Posts Tagged ‘Efficiency’
What Makes a Home a Green Home?
What Makes a Home a Green House?
One of the hottest topics today is about being environmentally friendly. There are many ways to become environmentally friendly about the home including water preservation and energy reduction. This not only helps with a positive action by reducing your impact on the environment, but will also save you money!
Lets take a look at what makes a home environmentally friendly.
Reduced Energy Use
Energy comes in many forms such as electricity, natural gas, oil, etc. The creation or use of this energy results in greenhouse gas emissions that affect our planet in a negative way.
Methods of Reducing Energy Usage
Insulation, One of the best things that you can do to make a green home is to ensure that the walls, windows, attic, and floors are all well insulated and draft free. The majority of the energy used in a home goes towards heating the house. Good insulation will prevent the air temperature from escaping the home and save you money on your utilities.
Energy Star Appliances When one of your appliances has reached it’s end of life, or when you are building a new home, consider installing an appliance that meets energy star requirements. This will ensure that it will use over 30 percent less electricity or fuel than a typical appliance of that type.
Other options include advanced mechanical Systems On demand tankless water heaters, geothermal HVAC equipment, and even solar power is a great way to reduce the amount of energy that is wasted to run the plumbing, heat and air, and electrical systems in the home. While they can have a higher upfront cost than a typical unit of its kind, tax incentives from the government can offset a good deal of the extra cost and allow you to make the money back within a few years time.
Reduced Water Use
Water is another essential resource that can be preserved in our day to day use around the house.
Low Flow Fixtures Many low flow shower heads and toilets developed a bad reputation in the past because they could not live up to their less efficient counterparts. Fortunately, todays better engineered models and aerators allow you to experience the luxury and ease of use that you prefer, while additionally using a significantly lower amount of water.
Efficient Clothes Washers Many of the newer front loading clothes washers use as little as half of the water of a typical top loading washer. For families who are constantly putting in a new load of dirty clothes, this can lead to a significant savings in cost and water usage over time.
Use Rain Water For Irrigation For those who want to really cut down on water usage, storage tanks that collect rain water during a storm for latter use to water the garden and lawn can save thousands of gallons over the span of a summer.
These are just a few of the many ideas out there that will help ensure that your home is green. Environmentally friendly decisions in the home can lead to wallet friendly results over time and allow for the satisfaction of knowing you are reducing your negative impact on the planet.
At Be Seen Go Green, we offer solutions for a variety of Environmental issues. Please click on the following link to contact us.
Waste Management| Made simple
Mention waste management to most individuals and they either don't have a clue what you're talking about, or they genuinely aren't interested! It just sounds a load of rubbish, what do you care what other individuals do with stuff they don't want? However, once you begin delving into what waste management is all about, then you realise there’s a whole cycle of events going on and it's quite an fascinating topic to discover about.
Waste management is basically how rubbish and trash is disposed of with out causing any harm to other people or the environment. You will find several aspects to waste management; these consist of monitoring, collection, transportation, processing, and disposal or recycling. When carried out correctly, waste management is efficient and extremely environmentally friendly, and in today’s world is something each conscientious firm ought to take responsibility for.
You will find specialized environmental organizations that provide guidance and services for waste collection, not only for householders, but also for industries and companies. They're experienced in all areas of waste management solutions and will remove all of your waste efficiently and rapidly, transporting it to be disposed of inside the correct manner, or recycled.
A few of the waste services offered to industrial clients consist of waste collection, recycling and disposal, hazardous waste management, emergency response, laboratory services, asbestos removal and re-Insulation.
Inside the 1st instance the environment service is concerned with monitoring, this is to identify the kind of waste produced and in what quantity; they can then evaluate the processes they need to put into place to reduce the amount of waste produced. Records are kept to see if strategies put into place are working and, if not, strategies can be changed and re-examined to make their implementation far more efficient.
Once the waste has been monitored and assessed it really is time for the collection process. Skip bins and containers need to be emptied just before they become too full and prevention of overspill or produce to rot is very crucial. Depending on the amount of waste produced will dictate the size and number of containers required, and how frequently collections is going to be necessary. You will find diverse containers for each kind of waste, some of these consist of drums for hazardous liquid waste, tanks for acid or caustic waste, collection bins for e-waste and bulk bins and skip bins for construction site waste.
