UK Greenhouse Gas Research Articles

Aquaponics in schools: Hands-on learning about healthy eating and a healthy planet.

Our food system is giving rise to a growing social, health and environmental crisis. Much of the food consumed in the United Kingdom is cheap, nutrient-poor and highly processed, leading to under-consumption of essential foods such as grains, beans, vegetables and fruit. This has contributed to a rise in diet-related diseases, with approximately 22% of primary school leavers being overweight or obese. Food production is unsustainable with agriculture responsible for 10% of the UK's greenhouse gas emissions and intensive farming practices have led to a significant loss of soil carbon and a decline in biodiversity. COVID-19 increased inequalities in our food system. Therefore, there is an urgent need for interventions to counteract these adverse social, health and environmental impacts. Education can play a crucial role as an intervention to address challenges in the food system. We tested an innovative school initiative using portable aquaponic pods and aligned to the national curriculum, to engage pupils in food production and foster learning about sustainability, climate change and healthy eating. The evaluation, based on teacher surveys, aquapod chart data, student blogs and postcards and feedback from the development team, revealed positive impacts on students' environmental awareness, as well as sustainability and practical food production knowledge. However, the programme encountered logistical challenges and we therefore highlight future improvements to produce a curriculum programme that can be delivered at scale to enhance food education and empower pupils to drive the agenda on tackling food sustainability and climate change.

Steel slag wastes to fight the climate change

Steel slags are solid by-products generated from the steel-manufacturing industries. They are considered valuable wastes for capturing of carbon dioxide (CO2) directly from the air and industrial sources and storing it permanently in the form of mineral carbonation. In this study, two historic steel slags are presented as sustainable materials for mineral carbonation. The effects of contacting time between CO2 and slags as well as temperature were investigated as two important parameters during mineral carbonation. The amount of carbonation, chemical and physical properties of carbonated samples have been characterised using Calcimeter, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The results showed that depending on the source and composition of the steel slags, the maximum CO2 sequestration after 4 days at 60 °C is reached as high as 300 kg per tonne for samples. The FT-IR results showed the symmetric stretching of O-C-O bonds at 1400-1500 cm-1, gradually increased with increasing temperature and contacting time, indicating the significant capture of CO2 due to the carbonation process. SEM images confirmed that for both samples after the mineralisation, several carbonate layers were created in the structure of steel slags. The results indicated that CO2 sequestration in steel slag is positively correlated with contacting time and temperature, hence the current study provides the optimal conditions to accelerate the process of carbonation for industrial application. It is estimated that these steel slags alone could carbonate about 150-200 million tonnes of CO2 emissions which is equivalent to one third of annual UK greenhouse gas emissions.

An environmental evaluation of volatile gas use at the Royal Bolton Hospital in March 2022

Background: The fifth largest contributors of greenhouse gases (GHGs) worldwide are healthcare systems.1 In 2015, the National Health Service (NHS) contributed ∼4.6% of national GHGs.2 The NHS sustainable team has labelled anaesthetic volatile gases (GHG) as a ‘carbon hotspot’.3 The NHS Long Term Plan is to reduce 40% of emissions from anaesthetic agents.4 The global warming potential (GWP100) of desflurane is almost 20 times more than that of sevoflurane.5 A rapid transition in anaesthetic practice is vital. Desflurane should be discontinued and lower flow rates of sevoflurane must be used as the lower the flow rates, the lower the carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalence of the gas.1 Methods: The aim of this report is to evaluate volatile gas use from anaesthetic machines at the Royal Bolton Hospital (RBH) over an average 4-week period. Raw data from Drager Perseus A500 Anaesthetic machines were collected across 13 operating theatres. A questionnaire regarding volatile anaesthetic gas use was created and disseminated to the RBH anaesthetic department. Results: Some 86.9% of cases used volatile gases (84.2% used sevoflurane, 2.2% used desflurane). The duration of surgery and fresh gas flow affect efficiency of uptake of gas. There are barriers to using total i.v. anaesthesia including lack of availability of equipment and training. Figure 2 shows the efficiency of uptake of sevoflurane vs lowest fresh gas flow. Conclusion: The department has shown an encouraging reduction in desflurane usage. After choice of anaesthetic agent, the use of low flow rates is essential for sustainable practice, as the lowest possible flows allow for lowest CO2 emissions. There can be further sustainable improvements with reduction in sevoflurane and increase in non-volatile anaesthetic delivery. 1Van Norman GA, Jackson S. Curr Opin Anaesthesiol 2020; 33: 577–832United Kingdom National Statistics. 2015 UK Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Final Figures. Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. [Internet] 2017. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/604350/2015_Final_Emissions_statistics.pdf (accessed 20/03/23)3Shelton CL, Sutton R, White SM. Br J Anaesth 2020; 125: 852–64NHS England. Delivering a ‘Net Zero’NHS. London: NHS England. [Internet] 2020: 5–33 https://www.england.nhs.uk/greenernhs/wp-content/uploads/sites/51/2020/10/delivering-a-net-zero-national-health-service.pdf (accessed 20/03/23)5Anderson MPS, Nielsen OJ, Wallington TJ, Karpichev B, Sander SP. Anesth Analg 2012; 114: 1081–5

