letsgogreen

Reducing heat loss through the building fabric

June 24th, 2010 6 Comments

Extensive upgrading of insulation: To roof/attic space, external walls, ground floor, windows/external doors. (Which I will be discussing over the next couple of week’s blogs)

In order to tackle this very important aspect of insulation, I will need to comprehensively cover this for many specific house construction types and illustrate their various technology options. I will therefore leave this topic to my next blog to describe in detail some of the various solutions now available.

Roof/Attic: To be well insulated, roofs or attics should be fitted with about 400mm of mineral or glass wool insulation or other high performance, rigid insulation boards to thickness of say 250mm, that achieve similar performances in thermal transmittance (U-value – measured in watts per sq metre, per degree Kelvin). I hope to deal with this topic in a later blog.

Energy Retrofitting our Existing Homes (Part 2)

June 18th, 2010 14 Comments

Welcome back!

I hope you find you’re getting some value for time spent reading my blogs.

In my last, short introductory blog on the topic of ‘Retrofitting our Existing Homes’, I highlighted a number of typical questions that householders have been asking me on this subject. There are so many building types, construction methods, materials, heating and insulation standards that apply to our homes. There is also the financial circumstances and lifestyles that vary from one household to another. But for most existing Irish houses, energy related issues and challenges can be grouped into types that are often quite common. For most situations, suitable technological and retrofit options are available to choose from that are reasonably well tested and proven to perform effectively and continue to be durable over long time spans.

New features introduced to Home Energy Saving Scheme

June 9th, 2010 4 Comments

As from June 8^th 2010, Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) has introduced new measures to the Home Energy Saving Scheme.

Since the scheme was launched in March 2009 over 58,000 homeowner applications were approved.

The introduction of an online self survey is now available on the SEAI’s website; the survey will only take a couple of minutes to complete and will guide householders towards the most suitable upgrade works.

Householders who apply for the HES grant on or after Tuesday 8^th June will be required to use the new application system/form. A Building Energy Rating (BER) will also become an integral part of all grant applications under the HES Scheme from this date. All homeowners must undertake a BER to measure the impact of the works undertaken. Homeowners will also receive a BER certificate with an A-G performance rating, which will inform them of the effectiveness of the upgrade works of energy & Co₂ improvements. Grant Aid of €100 is available towards BER Assessment.

Energy price comparison between Ireland and E.U.

May 27th, 2010 1 Comment

Ireland are now one of the leading countries in the world to use wind energy, with renewable energy growing strongly. The SEAI have announced that the share of electricity generated from renewable energy sources in 2009 was 14.4%, two-thirds of which was wind. This ensures us that Ireland is on track to the Government’s target this year.

In 2009 alone, renewable energy sources generated enough electricity to power 750,000 homes, half of all households in Ireland. There has been growth in the use of renewable energy for heating and transport, but progress is at a slower pace than the contribution of renewable sources for electricity generation. This will be an area of increased policy focus in years to come.

Energy Retrofitting our Existing Homes

May 12th, 2010 1 Comment

Householders are typically seeking answers to the following questions about energy in their home:

1. Is oil really coming close to peak in production?

2. Is oil going to rise a lot more in price over the next couple of years?

3. Why is it so important now to focus on upgrading the energy performance of our home?

4. Why do we need the carbon-tax on heating fuel?

5. What energy challenges do we face for our homes?

6. How soon should we put effective and long-term measures in place, so as to ensure continuous comfort and healthy conditions in our home?

Introduction of Carbon Tax to Ireland

May 7th, 2010 1 Comment

Saturday 1^st of May saw the introduction of Carbon Tax to Ireland. The Carbon Tax of 4.3% will add around €43 to filling a 1,000 litre home heating oil tank and around €41 to an average annual gas bill. In these tough economic times increasing home heating bills is the last thing that we need. The tax is going to hit already struggling homeowners with fuel poverty on the rise. We as a nation need to realise that the day of burning fossil fuels is coming to an end. The supply is slowly but surely running out. Coal and peat is to be taxed from September 2010 also.

