Climate change is one of the most important global problems in the 21^st century. Increasing worldwide emissions of greenhouse gases such as CO₂ are leading to rising temperatures which could change the environment.

The EU has committed itself to modest reductions in greenhouse gas emissions over the next decade. One of the main sources of this pollution is from the energy used to heat buildings.

There are currently many different EU and national initiatives to tackle this problem. These range from efforts to replace fossil fuel energy sources with renewable energy sources such as solar energy, to policies designed to reduce current energy usage. Examples include encouraging more fuel efficient cars and levies on fossil fuel use.

Mineral wool insulation offers a proven and effective technology that can help substantially reduce green house gas emissions by better insulating buildings and reducing the energy needed to keep them warm.

Subsections

What is climate change?
What is being done about it? The Kyoto Protocol
Greenhouse gas emission reduction targets
What are the sources of CO₂ Carbon Dioxide emissions in the EU?
Ways to reduce emissions to meet targets
Role of mineral wool to help meet these targets

What is climate change?

There is increasing scientific evidence that greenhouse gas emissions are changing the earth's climate. Energy from the sun warms the earth's surface which also re-radiates some of the sun's energy at a changed wavelength which atmospheric gases trap and reflect: it is a little like a greenhouse which lets sunshine in but stops heat from escaping. This natural effect has recently become more pronounced as man-made emissions increase the power of this effect beyond naturally occurring levels.

This is thought to have lead to the dramatic rise in global temperatures recorded over the last century - an effect that computer projections predict will continue.

The temperature changes predicted might seem small but their impact on the global environment could be catastrophic with rising sea levels and changed weather patterns.

Source: " What is climate change? ", DEFRA, UK

What is being done about it? The Kyoto Protocol.

In December 1997, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change held in Kyoto, Japan, agreed a Protocol with legally binding constraints for greenhouse gas emissions for signatories. Currently 186 countries (including the EU) have signed the Protocol making it the most widely adopted environment treaty. Unfortunately, the US - the world's largest source of greenhouse gas emissions - has not ratified the Kyoto Protocol.

Greenhouse gas emission reduction targets

The European Union has committed to reducing its emissions of six greenhouse gases of which carbon dioxide is the main one by 8% from their 1990 level. In 1990, the EU produced 3200 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. This target is to be achieved by the time of the Protocol's first compliance period in 2008-2012.

Given expected worldwide economic growth in the first half of the 21^st century, it is possible that the initial Kyoto targets for 2008-12 will only be the first of subsequent reduction targets. It is therefore understandable that in the long run cost effective renewable energy sources will be a priority. However, the importance of energy saving measures such as better building insulation cannot be ignored to help meet these targets.

The EU set itself an intermediate target of stabilising emissions at the 1990 level by 2000.

Total EU greenhouse gas emissions in relation to the Kyoto target

Source: DG Environment, European Commission

What are the sources of Carbon Dioxide Emissions in the EU?

The single largest source of emissions is from the energy used for buildings - in particular space heating. This accounts for some 41% of the energy used in the EU. In contrast, transport accounts for 31% and industry the remaining 31%.

Sources of Carbon Dioxide Emissions in the EU :

• Electricity 32.4%
• Transport 23.2%
• Domestic/Tertiary 20.4%
• Industry 19.6%
• Energy Industry 4.4%
• Year: 1990. Total = 3200m tonnes


Source: European Commission.

Ways to reduce emissions to meet targets

There is currently a wide array of policies designed to reduce emissions from both the EU and Member State governments. Within the EU's European Climate Change Programme for example there is a proposed Directive to promote the use of electricity from renewable sources, voluntary commitments from car makers to improve fuel efficiency by 25% and proposals for taxation of energy products. Another related programme is the LIFE scheme which provides funding for projects which promote sustainable development and put innovations into practical use.

As emissions from the energy used in buildings are such an important part of total EU greenhouse gas emissions this section will concentrate on this area.

The potential for CO₂ savings from EU households is massive. Households are responsible for one quarter of EU CO₂ emissions of which space heating accounts for 60-80%.

