Doing our part to fight climate change
by Catherine Stratford, Evelyne Bouchard, green architect in Vancouver and Jeff Turner, engineer working for BC Hydro (December 2015)
Climate change is the topic of the day, worldwide. World leaders in many countries have started fighting climate change by taking action to lower greenhouse gas emissions and developing alternative energy sources.
Mark Carney, the Governor of the Bank of England and the Chairman of the G20’s Financial Stability Board declared in a recent speech(i) that a warming climate presents major risks for the global economy and financial stability. He also mentioned the cost of inaction, citing Hank Paulson: “Doing nothing is radical risk-taking.”
Canada has not been an active enough player in the race to slow green house gas emissions. Increased tar sands exploitation has been a sore point as well as the withdrawal from the Kyoto Accord and the muzzling of scientists. Indeed, during the Harper administration, Canada seemed to be working against the grain of the efforts of other countries. Experts say that society has only a short window to avert catastrophic climate change.(ii)
Recent federal elections have given us an opportunity to state our concerns by writing to Prime-Minister Justin Trudeau, asking him to start investing massively in green technology.
There are of course many small actions we can also take to do our part to help. We cannot count on the government alone to make a difference. Climate change is everybody’s business and is affected by our daily habits.
There are two key areas in which we, as individuals, can make a difference: construction and transportation.
According to David JC MacKay, a Cambridge Physics and Engineering professor and former Chief Scientific Advisor to the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change, transportation and heating count for more than half of a typical person’s total energy consumption. You can download his book for free at: www.withouthotair.com/sewtha/contents.shtml
As far as buildings go, the single biggest use for energy is heating, as shown in this chart published by the National Research Council of Canada:
It follows that measures to reduce the energy used on heating will have the greatest impact. Windows are responsible for 30 to 60% of energy losses in small buildings.(iii) Upgrading windows to triple-pane glazing with insulated frames will have a tremendous impact on your comfort while reducing heating costs. Renovations to improve energy-efficiency are a balancing act between adding insulation, improving airtightness and controlling the flow of fresh air into the building. You can get an energy efficiency assessment done on your house to see where most energy losses occur.
Small measures such as insulating the hot water-heater, getting an air-to-air heat exchanger, cleaning the filter in your furnace (or switching to electric heat) and buying Energystar certified appliances can also help lower energy consumption.
Energy efficiency can save you money and keep you more comfortable, while decreasing demand on the electrical grid and helping fight climate change.
We are lucky to live in Quebec, a province rich in hydro-generated electricity. We can all, however, act locally to help our planet.
Read about energy-efficiency in transportation and electric vehicles in the next edition of Info Hemmingford!
Resources:
Canadian Passive House Institute: www.passivehouse.ca
475 High Performance Building Supply: foursevenfive.com
Energy efficiency assessments: www.efficaciteenergetique.gouv.qc.ca
Natural Resources Canada
i. www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/pages/speeches/2015 844.aspx
ii. www.theguardian.com/environment/
iii. Canadian Passive House Institute