The Renters
This household started with 19 tonnes of emission and cut that to just 9 tonnes.
They cut their emissions from cars by 30%; electricity by 49% and gas by 70%
for an annual saving of $1000.
What the Cops did
What the Family did
nn Installed insulation in the roof
nn Turned off the second hot water service
nn Put up curtains with pelmets in the
bedrooms
nn Applied the plastic double glazing material
nn Double glazed the back room windows with
plastic product
nn Installed flow restrictors in the showerheads
nn Taught the renters how to recognise an
energy efficient appliance – low wattage
nn Covered the old vents near the ceiling with
cardboard backed with bubble wrap
nn Stopped using the clothes dryer
nn Reduced the amount the electric cook-top
was used
nn Cooked on the BBQ
nn Turned appliances off at the wall
nn Turned off second fridge
nn Replaced car use with bike riding a couple
of times a week
nn Started composting
nn Bought locally grown food from local markets
Pelmets and curtains
Curtains help keep a room warm in winter and cool in summer. In summer, air between the curtain
and the window heats up. This warm air rises and escapes over the top of the curtain. This air
movement sucks cool air in from the rest of the room to window. This cool air warms, rises, and so
it goes on in a convective process. In winter the air by the window cools, sinks and draws warm air
to the window in the same way and the process works in reverse. Sealing the side of the curtains to
the wall, (temporary tape, magnetic tape or velcro); making sure they reach all the way to the floor
(weighting the hems); and adding pelmets to seal the top of the curtain prevents the convection
process. Pelmets can be made of any material as long as it creates an air barrier. Temporary
pelmets can be made with laminate, cardboard, acrylic, polycarbonate, bubble wrap or even a thick
and solid scarf. They simply need to be fixed to the wall and reach to or past the curtain. Most
pelmets reach over the curtain, however you can also build a hidden or near-invisible pelmet as a
single flat strip that sits behind the top of the curtain and just reaches its back edge. Pelmets can
prevent 25% of heat loss from a room.
nn Sustainability Victoria – window protection
www.sustainability.vic.gov.au/resources/documents/Window_protection.pdf
Temporary double glazing methods
The purpose of double glazing is to trap a layer of still air between two panes of window glass so
heat or cold cannot easily pass from inside to outside or vice versa. There are several permanent
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methods of double-glazing, but two simple temporary and low-cost methods of double
glazing are plastic shrink-wrap and bubble wrap.
The Carbon Cops installed a temporary glazing called Clear Comfort. This is a sheet of heatshrink plastic. It can be installed with permanent or temporary tape. The sheet is cut to size,
taped in place, and then shrunk with a hair dryer until the sheet is taut.
Bubble wrap also is readily available new or used. It contains still air trapped in many little
bubbles against a plastic sheet. Place it so that the bubbles are against the glass and the flat
side is facing away from the window, to create that sealed layer of still air against the glass.
Tape it in place on all sides to form a seal.
nn Clear Comfort
www.clearcomfort.com.au
Insulation
Insulation is the best way to increase thermal comfort in a home in most Australian climates.
There are several kinds of insulation, made of different materials. Regardless of what they’re
made of, their effect can be easily compared by the R-value.
The R-value is a measure of how much insulation resists heat transfer. The higher the
R-value, the longer it takes for heat to cross the insulation barrier. The R- value depends
on the thickness of the insulation as well as the material it’s made of. The higher the R-Value
the better.
The R-value is measured in metres squared per degree of temperature difference (between
the two sides of the insulation) per watt of heat flow across the material. The polyester batts
installed in this household’s ceiling had an R-value of 3.5 and were 43 centimetres thick.
Quick facts on insulation:
nn Insulation is the single most effective item you can add to your home to improve its
energy efficiency.
nn Installing or topping up insulation in ceilings can save a household over one tonne of
carbon each year.
nn For every square metre of floor space, an uninsulated house one needs 130W of heating.
