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Sunday 20 July 2008

Payback time

Cathy Strongman on what makes a green home

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Since the government announced in its 2007 green paper that it intended to make all new homes carbon-neutral by 2016, designs for snazzy green homes and futuristic eco-towns have been grabbing the headlines. But lurking in the shadows and receiving decidedly less attention is an equally pressing problem — Britain’s 26 million existing properties. These homes churned out a whopping 41.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2004, more than a quarter of the UK’s emissions. If Britain is to meet its commitment to reduce carbon emissions by 60 per cent by 2050, then the balance needs to be readdressed as two thirds of the properties we’ll be living in then are the ones we already call home.

The good news is that the tools already exist to transform our houses from energy- and water-guzzling buildings into cosy and efficient homes. Existing techniques and technologies could be used to cut carbon emissions from the UK’s existing housing stock by 80 per cent by 2050. The bad news is that many of these improvements lie outside the financial reach of all but the Notting Hill set.

So what can we do to improve our green credentials and how eye-wateringly expensive will it be? Before embarking on any form of renovation a responsible waste management plan should be put in place. ‘In our projects we’re trying to change demolition into deconstruction,’ says Alex Michaelis, the architect responsible for David Cameron’s home improvements. ‘During most renovation projects the shell is gutted and everything from the structural timber to bathroom fittings and back boxes for lights are sent to landfill, when actually a lot of this stuff can either be re-used within the project or sent to a reclamation yard.’ Construction and demolition debris represents 19 per cent of total UK waste so there’s no point in giving your home an eco upgrade unless you tackle this issue first.

The next area to focus on is energy consumption. A gigantic 53 per cent of the carbon emissions from existing properties currently come from space heating. This is in part because we’ve all gone soft — in 1970 the average UK household was heated to an average of 12°C; by 2003 this had shot up to 18°C — but it is also because many of our buildings are poorly insulated and riddled with drafts.

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