Eco-bling
Do we really need all these new “green technologies” in order to be more energy efficient?
Not necessarily is the view of a group of academics and sustainable energy practitioners who suggest that money spent on micro-renewable energy systems would be put to better on extra insulation and draught-proofing
Speaking in Trinity College at the Trinity Week Academic Symposium “Low Carbon Society: Waste Not Want Not in association with Trinity Haus, it was suggested that attempts to make buildings more energy-efficient by installing expensive “green technologies” have resulted in the rise of “eco-bling”.
The symposium heard some expensive technologies such as photo-voltaic cells, which take energy from sunshine, can take up to 50 years to pay for themselves in saved energy costs. However, photo-voltaic cells often have a useful life of just 20 years, making them effectively “eco-bling”.
In his lecture, “Nega Watts – the antidote to Eco-bling” Howard Liddell of Gaia Architects said preventing heat loss was by definition among the best ways to achieve energy efficiency.
He said he had never seen a heat pump in operation which offered a return as good as three units of energy output for each unit which went in, yet these were regularly advertised as “four units of output for one unit in”.
Photo-voltaic cells which make energy from sunshine offered a 50-year payback, but all too often have a 20-year useful life.
He was critical of new housing schemes which advertised “10 percent of energy from renewables” when research showed clearly the best way to achieve energy efficiency was simply to reduce waste.
This is valuable advice if you are designing your own house. Be wary about what companies out there are trying to tell you. Always ask from where salespeople are getting their figures and check them out yourself.
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Green energies give rise to ‘eco-bling’ – Irish Times May 14, 2009
Trinity Week Academic Symposium
