Article Get Energy Smart!

Issue: Jan-Feb 2010 Length: 2700

Headline: Powering Down - The 80% Solution

Deck: A 20 year plan to reduce your household greenhouse gas emissions by 80%.
by Scott McKenzie In the lead up to the climate change conference in Copenhagan, we heard a lot about reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2020 and by 80% by 2050, but most people dont know what those numbers mean. This article outlines not only what these kind of reductions mean in terms of impacts on your lifestyle, but also show that it is possible for you to achieve an 80% reduction in your household energy consumption over time by making sustainable choices in what you buy and how you live. The first step is to measure your current greenhouse gas emissions because you wont know if you are actually reducing if you dont measure your usage to begin with. Greenhouse gas emissions are due to our direct and indirect use of energy. I have included a simple way for you to calculate your major sources of greenhouse gas emissions in Sidebar 1, but there are also online calculators available such as zerofootprint (which even includes local Ottawa data): http://ottawa.zerofootprint.net/. Once you have measured your greenhouse gas emissions, you need to formulate a household plan to power-down your energy usage over a twenty year period. The first step is to reduce your energy use by 25% through simple low-to-no-cost energy conservation techniques that will also save you money. The second step is to invest in energy efficiency to cut your usage (and bills) in half. The third step is to change to a more sustainable lifestyle over time to get to an 80% reduction. According to Statistics Canada, the average Canadian household is responsible for 27,100 kg of CO2 emissions due to the choices they make in their home, for their transportation, for their food and for all the rest of the things they buy, use and throw out. Household expenditures account for about half of all greenhouse gas emissions in Canada (the remainder are due to product exports and government usage) so your changes do make a difference. The average household has 2.6 people living in a 149 square meter home driving 20,000 km per year, flying 12,500 km per year and generating 1000 kg of garbage. Since 1990 all of these numbers have increased except the average number of people per home which has declined. This means we have fewer people living in larger homes generating more waste while driving and flying more. Like many people, I grew up in a 1400 square foot home with 7 people, 1.5 bathrooms and 1 car. I now live in a 1900 square foot home with 4 people, 3.5 bathrooms and 2 cars. When I did the calculations I found our household was generating about 38,000 kg

of CO2 from the major sources of greenhouse gases that we could measure. This led me to look for ways to reduce my energy consumption. I have now formulated a long term power-down plan to reduce my greenhouse gas emissions by 80% and am half way there. You dont have to wait for governments to start making changes. Start with simple ways to reduce your energy usage and save money, then invest the savings in energy efficiency and finally make the lifestyle changes needed to live more sustainably. Step 1: Get Energy Smart! - reduce your carbon footprint by 25% and save money. Energy conservation is the easiest part of your power-down plan and it is feasible for most households to save 25% without spending money and get an immediate payback. The key is to become more aware of all the energy you are currently using and look for ways to reduce it. Seventh Generation Community Projects, a program of Tucker House Renewal Centre, has been running Get Energy Smart! seminars, walking tours and workshops throughout Ottawa over the past year. The aim is to inform people on the simple, low-to-no cost ways to reduce their household carbon footprint and save money. Using a real life case study the seminar explains how lowering your greenhouse gas emissions actually saves you money. The focus is on four areas for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and saving money: Home, Transportation, Food and Consumption/Waste. Turning down your heat, installing compact fluorescent light bulbs, slowing down when you drive, eating less meat and reducing how much you fly are just some of the things you can to do save energy. See Sidebar 2 for a list of 25 ways you can reduce your greenhouse gas emissions by 25% and save money. Our family has been able to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by about 26% or 10,000 kg of CO2 and save $3000 per year. Fill out the Get Energy Smart! pledge form online at: http://www.seventhgeneration.ca/ to start your power-down action plan. If you are interested in a Get Energy Smart! seminar for your community, please send an email to energy@tuckerhouse.ca. Get Energy Smart! support is provided by the Government of Ontario and its Community Go Green Fund. Seventh Generation Community Projects is the adult environmental education program of Tucker House Renewal Centre (www.tuckerhouse.ca). Step 2: Invest in energy efficiency to cut your usage in half. Investing in energy efficiency is not just good for the planet; it also saves you money in the long run. It is reasonable for you to cut your energy usage in half over time by ensuring you choose energy efficient options when replacing items and renovating. I recommend formulating a ten year plan in order to make it feasible to budget for the changes. All of the energy efficiencies will save you money, but some will take longer than others to payback. A good place to start is to get a home eco-energy audit from a certified auditor. This will tell you what you can do to improve your home energy efficiency and what government

