Here at BuilderScrap.com we’re looking at respondents’ purchases of appliances and whether being “Energy Saving Recommended‟ had been a factor in purchases. The purpose of this the BuilderScrap blog isn’t just to help you guys save on construction costs, but to help home owners make informed decisions relating to the environment.

Respondents were presented with a list of seven household appliances and asked which, if any, they had bought in the last twelve months. As shown in Table 12, a third (32%) of respondents had bought at least one of these appliances, with the most common purchases being a washing machine (15%), fridge-freezer (9%) or a dishwasher (8%). It was less common for respondents to have purchased a tumble dryer (6%), fridge (5%), freezer (3%) or washer-dryer (2%).

A similar question was asked on the Energy Saving Trust tracker survey in August 2007. Where comparisons are possible the proportion who had bought each appliance in the last twelve months was fairly consistent, although there had been a small, but statistically significant decrease in the proportion of respondents who had bought a fridge-freezer.

We think that’s because its been really cold!

At BuilderScrap.com we’re looking at the way Home builders can you help you guys save energy. The survey asked respondents if they had or had considered installing various energy-generating items in their homes. The four items covered are shown in Table 11 with a summary of responses to these questions.

As shown in the table above, very few people have installed any of the five items (1% or less in each case). This is consistent with the 2007 Defra survey – which found less than 1% of those surveyed had installed solar panels, solar water heating or a wind turbine, and with The Energy Saving Trust‟s tracker survey in February 2008 – which found less than 1% had biomass heating.
Furthermore, the proportion who said they were contemplating installing each of the items was low. Around one in ten (12%) claimed to be contemplating installing solar panels, with a similar proportion (10%) claiming to be contemplating installing solar water heating. Smaller numbers said they were contemplating installing either a wind turbine (5%) or a ground source heat pump (3%).

For all five of the items the majority of respondents were either at the pre-contemplation stage (having never heard of the item or having not given it any consideration) or having rejected it as an option. Respondents were least likely to have contemplated installing biomass heating or a ground source heat pump – 65% and 58% of respondents respectively fell into the pre-contemplation category for these behaviours (with a high proportion stating that they had not heard of either of these). At least half of respondents had rejected the idea of installing solar panels (55%), solar water heating (50%) or a wind turbine (58%).

All respondents who had installed at least one of these items at their homes were asked what were the main reasons they had done this, though as so few people had installed the items the base sizes were too small to support any analysis.

The fourth stage of the Buildability cycle is the management and maintenance of facilities and buildings.  Through managing each stage of the process, care can be taken to ensure that a complete construction project is as sustainable as possible, with as little adverse effect on the environment as is possible.  The following stages should be considered after a building project has finished, during the lifecycle of the building.

Energy performance certificates and monitoring
Manage running costs by efficient maintenance of high spec plant, therefore reducing carbon emissions
Observe all legal requirements and statutory obligations
Prevention of “sick building syndrome”
Life cycle costing

The final phase of this process, is to look at what happens at the end of a buildings life – the ‘deconstruction’ of said building.  Watch out for the next post which looks at this.

The third phase of the Buildability cycle is construction.  The following points should be considered at the construction stage to improve the environmental impact of the build.

Assembly techniques should be compatible with standard not specialist techniques
Plan for simplicity of assembly and logical trade sequences
Achievable tolerances
Energy efficiency and pollution control on site – generators, lighting, plant etc
Vigorous separation and segregation of waste
Consider new, untried site recycling initiatives (plasterboard, paint tins etc)

The fourth stage to be looked at is the management and maintenance of the building and facilities.

If you caught our last blog post about Buildability then you woudl have read all about how Design and Specification fit into the Buildability Cycle.  This post looks at the second phase in the cycle – Procurement.

Sustainable Procurement

The following highlights several points which should be considered at the Procurement stage, to help improve the sustainability of your project.