Likely substantial underestimation of reported methane emissions from United Kingdom upstream oil and gas activities

The United Kingdom government's National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory, used to provide UK greenhouse gas emission data to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, underestimates UK emissions from upstream oil and gas activities by approximately 80%.

Overheating and energy use in urban office buildings in a warming climate

AbstractBuildings are responsible for one‐third of the UK's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The move to reduce emissions has resulted in recent stringent building regulations primarily aimed at reducing heating and associated energy use, often by improving the building fabric's airtightness. However, internal gains dominated, highly–insulated and airtight non‐domestic buildings will likely overheat in the projected warming climate, requiring energy‐intensive cooling, thus diminishing the effectiveness of heating efficiency focused regulations. This research investigated the effects of the warming climate on overheating and energy use and resulting emissions in representative urban office spaces in London in the present‐day and projected future climates using hourly dynamic thermal simulations. Findings suggest that airtight and highly–insulated office buildings in the temperate UK will overheat in the 2050s. Heating demand reduces by at least 36% in the 2050s but electricity consumption and summertime space conditioning will increase by at least 13% and 55% respectively when hybrid cooling is adopted to ameliorate overheating. Despite the increase, a mixed‐mode ventilation strategy is one of the ways of achieving overall energy efficiency while meeting benchmark overheating and emissions targets. Current heating‐focused legislation needs to be re‐evaluated to account for the effects of the warming climate and overheating risks.

Regenerative agriculture — the practices involved and its position within modern agricultural systems

Agriculture alone produces 10% of UK greenhouse gas emissions, despite constituting less than 1% of gross domestic product (GDP). Climate mitigation targets set by the United Nations Paris Climate Agreement look to land management strategies to limit global warming below 2°C. At present, it is estimated that a minimum of 40% of earth's farmed land is poorer in quality than it was in the 1970s. Simultaneously three quarters of the earth's species are being lost within a short geological time frame described as the sixth, mass extinction event. Unlike the past five mass extinction events, the cause this time is exclusively the result of human activities, of which land use change associated with agriculture is one. Increasingly the argument for changing how we farm is gathering momentum. This article aims to provide a review of regenerative agriculture practices, and a reasoning as to why it should play a part in a sustainable farming future. The green revolution enabled the planet to keep feeding an expanding global population with production of cereal crops often tripling with only a 30% increase in land use; what is now needed is an ability to maintain production while providing part of the solution to the twin global threats of climate change and biodiversity loss.

