Green Audits

[Andy Hamilton]

There seems to be a new business arising of green audits for businesses but are they any for the home? What does it entail, is it just someone telling you to put loft insulation in or do they start to look at every aspect of the home? There was that bloke on its not easy being green (TV not Web) that did them, but was that just a book?

Phew all these questions got any answers?

[Stonehead]

Phew all these questions got any answers?

Ban incandescent light bulbs.

Ban patio heaters.

Ban mains garden lighting (solar okay)
.
Subsidise the purchase of bicycles and tricycles where households have one or less fossil fuel vehicles registered for road use. In a few years, change that to no fossil fuelled vehicles.

Require all 12v devices to have identical plugs that connect into a standardised, high-efficiency 12v mains transformer that's part of the ring main.

Ban concrete roof tiles.

Support existing and subsidise construction of local abbatoirs.

Ban all future out-of-town shopping complexes.

Require businesses, particularly supermarkets, to have the same insulation standards as house (the Huntly T***o, newly built, has huge permanently open doors with hot air blasting over them and a metal-clad roof that you can see from inside - no insulation).

Require supermarkets to cut their parking spaces by 10% a year.

Ban huge wind farms with hugely long distribution networks. Instead, put enough in near towns and villages to supply local needs with a little over. Store the excess energy in the form of hydrogen and then use that for other energy needs.

Calculate the amount of agricultural land in Britain required to meet all food needs. Then calculate the amount of land that could be used for agriculture all together (ie excluding what little "wild" landscape remains, excluding forestry to serve as rolling carbon sinks, excluding green spaces, then housing, industry etc etc). What's left is then used for biomass/biofuels - and that's it.

Come up with some form of fair carbon rationing, but on a global scale.

Immediately ban vehicles that cannot achieve both high mpg (nothing under 25mpg would be a good start) and low emissions.

Rebuild the railways so they can once again be used instead of courier companies. (I have plenty of old magazines that talk about getting fresh food from one end of the UK to the other in 12-18 hours; that talk about ordering day-old chicks from Cornwall and having them at a station in Aberdeenshire 12 hours later.)

While setting limits, guarantee people the freedom to do what they want within those limits. So no Big Brother watching and deciding everything you do with your energy - just daying, don't use more than your allowance.

Changes buses and other large vehicles to hydrogren fuel cells (still a bit large for cars, but could be more feasible for big vehicles). Have a mechanised refuelling system for these - one discharged cell out, one charged in - with the refuelling depots powered by wind and solar.

Come up with a modern version of Dig for Victory. The more fruit, vegetables and herbs grown locally, the less that has to be brought from elsewhere. Not only save all existing allotments and back gardens, but bring more into use.

Increase housing density by coming up with a modern version of the Victorian terrace. So, enough garden to have a reasonable vegetable patch, PV roofing, good insulation, biomass CHP systems, water efficiency systems, elecrical systems that cannot provide more than a set amount of energy (enough that you have to decide between several TVs or a chest freezer), etc.

Ban all new, extensive housing developments, especially those on green space and agricultural land (the latter is going to be needed for biomass etc).

You want more, I've got more...

[Muddypause]

I've heard them mentioned on TV, but I'm a bit sceptical about them. They are a terrific sales opportunity for the unscrupulous.

And what scope does the 'audit' have - eg. if it says you need a new, more efficient boiler, does it factor in the environmental cost of manufacture, installation and disposal of the old one? That sort of equation is far more complicated than just seeing how old your existing boiler is.

[Martin]

there are some small companies around who will try to take an holistic view of people's needs, and advise the best course, whilst being honest about all the potential drawbacks for free - but they are a bit thin on the ground!

Most people can do it themselves for free - a 25 quid power meter will help you pinpoint exactly where your power is going (buy one for a group?), and then it's INSULATE, until it comes out of your ears! THEN look at generating some of your own!
oh, and stop flying, driving, travelling at all really, using any electricity, or farting too much (methane/ozone layer!)

[Stonehead]

or farting too much (methane/ozone layer!)

Better still, aim at your micro turbine, then ignite...

[Martin]

quick - Maplins have power meters on offer for 13.49!