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Green Building Bible, Fourth Edition
Green Building Bible, fourth edition (both books)
These two books are the perfect starting place to help you get to grips with one of the most vitally important aspects of our society - our homes and living environment.

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    • CommentAuthorJTGreen
    • CommentTimeSep 21st 2010
     
    Just wondered if anyone else was up for this. Steamy Tea has mentioned it a few times in other threads.

    imeasure only records direct use in your home (no transport or indirect use). Carbon account has flights and vehicles. I have played with both and they seem pretty user friendly. imeasure has a "Carbon Club" facility that would allow GBF members to sign up to it. On carbon account you have to choose your friends, so we could all befriend each other (facebook stylee). I guess it's unlikely to allow us to reach any firm conclusions, but might provide a competitive spur to reduce energy use - which in itself would be a good thing.

    http://www.imeasure.org.uk/

    http://www.thecarbonaccount.com/

    What do you all think?
  1.  
    Yes imeasure is good for me.
    As this is a Green building forum , generally discussing energy use in the built environment etc.
    imeasure would be more suiting . if you fancy stting it up I'll join on
    • CommentAuthorJTGreen
    • CommentTimeSep 21st 2010
     
    Done.

    The carbon club is imaginatively called "Green Building Forum" on imeasure, and I'm feeling lonely so some more of you had better join up.
  2.  
    Just the two of us , we can make if we try ....
    • CommentAuthorbrig001
    • CommentTimeSep 21st 2010
     
    Hmm, just joined and it shows how much more I have to do... Can a few higher users join please then I can feel better about my usage :cry:
    • CommentAuthorGBP-Keith
    • CommentTimeSep 21st 2010
     
    Is it a kind of 'mine is smaller than yours' club then?
    • CommentAuthorJTGreen
    • CommentTimeSep 21st 2010
     
    That's the idea. Will make a change from the 'mine is thicker/tighter than yours' club.
    • CommentAuthorGBP-Keith
    • CommentTimeSep 21st 2010
     
    I'm intrigued JT. Just what sort of parties/clubs do you frequent?
    • CommentAuthorJTGreen
    • CommentTimeSep 21st 2010 edited
     
    I was thinking of insulation and airtightness - popular topics of conversation here.

    Anyhow, we are currently a very exclusive club of 3, so some more GBF folks need to join up - MoneySavingExpert.com has over 180 members in their Carbon Club on imeasure.
    •  
      CommentAuthorDamonHD
    • CommentTimeSep 21st 2010
     
    I have joined... Also I had set up a "Zero" club for those attempting to reach zero carbon, but it won't really work until imeasure lets me add my export meter readings!

    Rgds

    Damon
    • CommentAuthorjamesingram
    • CommentTimeSep 21st 2010 edited
     
    Thought house info would be of use , for ref.

    Household : 2 adults , 3 children under 7
    House type : Upstairs 2 storey masoniette (in semi style block of 4 units) 3 external walls
    Internal floor area : 95m2
    Heating : Gas condensing combi boiler
    Walls : brick/retro cavity fill ,50mm /brick
    Roof : Insulated on pitch , PUR 100mm
    Windows : upvc 2G
    Lighting : low energy through out
    Whitegoods : A rating
    •  
      CommentAuthorDamonHD
    • CommentTimeSep 21st 2010
     
    Us: 2 adults, 2 children under 5
    House type: end of terrace 2 storey
    Internal heated floor area: 76m^2
    Heating: gas combi (band D) tankless + rads
    Walls: timber frame with plasterboard/void+quilt/brick, now living room superinsulated w/ 40mm aerogel
    Roof: 270mm glass wool
    Windows: uPVC 2G
    Lighting: CFL + LED everywhere
    Whitegoods: A-or-better
    Microgen: 5kWp+ of PV
    • CommentAuthorJTGreen
    • CommentTimeSep 21st 2010
     
    Us: 2 adults, 2 children under 12
    House type: end of terrace 2 storey
    Internal heated floor area: 78m^2
    Heating: gas condensing combi boiler, tankless + rads
    Walls: solid brick, not insulated
    Floors: suspended, not insulated
    Roof: ?80mm yellow itchy
    Windows: 2G sash windows
    Lighting: CFL everywhere
    Whitegoods: A rated
    Microgen: none
    • CommentAuthordocmartin
    • CommentTimeSep 21st 2010 edited
     
