General approaches to reduce carbon emissions in residential houses

Reducing Residential Carbon

One of the largest environmental and economic concerns of the current era is the use of carbon-producing energy production methods to provide most of our energy needs, from powering our factories to making our cars run to providing our homes with heat and light. The carbon produced from the burning of fossil fuels such as petroleum-based products, natural gases, and coal very likely contributes to global warming and climate change problems as well as other environmental issues, and is also growing increasingly expensive as resources become more scarce and demand increases. While factories and cars have been focused on for many changes that reduce carbon emissions, there are also many things that can be done to make residential dwellings less dependent on carbon-producing fuels.

Renewable energy sources are a primary means of generating the electricity and heating needs of modern homes, providing much cleaner and ultimately much cheaper alternatives to reliance on coal-fueled power plants and other non-renewable and carbon-emitting sources. Things like geothermal heat pumps, which can sink cool air into the ground to heat a home or draw cool air up from the ground to cool it (and in some areas, can actually draw heat from the ground to heat a home, as well) are one way to achieve significant reductions in the use of non-renewable energy (Sorenson, 2010). Other forms of renewable energy that can be used include solar panels (for generating electricity and/or as a water heating system), small wind turbines that can generate electricity, and even devices like stationary bikes with generators that can be used to generate small amounts of storable and usable energy (Sorenson, 2010). All of these methods can reduce carbon emitted into the atmosphere and reduce energy costs to the resident, creating a better environment for all and a better long-term economic situation for the energy consumer.

Renewable energy sources are a major boon in the fight against carbon production and rising energy costs, but they are not the only way that residents can reduce their carbon output and their energy bills. Elements of passive design -- structuring and outfitting residences in a manner that simply reduce the amount of energy needed -- can also lead to significant reductions in carbon emissions and money spent on energy elements. What passive design requires is taking into account the physical situation of the residence in its natural environment, using the position of windows, air vents, basement structures, and other architectural as well as device elements in relation to the environmental elements of the sun, winds, temperature patterns, and more to provide the bulk of a home's needs in lighting, heating and cooling, ventilation, and more (Branz, 2012). Simple things like large and purposefully-positioned windows, often with special coatings and in multiple layers to provide better insulation, can allow homes to be lit with more natural light and even heated by the sun, reducing the neat for active lighting fixtures and heating units (Branz, 2012). Better external as well as internal insulation can also reduce heating and cooling needs by proving more stable temperatures inside the residence, and well-placed passive ventilation systems can improve indoor air quality without as much temperature transfer or energy requirements as older active systems (Branz, 2012).