ZERO CARBON HOMES

Zero Carbon Homes

Zero Carbon Homes

Introduction

In the industrialized world, on average, a quarter of CO2 emissions of a country is generated by households. The zero carbon home generates as much energy as it consumes, so its net CO2 emissions are zero. The concept has arisen from the UK with powerful force and is gradually moving to the rest of the first world, aiming to establish itself permanently. The rapid decline in oil reserves and the increase of global warming have led governments around the world to consider the zero carbon homes as a means of addressing the climate problem.

As the housing sector, one of the largest contributors to CO2 emissions, the British government decided to intervene in the matter. December 2006 led the way with a series of reforms aimed at all new home construction are zero energy in 2016, which fits into a much more ambitious project that integrates the political correctness of climate change. This paper discusses the zero carbon homes principles, incentives taken and possible steps for achieving the 2016 target set by the UK.

Zero Carbon Homes Principles and Background

A task force called the Zero Carbon Task Group, or ZCTG, was formed in 2008, with the objective of defining what would qualify as a zero carbon home, in accordance with the Code for Sustainable Homes Technical Guidance. The decision made by the ZCTG was that total zero carbon was slightly unrealistic, but a different definition would be formed, taking into consideration the off-site energy sources and resources used in housing (Banfill & Peacock 2007, 426). At the time of the study, it was also found that up to 80% of existing homes would fail to meet the required standards, which shows how important it was to bring in requisite changes.

The Zero-carbon house is the house that does not pollute, or rather one that has low emissions of carbon dioxide CO2 in relation to a house tradition. In the UK, 21 million residences are accountable for CO2 emissions that is 27%. The government hopes to reduce to 60% for 2050. When we talk about these issues we refer to the CO2 produced by manufacturing and transporting building materials produced to generate the electricity consumed in homes, burning gas for heating, the product of burning garbage, etc. The zero-carbon is the house that produces as much energy as it consumes, with solar panels to produce hot water and electricity, wind turbines, biomass boiler. These homes are being built in UK: Brixton, South London, Leicester and East Middlands; by private developers committed to building the environment. Another way is to offset emissions by planting tree houses are called "New homes carbon neutral (Nelson et al 2004, 679)."

These zero-carbon houses will produce less than half of CO2 emissions than a traditional home, will cost 30% more for the technology incorporated: solar panels, wind turbines, biomass boiler, etc., but could be out of reach young people or those who buy a first ...