Next inside the cycle is organizing the transportation of all waste goods collected.Specially designed waste vehicles make scheduled collections and are responsible for safely transporting it to the landfill, or treatment site where it'll be treated and then processed for Recycling. Vehicles need to meet safety standards and be licensed for this purpose, as waste can be a health hazard and even hazardous if not handled correctly, drivers and personnel connected with the transportation are required to have the required training and expertise to deal with any potential danger.
Once the waste has all been collected it needs to be processed. This entails separating the waste collected, treating and then packaging the raw materials and sending the parts that could be recycled to the several factories which are all part of the recycling process. Materials that can’t be recycled is going to be transported to a landfill, and liquid and hazardous wastes is going to be disposed of safely.
Improvements and new practices in waste management and environmental solutions are inside the news all the time, thanks to research and development projects which are committed to finding far more efficient and safe methods of disposing of waste. There are lots of issues which are recyclable now that just a couple of years ago would have been thrown into a rising landfill, everyday items like paper, glass, newspapers and plastic bags to printer cartridges, corks, mobile phones, even fluorescent lamps can be treated and re-used.
Society has experienced a enormous learning curve inside the reality that if we don't take action now to make certain our waste is processed correctly; nature will gladly do it for us, and in methods which can be detrimental to our environment.
UK Must cut Emissions By 60%
The Committee on Climate Change has called on the UK to cut its emissions by 60% compared to 1990 levels over the next two decades.
In its report ‘The Fourth Carbon Budget – Reducing emissions through the 2020s’ the committee puts the case for creating a new marker in the battle to cut emissions.
At present most targets are aimed at cuts on 1990 emissions levels before 2050. But to drive the fight against climate change the committee suggests a plan as part of a carbon budget for 2023 to 2027 and a target for emissions reductions in 2030, which would be halfway between now and 2050.
The recommended target for 2030 is to cut emissions by 60% relative to 1990 levels, or 46% relative to current levels, which needs a 62% emissions reduction from 2030 to meet the 2050 target in Britain’s Climate Change Act.
The committee estimates the recommended target can be achieved at a cost of less than 1% of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP), or as it states in the report ‘a fraction of one year’s growth’ over the next two decades.
It also backs that new carbon budgets should be legislated by summer 2011, as required under the Climate Change Act.
Committee on Climate Change chair said: “We are recommending a stretching but realistic fourth carbon budget and 2030 target, achievable at a cost of less than 1% of GDP. “Any less ambition would not be compatible with the 2050 target in the Climate Change Act. “We therefore urge the Government to legislate the budget we have recommended, and to develop the policies required to cut emissions over the next two decades. “The case for action on climate change is as strong as ever: climate science remains robust and suggests that there are very significant risks if we do not cut emissions. And countries acting now will gain economic benefits in an increasingly carbon constrained world.”
The CBI’s director of business environment, backed the new 2030 target. He said: “We support the UK’s existing climate change targets for 2020 and 2050 and businesses are already taking steps to measure and reduce their emissions. “The Committee’s proposal for an extra staging post at 2030 could provide additional clarity for investors, but the feasibility of the proposed target would need to be examined in detail. “Investors will only commit to low-carbon projects if they are confident about the policy framework in the long-term. “The Government’s forthcoming announcements on reform of the electricity market and work to simplify the Carbon Reduction Commitment will be crucial tests.”
At Be Seen Go Green, we offer solutions for a variety of Environmental issues. Please click on the following link to contact us.
Can Solar Energy Efficiency Stop Climate Change?
All throughout the news and the internet, global climate change has been rearing it’s ugly head more and more often.
The ice caps are said to be melting at an alarming rate, the sun’s rays are getting hotter, and the ozone layer may be in it’s death throes. What can the average person, including you, do about it all? Solar energy efficiency may be the answer you’re looking for.
Solar energy efficiency should begin with the basic solar panel. Solar panels can come in two different forms, photovoltaic or thermal, but photovoltaic solar panels are the ones used most often in residential homes.
Solar panels technology has led the charge over the past couple of decades to get affordable and durable solar panels into the hands of the average citizen, and this had led to an increase in alternative energy usage.
Solar energy efficiency itself cannot stop climate change. This should be obvious to anyone who’s been paying attention to what’s going on – but, it can do a lot to help.