Terrestrial carbon sequestration under future climate, nutrient and land use change and management scenarios: a national-scale UK case study

Carbon sequestration (Cseq) in soils and plant biomass is viewed as an important means of mitigating climate change. Recent global assessments have estimated considerable potential for terrestrial Cseq, but generally lack sensitivity to climate warming, nutrient limitations and perspective on local land use. These are important factors since higher temperatures can accelerate the decomposition of soil organic matter, nutrient availability affects plant productivity, while land use pressures put broader constraints on terrestrial organic matter inputs and storage. Here, we explore the potential for Cseq under changing land use, climate and nutrient conditions in a UK-based national scale case study. We apply an integrated terrestrial C–N–P cycle model with representative ranges of high-resolution climate and land use scenarios to estimate Cseq potential across the UK. If realistic UK targets for grassland restoration and afforestation over the next 30 years are met, we estimate that an additional 120 TgC could be sequestered by 2100 (similar to current annual UK greenhouse gas emissions or roughly 7% of net emission cuts needed in meeting net zero), conditional on climate change of <2 °C. Conversely, we estimate that UK arable expansion would reduce terrestrial carbon storage by a similar magnitude. The most pessimistic climate trajectories are predicted to cause net losses in UK soil carbon storage under all land use scenarios. Warmer climates substantially reduce the potential total terrestrial carbon storage gains offered by afforestation and grassland restoration. We conclude that although concerted land use change could make an important moderate contribution to national level Cseq for countries like the UK, soil Cseq only provides a contribution if we are on a low emission pathway, and is therefore conditional on deep global cuts to emissions from fossil fuels, deforestation and soil degradation.

Challenges in Scaling Up Greenhouse Gas Fluxes: Experience From the UK Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Feedbacks Program

AbstractThe role of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in global climate change is now well recognized and there is a clear need to measure emissions and verify the efficacy of mitigation measures. To this end, reliable estimates are needed of the GHG balance at the national scale and over long time periods, but these estimates are difficult to make accurately. Because measurement techniques are generally restricted to relatively small spatial and temporal scales, there is a fundamental problem in translating these into long‐term estimates on a regional scale. The key challenge lies in spatial and temporal upscaling of short‐term, point observations to estimate large‐scale annual totals, and quantify the uncertainty associated with this upscaling. Here, we review some approaches to this problem and synthesize the work in the recent UK Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Feedbacks Program, which was designed to identify and address these challenges. Approaches to the scaling problem included: instrumentation developments which mean that near‐continuous data sets can be produced with larger spatial coverage; geostatistical methods which address the problem of extrapolating to larger domains, using spatial information in the data; more rigorous statistical methods which characterize the uncertainty in extrapolating to longer time scales; analytical approaches to estimating model aggregation error; enhanced estimates of C flux measurement error; and novel uses of remote sensing data to calibrate process models for generating probabilistic regional C flux estimates.

The development of UK CCUS strategy and current plans for large-scale deployment of this technology

For over 20&#160;years, carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) has been recognised as a useful tool to help reduce UK national emissions. Over this period the target reduction in greenhouse gas emission rates for 2050 has increased, from 60% to 100%, i.e. net zero. This has led to change in the role envisaged for CCUS, from initially just cutting emissions on coal power plants by around 50%, to the point where capture and secure sequestration of all fossil CO2 emissions is required, either directly at source or indirectly via carbon dioxide removal from the air (CDR). Additional CDR, either through the use of biomass energy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) or direct air carbon capture and storage (DACCS), will also be required to compensate for other UK greenhouse gas emissions. Potentially over 100&#160;MtCO2/yr of CCUS is needed by 2050. Current UK plans are to establish four CCUS clusters by 2030, capturing and storing a minimum of 10&#160;MtCO2/yr from industry, power, hydrogen production and, potentially, CDR. The UK has a large amount of secure storage capacity for CO2 in geological formations a kilometre or more below the sea bed in the North Sea and the Irish Sea.

A review of UK greenhouse gas emissions from recent built-environment projects

The greenhouse gas emissions of a range of current and recent built-environment projects in the UK and internationally were studied to give a benchmark of current levels and to identify where improvements could be made. A top-down and bottom-up approach was used, considering published data on projects over £1 billion and database estimates for smaller projects and individual structures. In total, emissions of 14 projects, 117 bridges and 120 buildings were studied. It was found that emissions generally rose with increased project length, area and cost, but there was a significant variation in the results. It was also found that the ‘carbon emissions intensity’ of projects is significantly higher than offsetting options like tree planting, such that design optimisation and value engineering are far more cost-effective for reducing emissions and achieving ‘net zero’.

