OPINION How can this be achieved? Not
by choosing between Green Deal and Passivhaus, but by combining them in one binding goal – minimal energy consumption. Green Deal could be the vehicle, but the barrier to nationwide change is the ‘Golden Rule’. If this is not achievable, it
will deter home improvements, leaving a continuing legacy of rising energy costs in leaky houses. Energy demands will be entombed in our living standards forever, unless government makes a commitment to: eliminating unnecessary barriers; funding Green Deal improvements; and Passivhaus/EnerPHit standards by grant-aiding the balance between EnerPHit costs and subsequent energy savings in
all existing properties. This may seem radical and potentially costly, but I believe radical is essential if we are to avoid future repetition of the current energy problem. Robert Bridges, Bolton
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ON THE 5TH DAY OF CHRISTMAS THE HEAD OF FM SAID TO ME...
Energy use over Christmas can amount to 4% of an offi ce’s annual energy bill, so it’s important to power down for Yuletide
As we all get ready to rush home for the Christmas break, it is worth stopping and pondering on the fact that a large part of the country will be off on leave for the best part of two weeks. This mean that there will be tens of thousands of offi ces, factories and other places of work almost completely empty for eleven days in a row.
Future energy supply CIBSE LinkedIn group
Richard Topping: Reducing the energy use of existing buildings is going to help reduce the demands on the supply of electricity and gas in the future. You’ve either got to hit people in the pocket for them to wake up to the situation or make reductions mandatory. Alistair Fisher: I wonder how your comment would be perceived by someone living in a typical solid wall inter-war dwelling and struggling to make ends meet? Like it or not, the majority of this country’s energy will come from hydrocarbon resources for the next 50 years, and the majority of poor quality housing stock built up to the mid 20th century will still be around. UK sector Oil and Gas production is in decline, a result of the country’s insatiable urge
to sell off anything of value that could be considered a national asset for the benefi t of all over the last two decades to the highest profi t-motivated bidder. Richard Topping: In the CIBSE annual lecture Alistair Buchanan didn’t talk about rotting extraction platforms. He said that the remaining gas-fi red plant in the UK was being mothballed because there are no incentives to improve them. He talked about shale gas as if there were no other available sources of gas. Alistair Fisher: I don’t think we’ll see land-based shale gas extraction in the UK any time soon. There is too much public opposition. Plus, for as long as there is no cross-party consensus on long-term energy supply, then frankly, it ain’t gonna happen. We’re going to be hugely reliant on the wholesale world gas market, along with everyone else, with very little gas storage capacity or domestic gas production.
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As the people responsible for designing, commissioning and installing the building services in these premises, we need to be mindful that, while we will have all optimised this equipment to run as effi ciently as possible, it makes no sense at all for this equipment to heat, cool, ventilate or light empty buildings.
the equivalent of 2.5kg of CO2 over Christmas, whereas leaving a computer on over the 11-day break will use enough energy to produce the equivalent of three infl atable garden Santas worth of CO2
.
Leaving a PC on uses enough energy to power three infl atable garden Santas worth of CO2
While it is worth making customers aware of this, there is a limit to what we can do in terms of other people’s premises. However, there are things we can all do as individuals to make a difference. If you look around your own
offi ces, almost all of them are likely to have photocopiers, monitors, televisions, printers and even computers plugged in and left on standby.
They are all potentially wasting a huge amount of energy – and racking up needless utility bills. Eleven days equates to just under 4% of your annual bill, which is certainly not to be sniffed at in these austere times.
And when we remember that buildings in all their forms produce nearly half of all emissions in this country – more than either transport or industry – then surely it is worth stopping to see if we can’t arrange this better.
It is quite simple to ensure that any non-essential items are unplugged so they can’t carry on consuming energy on stand-by. Leaving the offi ce television on stand-by, for example, can generate
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There are some simple things you can do to stop this waste. Don’t forget to turn off printers or photocopiers at the socket for example. Even though they may have a power-saving mode, photocopiers can still be using 90 per cent of the regular standing energy consumption. Turn down
the temperature on any heating system so that it’s on the minimum needed to protect your building f rom any
unexpected frost
or freezing temperatures. And it is also worth thinking about water consumption by fi xing dripping taps or cisterns before the break. Just two drips per second from a tap will waste over 30 litres of water during the festive period. So I hope you have a really enjoyable Yuletide break and that Father Christmas brings you all the presents you could wish for. But at the same time, it is worth planning for the shutdown – and encouraging everyone else to do the same to help keep energy bills down to a minimum.
Martin Fahey is sustainable solutions manager at Mitsubishi Electric. Join the debate by visiting the Green Gateway LinkedIn group, or following Martin’s Twitter account (@green_ gateway) which offers followers a chance to receive up-to-the-minute news and views from those within and outside the industry, including key opinion leaders.
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December 2012 CIBSE Journal
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