New tool monitors household emissions
Dave Bryce started monitoring his family’s carbon dioxide emissions about 12 years ago. At the time, they were emitting something close to the average for a New Zealand family.
These days, he and his wife are emitting about one-eighth of the emissions of an average family, he says.
Bryce knows this because he uses Landcare Research’s Household Emissions Calculator, a free online tool that captures electricity use, transport and household waste and estimates CO2 emissions in kilograms from his Christchurch home.
The calculator helps Kiwis understand that they are ‘‘personally contributing to climate change and they can do something about it’’, Bryce says.
‘‘People need to accept responsibility and do something. Most people are waiting for government to tell them what to do and then grizzle about it, like carbon taxes.’’
He and others challenge Kiwis to reduce their emissions by 1 per cent a year, not a huge number.
Personal contributions could include driving a private car less, flying less, and making the family home more energyefficient.
Renovating was the retired resource management consultant’s biggest project. ‘‘I knew what needed doing and we progressively did it,’’ he says.
He added a solarium that collects solar heat and directs it to the upper storey of the house.
Concrete and stone heat sinks gather heat during the day and slowly release it at night. Even the fridge has been harnessed as a sort of heat pump. Water is heated by solar panels on the roof.
Renovations were interrupted by the earthquakes but they ultimately aided the energy efficiency project. ‘‘We did [repairs] sustainably rather than conventionally,’’ he says. Bryce’s edible garden is large, his car small and his bike well used.
The calculator gives households accurate data on their emissions, says a spokeswoman.
It provides average Kiwi household electricity data, for example, so that users can get a preliminary sense of their emissions. Households are encouraged to input actual electricity use from their power bill and otherwise make it more accurate. Variables can be manipulated so that the effect of buying a hybrid or electrical vehicle can be seen.
The website is full of tips for reducing emissions, such as ‘‘Think before you fly’’ and ‘‘Double-glaze windows – do south-facing windows first’’.
The website also sells carbon offsets, which attempt to mitigate personal carbon footprints by buying carbon credits from another party, including native forest restoration and landfill gas recovery projects in
New Zealand and overseas. Offsets have sometimes been controversial, but the ones offered have been run through Landcare’s wringer, according to the spokeswoman.
Calculator users can register and are encouraged to return to check progress. About 500 people are registered but other users haven’t bothered to register.
The calculator was developed by Enviro-Mark Solutions, the commercial arm of Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research, a Crown Research Institute. Enviro-Mark earned revenues of $3.4 million in 2018 by certifying organisations were carbon neutral and managing energy properly.
The calculator is a ‘‘good start’’, says Bryce. ‘‘Once people see their results, they can see where they’re making a contribution.’’