Most people who know me would suggest that I am not the most ‘green’ person on the planet– primarily attributable to the car I drive. I make no apology about this – I like fast cars and I can’t afford a Tesla!
But the label I attract is a little unfair as I do try to do my bit. Honest
I have some issues about the statistical ‘evidence’ we are given. If you Google ‘green issues’ and try to establish where Co2 emissions come from you get very different answers.
It does seem to be fairly well established that Buildings account for half of all carbon emissions. Whereas only 2% comes from planes. So flying is ok then? And my car is much smaller than a plane…
Lies lies and statistics? But buildings and their energy consumption come high up the tree on most of the surveys.
But there is another reason to look at carbon footprint. Reducing the carbon output of a building normally has a direct correlation with costs. One of my clients pays over £1m per year on his electricity / gas. What was interesting was that he can negotiate the best rates (being a large user) but much of the use is out of his hands. People leave lights on!
What is needed is a change of behaviour.
One of my friends, Ben Randal, is running a company in Nottingham who are concentrating on just that. It is a start up company based at BioCity.
Outerarc have developed some clever software which allows measurement in real time of energy usage and then displays the information graphically. The really clever bit though is that the system then can make recommendations – and ‘nudge’ users into changing behaviour.
Outerarc display - Castle College
There is a great video on Ben’s website – click on Carbon Cup TV
No.1 NSP and The Highfields Automotive and Engineering Training Centre
Real time measurement is already in place at two buildings I manage – No1 NSP and Castle College’s Highfields Automotive and Engineering Training Centre – where the Toyota Academy is based.
It is early days but the systems are generating a lot of interest – and hopefully we can demonstrate cost savings and a carbon reduction.
Not sure I need Ben to put his system in my car just yet!
October 27th, 2009 at 21:18
[...] I previously blogged about the change in behaviour we probably need to make to save the [...]
February 1st, 2011 at 09:05
[...] 1, 2011 by Tim GARRATT| Leave a comment I blogged some time ago about my mate Ben Randal and his display system for showing real-time carbon use in buildings. I have the system in a couple of the buildings we [...]