Passivhaus is an energy efficiency standard, developed in 1988, which sets out various criteria for homes and commercial buildings for maximising energy savings – thanks to its orientation, materials used and insulation, amongst other features. This standard sets maximum values … Continue reading →

  Kilowatts, kilojoules, litres, gallons, Celsius and Fahrenheit – have you ever got confused on how much energy you actually save by living greener? Do you understand what these metrics mean at all or are they just numbers with no … Continue reading →

  Co-operatives are traditionally an efficient and successful way for communities that aim to live or work with certain benefits through co-operation. Co-operatives are usually created by people working, living together or by those consuming products or services as a … Continue reading →

  Have you ever thought about using photosynthesis to power your desktop lamp or your laptop? Biophotovoltaics researchers are just working on that now.     Scientists at the University of Cambridge [1] have created the so-called ‘Moss Table’, a … Continue reading →

Keeping energy usage low in shared accommodation can be a challenge, particularly if a large number of people are living together. In any group there will be people from various backgrounds, particularly among students who may have come from all … Continue reading →

The smart grid is a digitally managed network offering two-way communication through smart meters installed at users’ homes, enabling higher efficiency, analysis and more accurate monitoring in real time. While this may seem like a futuristic dream, many consumer electronics … Continue reading →

An analysis by the Carbon Trust reveals that heating and hot water accounts for over one third of energy consumption within UK organisations’. For some organisations, this may add up to approximately 60% in carbon emissions due to demanding steam … Continue reading →

Defra have established that substantially less energy is used when cooking foods in a microwave than when using an energy efficient electric oven or stovetop, but also found that habit and reluctance to cook with a microwave often contribute to … Continue reading →

Microwaves cook food by heating the water, fat and sugar within it [1], therefore most foods can be cooked in them. In 2006, Defra produced a report on the amount of energy used when cooking food (in portion sizes ranging … Continue reading →