    Just joined. Laboriously typed in 9 months of results; something wrong somewhere as year to date alleged to be 322,165Kwh, 70,046Kg CO2 & £10,709.44p! Gas meter type probably entered incorrectly. Will investigate when had some sleep.
    2 adults, 1930 detached chalet bungalow,about 124M2, chimneys removed, 75mm PUR in pitch of roof over skeilings, 300mm glass wool quilt over remaining ceilings. 60mm CWI with platinum EPS beads, 60mm K5 EWB on 9" brick offshot kitchen. 200mm quilt held with re-cycled scaffold net under ground floor suspended timber floors. Condensing gas system boiler with weather compensator, DHW from 200L twin coil pressurised cylinder- no solar, yet. All DG; inherited a moderately good system but added DG with argon fill + warm spacers to extended kitchen & new 2nd bathroom roof window plus TG with krypton to new roof window on landing. Most lights now LED + 1 fluorescent and couple of CFL. MVHR with specialised cooker hood: yes I know, not really for my type of house but I would have again for the air quality,alone, as well as absolute control of condensation.
    • CommentAuthorJTGreen
    • CommentTimeSep 21st 2010
     
    At least you will have made Brig001 temporarily happy. Bound to be wrong units for gas.
    • CommentAuthordocmartin
    • CommentTimeSep 22nd 2010
     
    Relieved to find 1 typo in electric and 1 transposed electric in gas column. Much better at 10,715 Kwh, 2718 Kg CO2 & £465. Still last on per person basis, though. Currently running a 2nd freezer to cope with the glut from the garden and the catering for my Wife's Uncle's 95th birthday party, tomorrow.
    •  
      CommentAuthorSteamyTea
    • CommentTimeSep 22nd 2010
     
    Signed up and shall put my figures in later. Need to get the tape measure out. Is floor area the footprint or multiplied by the number of layers?
    • CommentAuthorJTGreen
    • CommentTimeSep 22nd 2010
     
    Multiplied by the number of layers (i.e. the same way they sell properties), but not including the loft space (unless you have a room in the roof).
    •  
      CommentAuthorSteamyTea
    • CommentTimeSep 22nd 2010
     
    Thanks, shall get all the data in a little while. I know my usage is pretty high as I did a spreadsheet a while back and was pretty upset.
    • CommentAuthorJTGreen
    • CommentTimeSep 22nd 2010
     
    The size of your space doesn't effect your usage 'ranking', though it's interesting data for them. Number of people in the property does.

    Is the reason your usage is high because it's all electric? There is a cool comparison gadget you can play with that allows you to look at your usage against other similar houses (by occupants/type of house/energy source)- you might be a loser overall, but doing quite well within your own category. The psychological effect is quite interesting - I was a B in my class, and an A overall last week. Have dropped to a C in my class and a B overall this week, and it is bothering me.

    Talking of weeks, I have a query about dates for the CO2 figure used for the ranking. When I go into my 'results' page and view detailed results (at the bottom of the page), I see that they have calculated 25 kgCO2 for week ending Sept 5 and 38 kgCO2 for week ending Sept 12 (no idea what I was doing in the week ending Sept 12 to use an additional 13 kgCO2!). But for the ranking I have 38 kgCO2 for week ending Sept 5th (i.e. they've taken the following week's figure) - does everyone else have the same disparity between the dates?
    •  
      CommentAuthorSteamyTea
    • CommentTimeSep 22nd 2010
     
    Us: 2 adults, one disabled
    House type: mid terrace 2 storey 1987 build
    Internal heated floor area: 53m^2
    Heating: E7 (2 storage heaters, 12.5&25 kWh@8h, 300lt hot water +3kW immersion)
    Walls: Timber frame, block exterior leaf, render (35m^2 external walls with 7m^2 glazed)
    Floors: suspended, not insulated
    Roof: Pitched, 28m^2ish, 100mm Mineral Wool, boarded.
    Windows: 2G 16mm gap, timber frames
    Lighting: CFL everywhere
    Whitegoods: A rated Washer/dryer, small fridge, electric cooker
    Microgen: none
    Climate: Mild, Windy, Wet. 50N 5W 110m ASL

    Usage is really to do with my lodger. A forgetful soul, can spend 40 minutes in the shower.
    • CommentAuthorbrig001
    • CommentTimeSep 22nd 2010 edited
     
    Posted By: JTGreenAt least you will have made Brig001 temporarily happy. Bound to be wrong units for gas.

