Solar panels, under-floor heating powered by a ground source heat pump, low energy lightbulbs and even a "green roof" have helped make a 1920s terrace house become one of the oldest houses in the UK to gain a top "eco-homes" rating.
While the Government has pledged to make all new build houses zero carbon by 2016, the Bournville Village Trust have refurbished one of their properties in Bournville, south Birmingham to demonstrate how the carbon footprint of current, inefficient, housing stock can be reduced.
Some of the features of the small three-bedroom terrace family home are to be expected: LED and low energy lighting and double glazing are now adopted as standard by the housing association in its refurbishment programme.
The heating and hot water supply are generated by a combination of solar panels and a ground source pump which draws heat from 65 metres underground.
Light wells into the kitchen - where the cupboards are made of recycled wood - bring in extra daylight and all the appliances in the kitchen have a A-grade efficiency rating. All the walls and roof are insulated.
Even the paint is water rather than oil-based and the downstairs rooms are tiled to allow the underfloor heating to work more effectively.
In the garden, bricks recycled from a wall taken down in the house, have formed the patio, while a pond, bird boxes and even the plants encourage wildlife. The fences are made from recycled plastic, which is manufactured to look very similar to wood.
There's green roof over the kitchen extension, planted with low-growing sedum which supports insect life and limits run-off, as well as water butts and composting and recycling bins.
Every part of the house has been designed with the environment in mind, so that even the driveway is porous to allow rainwater to drain away.
Some of the work is expensive and will not be applied to other refurbishment work by the trust. Some environmental features were rejected on the basis of cost - or because they would be ineffective, such as a wind turbine.
Jane Gething-Lewis
full article
Thursday, 22 November 2007
Wednesday, 21 November 2007
Emissions from UK homes could be cut by 80 per cent
Emissions from UK homes could be cut by 80 per cent by 2050, according to a new report by Dr Brenda Boardman at the University of Oxford’s Environmental Change Institute.
The report assesses the Government’s record and sets out, for the first time, a blueprint for delivering huge carbon cuts from UK homes while eradicating fuel poverty, creating jobs, cutting energy bills and increasing fuel security.
Carbon dioxide emissions from the housing sector have risen by more than five per cent since 1997 and account for 27 per cent of the UK’s carbon footprint. Although the number of households living in fuel poverty initially fell under Labour, the figure has since increased to four million – double the number in 2002.
The report, called Home Truths, found that current Government policies will only deliver half the cuts in household carbon emissions they should have achieved by 2020. The Government has no policies for cutting emissions from homes in the longer term.
Key recommendations
Introduce a package of financial incentives. This will make it cheaper for householders to cut their energy use and produce their own green energy. This package will include grants, low interest loans, stamp duty rebates and a reduction in VAT on energy efficiency measures to five per cent.
Reform of the energy market. A feed-in-tariff system is introduced which rewards households that fit low or zero carbon technology (LZC), such as solar panels, with a guaranteed premium price for any electricity they sell back to the grid. It is complemented by a renewable heat obligation, which requires a proportion of household heat to come from LZC sources, and a green gas tariff which encourages the use of waste gas as a fuel.
The aim is to fit every home in the UK with at least one LZC by 2050. UK households would be net exporters of electricity, generating up to ten percent more then they require.
Eradicate Fuel Poverty. Low-carbon Zones will be created, initially in areas where there is a concentration of fuel poor households. Local authorities would implement a street by street programme of improvements aimed at upgrading the walls, windows and roofs of homes in each zone by, for example, insulating solid walls. The report estimates that this approach would eliminate fuel poverty at a cost of £3.3 billion a year for the next nine years - treating 444,000 houses a year at an average cost of £7,500 per house.
Introduce and enforce minimum standards for homes. All homes in the UK will be issued with an Energy Performance Certificate grading them from G (very inefficient) to A (very efficient and almost carbon zero). Minimum standards for energy performance will then be introduced and tightened over successive years. Anyone who buys or rents out a house or flat that does not meet the minimum standard will not be allowed to sell or re-let it until it has been upgraded. By 2050 three million homes, which are so cold they are officially a health hazard, will have been upgraded, and the rate of heat loss in the average house will be halved.
full article
The report assesses the Government’s record and sets out, for the first time, a blueprint for delivering huge carbon cuts from UK homes while eradicating fuel poverty, creating jobs, cutting energy bills and increasing fuel security.
Carbon dioxide emissions from the housing sector have risen by more than five per cent since 1997 and account for 27 per cent of the UK’s carbon footprint. Although the number of households living in fuel poverty initially fell under Labour, the figure has since increased to four million – double the number in 2002.
The report, called Home Truths, found that current Government policies will only deliver half the cuts in household carbon emissions they should have achieved by 2020. The Government has no policies for cutting emissions from homes in the longer term.
Key recommendations
Introduce a package of financial incentives. This will make it cheaper for householders to cut their energy use and produce their own green energy. This package will include grants, low interest loans, stamp duty rebates and a reduction in VAT on energy efficiency measures to five per cent.
Reform of the energy market. A feed-in-tariff system is introduced which rewards households that fit low or zero carbon technology (LZC), such as solar panels, with a guaranteed premium price for any electricity they sell back to the grid. It is complemented by a renewable heat obligation, which requires a proportion of household heat to come from LZC sources, and a green gas tariff which encourages the use of waste gas as a fuel.
