Home Automation
Smart homes: the foundation for change
Today, homes represent 20% of global CO2 emissions worldwide which is a sobering reminder that there is still a long road ahead to achieve climate targets. To reach Net-Zero, homebuilders, mortgage providers, homeowners and residents need to work together, empowered with the right technologies and solutions to help fight against climate change. Nico van der Merwe, VP of Home and Distribution at Schneider Electric UK&I, shares more.
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s more and more smart home devices are powered by clean electricity – from heating to cooking to personal transportation – we have an opportunity to decarbonise our dwellings at pace without changing our digital and connected lifestyles. This is now possible through cutting-edge technology and innovation, with positive, sustained change truly starting at home. The focus on climate change and sustainability is now becoming omnipresent for homeowners, home builders and policy makers. This is reflected in the UK government’s move to mandate the installation of residential electrical vehicle charging points from 2022. With the technology available, it’s time for home builders and homeowners to invest in it and make Net-Zero a reality.
Hurdles that homes must overcome
The increase in electric vehicles could double residential energy usage, potentially becoming one of the biggest changes since electricity was first widely used. Add to that electric heating and cooking and the residential
24 | electrical wholesaler May 2022
market will be severely disrupted. The time to act is now. By 2050, households are expected to be the single largest consumer of electricity and the biggest contributor of CO2 emissions, with 34% generated by homes. We know consumers want to make changes and we need to empower them to do so by putting them in the driver’s seat when it comes to sustainable living.
Our Powering Change report discovered that 50% of Brits think it is important to make their home carbon neutral within their lifetime, and 66% consider sustainability to be important when making home improvements. The majority (84%) are also concerned about rapidly rising energy bills should global temperatures increase by more than 1.5 degrees. There are 30.1 million homes across the UK and Ireland today, and we’re going to have to retrofit 26.5 million of them to meet targets. Our current progress is too slow. Currently, around 12% of homes globally are smart – but smart doesn’t mean sustainable. While the number of smart devices in our homes has dramatically increased, the well-being of the planet has not. Brits are 50% more likely to own a voice assistant than a smart thermostat,
ewnews.co.uk
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