Housing contributes to household emissions by 30%. Heating is the largest single consumer of energy, followed by water, electricity and waste.

Emission levels from heating depend on the size of the house, meaning how many square meters it has per person. The energy efficiency of the various types of houses (block of flats, row house, detached house) is basically the same. Well-designed and well-built new houses typically consume less energy than older ones. However, the wood used in building old log houses acts as a carbon sink, and usually old houses were built with care and made to last a long time. However, it is also possible to improve energy efficiency of older houses significantly through good maintenance.

In housing, the annual amount of energy needed comes from heating, electricity and cooling. Ventilation and water represent approximately 50% of the total heating costs. It makes sense to pay attention to water usage since heating water is a significant source of emissions. In Finland, households consume nearly one fourth of the country’s total electricity output. Cooling, refrigeration, lighting, entertainment and cooking dominate electricity use in households.

Climate-friendly housing depends mainly on the heating system, house type and size, and consumer behaviour. An environmentally friendly approach combined with proper care and maintenance can help to reduce heating energy by 5-20%, water use by 10-30% and electricity by 10-30%. Cutting these costs is simple and inexpensive. It can be done by adopting practical solutions, such as switching off electric appliances after use, investing in window insulation and taking shorter showers. Structural improvements can also be a great help but they are often quite expensive. However, investing in energy efficiency is often worth it since that reduces energy bills and emissions, adds real value to a property and makes the home more comfortable.

The most important single methods of making housing more climate-friendly are switching to greener energy, getting consultation on energy efficiency and improving the house accordingly, and investing in a ground source heat pump.

Craig Sunter

Today, Europeans commute a daily average distance of 40–50 kilometres and 80% of the journeys are done by car. Domestic transport emissions correspond to 20% of Finland’s total emissions and road traffic emissions account for more than 70% of the total transport emissions. After air travel, motoring has the highest per unit emissions per kilometre. In addition to carbon dioxide emissions, motoring causes particle emissions, congestion and noise pollution.

When looking at emissions caused by personal mobility, a person’s place of residence becomes the single most influential factor. In sparely populated areas distances are long and result in more kilometres travelled every day in comparison to dense urban areas. Commutes to holiday homes and tourism also increase emissions.

Passenger car emissions depend on the size and age of the car and the driving style of the driver. The carbon emissions of a new passenger car can be two times less than emissions produced by an old, large off-road vehicle. In comparison, according to statistics, public transport produces significantly lower carbon emissions than passenger traffic.

The carbon emissions of different transport modes vary greatly. In Finland, the state-owned railway company VR and the Helsinki Region Transport use electricity from renewable sources in their rail traffic, and their emissions are statistically close to zero. Emissions from bus services are similar to that of low-emission passenger cars.

Cycling and walking are great ways to reduce emissions since they are carbon neutral. For longer journeys, emissions can be reduced through public transport, carpools or energy efficient driving, if a car is a necessity. Additionally, biogas and electric cars, mopeds and bicycles enable environmentally friendly motoring. In addition, rowing, sailing, canoeing and kayaking are carbon-neutral modes of transport.

Life cycle assessment is a technique to assess the environmental aspects and potential impacts associated with a product, process or service. It highlights sustainability in all stages of the life cycle and helps to perceive the bigger picture with regard to natural resources consumption and to avoid issues spreading from one stage to another.

Life cycle assessment is closely linked to the idea of the “ecological rucksack”. This refers to the total quantity of materials moved from nature to create a product or service. A carbon footprint in turn is defined as the total set of greenhouse gas emissions during an entire life cycle of a product or service. Carbon footprints contribute to the total weight of the ecological rucksack.

The input of natural resources and the output of emissions are in different environmental compartments and not equivalent to each other. For instance, a steel factory’s carbon emissions are ca. 1,800 kg CO2 per ton of steel produced, whereas the pulp and paper industry produces ca. 300kg CO2 per ton.

Consumption of natural resources in the different stages of the product life cycle varies from product to product and building to building. For instance, washing and ironing clothes cause the most significant environmental impact on textiles. In addition, using electronics requires lot of energy; however the production of these devices causes the greatest impact. For example, the energy needed to build a computer is equivalent to the amount of energy required in heating an electric sauna twice a week for seven years. In addition, the production process requires 1,500 litres of water, ca. 240 kg of fossil fuels, over 20 kg of chemicals and plenty of various metals with a by-product of thousands of kilos of waste rock. However, it is hard to find accurate information about a products’ carbon footprint or ecological rucksack associated to their life cycle.

