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22 steps (and counting) to reduce your carbon footprint

To become energy conscious can be quite a journey - let us be your guide!
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Improve your household's energy efficiency

It will greatly benefit your comfort and wellbeing

Don't you want to be warm and comfortable at home watching your favourite show when it's cold outside ?

Do you want to inform policy-makers, industry and designers about the difficulties of becoming an energy conscious consumer? Fill out this 10 minutes questionnaire.

Questionnaire

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Questionnaire

Act now

Explore the actions you can take

Produce your own energy
Manage your energy consumption
Improve your home
Become a smart consumer
Sustain efficient energy use

Select the dots to discover the different actions

SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEMS

Duration

24 min
Cost
Difficulty
Impact

The term “photovoltaic” consists of two parts: the Greek word phos (genitive photos) meaning “light,” and “volt,” the unit of electromotive force (named after the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta, inventor of the battery). Photovoltaic can therefore be “translated” as “transforming light into electricity.” Proceed with this action topic to learn more about the solar photovoltaic technology that allows you to take advantage of the sunlight and use it to supply your home with electricity.

SOLAR WATER HEATING SYSTEMS

Duration

25 min
Cost
Difficulty
Impact

Have you ever tried to heat up water by placing a vessel filled with water under the shining sun for a few hours? Actually, you can ensure a stable hot water supply for your household by harnessing the sun energy. You can do this by installing a solar water heating system. Learn more about the opportunities the solar water heating provides to households by proceeding with this section.

MICRO COMBINED HEAT AND POWER SYSTEMS

Duration

13 min
Cost
Difficulty
Impact

Many people have never heard of a Micro combined heat and power (micro CHP) technology, and even among those who have, there is often confusion as to what it is and how it works. Proceed with this session to learn about the main components of the system, its benefits, main types, sizing and cost of installation.

ENERGY STORAGE AND HYBRID RENEWABLE ENERGY SYSTEMS

Duration

14 min
Cost
Difficulty
Impact

In this session you will learn about the concepts of hybrid systems and energy storage that can provide a stable energy supply for your home. You will also learn about the concepts of self-sufficiency rate and self-consumption rate.

ONSITE ENERGY GENERATION

Duration

20 min
Cost
Difficulty
Impact

This Action topic provides general information on generating your own energy at home. Learn about the benefits of producing energy at your home and about the most popular technological solutions for self-generation of energy from renewable sources.

STEP-BY-STEP GUIDELINES

Duration

11 min
Cost
Difficulty
Impact

Maybe you have thought of self-generating energy at home, but you have always dismissed it since you considered it as too complicated or too expensive? Or maybe you just did not know where to start? We invite you to proceed with this session to learn more about the issues you need to consider before, during and after the installation of three popular energy self-generation systems – a solar water heating system, a solar photovoltaic system and a micro combined heat and power system.

Select the dots to discover the different actions

UNDERSTAND MY ENERGY BILLS

Duration

10 min
Cost
Difficulty
Impact

Knowing exactly how to decode your energy bills helps you build your armor against high energy bills and help you take the first steps towards saving money and the environment.

THE POWER OF HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES

Duration

15 min
Cost
Difficulty
Impact

This session helps you understand which appliances contribute to your electricity bill, from brewing your first cup of coffee in the morning until switching off the lights just before a good night’s sleep.

RHYTHMS & ROUTINES

Duration

15 min
Cost
Difficulty
Impact

This session increases your awareness of the social rhythms within which energy consumption take place in the context of time – days, weeks, months, and years.

MOVING TO RENEWABLE ENERGIES

Duration

10 min
Cost
Difficulty
Impact

Moving to renewable energy sources helps you ease the burden on our environment. This session will enable you to understand how switching to renewables creates an environmentally just futures for the generations to come.

Select the dots to discover the different actions

IMPROVE THE AIR TIGHTNESS OF YOUR HOME

Duration

15 min
Cost
Difficulty
Impact

IMPROVE YOUR HOME INSULATION

Duration

20 min
Cost
Difficulty
Impact

In this session you’ll be able to measure the effectiveness of insulation materials, their strength and weaknesses in order to be able to choose between different options. And you’ll learn all the areas where you can add insulation in your home in order to make your home energy efficient. So if you wish to make a big energy use cut, you should go for it.

CHANGE OR UPGRADE YOUR WINDOWS

Duration

10 min
Cost
Difficulty
Impact

Aside from protecting you from bugs, your windows are an important aspect of energy efficient homes. So if they're not performing at their best, it's time you take action on this one.

IMPROVE YOUR HEATING, VENTILATION AND COOLING SYSTEM

Duration

20 min
Cost
Difficulty
Impact

As much as half of the energy used in your home goes to heating and cooling. So making smart decisions about your home's heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) system can have a big effect on your utility bills and your comfort.

National Financing Program

Duration

10 min
Cost
Difficulty
Impact

Take a look at this action in your own language and see how to save money when you make improvements to your home

Select the dots to discover the different actions

CHOOSING A NEW BOILER

Duration

15 min
Cost
Difficulty
Impact

Get some useful insight on the aspects that matter when choosing a new boiler for your house

WHAT MAKES AN ENERGY CONSUMER "SMART"?

Duration

5 min
Cost
Difficulty
Impact

Start to consume energy smartly to avoid wasting it. Discover in this session what we mean by "smartly"?

LEARN HOW TO USE YOUR THERMOSTAT

Duration

20 min
Cost
Difficulty
Impact

Your thermostat is the tool to control your heating and cooling equipment. If you know how to use it correctly, you can reduce energy waste while improving your comfort.

LEARN TO CONTROL YOUR HYDRONIC HEATING SYSTEM

Duration

15 min
Cost
Difficulty
Impact

This action presents some advanced options for controlling your hydronic heating system to achieve comfort with increased energy efficiency

CHOOSING A NEW AIR HEATING AND COOLING SYSTEM

Duration

15 min
Cost
Difficulty
Impact

Get some useful insight on the aspects that matter when choosing a new air conditioner or air-to-air heat pump for your house

Select the dots to discover the different actions

1 - SIDE-EFFECTS OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY

Duration

10 min
Cost
Difficulty
Impact

You can implement one or more energy efficiency measures but if you don´t change your behaviours, your energy consumption can remain the same or even increase. Some inefficient or less efficient behaviours can prevail and prevent you from getting the expected savings.

2 - TAKING A STEP FURTHER ON ENERGY EFFICIENCY

Duration

5 min
Cost
Difficulty
Impact

Find out how to maintain the savings achieved from energy efficiency measures and how to avoid waste of energy. Use only the energy you need, not a tiny bit more!

3 - ENERGY SUFFICIENCY TO MAINTAIN EFFICIENT ENERGY USE

Duration

5 min
Cost
Difficulty
Impact

If you adopt Energy Sufficiency actions to reduce Rebound Effects in your home, you will see your energy bill decreasing!

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