Buildings represent 40% of energy consumption in Europe. According to the Commission of Research, there is an energy saving potential of 27% for residential building and 30% for commercial buildings by 2020.
In Los Angeles, the mayor declared that from 2020 onwards Los Angeles will completely eliminate using power generated by burning coal and go for alternative energy sources such as wind and sun.
10 things you can do to save energy from www.Ecomall.com
1. Turn your refrigerator down did you know that refrigerators use about 20 % of household electricity.
2. Set your clothes washer to the warm or cold water setting, not hot. Switching from hot to warm for two loads per week can save nearly 500 pounds of CO2 per year.
3. Make sure your dishwasher is full when you run it and use the energy saving setting so can save 20 percent of your dishwasher's total electricity use.
4. Turn down your water heater thermostat. Thermostats are often set to 140 degrees F when 120 is usually fine.
5. Replacing a typical 1973 refrigerator with a new energy-efficient model saves 1.4 tons of CO2 per year. Investing in a solar water heater can save 4.9 tons of CO2 annually.
6. Be careful not to overheat or overcool rooms. In the winter, set your thermostat at 68 degrees in daytime, and 55 degrees at night. In the summer, keep it at 78. Lowering your thermostat just two degrees during winter saves 6 percent of heating-related CO2 emissions.
7. Clean or replace air filters as recommended. Energy is lost when air conditioners and hot-air furnaces have to work harder to draw air through dirty filters. Cleaning a dirty air conditioner filter can save 5 percent of the energy used. That could save 175 pounds of CO2 per year.
8. Buy energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs for your most-used lights they save money in the long run by using only 1/4 the energy of an ordinary incandescent bulb and lasting 8-12 times longer we would save the same amount of energy as a large nuclear power plant produces in one year one compact fluorescent bulb can save 260 pounds of CO2 per year.
9. Wrap your water heater an insulating jacket, which costs just $10 to $20. It can save 1100 lbs. of CO2 per year for an electric water heater, or 220 pounds for a gas heater.
10. Use less hot water by installing low-flow shower heads they cost just $10 to $20 each, deliver an invigorating shower, and save 300 pounds of CO2 per year for electrically heated water, or 80 pounds for gas-heated water.
Here are some great websites:
www.stopclimatechange.net
Contributions by Richard
