have to act now, and the shift will require a co-ordinated effort between government, industry and residents. Abdul Matin Sarfraz discusses the challenges and costs in an article on the National Observer website. The cost of turning older buildings into climate-fighting machines While Canada has set a deadline to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions … Continue reading Canada’s energy transition to net-zero emissions: need to upgrade 600,000 existing homes and 750 million square metres of existing commercial space per year between now and 2040
Category: buildings
Update on the energy performance of buildings
Improving the energy performance of our buildings is a high priority as countries roll out their net-zero energy transition strategies. This week there were two interesting articles you should be aware of: The Mortgage Solutions website writes that around 80 per cent of landlords have already completed energy efficiency works in the UK. Check out … Continue reading Update on the energy performance of buildings
Is hydrogen a realistic option for home heating?
Ran Boydell, Associate Professor in Sustainable Development at Heriot-Watt University, in an article on The Conversation website, argues against hydrogen being used for home heating. What are your views? Replacing methane with hydrogen to heat homes is a bad idea – here’s why Hydrogen is an energy-rich gas, which releases no carbon emissions when … Continue reading Is hydrogen a realistic option for home heating?
Britain’s energy transition: looking at its building stock, the challenges are daunting to meet the net-zero target
Thursday, March 30th, the UK government announced its net-zero strategy and you can get the main elements of it here in an article on the Guardian website. Jillian Ambrose wrote a very important background article on Monday on the Guardian website, focusing on the negligible progress made in improving the energy efficiency of its building … Continue reading Britain’s energy transition: looking at its building stock, the challenges are daunting to meet the net-zero target
Member states should take more responsibility for meeting the targets of the EU buildings directive
Aneta Zachová writes on the EURACTIV website about the views of energy-saving construction expert Petr Holub that the onus for meeting targets from the EPBD should be on member states and not individual owners. Do you have any views on this? Czech expert: EU Building Directive targets should be met by states, not owners … Continue reading Member states should take more responsibility for meeting the targets of the EU buildings directive
Data-driven AI innovations can provide the crucial insights needed to help optimise energy usage
Souma Das writes on the Express Computer website about the benefits of improving energy efficiency through the use of artificial intelligence. What are your views? Utilising the Power of AI to Improve Energy Efficiency While a majority of enterprises are realising the ‘green way forward’ to help reduce carbon emissions and improve the business’s … Continue reading Data-driven AI innovations can provide the crucial insights needed to help optimise energy usage
If you look back at the examples of the past two centuries, industry-wide reuse of such materials as iron from sunken ships should have been business as usual by now
Salman Shooshtarian and Tayyab Maqsood at RMIT University in Australia provide a fascinating article on The Conversation website about being innovative in using recycling materials for our building construction. Buildings used iron from sunken ships centuries ago. The use of recycled materials should be business as usual by now At Fremantle Prison in the … Continue reading If you look back at the examples of the past two centuries, industry-wide reuse of such materials as iron from sunken ships should have been business as usual by now
Greening from the bottom up
High-level solutions and grand designs will not fix climate change. Christof Brandtner, Assistant professor in organisational and economic sociology at EM Lyon Business School argues in an article on The Conversation website that the bulk of the action will have to take place at the interfaces between local governments and the organised citizenry. What are … Continue reading Greening from the bottom up
Cost, consumption, carbon – EPCs in the UK must change to measure all three
A report from Elmhurst Energy is urging an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) revamp as part of 10 act-now policy and industry recommendations it says are necessary for preventing the UK from stalling further in its journey to carbon net zero and delivering truly energy efficient homes. EPCs must change if they are to properly support … Continue reading Cost, consumption, carbon – EPCs in the UK must change to measure all three
New EEA briefing on urgency to decarbonise heating
About half of the EU’s final energy consumption goes to heating, making it a key focus area in Europe’s efforts to improve energy security and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. A European Environment Agency (EEA) briefing, published this week, analyses this energy segment, urging investment in building renovations and modern renewable energy solutions. Renovations and … Continue reading New EEA briefing on urgency to decarbonise heating
Energy in Demand - Sustainable Energy - Rod Janssen 