    Well, temporary happiness is a start :bigsmile:

    We are 2 adults, a 16 year old and a 14 year old who both think nothing of 1/2 hour showers - an improvement on the hour I found out they were spending.
    100m2 detached, brick, retro filled cavity, Thermalite block house with hoof prints in the garden.
    Solid floors and 250 to 450 mm glass fibre in the loft - the extra was added over the coldest rooms of the house to even them up.
    Condensing gas boiler with thermal store and radiators.
    Windows: uPVC 2G
    Lighting: mostly CFL
    Whitegoods: all A rated except fridge.

    Brian.
  3.  
    iMeasure is really only applicable to UK residents, it doesn't have options that cover things like GSHP etc.

    For what it's worth, here's my details:

    Us: 2 adults
    House type: semi-detached 2 story 1898 build solid walls (triple brick plus stone and double brick)
    Main heated area: 180m2
    Basement heated area: 90m2
    Walls: 25mm cellulose or XPS insulation or 13mm PUR (depending on the wall)
    Flat roof: unknown thickness of fibrous looking insulation (hopefully not asbestos)
    Windows: 2G argon filled low-E coatings highest airtightness rating on the market
    Heating: Water-to-air GSHP with hot water pre-heat
    Hot Water: 160l direct vent gas hot water tank "always on" with GHSP preheat via desuperheater
    Lighting: mix of halogen and CFL
    Whitegoods: A rated; no TV
    Climate: Hot/humid summers, cold/dry/snowy winters lattitude 45o25' north
    Consumption: last full year gas: 2200kWh
    Consumption: last full year electricity 15900kWh
    CO2 emission: 400kg/year (electricity here is zero)
    Load: last year HDD: 3700
    Load: last year CDD: 400

    Paul in Montreal.
    • CommentAuthorJTGreen
    • CommentTimeSep 22nd 2010
     
    But you still use electricity to run your GSHP, don't you? So it should let you enter the kWh of electricity you are using to run that - even if you haven't reduced your heating requirement.
  4.  
    Posted By: JTGreenBut you still use electricity to run your GSHP, don't you? So it should let you enter the kWh of electricity you are using to run that - even if you haven't reduced your heating requirement.
    Yes I do use electricity, but it's pretty much 100% hydroelectric so the CO2 emission figures that it would produce for me would be way off - and my heating load is about 3x higher than my electricity consumption. I have been reading my meter religiously about once a week for the past 5 years too - annual demand has gone down from about 19,000kWh to the current ~16000kWh as various walls have been slightly insulated and airtightness improved.

    Paul in Montreal.
    • CommentAuthorJTGreen
    • CommentTimeSep 22nd 2010
     
    "CO2" is just being used as a surrogate measure for "energy use" by imeasure.
    • CommentAuthorGBP-Keith
    • CommentTimeSep 22nd 2010
     
    We could make this into a sort of GBF Dojo whereby, depending on your score you get stars (and work up to a sort of blackbelt) the best could be a 5th Dan so when a 5th Dan arrive onto the forum we all bow.
  5.  
    Posted By: JTGreen"CO2" is just being used as a surrogate measure for "energy use" by imeasure.
    - true, but it ascribes a much higher CO2 figure for electric heating compared to gas, for the same number of kWh consumed. Though since I'm using a heatpump with a measured COP of around 3ish, it probably comes out to the same overall.

    Paul in Montreal.
    •  
      CommentAuthorSteamyTea
    • CommentTimeSep 22nd 2010
     
    They do have an option for a Green Tariff but then say it makes no difference. Maybe that is worth investigating.

    Paul you could send them an email as I am sure they would be chuffed that a 'foreigner' was using the site. Probably help the universities ethnic diversity numbers!
    • CommentAuthorJTGreen
    • CommentTimeSep 22nd 2010
     
    Their FAQ explains:

    Does imeasure give me credit if I purchase a green (renewable energy) electricity tariff?

    imeasure does not reduce your carbon emission totals if you purchase a green tariff because the Defra carbon emissions factor for electricity takes into the amount of renewable energy inputted into the national grid. Also, imeasure is about the opportunities to reduce demand for energy in the home rather than relying on supply-side carbon emission reductions.
   
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