Daniel Grossman’s Copenhagen blog
Daniel Grossman is a science journalist with 20 years of experience. He has reported from all seven continents, including from within 800 miles of both the south and north poles. He’s in Copenhagen to cover the Climate Summit for a variety of outlets. The World has asked him to file occasional blog posts. This is first post. You can read his second post on parsing global climate polls here.
Bo Andersen and his son. Photo: Daniel Grossman
The Danish can teach Americans how to make less carbon dioxide. At least that’s what homeowner Bo Andersen thinks. At dusk one day, Anderson welcomed a group of energy-efficiency tourists into his home in Egedal a town about 20 miles outside downtown Copenhagen. Andersen’s toddler son, mute among about two-dozen foreigners speaking mostly English, wriggled in his dad’s arms. Andersen, who with his wife and two children bought the house a year ago, couldn’t have been more voluble, spouting arcane technical details of the eco-friendly dwelling with the exuberance of a soccer fan with his team in playoffs. The house uses about 22 kilowatt hours of power per square meters of space each year, about one-third what Danish construction rules for newly-built homes permit, and less than one-eighth that of an average home in Europe or the U.S.
Andersen explains, apologetically, that the home looks absolutely normal. Its large windows welcome in ample sunlight during the day along with a pleasant view of a small suburban lot and other similar homes nearby. The rooms are average size. Andersen points out the only visible evidence of high efficiency and even then you have to look carefully to notice the difference. The windows have three panes rather than one or two in normal houses. The walls are a few inches thicker than average, to make room for extra insulation.
The Andersen home. Photo courtesy of Rockwool
Other tricks for saving energy are completely hidden from view. Super-thick insulation under the foundation and the roof keeps out the cold, like a heavy pile of quilts on a bed. The house is sealed very tightly, though a good ventilation system prevents it from being stuffy. The home relies exclusively on electrical power, but there are a number of energy-saving measures employed. A highly efficient heater known as a heat pump, along with solar panels, warm the home and make hot water with relatively little added electricity. There is also some equipment buried in a shallow pit outside that extracts heat from the soil.
Why all the fuss? Buildings in the U.S. and Europe use more energy any other part of the economy—more than transport, like cars and trucks, and industry. More than half of oil and natural gas burned and electricity consumed in a typical home goes to heat, cool and ventilate. That means making homes comfortable year round, regardless of the weather or geographical location, produces a lot of carbon dioxide. Climate researchers want more efficient houses. In many cases, improvements that increase home energy efficiency—better insulation being the most obvious example—save so much energy that they pay for themselves in a few years, making them a sensible investment for the homeowner. For society as a whole, such investments often cost less and are less disruptive than finding less- or non-polluting sources of energy. Even windmills, which some people think are ugly and which have big blades that pose some hazards to birds and bats, have a down side.
Bo Andersen says that when his family outgrew his last house, he wasn’t looking for an eco-friendly model. He is happy that he lives in one, though. “The comfort is very good, the heating is very uniform,” he says “and you don’t get the drafts.” He says the 5% premium he paid above the cost of a normal house was not a hardship, and that he expects to recoup his investment in a matter of years, with energy savings. Of course, compared to a house he once lived in during a stay in New Jersey, almost any new Danish house would be better protected from the cold. There, he says, the drafts were so strong that when he left jar of jelly out in one part of the kitchen, it froze solid.
Bo Andersen talks about his eco-home:
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