Two-thirds of home owners believe they are making an effort to reduce their carbon footprint, while 80% say they would be more likely to buy a new home that was eco-friendly, according to new research by Redrow Homes.
A survey of some of its home owners to assess their eco habits and awareness, brought replies from 20% of respondents that they were doing everything they possibly could, whilst 45% believe they make an effort in the more important areas.
In particular home owners appear to be taking positive action in areas such as using low-energy light fittings (72%); using segregated recycling bins (70%); having ‘A-rated’ energy-efficient appliances in their homes (69%); recycling glass and plastic-based products (81%); recycling newspapers and other paper-based products (85%); not leaving electrical appliances on stand-by (78%).
Redrow’s survey coincides with the company’s introduction of a range of eco-options that customers can now choose when personalising their new home through the ‘Indulge with Redrow’ package.
New homes are already inherently more energy efficient than older properties thanks to modern standards of insulation, efficient heating systems and double glazing. However, purchasers can now choose to introduce a range of additional energy saving measures to their brand new Redrow home, including low energy light fittings, motion sensors and light timing devices, zonal heating controls and solar water heating.
They can also select kitchen waste segregation bins to be built into their base units, flow restrictors on all taps and showers, plus compost bins and water butts for the garden.
Further examples of home owners’ individual endeavours to be more energy efficient include filling the kettle with only the amount of water needed (85%); turning down the central heating (77%) and hanging out the washing to dry rather than using a tumble dryer (76%).
full article
Tuesday, 2 October 2007
Saturday, 29 September 2007
Is this Britain's greenest house?
Anywhere else in Britain it would not seem unusual. But this is on the border of Norfolk and Lincolnshire, by Holbeach Marsh, where hillocks hardly ever happen.
Might the periwinkle-clad mound be an ancient barrow, or spoil from some long abandoned mine? Well no.
What you see is the home and workplace of the Harrall family, probably the "greenest" house in the country.
Jeremy Harrall, a doctor of architecture, runs his practice SEArch (Sustainable Ecological Architecture) in an earth-covered building, beside the one that now houses his family; and in the oneacre grounds he grows fruit and vegetables for the family and no fewer than 17,000 trees and shrubs.
David Hoppit
full article
Buyers kept in the dark about green issues
Eighty per cent of consumers say that they are not given enough environmental information to make informed choices about electrical products.
The latest in a monthly series of surveys for The Times by Populus, charting consumers’ social and environmental attitudes, finds that while many want to make ethical choices, they are frustrated by a lack of information.
The findings follow growing calls from across the political spectrum to make consumer electricals more environmentally friendly. Despite proposed measures such as banning standby buttons and forcing manufacturers to print carbon footprints on their packaging, the survey shows that an information gap is driving a wedge between consumers’ intentions and their actions. Electrical goods are on the frontline in the battle against carbon emissions, according to campaigners. While it is estimated that household appliances become on average 2 per cent more energy efficient every year, the fall has been more than offset by the soaring number of electrical items in homes.
The Energy Saving Trust says that the average number of electrical goods in British households has risen from 17 in the 1970s to 42 now. Appliances on standby comprise 8 per cent of Britain’s domestic consumption of electricity. A ban on standby buttons was mooted in a recent Conservative Party policy review and had been suggested already by Gordon Brown.
Marcus Leroux
full article
The latest in a monthly series of surveys for The Times by Populus, charting consumers’ social and environmental attitudes, finds that while many want to make ethical choices, they are frustrated by a lack of information.
The findings follow growing calls from across the political spectrum to make consumer electricals more environmentally friendly. Despite proposed measures such as banning standby buttons and forcing manufacturers to print carbon footprints on their packaging, the survey shows that an information gap is driving a wedge between consumers’ intentions and their actions. Electrical goods are on the frontline in the battle against carbon emissions, according to campaigners. While it is estimated that household appliances become on average 2 per cent more energy efficient every year, the fall has been more than offset by the soaring number of electrical items in homes.
The Energy Saving Trust says that the average number of electrical goods in British households has risen from 17 in the 1970s to 42 now. Appliances on standby comprise 8 per cent of Britain’s domestic consumption of electricity. A ban on standby buttons was mooted in a recent Conservative Party policy review and had been suggested already by Gordon Brown.
Marcus Leroux
full article
Friday, 28 September 2007
'Green roofs' could cool warming cities
Covering city buildings in vegetation – creating “green roofs” and walls – could substantially save energy by reducing the need for air conditioning on hot days, say researchers.
Green roofs and walls can cool local temperatures by between 3.6°C and 11.3°C, depending on the city, suggests their new study.
Eleftheria Alexandri and Phil Jones at the Welsh School of Architecture, at the University of Cardiff in the UK, mimicked the microclimate around and inside buildings using computer modelling. They compared local temperatures when buildings were made of bare concrete with when the concrete was covered in vegetation.
Such green surfaces are already in use – roofs that are strong enough to take the additional load can be covered with mosses, turf and even trees. In Switzerland, roofs covered in alpine plants that require little soil are becoming increasingly common. Walls can also be greened, often by climbing plants planted at ground level.
Temperature drop
The researchers compared the effects of green surfaces in nine cities around the world, including subarctic Montreal in Canada, temperate London in the UK, humid Mumbai (India), and tropical BrasÃlia (Brazil). In all cases, they studied the month during which that city sees its hottest temperatures.
They found that green walls and roofs would cool the local climate around a building in all of the cities – and the hotter the climate, the greater the cooling effect.
If, for example, a group of buildings in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, is entirely clad in vegetation, the gap between the buildings will become 9.1°C cooler during the day, according to the researchers' model. The gap's peak temperature of the day is brought down by 11.3°C. And in London and Montreal, the peak temperature drops by just over 4°C.