Using solar panels technology itself is a personal declaration that you’re sick and tired of using environmentally hostile forms of energy, and that you support the research and discovery of newer, alternative energies that will help the planet, and not be a hindrance towards it.
Solar panels, systems and individual, are just a good step in the right direction. After using solar panels technology for a little while, you’ll begin to notice other areas in your life that deal with energy and need improvement. It could instill in you the desire to drive a hybrid car, or cut down on travel and oil spending altogether.
Others will see your use of solar panels and will want to buy solar panels for home improvement. There are a myriad of possibilities out there, but it all starts with you first.
It will take a lot more effort to curtail climate change, and the possible shortages and disasters that it may entail for the future. Becoming energy independent and using solar energy efficiency will go a long way in ensuring that you’re doing your part to help the environment, and that you’re conscious of the troubles that are currently inflicting the planet.
Being informed about the problems is one thing. Taking action against them is in a whole different ballpark altogether.
Why should IT care about the UK's CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme?
In the UK companies covered by the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme (previously known as the Carbon Reduction Commitment) have until 30th September to register with the Environment Agency who is operating the scheme on behalf of the Department of Energy and Climate Change.
With less than a month to go, around 50% of companies affected have registered either as a full participant or as an information provider. This leaves many thousands of firms facing fines and other penalties.
Currently the prevailing sense if one of apathy or ignorance regarding the existence of the CRC, let alone its impact.
In essence the CRC attempts to encourage greater energy efficiency by means of placing an additional cost on carbon emissions, requiring organisations to measure and report on these, and by use of league tables to show which organisations have performed better than others.
The impact on IT
How then, does all this affect IT? Quite directly is the straightforward answer. In many service businesses and organisations the top 3 sources of power consumption are
Heating/Cooling
Lighting
Plug Load (all power consumption via devices that are plugged in)
In most organisations Plug Load is predominantly IT related, PCs, monitors, printers, faxes, copiers, network equipment and servers. In addition IT makes a significant contribution to the requirements for cooling with many server rooms requiring up to 150% more power for cooling the heat generated by servers, than for actually running the servers.
It should be clear that any business looking to reduce both their power bills and their liabilities under the CRC scheme should be looking at their IT environments as a key part of their strategy. Greenocity Ltd, a specialist in providing advice to businesses about improving their IT related emissions, have discovered that while general business awareness of the CRC scheme is low, knowledge of the scheme within IT departments and CIOs is almost zero.
Unless and until IT becomes an active participant in organisations’ energy efficiency strategies, these strategies will be operating with one hand tied behind their backs. It is therefore imperative that organisations need to ensure that:
Their IT organisations understand the implications of the CRC scheme
IT is given responsibility for the Carbon Emissions it produces, and provided with the incentive to reduce the emissions.
Energy Efficiency becomes part of the overall IT strategy, along with availability, customer service etc.
With the nature of IT replacement cycles extending over a number of years, and the requirement for IT constantly increasing, organisations that bring their IT functions into their carbon reduction early will find that IT can start to contribute towards delivering the reduction in carbon emissions; those companies that do not involve IT will find that their IT functions may well be increasing the level of their emissions, simply through a lack of awareness and focus.
So what can IT actually do?
There are a number of approaches that IT can adopt, including PC power management (an extremely cost effective and straightforward method of reducing power bills and carbon emissions .
Other solutions are more involved and need to be considered within the overall IT strategy. Initiatives such as virtualisation, cloud computing, thin clients, data centre design and consolidation can all contribute to a more energy efficient IT environment as well as simplifying the IT administrative burden.
One of the unique aspects of this legislation is that for organisations that truely embrace it and its aims, it will lead directly to lower power bills, an improved bottom line and a greener environment.
The UK CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme
The BT Global Services Sustainability Practice lead provides a briefing on the CRC to raise awareness and inform anyone who needs to know more. Ted answers questions such as Who is involved?, What are the timescales?, What do I need to do to have a chance of being near the top? and What you should be doing now?. This free video is a valuable source of information on this important piece of UK climate legislation. Dont forget If you have any topics, relating to the CRC, you would like covered in future modules, get in touch or leave a comment.
