Sustainability and Energy Efficiency: Key to Affordable Housing

To be affordable, houses must be designed and built embracing strong principles of sustainability. Ensuring houses are energy-efficient may increase up-front construction costs a bit, including the costs of superior tools and equipment and professional architectural and mechanical engineers services, but the long-term benefits and future cost-efficiency are what matters. Non-believers think that it is an oxymoron to combine the idea of sustainability and affordability. But, the fact is that when homeowners are able to spend less on their energy bills they can budget better for repairs and maintenance, which intrinsically improves the durability and longevity of their houses. In … Continue reading

Fracking – A Risk Analysis

Recent events in the Europe and the United States have propelled fracking up the public and political agenda. Is the case for drilling full of holes? Despite apparent economic benefits, fracking has got entangled in a good deal of controversies with some countries outrightly banning or suspending it. Public health concerns, environmental issues, geomechanical risks, groundwater contamination, air pollution and waste management are some of the issues are coming under increasing public scrutiny.   No Sense of Well-being The oil and gas industry does not inspire huge public confidence, as attention focuses on major incidents like the Deepwater Horizon blowout, which have cost lives, caused … Continue reading

Things You Should Know About the Energy Mix in the UK

We take fuel in our home for granted, rarely contemplating how the energy that lights our rooms, charges our smartphones, and heats our dinners arrives at those switches, sockets, and hobs. But with the world facing a climate crisis, the sources of our power are moving from the coal-smoky shadows into the sunlight, and into the centre of politics. The energy infrastructure in UK is rapidly evolving to use more renewable resources and emit fewer pollutants, a transformation that is impacting every sector of our economy and that some have compared in its scale to the Industrial Revolution that first … Continue reading