding it difficult to meet the costs of their energy bills.
According to the study, around a quarter of all people left their houses cold in the winter to help keep costs down.
Two interior designers are helping to promote insulation in homes, in conjunction with the Go Greener campaign of the Scottish Government, that aims to help homes become more eco friendly.
The designers, Colin McAllister and Justin Ryan, teamed up with the environment minister Roseanna Cunningham to promote the campaign at the Glasgow Science Centre.
McAllister said that ‘having a fabulous home also means a home that is kind to the environment’. This means including insulation, not only as a way to help the environment, but also to help save money on energy bills.
He also stated that his own home in Glasgow is well insulated, helping him to know that he is doing his part to help the environment.
There are a number of different measures promoted by the government, including double glazing. By creating a layer of air between two panes of glass in the window, heat is trapped inside the home stopping wastage and saving money. Double glazing can also help to block out excessive noise, as well as being extremely secure.
On top of double glazing, other measures that can help homeowners to save on energy bills include insulation in lofts and walls. Combined, these measures can save hundreds of pounds on energy bills each and every year.
As part of the Scottish government’s campaign, the Energy Saving Trust will also be giving out advice about the practicalities of installing these measures. Get in touch if you want to find out whether there is financial help available for you to upgrade your home.
According to a new report, the UK is going to need to carry out “the biggest peacetime programme of investment and social change” if it is going to meet its carbon emissions targets of cutting down by 80 percent by 2050.
The Royal Academy of Engineering (RAE) have recently taken a study warning that even if the demand for energy can be reduced, the country is going to have to make use of more renewable energy resources if it is going to meet the government targets.
The government is currently pushing schemes that encourage homes to be more eco friendly through measures such as double glazing, insulation in walls and lofts, and more. Many homeowners are put off installing such measures despite the fact that they can greatly reduce energy costs.
According to figures taken from Germany, the UK can expect to increase its capacity of solar power generation by 2 gigawatts each year, brining it to a total of 80 gigawatts by 2050.
The report said that this would be equal to builders installing an average of 36 square metres of solar panels per household in the country.
The RAE also investigated a number of other scenarios, showing that using renewables would need to be boosted by constructing as many as 50 nuclear power stations, otherwise the necessary carbon emissions reductions may not be met.
In under two weeks, work will start on the biggest zero carbon social housing development that the country has ever seen.
The development will be located in Airedale, West Yorkshire, after having just been given the OK by the local council. This means that construction company Keepmoat is now free to begin working on the estate. The work will consist of 91 homes.
The ‘zero carbon’ label is given to Level Six housing projects across the UK, representing the highest levels of energy efficiency, as a way to both reduce costs on bills and to cut down on carbon emissions from the buildings.
Design and build co-ordinator of Keepmoat, Ashley Jones, said that ‘the design has been carefully thought out to make the properties as energy efficient as possible’.
Homes will be extremely energy efficient. Measures such as double glazing in windows and doors mean that less heat will be able to escape, reducing energy bills and keeping the homes warmer. Double glazing can also help to make the homes more secure and to reduce any noise pollution.
On top of this, renewable energy technology will also be installed. This includes solar panels, recycling of water, and biomass heating to greatly cut down on the carbon emissions from the project as a whole.
A firm in Cambridge is making use of new technology that helps to cut down on carbon emissions and make use of energy generated in conservatories. It redirects energy from the conservatory to other areas of the home as a way to greatly cut down on energy costs.
theEnergyCrowd.com has stated that conservatories waste energy due to the fact that they can generate so much heat in warm months. Peter Kruger, founder of the website, says that energy efficient double glazing is important to reduce heat loss through windows. However, on the warmest days heat can rise to high levels, which is where this new technology comes into play.
A solar chimney can be fitted to the side of a property, meaning that warm air can be taken from the conservatory and spread through the rest of the house. Additional solar energy can even be gathered during the winter months.
The position of the chimney makes it more efficient for getting energy from the winter sun.
The website is also working on technology that could help to cool down homes and conservatories during the summer months. In summer, excess heat would be taken and used to warm up ground around the home, making ground-sourced heat pumps far more efficient during the autumn months.
Measures like this could go far to helping consumers battle rising energy bills and to cut down on carbon emissions from domestic properties in the UK.
A claim was recently made by the Sunday Times that there is a shortage of qualified professionals to meet the demands by the government for green technologies in homes around the UK. However, the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) has recently disputed this claim.
The newspaper report stated that there are only around 500 tradesmen who are qualified to do the kinds of work that will be needed if homes are to make use of renewable energy technology such as solar panels and wind turbines.
However, MCS have stated that there are currently 560 installers of these systems, but that eight to ten people are qualifying on a weekly basis. Of this number, 87 have been cleared to install sources for wind energy, and 335 are qualified to install solar panels.
Such skills will be vital in implementing the government’s new greener homes strategy, which aims to ensure 7 million homes receive energy efficient upgrades by 2020. Important changes will include installing double glazing in windows, and cavity wall and loft insulation. However, some homes will benefit from renewable energy technology, especially when the government implements rewards for installing such technology.
The new government scheme helps to take the pressure off upfront costs of energy efficient improvements – which is the main reason why many householders have put off making changes to their homes.