Convenience versus sustainability

Convenience versus sustainability

UK greenhouse gas measurements at two new tall towers for aiding emissions verification

Abstract. Under the UK-focused Greenhouse gAs and Uk and Global Emissions (GAUGE) project, two new tall tower greenhouse gas (GHG) observation sites were established in the 2013/2014 Northern Hemispheric winter. These sites, located at existing telecommunications towers, utilized a combination of cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS) and gas chromatography (GC) to measure key GHGs (CO2, CH4, CO, N2O and SF6). Measurements were made at multiple intake heights on each tower. CO2 and CH4 dry mole fractions were calculated from either CRDS measurements of wet air, which were post-corrected with an instrument-specific empirical correction, or samples dried to between 0.05 % H2O and 0.3 % H2O using a Nafion® dryer, with a smaller correction applied for the residual H2O. The impact of these two drying strategies was examined. Drying with a Nafion® dryer was not found to have a significant effect on the observed CH4 mole fraction; however, Nafion® drying did cause a 0.02 µmol mol−1 CO2 bias. This bias was stable for sample CO2 mole fractions between 373 and 514 µmol mol−1 and for sample H2O up to 3.5 %. As the calibration and standard gases are treated in the same manner, the 0.02 µmol mol−1 CO2 bias is mostly calibrated out with the residual error (≪0.01 µmol mol−1 CO2) well below the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reproducibility requirements. Of more concern was the error associated with the empirical instrument-specific water correction algorithms. These corrections are relatively stable and reproducible for samples with H2O between 0.2 % and 2.5 %, CO2 between 345 and 449 µmol mol−1, and CH4 between 1743 and 2145 nmol mol−1. However, the residual errors in these corrections increase to &gt; 0.05 µmol mol−1 for CO2 and &gt; 1 nmol mol−1 for CH4 (greater than the WMO internal reproducibility guidelines) at higher humidities and for samples with very low (&lt; 0.5 %) water content. These errors also scale with the absolute magnitude of the CO2 and CH4 mole fractions. As such, water corrections calculated in this manner are not suitable for samples with low (&lt; 0.5 %) or high (&gt; 2.5 %) water contents and either alternative correction methods should be used or partial drying or humidification considered prior to sample analysis.

Linking construction timber carbon storage with land use and forestry management practices

Consequential life cycle assessment was applied to forestry systems to evaluate the environmental balance of expanding forestry onto marginal agricultural land to supply more timber for the built environment, accounting for land use effects and product substitution. Forestry expansion to supply timber buildings could mitigate UK greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2.4 Gg CO2 eq. per ha of forest over 100 years, though net mitigation could be halved if beef production were displaced to Brazil. Forest thinning increases wood yields and percentage conversion of harvested wood to construction sawnwood, resulting in 5% greater net GHG mitigation compared with unthinned systems. Optimising the environmental sustainability of construction timber value chains in a circular, bio-based economy will require holistic accounting of land use (change), forestry management and complex flows of wood.

Bridging the climate mitigation gap with economy‐wide material productivity

AbstractProjections of UK greenhouse gas emissions estimate a shortfall in existing and planned climate policies meeting UK climate targets: the UK's mitigation gap. Material and product demand is driving industrial greenhouse gas emissions at a rate greater than carbon intensity improvements in the economy. Evidence shows that products can be produced with fewer carbon intensive inputs and demand for new products can be reduced. The economy‐wide contribution of material productivity and lifestyle changes to bridging the UK's mitigation gap is understudied. We integrate an input‐output framework with econometric analysis and case study evidence to analyse the potential of material productivity to help the UK bridge its anticipated emissions deficits, and the additional effort required to achieve transformative change aligned with 2 and 1.5°C temperature targets. We estimate that the emissions savings from material productivity measures are comparable to those from the Government's planned climate policy package. These additional measures could reduce the UK's anticipated emissions deficit up to 73%. The results demonstrate that material productivity deserves greater consideration in climate policy.

