Climate Mitigation and Housing
In 2021, a report prepared for the UN Environment Program estimated that buildings account for 36% of global final energy use (that is, the energy used ultimately to construct and operate buildings) and 37% of greenhouse gas emissions. The construction industry accounted for 10% of the emissions, including the production of building materials, their transport, and the construction process itself. The other 27% came from building operations – heating, cooling, lighting, cooking, water heating and powering appliances. These figures include both residential and commercial buildings, with about 60% of total building emissions coming from residential buildings – so residential housing (what we do) is responsible for almost a quarter of all global emissions!
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It’s easiest to reduce the footprint of a building at the design and construction stage, although it’s possible to improve buildings via refit. In designing a home you would take account of its energy efficiency:
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Is it easy to heat and cool – well ventilated, well sealed and insulated, with appropriate solar orientation.
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How do its fittings perform on energy efficiency – its hot water system, its lights, its stove? How much control does the user have to reduce their power use?
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Is it fitted with solar panels and/or batteries to reduce the use of fossil-fuel generated energy?
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Reduced emissions from energy use in a home is the most important factor in reducing its overall carbon footprint, and also has the benefit of reducing your tenants’ energy costs.
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Although energy-efficiency measures are easiest to implement in new housing, you can also make significant improvements by refitting existing housing.
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Along with making homes as energy-efficient as possible, the other major way you can make your housing more climate-friendly is by helping your tenants to access renewable energy. The most popular and straightforward way of doing this is by installing solar panels on the roofs of your dwellings, although there are also other solutions. ​
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