In addition to environmental impacts, life cycle assessment focuses on social impacts, such as working conditions along the product supply chain.

Jim Larrison

Material efficiency covers the minimization of raw materials used in the production process. Its strategies include high-quality products and services. In addition, the shift from buying and using products to purchasing services instead is material efficiency.

For example, in Finland gross domestic product has increased at a faster rate than the use of natural resources, which has to do with a clear increase in eco-efficiency. However, compared to most EU member states, Finland’s per capita consumption of materials is high due to a material-intense production structure, the important role of exports, and natural resources used in the building industry.

Different design solutions have the potential to improve the durability and recyclability of materials and products. In a material-efficient process, durable products are made from a minimal amount of raw materials and these materials are recyclable when they reach the end of the products life-cycle. The choosing of energy efficient techniques and recycling by-products help to achieve greater resource efficiency during the production process.

The industrial sector invests in resource efficiency in manufacturing since it results in direct cost savings. However, recyclability and longevity in the product’s life cycle are not always among popular business priorities.

Consumers can affect their own resource efficiency by buying services instead of goods. For instance, many leisure activities, from physical exercise to culture, provide an alternative to materialism. Renting goods as well is often a better option than buying. Maintenance, mending and repair are great ways to lengthen the lifespan of products. Technical work class provides opportunities to learn a variety of different repair skills and to discuss if it is sensible to repair a product instead of buying a new one.

Substantial cuts in greenhouse gas emissions could be achieved through more efficient use of natural resources in the wood, metal and chemical industries as well as in household and public sector consumption. Although the construction sector is the greatest consumer of natural resources in Finland, its contribution to carbon dioxide emissions is relatively small. This means that improvements in resource efficiency will not have a significant impact on its emissions.

The construction industry refers to constructing buildings and basic infrastructure such as roads. In Finland, the construction sector is the greatest consumer of natural resources, but as mentioned, its carbon dioxide emissions are not nearly as significant as in some other industries.

A building’s life cycle can be divided into four stages:

1. Design: Raw materials, acquisition, transportation, and manufacturing.
2. Construction: Transportation to the construction site, construction project.
3. Operation: Use, maintenance, replacement of worn or used components, large-scale repairs, energy and water use.
4. Demolition: Demolition, transportation, recycling or disposal as waste.

The solutions at the construction stage have an impact on the energy efficiency of the heating system. Energy and material efficiency go hand in hand, and both can be improved by choosing high-quality materials. Studies suggest that wooden buildings have the smallest carbon footprint. However, an important criterion to bear in mind when selecting materials is the purpose of the building.

An Energy Performance Certificate (EPCs) contains information about a property’s energy rating. The system and its standards vary between different countries. For instance, the USA has implemented several different rating schemes, whereas in the UK The Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) is the main tool to assess and compare the energy and environmental performance of dwellings. Energy efficiency is often rated with stars or from A to G, with A being the most efficient.

When looking at the climate change impact of a building, it is important to take into account the emissions from material production and construction as well as the energy efficiency of the building. This information forms the basis of the evaluation of carbon efficiency, whereas the carbon economic value of the house can be estimated on the basis of building costs and carbon efficiency. These evaluations help to optimize the climate impacts of the building in relation to its energy rating and construction costs.

Fossil fuels have formed by natural processes when microorganisms broke down plankton and other biodegradable material in the absence of oxygen under water millions of years ago. Over thousands of years, this organic matter, mixed with mud, got buried under heavy layers of sediment. The resulting high levels of heat and pressure caused the organic matter to chemically alter into coal, oil and natural gas.

Oil, coal and natural gas are the most widely used fossil fuels. Because fossil fuels are formed by natural processes from organic matter, they all contain high percentages of carbon. As is the case with other organic compounds, in the process of burning (oxidizing), the carbon and hydrogen atoms combine with oxygen atoms to produce carbon dioxide and water vapour. Combustion also releases chemical energy, which is transferred to the surroundings as thermal energy and light. Our energy production system is currently widely based on this mechanism.