grants are available to help you pay for them. Home heating and cooling generates 5000 kg of CO2 per year on average. You can cut this in half by implementing the following changes that apply to your home and receive government grants to help offset the costs: Seal air leaks Install ceiling fans Insulate walls and attic Install a solar hot water heater Upgrade to Energy Star windows and doors Upgrade to an Energy Star high efficiency furnace A typical Canadian home generates 3000 kg of CO2 per year from electricity usage. You can reduce this to zero by subscribing to Bullfrog Power (www.bullfrogpower.com) which generates all its electricity from renewable sources. Bullfrog power charges an extra 3 cents per kilowatt hour for electricity which adds about $300 a year to an average home. You can also generate your own electricity from solar or wind through Ontarios new Feed-In Tariff program (fit.powerauthority.on.ca) which will cost more up front, but is a good long term investment. Part of your ten year plan should also be to upgrade your major appliances (washing machine, dishwasher, refrigerator, etc) to Energy Star models when they need replacing. Finally dont forget to by upgrade your electronic equipment to the smallest, most energy efficient option when you buy new ones. For example laptops are more efficient that desktop computers. Transportation generates 5500 kg of CO2 per year for an average Canadian household. When you need to replace your current vehicle, be sure to buy the smallest, most energy efficient model you can or better yet, get rid of your vehicle and join a car sharing program like vrtucar (www.vrtucar.com) or communauto (www.communauto.com). For example, driving a small hybrid car 20,000 km per year only generates 2524 kg of CO2, less than half of the Canadian average. The average Canadian households food choices result in emissions of 3200 kg of CO2 per year. The average food travels 2400 km to reach our plates so join a Community Shared Agriculture (CSA) program to get a weekly delivery of local produce. Tucker House Renewal Centre offers the Bunching Onions CSA Program with deliveries from May to September (visit www.tuckerhouse.ca for details). You can also find additional examples from Just Foods website (www.justfood.ca). Be sure to buy local, organic food where you can which has lower greenhouse gas emissions. All of our other consumption and waste choices produce 10,400 kg of CO2 on average and you need to take into account the entire life cycle of a product before you purchase it. This includes the energy required to make it, transport it and dispose of it. The key investment in this area is to always try to buy high-quality products that will last as long as possible and made as locally as possible. It is better to buy a few pieces of solid wood furniture that your children will inherit than low quality furniture that will end up in the

landfill in a few years. My favorite piece of furniture is a 150 year old solid cherry dining room table that used to belong to my great-grandmother. So far, our family has upgraded to an R2000 home with solar hot water powered by Bullfrog, we have Energy Star appliances and electronics and belong to a CSA. This has reduced our greenhouse gases by another 8000 kg of CO2 for a 47% total reduction so far. We plan to purchase a hybrid car as our next vehicle when we need a new car which will help to reduce them even further. Step 3: Change Your Lifestyle For an 80% Reduction. Getting to an 80% reduction in energy usage will require significant lifestyle changes for most people. But if the environment is important to you, the changes are possible, especially when you consider implementing them over a twenty year period instead of trying to do them all at once. In order to reduce your home heating and cooling emissions to 1000 kg of CO2 per year, you will have to forgo air conditioning and implement one of the following options: Use geothermal or wood to heat your home Downsize to an energy efficient home half the size of your current home (about 70 square meters for an average Canadian family) Build a new passive solar home to net-zero standards (that does not require you to commute to work) By investing in Bullfrog Power or renewable energy, your electricity greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to zero, but it is important to keep you energy demands low by not using your clothes dryer and minimizing your use of electric devices like hair dryers, irons, hand mixers, etc. Shift your appliance usage (like dishwashers and clothes washers) to evenings and weekends to help reduce the peak demand on the electrical grid. Driving a hybrid car 8000 km per year generates about 1100 kg of CO2. This means you will have to move your work closer to home or your home closer to work so that you can walk or bike instead of driving or taking the bus. Time the move for when it makes sense to you for example when you are changing jobs or retiring. By living on a mostly vegetarian, local and organic diet, the average household can reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to about 600 kg of CO2 per year. Convert your yard into a bio-intensive organic garden so you can grow most of your own vegetables. It is reasonable to get dried goods from overseas (like tea, coffee, spices), but not fresh produce or liquids (like wine and olive oil) that are less efficient to transport. Reducing other areas of consumption to 2700 kg of CO2 per year means no flying for work or pleasure. It also means replacing gas powered lawn mowers and snow blowers with electric or manual models. You will need to stop using gas powered recreational vehicles like motor boats, snowmobiles, ATVs, etc and replace them with sailing, canoeing, skiing, biking and walking. Instead of eating out and staying in hotels on

