The Big question today is; "How can we all reduce the carbon footprint of our home?"
Our Homes are one of the biggest sources of carbon emissions which we as individuals can do something about without undue personal changes to our way of life.
In actual fact the changes we make can be both beneficial and healthy for our families and the wellbeing of those around us and the third world.
Figure no. 1 shows the U Value of different constructions of Roofs, Walls and Windows. (nb. Entrance doors come under the heading Windows.)
These three elements are the envelope of our home and in order of most heat loss are as follows:
| Quality | Very poor | Poor | Middle | Good | Very good |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roof | 1 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.22 | 0.15 |
| Build Type insulation | 4cm | 6-10cm | 12-16cm | 18-20cm | 27-30cm |
| Wall | 1.5 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.2 |
| Build Type | 24cm rendered brick | 36.5cm rendered brick | 36.5cm rendered block with ins. | 36.5cm bloack, 8cm ext. insulation rendered | 6.5cm block, 13cm ext. insulation rendered |
| Window | 5.2 | 3.5 | 1.8 | 1.4 | 1.2 |
| Build Type | Single glaze | Double Glaze, no gap | Insulating Glass, Double Glaze glass, 1.5 U value UK Std. | Insulating Glass, Double Glaze glass, 1.1 U value UK Std. | Insulating Glass, Double Glaze glass, 0.9 U value German Std. Passive |
The U Value is the Energy amount (KW hrs.) which 100 square meters of building looses in one hour.
By improving the insulation of our roof and walls and replacing windows we can achieve a reduction in our heating costs of up to 35.7% per annum.
The following diagrams show the Energy loss in Kilowatt hours per year before and after improvements.