The aim is to fit every home in the UK with at least one LZC by 2050. UK households would be net exporters of electricity, generating up to ten percent more then they require.
Eradicate Fuel Poverty. Low-carbon Zones will be created, initially in areas where there is a concentration of fuel poor households. Local authorities would implement a street by street programme of improvements aimed at upgrading the walls, windows and roofs of homes in each zone by, for example, insulating solid walls. The report estimates that this approach would eliminate fuel poverty at a cost of £3.3 billion a year for the next nine years - treating 444,000 houses a year at an average cost of £7,500 per house.
Introduce and enforce minimum standards for homes. All homes in the UK will be issued with an Energy Performance Certificate grading them from G (very inefficient) to A (very efficient and almost carbon zero). Minimum standards for energy performance will then be introduced and tightened over successive years. Anyone who buys or rents out a house or flat that does not meet the minimum standard will not be allowed to sell or re-let it until it has been upgraded. By 2050 three million homes, which are so cold they are officially a health hazard, will have been upgraded, and the rate of heat loss in the average house will be halved.
full article
Tuesday, 20 November 2007
Brown urges ban on plastic bags
The Prime Minister announced that he would like to "eliminate" single-use plastic bags from Britain as well as the flimsy paper equivalent.
n his first major speech on the environment and climate change since taking office, Mr Brown said supermarkets had already promised to reduce the "environmental impact" of plastic bags by 25 per cent over the next year.
He said: "I believe we can go further. Indeed, I am convinced that we can eliminate single-use plastic bags altogether in favour of long-lasting and more sustainable alternatives."
More than 13 billion bags are issued every year to shoppers, about 220 per person. Billions find their way into landfill, although they constitute less than one per cent of domestic waste, which experts say makes them more efficient than other forms of packaging.
full article
n his first major speech on the environment and climate change since taking office, Mr Brown said supermarkets had already promised to reduce the "environmental impact" of plastic bags by 25 per cent over the next year.
He said: "I believe we can go further. Indeed, I am convinced that we can eliminate single-use plastic bags altogether in favour of long-lasting and more sustainable alternatives."
More than 13 billion bags are issued every year to shoppers, about 220 per person. Billions find their way into landfill, although they constitute less than one per cent of domestic waste, which experts say makes them more efficient than other forms of packaging.
full article
Monday, 19 November 2007
Grants for low-carbon homes tumble after change to rules
Grants for home installation of solar panels and wind turbines have plummeted despite the Government's publicly stated commitment to promote renewable power, official figures show.
Household payments under the Low Carbon Buildings Programme have tumbled from £536,000 a month before the rules of the scheme were changed in May, to £219,000 afterwards – a fall of 59 per cent. The number of householders getting grants has fallen 19 per cent.
The Liberal Democrat MP Jenny Willott, who uncovered the figures in a Commons question to the Energy minister, Malcolm Wicks, said the Government was in danger of "pulling the rug from underneath" Britain's micro-renewables industry.
Amid publicity about the danger of climate change, the Low Carbon Buildings Programme was very popular at the start of 2007 with the allocation of money running out in minutes on the first day of each month. The Government wants 20 per cent of UK electricity to be from green sources by 2020.
But in May, Alistair Darling, then Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, cut the maximum grant for household renewable energy from £15,400 to £2,500.
Grants for solar PV and grants for heating were slashed by 83 per cent and those for wind turbines halved. Solar heating water was left unchanged at £400. As a consequence, more people are receiving small grants for solar water, but 24 per cent fewer are getting grants for solar heating, and the number of wind grants has fallen by 60 per cent. The total amount given to expensive solar heating installations has fallen by 76 per cent.
Ms Willott said: "The Government claims that by 2050, 40 per cent of the UK's electricity could be generated by micro-renewables, yet nothing is being done to make this happen.
"Ministers watered down this successful scheme because they couldn't cope with its overwhelming popularity. The new system has made installing micro-renewables far too expensive for all but the richest families."
full article
Household payments under the Low Carbon Buildings Programme have tumbled from £536,000 a month before the rules of the scheme were changed in May, to £219,000 afterwards – a fall of 59 per cent. The number of householders getting grants has fallen 19 per cent.
The Liberal Democrat MP Jenny Willott, who uncovered the figures in a Commons question to the Energy minister, Malcolm Wicks, said the Government was in danger of "pulling the rug from underneath" Britain's micro-renewables industry.
Amid publicity about the danger of climate change, the Low Carbon Buildings Programme was very popular at the start of 2007 with the allocation of money running out in minutes on the first day of each month. The Government wants 20 per cent of UK electricity to be from green sources by 2020.
But in May, Alistair Darling, then Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, cut the maximum grant for household renewable energy from £15,400 to £2,500.
Grants for solar PV and grants for heating were slashed by 83 per cent and those for wind turbines halved. Solar heating water was left unchanged at £400. As a consequence, more people are receiving small grants for solar water, but 24 per cent fewer are getting grants for solar heating, and the number of wind grants has fallen by 60 per cent. The total amount given to expensive solar heating installations has fallen by 76 per cent.
Ms Willott said: "The Government claims that by 2050, 40 per cent of the UK's electricity could be generated by micro-renewables, yet nothing is being done to make this happen.
"Ministers watered down this successful scheme because they couldn't cope with its overwhelming popularity. The new system has made installing micro-renewables far too expensive for all but the richest families."
full article
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