The following press release was issued by HBF on 7 March 2005:
Following the thermal imaging pictures recently taken of London landmarks including Buckingham Palace, the House Builders Federation (HBF) marked New Homes Week by asking Napier University’s John Currie to take similar photographs of some smaller scale homes.
These thermal images show how insulation has improved from a 1930s house, through the 1970s to today’s new homes that are well insulated and inexpensive to run. Unequivocal proof that an Englishman’s brand new home is his thermally efficient castle.
Looking at the pictures you can see how parts of 1930s and 1970s houses glow bright yellow, showing the heat loss from these elements of the building, particularly windows and chimneys. By contrast, the newly built home shows no particular hotspots – the darker colours representing cooler areas as the heat is contained within the building.
So, new homes produce far less carbon dioxide – or greenhouse gas – than the older second hand stock, whilst giving their owners the immediate benefit of a warm home with much lower heating bills.
To date, the environmental debate about the impact of new development has concentrated almost exclusively on land use. Too little attention has been paid to the already significant – and potentially huge – reduction in the amount of greenhouse gas emissions produced by Britain’s housing stock.
Overall, Britain’s poorly insulated and ageing homes produce approximately one-third of the country’s entire carbon dioxide emissions. However, a continuing evolvement of buildings regulations now means that new homes are now between four and ten times more energy-efficient than their Victorian equivalents. This provides the twin benefits of much lower utility bills for their owners as well as a massive reduction in greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere.
But with Britain having one of the oldest housing stocks in the EU, much of the potential to make real cuts in greenhouse gas emissions is being missed.
Rachel Done, the HBF's director of operations, explained: “Most homebuyers are simply unaware of just how energy-efficient new homes are. Many new homebuyers are surprised at just how low their energy bills are. But what they’re saving in money, they’re also saving in reduced greenhouse gas emissions.”
Countries around the world are also trying to reduce carbon dioxide emissions to comply with the Kyoto treaty to fight global warming, and householders are being urged to help with this. It seems that, unlike occupation of grand old homes in some parts of central London, occupiers of new homes can be seen to be doing their bit.
New Homes Week highlights the extent of the savings with the following table, drawn up by independent consultants, Elmhurst Energy, demonstrating the savings that are possible by opting for a new home.
Editors’ notes
New Homes Week (NHW) 2005 is a UK-wide, not-for-profit campaign. Its aim is to demonstrate the wide range of benefits of new homes and the developments the industry has made in terms of design, sustainability and community.
A new brand has been developed and the HBF and NHMB will run themed events on each day. This will be supported by member packs demonstrating how the industry can support the campaign.
More information can be found at www.new-homes.co.uk/nhw