![]() You’ll be surprised.ĭid you like this article? The podcast is way better! Listen to it now (link above) and to the others in the series (links below). Photo: Nikki MandowĬonstruction hasn’t started yet, but the head of the project, Nicola Tagiston, explains what they have discovered in 18 months of data-driven research into every aspect of building and running a home. Nicola Tagiston and Fletcher Building's Steve Evans with the model of the 1.5 degree home. ![]() But the reality is that we could reduce that peak load by over 70 percent if we built low carbon homes, and retrofitted our existing homes to energy efficient levels.”įinally, Mandow visits the Fletcher Building’s Low Carbon 1.5 degree Homes pilot, where a team is trying to work out how to align the way we build and operate our homes with a future where we keep global warming to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels. “Lots of commentators talk about needing more hydro dams, or more wind turbines. And the peak load is directly correlated with when we turn on our energy needs in New Zealand homes in the winter,” Eagles says. “Research from Otago University found one of the major issues with our grid, and the reason we have blackouts and turn on Huntly power station, is our peak load. Just making every house more efficient will also have a huge impact on the emissions associated with operating a home, and on houses playing a part in getting rid of our remaining coal and gas-fired electricity generation. Andrew Eagles says we don't need more hydro dams, we need warmer, more energy efficient homes. And it needs the price signals to be there in the market.”īut it’s not just about technology, Andrew Eagles, chief executive of the New Zealand Green Building Council, tells Mandow on the podcast. But it needs the infrastructure to be built. “What we should be aiming for is the smarts to manage those things, including home management systems to make it easy for us. New Zealand is also going to need better pricing signals, more information sharing, a shift in the regulations, and some potentially big changes in the way the electricity market operates, if we are going to get maximum emissions reduction, says Angela Ogier, director of energy and hydrogen transition at EY New Zealand. Nic Romaniuk can keep an eye on the electricity flow into and out of his home from his laptop or phone. On the podcast, Mandow goes to meet Nic Romaniuk, a technophile homeowner just itching to get his hands on the new gear. ![]() We’re going to need more solar panels, batteries, and smart appliances, plus a much more proactive electricity grid, able to easily move power out of, as well as into, homes. Technology is going to play a big role on how our homes can help us create fewer emissions, save on electricity, and hopefully stave off the need to build more power stations. We aren’t doing great so far, but there’s some cool stuff in the wings. In the final podcast of the Net Zero: Road to 2050 series, Newsroom’s business editor Nikki Mandow looks at the challenges faced by homeowners and the building industry to get emissions down so we can meet our net carbon zero by 2050 targets - and to save the world. It might be mining or logging the materials, manufacturing the concrete, steel, glass, bricks etc, getting everything to the site, and even the use of power tools on the job. Cut it a different way, and half is coming from the day-to-day operations of a building (power for heating, lighting, cooling and the gear we have in our homes, for example), and half from what’s called “embedded carbon” - the emissions from the energy that was needed for construction. In the US, for example, the ‘built environment’ contributes almost 50 percent of emissions.īut 15-20 percent, that’s still significant.Īround half of those total emissions are from homes, and half from non-residential buildings. ![]() It’s less than other countries, because our electricity grid is greener than most. Listen to the final episode of the Net Zero: Road to 2050 podcast to find out more.īuildings make up between 15 and 20 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions in New Zealand, depending on whose figures you use. But there’s some cool stuff happening to reduce the harm our homes cause - and even make them part of the solution. In fact they cause up to 10 percent of New Zealand’s total greenhouse gas emissions. Our houses are contributing big time to climate change, just by being there. Week in Review Net Zero: The Road to 2050 – How your home can save the planet ![]()
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