Helping home owners
Change begins at home
The first step towards reducing any damaging environmental impact our home lives may have is to work out the main causes, and then look at what our alternative options might be
As a starting point, the WWF ecological footprint calculator can not only work out which bits of your daily life eat up most resources (or produce highest carbon emissions), it will offer crucial advice and alternatives too.
There are lots of easy ways to improve our home energy efficiency – from making sure the loft is properly insulated to fixing draughty windows and doors that pointlessly waste heat from our homes. Basic steps like this will reduce the amount of energy we consume in the first place.
The next issue is to make sure most of the energy we use comes from renewable and sustainable sources, such as solar or wind power, or ‘biomass’ – which would include fashionable appliances like wood or pellet-burning stoves.
Helping with costs
Processes like cavity wall insulation (recommended in post-1920s buildings for filling air gaps between brick layers) are relatively cheap and will have very quick payback thanks to reduced energy bills. Other technologies, such as solar electricity panels, may have fairly high installation costs, so WWF is working with government and industry to subsidise or drive down these initial expenses.
The WWF’s How Low? report reflects our ongoing work calling on government to provide a wide range of financial incentives to help people cut carbon emissions from their homes.
Recently introduced Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) are an easy way to understand your home's energy efficiency. EPCs provide an environmental rating for your house, on an A to G scale (like the one used on fridges or washing machines), and also offer recommendations for reducing your property’s impact.
If you’re selling or renting property, or building a new home, you’re obliged to have an assessment done and obtain one of these certificates. But anyone can ask for their property to be assessed – just contact your local council for details.
Want to green your home?
- Measure your footprint and find out how you can reduce the impact of your home and lifestyle.
- Get an Energy Performance Certificate for your home, which will tell you how to maximise energy efficiency.
- Find out how to save energy in your home