Ceiling insulation reduces the power needed for heating to 100W per square metre,
saving almost a quarter of the power.
nn A well insulated, energy efficient home will keep your home up to 10ºC cooler in summer
and 5ºC warmer in winter.
nn Insulating a home can save 45-55% of heating and cooling energy
nn Uninsulated ceilings, walls and floors can account for 70% of total heat loss from a
home.
nn Your Home technical manual on insulation
www.greenhouse.gov.au/yourhome/technical/fs16a.htm
nn Sustainability Victoria on insulation
www.sustainability.vic.gov.au/www/html/1973-energy-saving-fact-sheets.asp
Thermal mass
There’s a big difference in temperatures in this house between the old section and the new
extension. The old section is built with solid brick walls that have a much greater thermal
mass than the thin walls of the extension. Thermal mass refers to the amount of material
present that is able to absorb and retain heat. Stone, brick, concrete, earth, sand and water
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are all substances that tend to provide high thermal mass.
In general, houses in hot climates are better with less thermal mass so they can cool down
more quickly overnight. Houses in regions where the temperature goes through big daily
variations are better with more thermal mass, to slow the temperature exchange down.
Houses in cool climates can benefit from additional thermal mass to maintain warmer
conditions inside overnight, but this can also mean they take longer to warm up.
nn Your Home – thermal mass
www.greenhouse.gov.au/yourhome/technical/fs17.htm
nn Sustainability Victoria – thermal mass
www.sustainability.vic.gov.au/resources/documents/Thermal_mass.pdf
Vent covers and draught proofing
Many houses have wall vents. These were essential when our lighting and heating came from
gas lamps and heaters that weren’t vented outside. Now there is no need for them, indeed,
they are the first thing a low-budget draughtproofer should cover up. Card and paper backed
by bubble-wrap works well. These can easily be stuck on and removed later.
nn Sustainability Victoria – air movement
www.sustainability.vic.gov.au/resources/documents/Air_movement.pdf
Water flow restrictors
While there are several different kinds of water-efficient shower heads available, a simple
and low-cost solution is to install a flow regulator or restrictor inside the existing showerhead
connector. This converts any showerhead to low water use for minimal expense.
nn Water ratings and water efficiency
www.waterrating.gov.au/consumers/index.html
Cheap cooling through ventilation
To keep a house cool it should be shut up once the temperature outside starts warming up
in the morning. Curtains pulled, windows and doors closed. In the evening, as soon as the
temperature drops below the temperature inside the house can be opened up to lose any
extra heat it’s gained. In winter the reverse applies.
Plastic products
Most modern plastics are made from petrochemicals. A surprising number of our common
household substances and objects are also made with petroleum and its derivatives. These
can include cleaning products, personal care products, aerosols, pesticides and garden
chemicals. It also includes the foams and coverings of most upholstered furniture. Around
4% of the world’s feedstock of oil and gas is used to make plastics and the bulk of the
world’s oil is used for petrol in cars and heating our homes and offices. Using plastics
products - through lightweighting, insulation and recycling helps save energy and oil.
In the future, oil will become more expensive. Using products that have a low carbon footprint
and save energy will be very important.
Quick facts about plastic:
nn 40% of the plastic used in Australia goes into packaging.
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nn In 2005, Australians used 3.92 billion plastic bags. This has fallen from around 6 billion
used in 2002
nn Take a reusable green bag to collect your takeaway. If everyone in Australia did this it
would save more than one and a half billion plastic bags, or more than twelve thousand
tonnes of plastic each year.
Find more plastic bag facts at Clean Up Australia:
www.cleanup.com.au/au/Campaigns/plastic-bag-facts.html
Food production and food miles
Freight in Australia has increased more than 60% since 1990. On average, the emissions
from freight add up to 2.2 tonnes of emissions per person per year. Food miles is the term for
the emissions generated by transport. Buying local cuts down food miles.
Freight transport methods and how they rate per tonne-km, from lowest to highest:
1) Ship
2) Rail and articulated trucks (which have improved in efficiency through better technology)
3) Light trucks and freight vehicles (which have a low carrying capacity)
4) Air freight, which is more than a hundred and twenty times the emissions of carrying by ship.
nn Most recent freight statistics and factors from the Australian Greenhouse Office
www.greenhouse.gov.au/inventory/2004/trends.html
© ABC Copyright 2007
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