HMG has seriously miscalculated the cost of green homes

[Aurora]

The Ecologist - 09/08/10

There's a lot of nonsense talked, bought and done when it comes to eco-retrofitting houses. David Thorpe's new book sorts the wheat from the chaff, and challenges some green orthodoxies...

Our homes are responsible for 60 per cent of EU building energy use, and around 80 per cent of the homes we will inhabit in 2050 are here now. So if we're to meet the target of reducing carbon emissions by 80 per cent by 2050, it's vital to find out what measures work to achieve this in existing homes.

We know that retrofitting insulation and glazing can easily reduce heating/cooling energy use by 30 per cent in many buildings. With more effort, savings up to 80 per cent can be achieved. But the problem is that the building industry has never had to monitor its constructions to see how effective they are.

Article continues ...