Inflight Magazine of Brussels Airlines

Going for green

With the pressure now on to create ‘zero carbon’ homes, Europe is investing in the future and it’s proving cost effective, energy efficient and very cosy. Kieran Falconer reports

Clever ideas about eco-friendly housing have never been in so much demand especially now with oil running out, fuel prices rising and the need to reduce carbon emissions becoming ever more pressing. But the worst polluter by far is your home. It’s responsible for nearly a third of all carbon emissions, a figure that goes up to almost 50% if you include the emissions generated during the construction process.

So the pressure is now on for builders, architects and governments to create ‘zero carbon’ homes – houses that produce as much energy as they use. Those countries pioneering the eco-friendly housing front include Sweden and Germany, with the former well on target to be oil independent by 2020. Stung by the oil crisis of the ’70s and a cold climate that demands good insulation, the Swedes are natural candidates for creating ultra-efficient housing. Today the pretty city of Malmö, south of Stockholm, is popularly considered to be one of the top five greenest cities in the world. Since the ’90s, it has been developing innovative social housing, with buildings that are super-insulated and require little energy to run as well as neighbourhoods where there are local energy generators – such as large wind turbines – and waste treatment plants.

Germany is no green slacker either, having been recycling its waste for decades. The pretty university city of Marburg (north of Frankfurt), famous for educating the Brothers Grimm, is the first city in Germany to pass a law requiring households to put solar panels on their roofs. Another green German innovation comes from the house builder Baufritz, which has developed a ‘carbon-positive’ house, where the CO2 emitted in the manufacture, construction and transportation is locked into the fabric of the building to the tune of about 50 tonnes. To achieve this, it uses a timber frame construction with wood shavings as insulation. The house is prefabricated in Germany and can be delivered around Europe. When it’s deconstructed, it is almost completely biodegradable.

Creating your own ‘green’ home

While architects might be pioneering innovative ways of creating greener homes for the masses, there are plenty of simple ways to make your own home more energy efficient without starting from scratch. Photovoltaic (PV) panels convert solar energy into electricity and, although PVs are expensive, you can fulfil half of a household’s annual electricity needs (roughly €300) with between €15,000 to €22,000 worth of panels.

Solar water heaters offer a better return. Special solar panels on the roof use the sun’s energy to heat water, which is transferred to a cylinder that stores it until it’s needed. Nearly 20% of domestic energy is spent on heating water and this can save you up to €100 a year. Typical installation costs range between €3,500 and €6,000, so it pays for itself within roughly 10 years.

Probably the most reliable source of renewable energy is the ground-source heat pump. This uses the difference between the air and earth temperature to create energy. It consists of a coil or pipe (buried in your garden), which extracts heat from the ground and transfers it to your home’s heating system. The installation costs range from €12,000 to €15,000, but the ground-source heat pump can save up to €1,100 a year.

Wind turbines that can be put on a house roof aren’t really practical in urban areas, and even many rural locations don’t have high enough wind speeds, plus they require a lot of maintenance. For them to make a practical contribution to the electricity supply, they need to be as large as possible. By far the best use of wind power is from big, freestanding turbines. The island of Samso, off the coast of Denmark, has completely wiped out its carbon footprint by installing a string of them along the coast.

Nothing is cosier than a roaring log fire, and biomass – the name given to any organic matter that is used as a fuel – has brought the hearth back to the centre of the home. Unlike fossil fuels (coal, oil, gas), it uses renewable organic matter (wood, willow, energy crops) so that the carbon recently absorbed by the material balances the carbon emitted – it’s a carbon-neutral process. A stand-alone stove can heat a single room, but can also be fitted with a back boiler to heat water as well. The cost is €2,500 – €5,000.

Mat Colmer, energy doctor for The Energy Savings Trust, a non- profit organisation giving energy advice, concludes: “Solar thermal heaters and PVs are the most useful if you have a south-facing roof.
Add a biomass stove to that and you’ll be contributing significantly to lowering your carbon footprint and you could save yourself some money.”

Creating a healthy home

If you’re not ready to invest in your own eco-house just yet but want to make your home more energy efficient, here are some helpful tips:

- Envirolight Ultra Bright LED This is probably the most efficient spotlight in the world. A normal halogen bulb lasts 1,000 hours, but Envirolight lasts for at least 30,000 hours. It is also 93% more efficient than an ordinary halogen bulb in its use of electricity. From €20, www.greensteps.co.uk

- Solio Solar Charger The Solio Solar Charger is a reliable all- round charger for MP3 players, phone, GPS and PDA. Fitting into the palm of your hand, it can – when fully charged after 8–10 hours of direct sunlight – recharge your phone twice and store the power for a year. €75, www.solio.com

- Ecobutton If you regularly leave your computer, plug this gadget into your USB. When you want to power down, press the Ecobutton and the computer immediately goes into sleep mode. €20, www.eco-button.com

- Ecosaver Energy Meter You can use this to measure the energy used by individual appliances, helping you to calculate and reduce your carbon footprint. Simply plug it into the socket and then plug in your device to get an accurate reading. €17, www.nigelsecostore.com

Buying an eco home

Developers going green in Austria, Italy and France

- Investors in Property is marketing the eco-village of Holzern, comprising 10 chalets in the pretty farming and ski village of St Martin, just over three hours drive from Vienna. Constructed using local larch and pine, all the chalet waste is recycled. There is triple glazing and pure sheep’s wool is used as insulation. Three-bed chalets from €371,000. www.investorsinproperty.com

