This article is a slightly re-written assignment I had to write for my Certficate in Sustainable Energy Solutions at Pinchot University. Hope you will like it !
Insulation
Our civilization is 98 percent energy inefficient
You know it if you have been reading this blog for some time : I am an energy efficiency nut. While less sexy than renewables, consuming energy more efficiently is just the most important part of our transition towards sustainability.
The value of a well insulated home
While browsing Cleantechnica I found the answer of a key question I have been having ever since writing my Master’s thesis. French houses are leaky ” thermal collanders “ as 20 million accommodations have to be weatherized.
Potential savings could be the equivalent of 200 TWh of electricity per annum, knowing that the total electricity consumption in France is of 473 TWh. I had been wondering if this was the case in other countries.
But given this brilliant article, French dwellings aren’t the only one to be vastly inefficient. as similar data are mentioned : old houses need 300 kWh per square meter per year.
France unveils new efforts to renovate buildings
It had been a long while since my last post on Cleantechies, as I didn’t post during summer. But I am back with a post on a topic close to my heart as my Master’s thesis was on it. The French residential sector could benefit immensely from energy efficiency efforts and it seems the current … Read more
An innovative idea to push for building retrofits.
Houses and building energy efficiency is a hot topic for me since I wrote my Master’s thesis on it back to 2006. Then I discovered that France had no less than 20 million buildings to insulate ( not bad for a country with 65 million inhabitants ) Now according to the Guardian, the UK Green … Read more
Random vacation thoughts
My time out for the past two weeks in southern France was the occasion for me to think a bit about energy and environmental issues as I was experiencing stuff I have been writing about on this blog.
Exemplifying with day-to-day and real-life examples is a fantastic opportunity to see how stuff just works. From LED lights to trees and from solar to building insulation, these are topics that are very general.
I will share these thoughts with you in today’s article and I hope you will find them enlightening. I look forward to reading your thoughts.
The importance of good insulation
My current apartment in Valenciennes – Northern France – is located in a recent building (2000). And far from me the idea of bragging, but until temperatures dropped below zero (Celcius) I almost didn’t not use my electric heaters.
My flat has double glazing windows and quite well insulated thick walls. The thermometer located in my flat indicates 19°C indoors while we are nearing zero outdoors, and this with little to no heating.
This is empirical proof that good thermal insulation – or weatherproofing – not only works but also saves a LOT of money as you just use little to no heating.
A $370 billion idea for European buildings
Here we go again with a brand new article on Cleantechies. This time, we focus on one of my favorite topics : insulating buildings with a new study on the very matter. Here is the introduction : ” According to a new study presented by the Renovate Europe Campaign, weatherizing European buildings in an important … Read more
European Union to tackle housing insulation
I have been advocating housing insulation back to 2006 when I was writing my Master’s thesis at Audencia Nantes Management School. Then I discovered the huge potential of insulating French buildings.
Since then I have been dreaming that one day politicians, leaders, and other people in charge would finally understand that weatherizing the million of appartments that need it around the world is THE right move.
It seems that my call has been heard, or more plausibly that some important people in the higher European spheres share my belief.
Towards sustainability, reloaded
Back to 2009, I had started – but not finished – a series due to help you going towards sustainability. I am proposing you to re-publish it this year and finish it. This series’ goal is to help you cut your carbon and environmental footprint.
I must have four times more subscribers, so hopefully this will reach and help more of you. Please let me know if you have other tips and / or if these ones are actually helping you.
I am starting today with the first one, on heating as it is behind an important part of the energy consumption of buildings, this is where we begin.
Sustainability in action : helping my family
This weekend was the occasion for me to go and visit my family in Lorraine (Eastern France). This enabled me to help out my two uncles and their families cut their water and energy consumption.
Indeed, I first helped one family install a rainwater harvesting system that will enable them to water their garden for free. Under my advise they will also install dual flush toilets to further cut their consumption.
I also helped my other uncle and his family insulating their spare bedroom where I generally sleep when I visit them.
8 great tips to keep warm during winter
We might be led to thinking that with global warming, we won’t be freezing anymore during winters. Counter-intuitively, this won’t be the case as I wrote in December as global warming may mean colder winters…
So we should better learn how to keep warm while still not touching the thermostat or insulating our houses and apartments. (a sound move for many reasons as I previously wrote).
The French website Ecolo-info wrote a compelling article on the very matter. Here is a short and translated version of my own.