How Sustainable Is Your Home?
The 26th UN Climate Change Conference, hosted in the UK last year, has put the issue of the environment at the front and centre of people’s minds.
Whilst the COP26 summit gathered to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement, the event has made more people think about the smaller things they can do as individuals to help protect the environment and make their homes more sustainable.
While the focus may be on the cars we drive and the amount we fly to slash greenhouse emissions, a lot of our efforts can start in the home.
What is a sustainable home?
When you make your house more sustainable, you’re contributing to the improvement of the environment. But there’s even more good news – with home sustainability meaning a lower running cost, saving energy, water and maintenance on systems and appliances.
A sustainable home is one that is efficient – built or retrofitted to respect resources, optimise energy and water use, whilst using quality systems that are built to last with less waste.
What makes a house environmentally sustainable?
Consider every detail when it comes to creating an environmentally sustainable home, including:
- Building materials
- Windows
- Decorating choices
- Insulation
- Smart systems
- Lighting
- Appliances
- Energy generation from solar or wind
- Heat, ventilation and air conditioning
Here’s some top tips to create a more sustainable home and life:
Choose high quality doors and windows
The quality of your windows and doors will make a huge difference to the energy efficiency of your home, with windows accounting for 50% or more of lost energy in homes. Double glazing panels, special coatings, high quality framing materials – such as solid oak – and air-tight construction ensures maximum efficiency.
At Wooden Luxury, we only use the highest quality timber for all of our bespoke window and doors – known for its longevity, strength, durability and natural beauty to last for decades.
Some of the reasons for choosing solid oak doors and window frames to make your home as energy efficient as possible include:
- They stand the test of time
- They have outstanding insulation properties – an estimated 0.16k (the ‘k’ value being measured in W/m2/k – with the lower value the better)
- They can withstand the harshest of elements and pressures – keeping the bad weather out and the warmth inside
Choose sustainable materials
We only source our wood from well-sustained forestry so that we can guarantee our products hold the highest certification from the Forest Stewardship Council. As a company with ethics and the environment at our heart, we strive to reduce energy consumption and limit any impact on the environment with our sustainability promise – assuring our customers that every time a tree is cut down, a new one is planted in the forests we source from.
Invest in renewable energy for electricity
Most households are on a grid that provides energy from a non-sustainable source like oil or gas.
Instead, people could invest in reusable energy to power their homes, for example by installing solar panels that instead use the sun as an energy source. The process is much friendlier to the environment than burning fossil fuels.
Insulate your roof
You know how they say you lose most of your heat through head? Well, the same can be said for your home.
Just as it’s sensible to pop a hat on when it’s cold, installing a layer of roof installation is a sensible and reasonably cheap exercise which will improve the energy efficiency of your home – and potentially save you hundreds of pounds on your bills.
Upgrade your boiler
Inefficient boilers are a major source of expensive home energy bills – and when they use more energy than they need to run, that’s another unnecessary source of excess carbon sneaking its way out into the world.
Boilers are becoming more energy efficient all the time, so if you haven’t had a new one within the last 10 years, consider replacing it with a newer model which could save you hundreds of pounds a year, or using an alternative heating system such as a heat pump.
Every step you make can contribute to the whole – no matter how small. A well-insulated, energy-efficient home will not only lower your bills and boost your home’s value, it will also go towards creating a cleaner, greener world for us all.
Find out more about the bespoke doors and windows offered by Wooden Luxury – all made to measure to fit your frames perfectly and with the highest quality, sustainable timber – by calling 01746 322301.