Greening the walls only, and not the roofs, results in smaller effects. Maximum temperatures in London and Montreal, for example, drop by between 2.5°C and just over 3°C between the buildings.
Green surfaces cool local temperatures in two ways. Firstly, the green surfaces absorb less heat from the sun. Hot surfaces warm the air around them, so by cooling the surface, the vegetation also affects air temperatures. Secondly, the plants also cool the air by evaporating water in a process known as evapotranspiration.
Lowering demand
Being dense regions of concrete and paved surfaces, cities and towns lose the cooling effects of vegetation. This generates what is known as the "urban heat island" effect.
Alexandri and Jones say their results suggest the urban heat island effect could be countered by introducing green roofs and walls in cities.
They point out that, other than making cities more comfortable and safer to live in, green roofs could also significantly reduce the demand for electricity – most of which is generated by burning fossil fuels and therefore contributing to man-made global warming.
In recent years, Europe and North America have been hit by severe heatwaves, the effects of which are often most extreme in cities. In 2003, a heatwave in Europe is thought to have killed 35,000 people and hundreds died this summer in Eastern Europe. Research has shown that the frequency of extremely hot days has nearly tripled in Europe since 1880.
Eliminating air-con
"In addition to the fact that they add a further insulation layer to the building, the green surfaces can decrease air conditioning demands inside the building," says Jones.
In BrasÃlia and Hong Kong, he and Alexandri found that the need to air-condition a building during the hottest month of the year is eliminated if it is given a green roof and green walls. Buildings in these cities would normally need air conditioning in the afternoon and early evening.
In hotter cities, such as Riyadh, the number of hours when air conditioning is needed would be cut from 12 hours to just 5.
Some air conditioners still use chemicals that deplete the ozone hole and demand for air-conditioners is expected to rise as a result of global warming, so green buildings could help counter this demand.
Journal reference: Building and Environment (DOI: 10.1016/j.buildenv.2006.10.055)
Climate Change – Want to know more about global warming: the science, impacts and political debate? Visit our continually updated special report.
Energy and Fuels – Learn more about the looming energy crisis in our comprehensive
Catherine Brahic NewScientist.com
full article
Green roofs and walls can cool local temperatures by between 3.6°C and 11.3°C, depending on the city, suggests their new study.
Eleftheria Alexandri and Phil Jones at the Welsh School of Architecture, at the University of Cardiff in the UK, mimicked the microclimate around and inside buildings using computer modelling. They compared local temperatures when buildings were made of bare concrete with when the concrete was covered in vegetation.
Such green surfaces are already in use – roofs that are strong enough to take the additional load can be covered with mosses, turf and even trees. In Switzerland, roofs covered in alpine plants that require little soil are becoming increasingly common. Walls can also be greened, often by climbing plants planted at ground level.
Temperature drop
The researchers compared the effects of green surfaces in nine cities around the world, including subarctic Montreal in Canada, temperate London in the UK, humid Mumbai (India), and tropical BrasÃlia (Brazil). In all cases, they studied the month during which that city sees its hottest temperatures.
They found that green walls and roofs would cool the local climate around a building in all of the cities – and the hotter the climate, the greater the cooling effect.
If, for example, a group of buildings in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, is entirely clad in vegetation, the gap between the buildings will become 9.1°C cooler during the day, according to the researchers' model. The gap's peak temperature of the day is brought down by 11.3°C. And in London and Montreal, the peak temperature drops by just over 4°C.
Greening the walls only, and not the roofs, results in smaller effects. Maximum temperatures in London and Montreal, for example, drop by between 2.5°C and just over 3°C between the buildings.
Green surfaces cool local temperatures in two ways. Firstly, the green surfaces absorb less heat from the sun. Hot surfaces warm the air around them, so by cooling the surface, the vegetation also affects air temperatures. Secondly, the plants also cool the air by evaporating water in a process known as evapotranspiration.
Lowering demand
Being dense regions of concrete and paved surfaces, cities and towns lose the cooling effects of vegetation. This generates what is known as the "urban heat island" effect.
Alexandri and Jones say their results suggest the urban heat island effect could be countered by introducing green roofs and walls in cities.
They point out that, other than making cities more comfortable and safer to live in, green roofs could also significantly reduce the demand for electricity – most of which is generated by burning fossil fuels and therefore contributing to man-made global warming.
In recent years, Europe and North America have been hit by severe heatwaves, the effects of which are often most extreme in cities. In 2003, a heatwave in Europe is thought to have killed 35,000 people and hundreds died this summer in Eastern Europe. Research has shown that the frequency of extremely hot days has nearly tripled in Europe since 1880.
Eliminating air-con
"In addition to the fact that they add a further insulation layer to the building, the green surfaces can decrease air conditioning demands inside the building," says Jones.
In BrasÃlia and Hong Kong, he and Alexandri found that the need to air-condition a building during the hottest month of the year is eliminated if it is given a green roof and green walls. Buildings in these cities would normally need air conditioning in the afternoon and early evening.
In hotter cities, such as Riyadh, the number of hours when air conditioning is needed would be cut from 12 hours to just 5.
Some air conditioners still use chemicals that deplete the ozone hole and demand for air-conditioners is expected to rise as a result of global warming, so green buildings could help counter this demand.
Journal reference: Building and Environment (DOI: 10.1016/j.buildenv.2006.10.055)
Climate Change – Want to know more about global warming: the science, impacts and political debate? Visit our continually updated special report.
Energy and Fuels – Learn more about the looming energy crisis in our comprehensive
Catherine Brahic NewScientist.com
full article
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