A measurement-based verification framework for UK greenhouse gas emissions: an overview of the Greenhouse gAs Uk and Global Emissions (GAUGE) project

Abstract. We describe the motivation, design, and execution of the Greenhouse gAs Uk and Global Emissions (GAUGE) project. The overarching scientific objective of GAUGE was to use atmospheric data to estimate the magnitude, distribution, and uncertainty of the UK greenhouse gas (GHG, defined here as CO2, CH4, and N2O) budget, 2013–2015. To address this objective, we established a multi-year and interlinked measurement and data analysis programme, building on an established tall-tower GHG measurement network. The calibrated measurement network comprises ground-based, airborne, ship-borne, balloon-borne, and space-borne GHG sensors. Our choice of measurement technologies and measurement locations reflects the heterogeneity of UK GHG sources, which range from small point sources such as landfills to large, diffuse sources such as agriculture. Atmospheric mole fraction data collected at the tall towers and on the ships provide information on sub-continental fluxes, representing the backbone to the GAUGE network. Additional spatial and temporal details of GHG fluxes over East Anglia were inferred from data collected by a regional network. Data collected during aircraft flights were used to study the transport of GHGs on local and regional scales. We purposely integrated new sensor and platform technologies into the GAUGE network, allowing us to lay the foundations of a strengthened UK capability to verify national GHG emissions beyond the project lifetime. For example, current satellites provide sparse and seasonally uneven sampling over the UK mainly because of its geographical size and cloud cover. This situation will improve with new and future satellite instruments, e.g. measurements of CH4 from the TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) aboard Sentinel-5P. We use global, nested, and regional atmospheric transport models and inverse methods to infer geographically resolved CO2 and CH4 fluxes. This multi-model approach allows us to study model spread in a posteriori flux estimates. These models are used to determine the relative importance of different measurements to infer the UK GHG budget. Attributing observed GHG variations to specific sources is a major challenge. Within a UK-wide spatial context we used two approaches: (1) Δ14CO2 and other relevant isotopologues (e.g. δ13CCH4) from collected air samples to quantify the contribution from fossil fuel combustion and other sources, and (2) geographical separation of individual sources, e.g. agriculture, using a high-density measurement network. Neither of these represents a definitive approach, but they will provide invaluable information about GHG source attribution when they are adopted as part of a more comprehensive, long-term national GHG measurement programme. We also conducted a number of case studies, including an instrumented landfill experiment that provided a test bed for new technologies and flux estimation methods. We anticipate that results from the GAUGE project will help inform other countries on how to use atmospheric data to quantify their nationally determined contributions to the Paris Agreement.

Impact of Emerging Interaction Techniques on Energy Use in the UK Social Housing

End use energy efficiency and fuel poverty is one of the major issues in the UK social housing sector. It is estimated that about 10% of English households live in fuel poverty. During 2015 UK greenhouse gas emission final figures show that the net CO2 emission was reduced by 4.1% between 2014 and 2015. This shows that the UK is on course to attain its second carbon budget with annual 2013–2015 emissions that are each below the estimated level for the period. However, the housing sector lags with a 4% increase in emissions over the same period. More work needs to be done in this sector. Householders can adopt more efficient energy use approaches and make better lifestyle choices to save money and have a safer environment. This research addresses government priorities to reduce energy demand, meet CO2 reduction targets, and reduce domestic reliance on fossil fuels, offering protection from price risks and fuel poverty as well as providing more affordable and comfortable domestic environments. The proposed research paper deals with novel interaction methods on energy use in social housing and how the aforesaid issues can be reflected on. A detailed background study on existing interaction methods and ongoing development of a serious game trialled in 19 households has been carried out. It has been noted that displaying real-time utility use and indoor environmental conditions to householders increased awareness and impacted how energy is being consumed. Furthermore, the proposed paper will investigate end use energy profile pattern changes due to novel interaction methods.