Let’s Go Green Energy News

April 29th, 2010 No Comments

The SEAI Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland has said savings of €6 billion can be secured and up to 10,000 jobs supported when its 5 year plan is implemented. SEAI’s strategic plan which was unveiled recently said that sustainable energy practices are already delivering savings to the economy with reduced energy bills for businesses and household’s. It is expected that 60,000 existing homes will be insulated this year alone. It is envisaged that one million homes will be retro-fitted at the cost of €6 billion. The authority says it will focus on the key areas of electricity supply, heat supply, energy in buildings, energy efficiency products and behaviour, energy in transport, research and innovation as well as policy development and analysis. ‘The new economy will bring savings, the €6 billion we can save over the lifetime of this strategy is the equivalent of our annual fossil fuel bill,’ commented Energy Minister Eamon Ryan. ‘It will bring investment and more importantly jobs for our people,’ he stated.

Electric Cars

The Irish government, the ESB and the Renault-Nissan Alliance has announced a partnership to put Ireland as a European leader in electric transport. The ESB is set to roll out 3,500 charge points by December 2011, and 30 fast charge points. Renault-Nissan Alliance is to provide Ireland with electric cars. Those who wish to purchase an electric car can avail of a €5,000 grant from the Irish government. Buyers of electric cars will also be exempt from Vehicle Registration Tax. The Irish governments target is for 10% of Irelands cars to be electric by 2020.

10 ways to go green in your home – save energy to save money!

April 21st, 2010 1 Comment

1. Insulating your Cavity Walls & Attic Insulation is one of the easiest ways to save money in your home – you can save up to 40% off your home heating bills….. Did you know that there is grant aid available from SEAI of up to €650.00 for upgrading? Visit www.eurobead.ie for more information.

2. Replace your old bulbs with Energy Saving Bulbs CFL (compact fluorescent lamp) bulbs. You will get savings on your electricity bills per annum and over the lifetime of the bulbs. You will also save Co2 emissions. Don’t forget to switch off your lights when you leave the room.

3. Use a fan assisted oven. They are 25% more efficient than conventional ones.

4. Turn your appliances off instead of leaving them on standby.

5. Recycle – Bring your glass bottles, jars to recycling centres.

6. Get composting! Composting is an entirely natural process and a great way of been green in your home. You can transform your kitchen scraps and garden waste into useful compost. You can compost anything from crushed egg shells to grass cuttings.

Fossil Fuel and Climate Change

April 13th, 2010 No Comments

On top of all the money lost to Ireland and our local economies by importing fossil fuel, by the global scarcity of supply coming with rising prices of fuel but more so by Climate Change. It is clearly now really happening and is unequivocal. It is predominantly being created by CO2 emissions generated by us humans in the Developed World, from burning fossil fuel. It is causing huge hardship and hundreds of thousands of deaths each year to poor in the developing world. It is by far, the greatest challenge ever for human civilisation on this planet to have to face. We are now on a trajectory for a six degree rise in global surface temperature in this century, unless global Governments and all of us act now. Our greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere have now reached 390ppm – that is 40% above Pre-Industrial time levels and is now at a level of concentration that has not occurred since about 20 million years ago. Over that huge length of time our CO2 stabilised at about 280ppm. We are scientifically in ‘unknown territory’! It puts all our children’s future in peril.

Bio-Mass Fuels

March 29th, 2010 No Comments

Other fuels include bio-gas (methane) from anaerobic digestion of food and slurry waste.

Liquid bio-fuels like bio-diesel from rapeseed oil or flexi-fuel like bio-ethanol from creamery waste whey or cellulosic wood based feedstock, producing second generation ethanol. Importing ethanol or bio-diesel is not a good solution. It is often made from corn which is very energy intensive and CO2 emitting. It can cause deforestation to rain-forests and food and water shortages in poor countries. It also means importing this fuel like our oil, gas and coal.