So what does "Going Green" mean?

In this section I aim to demystify some of the ecologically sound and environmentally friendly options available to home builders, owners and developers.

If you intend to go green for your home, you may find that the sheer amount of information out there is daunting at the best of times. So let me try to put into plain English some of the terms that you may have heard so that you can really understand what they mean.

Greenhouse gas

Carbon footprint

Carbon offsetting

Carbon Neutral

Zero Carbon

Greenhouse gas

Greenhouse gases emissions are the gases that are released into the atmosphere and reduce the release of heat back out into space. These gases are necessary to prevent the Earth from becoming too cold to be inhabitable, but too big an increase means that the average temperature of the  Earth begins to warm up (known as Global Warming). There are 6 main greenhouse gases that are regulated by the Kyoto Protocol and they are  carbon dioxide(CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6). In order to make comparison simpler, these gases are often converted into carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e).

Carbon footprint

Your Carbon footprint is the amount of CO2 produced by burning fossil fuels that is required in order for you to live your life. There is a 'primary footprint' which is the environmental impact of day-to-day activities like heating your home, driving your car and flying to holiday destinations. Your 'secondary footprint' is the amount of carbon generated throughout the whole 'lifecycle' of the products you buy, like the energy used in the  production of your car, the delivery of your car, and eventually the disposal of your car. Buying imported good increases your carbon footprint because if the energy used to ship it to you, and buying locally produced items can reduce it.

Carbon offsetting

Carbon offsetting is improving your impact on the environment by cancelling out your emissions by some method of reducing CO2 production elsewhere. There are many companies that will help you offset your emissions, for example, the emissions created by flying on holiday can be offset by paying a company to plant trees. On a more personal level you can cycle to work to offset the energy used to watch your TV. Companies themselves can offset their emissions by trading in carbon credits and investing in projects that reduce emissions (often in developing countries), for example, encouraging energy efficiency in India or sustainable tree growth in Brazil.

Carbon Neutral

It is virtually impossible to live in the modern world without generating carbon in some form. Therefore being carbon neutral basically means that you offset the carbon emissions that you generate using a suitable method (planting trees, investing in projects, or generating renewable energy using wind turbines, heat exchange systems  or solar panels).

Zero Carbon

Technically a zero carbon house is one that doesn't generate any CO2. However, as all houses will generate some carbon, the government definition states that it is a home with zero NETT emissions (which is the same as a carbon neutral home). The Code for Sustainable Homes (which replaced the Eco Homes Schemes) states that by 2016 ALL new homes built in the UK will have to achieve the highest level of efficiency as outlined in the code. This is obviously going to have an impact on the selfbuilders of the future.