August 6, 2009

Leaky House Gets Makeover

You may be aware that the UK has set a target that all the new homes in the UK need to be zero carbon by 2016 and are also setting targets requiring homeowners to upgrade existing homes to zero carbon status as well.

Here's a story about that effort.

Why would the University of Nottingham build a house meeting 1930s specifications in 2008? So it can use it as a guinea pig for a zero-carbon renovation experiment, the results of which will be relevant to millions of householders across the UK.

The house is about to undergo the first of three planned energy-efficiency upgrades ultimately aimed at helping it meet the Government's 2016 zero-CO2 targets for all new housing. Over the next two weeks, the university will improve the house with cavity wall insulation, loft insulation, draft-proofing, double-glazing and other upgrades.

"This might be the extreme example, but millions of us live in homes like this. Our homes are responsible for almost a third of the CO2 emitted in the UK, so any benefits we identify here could go on to lower the bills and the carbon footprint of millions of families."

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