CHAPTER 4: SUSTAINABILITY AND RESILIENCE IN A CHANGING WORLD Energy and water efficiency: save some for tomorrow!
Energy efficient homes provide financial savings and have the added benefit of reducing greenhouse gas emissions that are intensifying climate change. Improving the energy efficiency of your home and appliances will reduce electricity bills associated with lighting, cooling heating and the running of appliances. Similar opportunities exist to reduce energy related emissions and operating costs in the industrial and business sectors. Improving the energy efficiency of commercial and industrial activities in mining, agriculture, textile production and food processing, among others, will support significant positive environmental outcomes and financial savings.
Similar to energy, water efficiency in the operation of industries and businesses in Asia and the Pacific has the potential to reduce ongoing costs and promote the sustainable consumption of freshwater. Freshwater is embedded in most of the things we consume and use, from the meat we eat to the aluminium we carry our drinks in – 20 litres of water are needed to produce a single can. While the water we use at home may seem trivial in comparison, its conservation is a step towards increasing our knowledge and conscious use of this life sustaining resource. And of course, water conservation at a domestic level will both help to reduce the monthly operating cost of households and safeguard this precious resource.
That’s a cool house!
Buildings account for 40 per cent of the total worldwide energy use and around 30 per cent of global carbon dioxide emissions (Zang and Cooke, 2010). This share
could double or triple by 2050 if we do not act, as buildings have a long lifecycle that locks in their energy use (WBCSD 2018).
Building design influences the water and energy efficiency of a home. There are plenty of nifty ways of achieving household efficiency some of which are shown in Figure 37. Heating and cooling requirements are the primary source of energy consumption in buildings (Ürge-Vorsatz 2015). In addition to a variety of green technologies that are available to increase energy efficiency, building design guidelines are continually being adopted throughout the region. A sustainable building will cost only marginally more to construct, but the initial cost will be recovered as the operating costs of this type of building are lower than those of a conventional structure (Weerasinghe 2017).
An example of sustainable building design is Josh’s House in Australia. Josh Byrne, an environmental scientist and well-known ABC television gardening presenter, actively engaged the public in the step-by- step build of his own home, known as Josh’s House. The house does not need air conditioning or heating, generates its own electricity, and harvests and recycles water. The building achieved ten stars in the Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme of Australia. (Joshhouse.
com.au).
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