vacation, you will need to stay with friends and family or camp. In general, we will have to buy about one quarter of the things we do today and have almost no garbage. My wife and I have both changed our jobs in the last few years so that we can walk to work. We have a small garden and eat local, organic, vegetarian food as much as possible. We still travel and drive more than we should, but plan to reduce these in the future. These lifestyle changes mean we walk more, eat better and have less stress. Conclusion It is possible to put together a twenty year power-down plan to reduce your carbon footprint by 80%. Start by measuring your current greenhouse gas emissions and then reduce them by 25% within a year. Give yourself 10 years to invest in energy efficiency and cut your emissions in half. Finally, start thinking about major lifestyle changes you will need to make over the next 20 years to get to an 80% reduction. Dont wait for the government; get started on your power-down plan today. We started 3 years ago and have already reached a 50% reduction in our greenhouse gas emissions without impacting our standard of living. Changing to a more sustainable lifestyle of driving less, walking more and eating well will lower your stress level and lead to a healthier, happier life.

How to Calculate Your Greenhouse Gas Emissions (in kg CO2) Heating (Average 5000 kg CO2/year):
Natural gas: multiply annual usage in cubic meters by 1.9 Oil Heating: multiply annual usage in litres by 2.8 Tip: your annual usage is available from your heating bill.

Sidebar 1:

Electricity (Average 3000 kg CO2/year):

Multiply annual usage in kWh by 0.241 (Ontario) Tip: your annual usage is available from your electricity bill. Borrow a kill-a-watt meter from the library and measure the electricity usage of all the items in your home.

Car (Average 5500 kg CO2/year):

Multiply number of kilometers you drive annually by: 0.1262 for a hybrid car 0.1830 for a small car 0.2162 for a mid-size car 0.2964 for a minivan 0.3103 for a truck or SUV Tip: if you dont record your mileage, check your service bills as most mechanics note the mileage when they work on you car.

Flying (Average 3600 kg CO2/year):

Short flights (under 500 km): multiply the distance in km by 0.150 Long flights (over 500 km): multiply the distance in km by 0.297 Tip: drive to Toronto or Montreal instead of flying to catch a long-haul flight.

Waste (Average 700 kg CO2/year):

Multiply the annual weight of your garbage in kg by 0.7

Tip: do a garbage audit by writing down everything you throw out for a week and then figuring out what you can buy differently to reduce it.

Add up the totals from each area to see how you compare to the average and then look for more ways to reduce your greenhouse gas emissions.

Sidebar 2: Get Energy Smart! 25 Ways to Reduce Your Greenhouse Gas Emissions.

25 WAYS TO REDUCE YOUR GHG EMISSIONS Heating Cooling

Set furnace to 20C when home & 17C at night or if out Use cold water to wash clothes Set air conditioner to 25C when home & 28C when out Turn down hot water heater to 50 C Use low flow shower heads and faucets Install CFLs in 10 most frequently used lights Unplug your 2nd Fridge Unplug your freezer Stop using clothes dryer 50% of the time Put TVs and computers on power bars & turn them off Slow down to 100 km/h on the highway Walk or bike to work 1 day per week Take the bus to work 1 day per week Carpool to work 1 day per week Reduce idling by 5 minutes per day Dont eat meat for 1 day per week Buy local food where possible Grow your own herbs and vegetables Dont eat prepared food 1 day per week Drink tap water instead of bottled water Take a driving vacation instead of flying every 2nd year Compost your food waste Reduce your garbage by 1 bag per week Recycle it (use your blue and black box) Stop using gas lawn mower (or snow blower)

Savings*
525 215 200 190 140 250 250 170 130 70 275 200 120 100 100 370 225 200+ 100 90 1800 400 300 160 90

Consume Waste

Food

Transport

Electricity

TOTAL GREENHOUSE GAS SAVINGS (25%)

*Savings in kg CO2/year

6,670