We are constantly being told that we need to save energy and that there are plenty of things that we can do, whether in our behaviour or by alterations to the buildings that we work and live in. Being told is one thing but actually being able to carry out the change, especially building alterations, is often complex and confusing for people to understand. This is arguably one of the barriers to people adopting more green technologies; a lack of understanding of how to implement such technologies and knowing where to go for help and advice. Around 80% of the current housing stock will still be in existence by 2050 [1], so it is just as important to adapt old builds as it is to ensure that new builds are more energy efficient.
Energy Saving Warehouse has developed an online interactive tool called the LeSTO Energy Survey which enables you to understand more about the energy savings that can be made in your home and provides recommendations which you can carry out to ensure that your home is more energy efficient. It is user friendly, simple to use and produces concise, understandable recommendations, which do not appear too overbearing or complicated to install. Some recommendations involve more structural change and therefore cost, such as installing double-glazing, but there are also quite simple recommendations, such as installing a smart meter, which do not involve great cost or time to implement.
The survey itself is split into seven parts, covering different aspects of your home, from the appliances inside it to the types of materials that were used to construct it. The seven categories are: Building, Glazing and Insulation, Heating and Power, Renewable Technology, Lighting and Appliances, Water Use and Energy Spend. Each of these sections is made up of questions on the subject. For example, Glazing and Insulation asks for the percentage of your windows which are double glazed; Heating and Power asks about the type of boiler that you have and Renewable Technology asks whether you have any solar panels or wind turbines. The survey is set up as multiple choice, so there are only set answers which you can pick, but arguably this makes it more user friendly. There is also an option to answer “don’t know” to some questions.
At the end of the survey a score is generated out of 100 and you are given a rating on your energy performance. Recommendations are then suggested for what you can do to improve the energy saving performance of your home. I carried out the survey on my parent’s house and recommendations that were made included cavity wall insulation. A link was given to provide more guidance and support on this procedure, including grants and offers that may be available to help install such a change. Other, smaller changes that were recommended included changing the toilet flush to a more water efficient dual-flush, which only uses six litres of water for a full flush as opposed to thirteen [1]. It was also suggested that you could take more showers rather than baths as this uses less water and switching to a green energy supplier. For this recommendation, Energy Saving Warehouse also provides a link to carry out such a change, on their Utility Switch Tool, which is powered by Fuelswitch.com.
Overall a range of recommendations were made, from large structural changes such as the installation of solar panels to simple, cheap ones such as the installation of a smart meter. There is definitely something for everyone, whatever your budget, and it is presented in a manageable and accessible fashion. Follow the link http://www.energysavingwarehouse.co.uk/energysurvey/ to carry out a survey of your home!
References
[1] The Sustainable Development Commission (2010) [Online]. Available from: http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/pages/built-environment.html
