It is one of the great challenges facing humanity in the Twenty-first Century to overcome the energy problem. In a nutshell the problem is that our use of energy is not sustainable. As demand grows for energy so natural resources get depleted. At the same time energy companies take greater and greater risks to meet energy demands that sometimes result in disasters such as the recent Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant disaster in Japan and the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico. More and more people are realizing that something has to change.
The answer is partly that we have to change ourselves. We have to get out of the habit of squandering energy. We also have to become more energy efficient. The average person in the West spends 90% of his or her life indoors; it is thus a good place to start by making the home and office more energy efficient. This post will suggest ways this can be done.
Heating and Cooling
Much of the energy used by a home or office is used in climate control. This is thus an important area to tackle. There are a number of things that can be done to reduce heating and cooling costs. These include:
- Improving insulation so warm or cool air stays in a space longer.
- Setting up a green roof: a green roof significantly reduces heating and cooling costs. In the summer the plant life creates cooling evaporation. In the winter the plant life adds more insulation to a building.
- Using a programmable thermostat in the home to prevent heating or cooling an empty house.
- Planting trees by south facing windows to reduce thermal transference in the summer.
Lighting
Incandescent light bulbs are the perfect example of inbuilt obsolescence as they are designed to break. They waste more energy in heat than in producing light. Much better lighting options are provided by either LEDs (light emitting diodes) or CFLs (compact fluorescent lights). An Earthmate CFL uses 75% less electricity than a regular incandescent light bulb and lasts 13 times longer. Changing just 5 lights in the home to CFLs saves $100 a year in electricity. LEDs last even longer than CFLs and represent the future of energy efficient lighting.
Do an Energy Audit
Use a kilowatt meter like P4400 Kill A Watt Electricity Meter to measure how much electricity the TV, stereo, microwave, fridge etc. really uses. Without hard facts it is hard to make informed decisions. Once the most wasteful appliances are identified they can be replaced with Energy Star approved devices that use less electricity.
Change Behaviors
Energy efficiency can be greatly improved by a number of good habits in the home. These include:
- Unplugging devices such as TVs and microwaves that waste energy in stand-by mode. Some microwaves with digital displays actually use more electricity when they are not in use than when they are being used.
- Turn off lights in unoccupied rooms.
- Only do full loads in the washing machine and dishwasher.
Use Renewable Energy
Introducing solar energy into the home reduces the carbon foot print of a home and provides ‘free’ electricity. Photovoltaic panels eventually pay for themselves with the money that they save. They also greatly improve the energy efficiency of a home. It is possible to start with small solar energy devices that charge batteries or that power LED lights and work up to bigger photovoltaic panels that generate more electricity.
This is not an exhaustive list. Much of these suggestions make up an important part of green interior design. There are many ingenious ways to improve the energy efficiency of a home. The rewards are obvious – lower bills, a clean conscience and less carbon emissions.