Chat 2:“Building for a Sustainable Future: How to reduce Energy Consumption in Housings”
Speaking Points
The aim of this chat is to help students understand the environmental impact of the buildings they live and learn in, and to inform them about the solutions plastics offer to reduce this impact. Students should learn about concrete improvements that can be made to any building to save resources and reduce CO2 emissions, but also about how materials and design will allow the buildings of the future to be even better.
Some topics to be covered during the chat relating to energy in building and construction could be:
- Buildings use 40% of the energy consumed in the EU. This makes them a major source of CO2 emissions. Cutting-edge materials are constantly being developed that allow ever more efficient use of energy in buildings. Example: Insulation materials for wall and floor cavities that reduce heat lost to the environment and save on fuel needed to heat and cool buildings.
- A range of techniques already exist to make more efficient use of energy in buildings, covering everything from insulation to heating and cooling systems, advanced doors and windows, to pipes for transporting hot water around the house. Example: the “Near- Zero Energy Home” unveiled in New Jersey in the USA by BASF. The aim of this project is to create buildings that are80% more energy efficient, more durable and faster to construct than conventionally built homes
- The “Smart energy home” project of the EU’s European Technology Platform for Sustainable Chemistry, which will look at new construction methods and materials to improve home efficiency. This project will build a test centre in 2007 with an aim of creating a home that can generate all the energy it needs.
Examples of questions which you might wish to ask the guest:
- What can we do in our own schools and homes to reduce their impact on the environment?
- What methods will we use to continue reducing the energy consumption of housing in the future?
- What is the plastics industry doing to develop new materials which make housing more energy-efficient?
- Can existing buildings be converted to Near-Zero Energy buildings?
- Will housing design need to change dramatically in order for houses of the future to be more energy efficient?
- Is it expensive to make buildings more energy-efficient?
- Would plastic houses be bad for the environment?
- Will plastic houses last for as long as a house made of traditional materials?
- What heating systems would you recommend to be as environmentally-friendly as possible?