Standardize procurement procedures
Put local suppliers on procurement framework
Explore compulsory packaging and materials take back schemes
Maximize recycled content wherever possible
Use easily available construction products
Utilise local labour to boost local economies and reduce carbon emissions from transport
Considerate Contractors scheme
Vigorously check the environmental credentials of any potential suppliers

The next stage is construction, watch out for that post.

Today’s post interests us at BuilderScrap.com simply because we’re nosey people.

All respondents were asked how they set the temperature on their heating system during the winter. They were asked to select which out of six statements best described how they set the temperature and also the current temperature setting on their thermostat (in degrees centigrade). Respondents who were unsure of the current setting were asked to check their thermostat or heating controls. The answers to both questions are provided in Table 10 (thermostat temperature was provided to the nearest degree but is presented here in bands of five degrees). Those with no central heating are excluded from the analysis.

The majority of respondents who had central heating reported that they changed the temperature setting whenever it got too hot or too cold, with 41% saying that while they did this, they often wore a jumper indoors. Around one in five (21%) said they often changed the temperature setting when it got too hot or cold and they did not like to wear a lot of layers. Around a third (37%) said that they did not change the setting often. Just 2% of respondents indicated that they did not tend to use the central heating. Detailed responses are provided above.

The mean temperature setting in respondents homes was 18.3 degrees centigrade. This calculation is based on those who had central heating, were able to control the temperature in their home and who knew what temperature the heating was set to. As in the 2007 Defra survey respondents who gave unrealistic answers (over 35 degrees centigrade) were also excluded from the analysis. In the 2007 Defra survey, the mean temperature was measured at 19.6 degrees suggesting that people were setting their heating at a slightly lower temperature in 2009. However, in 2007, respondents were not asked to check the temperature setting when responding so there was a higher level of estimation than in 2009.
More than a quarter (29%) of respondents with central heating had the temperature in their home set between 15 and 19 degrees and a similar proportion (28%) had it set between 20 and 24 degrees. It was uncommon for respondents to have the temperature either below 15 degrees (8%) or above 29 degrees (2%). Despite being asked to check the temperature setting if they were unsure, 20% of respondents said they didn‟t know what setting their heating was set to. In addition, 10% indicated that they either had no way of controlling the temperature or that the heating controls did not have a temperature scale.

We know that keeping your heating levels down is great for the environment…. big fluffy jumpers all the way! Do respondents have better home insulation, is it generally warmer or are respondents genuinely trying to not to waste energy. I’m going to write a post on Building Services to compliment this post to illustrate the point. Are people getting more work done on the home to aid heating efficiencies.

Coming back to the Defra survey on Public attitudes and behaviours towards the environment. BuilderScrap.com are looking at Heating! Hope you’re reading Home builders.

The vast majority (93%) of respondents lived in homes with central heating systems, with just a small proportion saying they had electric storage heating (4%) or warm air heating (1%). The remaining respondents either had no heating (2%) or said that they did not know what type of heating they had (less than 1%). This is broadly consistent with the 2007 Defra survey which estimated 89% of respondents as having some form of central heating and the same proportions as having electric storage heating or warm air heating (4% and 1% respectively).

The survey asked whether people had installed or were considering installing a condensing boiler, which provides an energy efficient and environmentally-friendly way of heating a home. This question was asked using the stages of change response scale (the analysis in Table 9 excludes those without central heating).

Around a third (31%) of respondents with central heating said they had installed a condensing boiler (the maintenance stage) while 14% said they were contemplating installing one but had not done so yet. A similar proportion (17%) had thought about installing a condensing boiler but had rejected the idea, while 29% were at the pre-contemplation stage (having never heard of this type of boiler or having never thought about installing one).

The proportion of people with condensing boilers has remained unchanged since the 2007 Defra survey. In 2007 29% of respondents who had a central heating boiler indicated that they had installed a condensing boiler (this difference is not statistically significant).

No real surprises but… come on Condensed Boilers are 87% efficient compared to regular boilers at 75%