The year of green

1 – Remember – the Government promises to reduce Co2 levels by 2050; its ‘Zero Carbon Buildings Policy’ requires all new homes from 2016 to mitigate all carbon emissions produced on-site as a result of energy use. This includes space heating and cooling, hot water and fixed lighting. New-build specifiers must ensure that any carbon produced from energy use must be balanced by carbon savings elsewhere.

2 – The construction and maintenance of housing generates over a quarter of UK carbon emissions; energy-saving features make houses cheaper to run, and are a good investment financially, socially and environmentally. Look out for products such as solar windows that can be made lighter or darker; draught excluders and insulation products to reduce heating requirements; energy saving light-bulbs; home energy monitors that track your energy usage, for a reality-check; gadgets like eco-kettles and energy-saving toasters, and standby gadgets to save energy and cash.

3 – Get smart! Most objects that are powered by electricity and connected to the internet have the potential to communicate with one another via a smart-phone. Check out the latest raft of phone apps such as ‘Mythermotouch’, which allows multiple users to control numerous underfloor heating units remotely, without a router; it can be calibrated to work with floor sensors from many different thermostat manufacturers.

4 – It’s easy to assume that electric underfloor heating is an expensive luxury. But with the industry’s current push for green ways of thinking, modern energy alternatives such as electric underfloor heating systems are becoming a reality for many people.

5 – Why consider electric underfloor heating? Older heating systems can provide uneven or inadequate heat that encourages damp, and can damage the fabric of the property. There are also obvious cost savings to the bill-payer and health benefits to the occupants when modern heating systems are used, reducing low temperatures and damp conditions. Other benefits include the complete lack of dirt when compared to a coal fire, and the additional space gained by having an underfloor system.

Retrofitters and specifiers – make 2015 the Year Of Green!