Reduce Business Overheads by Improving Energy Efficiency
Many British businesses have certainly suffered due to the economic downturn, so anything that can be done to reduce overheads is to be welcomed. Even if your company is lucky enough to not be in that situation, making your business leaner by reducing overheads will still improve profitability.
The majority of modern businesses’ have considerable fixed overhead costs incurred when powering IT. Most offices are equipped with a raft of PCs, MACs, laptops and other associated peripherals which all consume electricity, even when they are in standby mode.
Add in photocopiers, fax machines, other electrical appliances such as fridges and, of course the costs of running plant and machinery and you are looking at a high utility bill. So, follow a few of these tips on effectively and efficiently using your IT resources and other electrical appliances and you will soon be reaping the rewards in the form of reduced overheads.
During office hours, encourage workers to think about how they are using their computers. If spending prolonged periods away from the desk encourage staff to hibernate PCs, MACs or laptops on put them on an idling setting so that they use less energy. Better still, if they are away for a significant amount of time get them to power off their machines altogether.
In addition to doing all you can in the office to raise awareness about how to use computers and electrical appliances you will also find that power utility companies offer business energy management devices and schemes that enable you to understand where you power is consumed and allows you to take positive action to reduce your costs.
This service is offered to enable medium to large-sized businesses achieve their Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) which will come into effect in January 2010. It affects businesses that spend over £500,000 per year on electricity, but even if you do not fall into that category you may wish to give serious thought as to whether you can improve the efficiency of your company’s power consumption.
For example, when you leave the office don’t leave your computers and peripherals running overnight. Switch them off altogether or at the very least power off to standby or sleep modes before leaving the office. Unless you run a 24 hour hot-desking operation, your computers will only be required around eight hours per day, so by leaving them on when they are not being used is considerably increasing your utility burden.
Of course, this is merely a very brief overview of what can be done to save energy in the workplace, but there are many websites and relevant government bodies who can advise in depth, and may even be able to offer grants.
Waste Management
Waste Management
Waste management companies exist to help business with the challenge of industrial waste. As you can imagine some industries generate more waste than others and those that generate a lot in the course of their business usually find it more cost effective to have someone else deal with it.
This topic covers a broad spectrum. It is a term often used to describe the management of a variety of waste, usually collected, treated, processed, recycled, reused or disposed of by a department of the local authority.
As people produce more and more waste, mainly as a result of more and more packaging being used for our produce, our waste management services are becoming more sophisticated and better able to deal with the problem.
In industry there is a growing need for waste management services, some specialising in certain aspects of it and others attempting to be all things to all companies. Those who specialise in certain areas tend to deliver a better service as they can fine tune their expertise into a narrow and clearly defined area.
Industries such as the oil industry or chemical industry need waste management services who can respond to a given situation 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. Often their waste management needs involve coping with an unexpected emergency, an oil or dangerous chemical spill, for example.
Waste management services trained and expert in dealing with the treatment and disposal of hazardous waste is invaluable to these industries. They will most likely have licensed facilities for the treatment and transfer of contaminated waste and the personnel trained and experienced to carry out the operation.
The first line of defence against an emergency spill can be the use of skimming equipment to try and recover the spill. Booms and dispersants as well as absorbents and may also be used. Waste can be transferred from the site to a holding facility using appropriate waste transfer vehicles.
The industries that can suffer heavily by a serious waste problem rely heavily on the expertise and experience of professional waste management services. Their emergency response teams can contain, collect and treat hazardous waste in the fastest possible time, thereby rendering the situation as safe as possible as quickly as possible.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), the Environment Agency and the Health and Safety Executive all give useful guidance on the regulations governing the storage of hazardous waste in the UK. All service providers have to operate under these regulations and each one should be a registered waste carrier and usually also having a facility with an appropriate permit for accepting and treating hazardous waste, as well as its possible disposal.
Waste management services provide an invaluable backup service to a variety of industries that have come to depend on them for the necessary support and assistance they need when it comes to collecting, recovering, treating, recycling, reusing and disposing of waste. Waste has paradoxically become big business for the companies who have chosen to specialise in it.
Who handles your waste management?
From October 2010 SEPA can now request the waste management records of all business, from the accountants office to the North Sea oil companies.
At Be Seen Go Green we can help on a variety of environmental issues which may affect you, including your compliance responsibilities.
To find out more contact us www.beseengogreen.eu