Fossil fuels and industrial energy generation have increased industrial production and improved our wellbeing and living standards. Cheaper goods and services are being produced rapidly in ever-increasing amounts and transported to consumers from faraway places. This has increased energy use significantly. Consumer goods are affordable to more and more people, and aggressive marketing creates the need to consume more. Subsequently, such a lifestyle based on excessive burning of fossil fuels has created global problems, such as climate change.

OZinOH

Renewable energy refers to energy sources that will never run out. The most popular renewables are solar and wind power, hydropower, geothermal energy, bioenergy and energy generated from the air, waves and tides.

All energy generation methods add carbon dioxide into the atmosphere at some stage of the production process. Renewable sources such as wind power release the majority of emissions during the construction of turbines, but because the carbon emissions generated are marginal, the CO2 emitted from the overall system is statistically zero. However, this scale is man-made, and there is a lot of political debate about it.

Hydroelectric dams produce significant amounts of methane. Biomass energy is not generally counted as a greenhouse gas emitter since it is considered to be a part of the CO2 cycle of the biosphere. For carbon balance, the key is that the rate of carbon absorption is greater than that of extraction. Because peat regrowth takes thousands of years, it is not generally regarded as a renewable source of energy.

• Solar energy is used to generate heat and electricity. Solar cells, solar panels and solar thermal collectors collect heat and light by absorbing sunlight. Solar cells convert light energy directly into electrical energy, and solar panels use the heat of the sun’s radiation to generate electricity.
• Bioenergy is the solar energy stored in biological matter through photosynthesis. Sources of bioenergy include wood products (harvested wood, wood waste), agriculture products (e.g. reed canary grass, perennial grasses, barley straw), by-products of the pulp and paper industry (e.g. wood chips and pulping liquor), animal matter from the food industry (e.g. offal, animal residues and manure), and biodegradable products from households (e.g. paper and food waste).
• Hydropower accounts for about 5% of Finland’s total energy consumption, and the likelihood of increasing its production is relatively small. Finland does not have suitable conditions for wave and tidal energy, but these methods are constantly being researched, adapted and improved around the world.
• Wind energy’s share of total electricity consumption in Finland has been relatively small (4% in 2015), but over the last few years it has rapidly gained popularity, even reaching an annual growth rate of 100%. The Finnish Government has produced an energy and climate strategy that aims to increase the contribution of wind power by 2020.
• Heat pumps do not generate energy, but transfer heat energy from a cold space to a warmer one. They help to improve energy efficiency and cut emissions of homes using electricity for heating. Geothermal and air source heat pumps have become a popular heating choice in Finland.

The share of renewable sources in Finnish energy production has grown since the 1970’s. Currently, renewables account for one third of the nation’s total energy consumption. Forest industry black liquor is the most significant source of renewable energy. The share of wood-based fuels as a percentage of all renewable energy sources account for almost three-fourths, including wood residues. Also, solid recovered fuels, solar, geothermal and air source heat pumps, and wind power are growing in popularity. Particularly, solar and wind power are increasing exponentially all over the world.

The use of renewables depends on the prices of energy sources and regulations, such as national energy and climate plans and targets. In Finland, EU climate and energy policy sets conditions for new energy efficiency targets. Finland has a target of achieving a 38% share of total energy from renewable sources in gross final consumption by 2020, which it has already met. The growth has been dramatic when considering the fact that in 2009, the share of renewable energy was only 26%.

Energy is needed for lighting, appliances and electronics, heating and cooling spaces, heating water, air conditioning and transportation. Improving energy efficiency, i.e. the relation between the energy invested versus that gained, helps to mitigate climate change. In addition, other advantages are gained such as energy self-sufficiency, lower energy costs, improved environmentalism and air protection. Emission targets help to increase the share and use of renewable energy sources.

The aim is to cut costs and gain multiple benefits from fewer investments.

Reducing energy demand and/or making energy saving improvements are the most cost effective ways of improving energy efficiency. Combined heat and power production, voluntary energy efficiency agreements for industrial and municipal sectors and obligatory energy audits are examples of successful steps towards energy efficiency in Finland. For further information, read the text on social studies.