Space heating savings through better insulation - in Germany The Netherlands, Italy, UK, Spain and Ireland - would reduce EU CO₂ emissions by 100 million tonnes per year. This figure is derived from studies on domestic housing stock.

If the EU's building stock insulation levels were raised to state of the art standards, the potential emission reductions would be impressive.

Within the European countries shown in the below table there are potential savings of up to 310 million tonnes annually from the application of state of the art thermal insulation to the existing housing stock.

Other sources of reduced space heating emissions: better glazing, better industrial high temperature insulation, energy management and control systems, low energy light bulbs.

Potential Sources of EU Carbon Dioxide Emission Reductions in 2010

Measure	Sector of Application	Annual Saving by 2010m tonnes CO2
Improve Thermal Insulation	Domestic	98-120
	Commercial/Public	20
	Industrial	56
Improve Glazing Standards	Domestic	25
	Commercial/Public/Industrial	25
Improve Controls	Commercial/Public	6
	Industrial	20
Improve Lighting Efficiency	All	50
TOTAL		430-452

Source: "Assessment of the potential savings of CO₂ emissions in European building stock", May 1998, CALEB Management Services, p.2.

Implementing all the above measures would save up to 400 million tonnes of CO₂ representing 12.5% of current EU emissions. According to one EU study 3.4m EU jobs would also be created between now and 2010.

However, all of these measures are only theoretical. They can only be realised with the active support of EU and Member State governments.

Can this be achieved in practice?

There are barriers to achieving these potentials; national building regulations only cover new and not existing buildings.

In some countries building codes are poorly enforced.

For example, the Construction Products Directive requires member states to have performance based regulations, however, many still have prescriptive regulations.

Within the EU there are roughly 150m dwellings. Of these 32% were built before 1945, 40% between 1945 and 1973-5 and the remaining 28% built since then. Many of the older buildings were built to much less stringent insulation criteria than present day building codes require.

Heating costs in a pre-1974 standard house before and after retrofitting thermal insulation

	Heating Costs	Reduction of costs
	€/m2			%
One Family House	11	3	8	77
Multi-family House	6	2	5	75

Source: "The contribution of Mineral Wool and other thermal insulation materials to energy saving and climate protection in Europe", ECOFYS, 2002, p.16.

Cost-savings are a powerful incentive for owner-occupiers to insulate to the highest standards but owner-occupiers only account for 56% of EU dwellings. In some countries, such as Germany, the rate is as low as 42%.

When renting an apartment or house, the heating costs are usually unknown to the tenant. The costs can be broken down into the (private) energy costs for the tenant and the (social) environmental costs.

However, where the tenant is responsible for paying the utility bills landlords have no incentive to provide an optimal level of insulation (for reducing energy use, utility bills and greenhouse gas emissions).

The European Commission's SAVE Directive does allude to this problem requiring energy audits (to help the potential purchaser or tenant know the costs of heating the building and provides for a mechanism where insulation investments by landlords could be reflected in higher values or rents).

Member State implementation of SAVE is described as "very poor" in a study undertaken for the European Commission by Rodney Janssen Associates in February 2002.

The proposed EU Directive on the Energy Performance of Buildings does set minimum energy performance standards for new buildings to be reviewed at least once every 5 years, however its impact on the private rental sector will be minimal as only dwellings larger than 1000 square metres are covered.

A solution could be to require energy audits and labelling for all rental homes which could provide potential tenants with comprehensive and comprehensible information.

Role of mineral wool to help meet these targets

Mineral Wool insulation is based on existing and proven technology. Improved thermal insulation of buildings will give immediate and long lasting results in terms of reduced energy consumption and hence CO₂ emissions. This benefit is achieved without affecting the competitiveness of industry.

ECOFYS estimate that the addition of thermal insulation to existing buildings in Europe could decrease current building energy costs and carbon dioxide emissions by some 42% or 350 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions.

NAIMA, the North American Insulation Manufacturer's Association argue that the energy savings to energy investment ratio of mineral wool insulation is 12:1 after the first year alone. Not forgetting that the energy savings continue throughout the lifetime of the building without any further energy input.