- Realitalia. Dominio San Sebastiano in Liguria (near Nice), northern Italy, is a sustainable seaside development set in the hills overlooking the Mediterranean. Homes are up to 19 times more energy efficient than other local housing – solar panels provide hot water and special ventilation prevents extreme temperatures. Properties are priced at under €500,000. www.realitalia.co.uk

- Lodge St Germain (below), in the Languedoc region, north-west of Marseilles, uses solar water heating and cross ventilation to bypass the use of heaters and air conditioning. And all organic waste is composted. Buyers become part owners of the estate. Prices start at €155,500 for a 28m² studio. www.lodgestgermain.com

FR En avant les verts

Face à la montée des prix du pétrole, à la pénurie énergétique et à la nécessité de réduire les émissions de carbone, il n’a jamais été aussi pressant de trouver des idées intelligentes pour créer un habitat respectueux de l’environnement. Il est prouvé partout dans le monde que votre habitation est le pire des pollueurs, responsable à elle seule de près d’un tiers de l’ensemble des émissions de carbone.

La charmante ville de Malmo en Suède, au sud de Stockholm, est généralement classée parmi les cinq premières villes les plus vertes du monde. Depuis les années 90 s’y sont développées des initiatives innovatrices en matière d’habitat social, avec des bâtiments super-isolés, qui nécessitent peu d’énergie pour fonctionner, ainsi que des banlieues où sont implantés des générateurs, et des usines locales de traitement des déchets.

L’Allemagne, pour sa part, n’est pas à la traîne question écologie. La ville de Marburg (nord de Francfort) est la première ville d’Allemagne à avoir voté une loi imposant aux ménages de placer des panneaux solaires sur leur toit. Et les entrepreneurs, Baufritz, ont conçu une maison positive où les émissions produites durant les processus de construction et de transport sont récupérées par le matériau du bâtiment à raison de l’équivalent de 50 tonnes.

Créer votre propre maison ‘verte’

Alors que les architectes sont en train d’expérimenter de nouvelles voies innovatrices pour construire plus de maisons écologiques, il existe de nombreux et simples moyens de rendre votre habitat plus vert. Essayez d’installer des panneaux solaires photovoltaïques (PV) sur votre toit pour convertir les rayons solaires en électricité, ou encore utilisez les panneaux solaires thermiques pour chauffer l’eau durant la journée. Alternativement, vous pourriez installer une pompe à chaleur, qui exploite la différence entre la température de l’air et du sol pour créer de l’énergie renouvelable. Et maintenant que les mois d’hiver se sont installés, vous pouvez profiter au maximum d’un feu bien alimenté dans un poêle à biocarburant (nom donné à tout matériau organique utilisé comme carburant), qui permet d’équilibrer le carbone absorbé par le carbone produit, faisant de ce matériau organique un combustible neutre en termes d’émissions.

NL Groen, groener, groenst!

In deze tijden van hoge olieprijzen, stilaan uitgeputte oliereserves en een noodkreet voor het terugdringen van CO -uitstoot, zijn doordachte ideeën voor ecologisch verantwoord wonen meer dan ooit welkom. En een woning is veruit de grootste vervuiler in elk land. Woningen zijn verantwoordelijk voor bijna een derde van alle CO -uitstoot.

Het mooie Zweedse dorp Malmo, ten zuiden van Stockholm, wordt gezien als een van de vijf groenste steden ter wereld. Sinds de jaren ’90 ontwikkelt het innovatieve sociale behuizing. De gebouwen zijn enorm goed geïsoleerd en verbruiken weinig energie, er zijn afvalverwerkingsfabrieken, en plaatselijke energiegeneratoren voorzien hele wijken van energie.

Ook Duitsland heeft een groen hart. De stad Marburg (ten noorden van Frankfurt) is de eerste stad in Duitsland die een wet heeft goedgekeurd waardoor gezinnen verplicht zijn zonnepanelen te plaatsen op het dak. En bouwlieden, zogenaamde Baufritz, hebben een CO -positief huis gebouwd. Alle CO die voor de bouw en het transport van het huis werd uitgestoten, werd, samen met nog eens 50 ton extra, gecompenseerd door milieuvriendelijke keuzes in o.a. materialen. Op die manier was de CO -balans aan het einde van de rit positief.

Maak zelf je eigen huis groener

Terwijl architecten steeds betere en innovatieve manieren bedenken om huizen alsmaar milieuvriendelijker te bouwen, bestaan er nu al tal van eenvoudige manieren om jouw huis ‘groener’ te maken. Fotovoltaïsche panelen installeren op het dak, bijvoorbeeld, die zonne-energie omzetten in elektriciteit. Of gebruik zonnepanelen om overdag water te verwarmen. Een andere mogelijkheid is de installatie van een warmtepomp, die het verschil in temperatuur tussen de lucht en de grond gebruikt voor het aanmaken van hernieuwbare energie. En nu de winter in het land is, kan je via een biomassakachel (biomassa is elk type van organisch materiaal dat als brandstof wordt gebruikt) het beste halen uit een heerlijk knapperend haardvuur. Bij dit soort kachels absorbeert het organisch materiaal evenveel CO als er wordt uitgestoten, waardoor het een CO - evenwichtig proces wordt.

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