Theoretical and experimental thermal performance assessment of an innovative external wall insulation system for social housing retrofit

The UK building stock, being amongst the oldest in the developed world, is also one of the least energy efficient and accounts for approximately 45% of UK carbon emission. Energy use from housing alone was responsible for 13% of total UK carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions in 2015. Therefore, achieving the national target of an 80% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050 against 1990 baseline conditions is highly dependent on the reduction of energy consumption in dwellings. The complexity of the problem of retro-fitting energy saving measures in the extensive and diverse aging housing stock is further compounded due to the number of ‘hard to treat’ properties that comprise over 40% of homes in the UK. In this article, the authors present an evaluation of the theoretical and experimental performances of a novel prototype external wall insulation system, developed to improve energy efficiency in ‘hard to treat’ housing. The system was designed to be primarily used to retrofit social housing, which comprises up to 18% of the current UK housing stock.A thorough testing regime was undertaken to test the suitability and effectiveness of the new product in the most common social housing construction typologies. This included: an investigation of the theoretical thermal performance of the prototype product through steady state modelling, a laboratory based prototype test, an analysis of empirical data collected from a cross section of social housing properties in Nottinghamshire, UK used to inform whole house dynamic modelling, and the development of dynamic simulations to assess the energy and carbon reduction impacts of the new product. The theoretical modelling suggested that the integration of the system resulted in thermal performance improvements for all construction types with space heating demand reduced by up to 42%. The results of the whole house dynamic modelling assessment also suggested that the addition of the system resulted in a reduction of heating energy demand of up to 49%. The prototyping testing shown that the system is easy to install requirement minimum building skills.The findings suggest that the new product not only meets the performance of existing external wall insulation systems, but also provides unique selling points with respect to easy installation and non-reliance on weather conditions. The project finished with a pilot study when one house was retrofitted using the novel product.

Soil Greenhouse Gas Fluxes, Environmental Controls, and the Partitioning of N2O Sources in UK Natural and Seminatural Land Use Types

AbstractNatural and seminatural terrestrial ecosystems (unmanaged peatlands and forests and extensive and intensive grasslands) have been under‐represented in the UK greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory. Mechanistic studies of GHG fluxes and their controls can improve the prediction of the currently uncertain GHG annual emission estimates. The source apportionment of N2O emissions can further inform management plans for GHG mitigation. We have measured in situ GHG fluxes monthly in two replicated UK catchments and evaluated their environmental controlling factors. An adapted 15N‐gas flux method with low addition of 15N tracer (0.03–0.5 kg 15N ha−1) was used to quantify the relative contribution of denitrification to net N2O production. Total N2O fluxes were 40 times higher in the intensive grasslands than in the peatlands (range: −1.32 to 312.3 μg N m−2 h−1). The contribution of denitrification to net N2O emission varied across the land use types and ranged from 9 to 60%. Soil moisture was the key parameter regulating the partitioning of N2O sources (r2 = 0.46). Total N2O fluxes were explained by a simple model (r2 = 0.83) including parameters such as total dissolved nitrogen, organic carbon, and water content. A parsimonious model with the soil moisture content as a single scalar parameter explained 84% of methane flux variability across land uses. The assumption that 1% of the atmospherically deposited N on natural ecosystems is emitted as N2O could be overestimated or underestimated (0.3–1.6%). The use of land use‐specific N2O emission factors and further information on N2O source partitioning should help constrain this uncertainty.

Forecasting future demand for domestic thermal insulation in Wales

This paper provides a methodology to quantify the demand for building insulation based on present conditions of the housing stock, the estimated future rates of construction and the legislative requirements. The method has been applied to forecast the maximum potential demand for insulation generated in Wales by the domestic sector between 2016 and 2050 in line with the target set to reduce the UK greenhouse gas emissions of 80% from the 1990 level. The areas of building envelopes that could be insulated are calculated for future retrofit interventions and new dwellings. These areas are then associated to the thermal resistance values expected from the insulation layers. Datasets describing the existing Welsh housing stock are used to estimate the demand for loft and solid wall insulation measures in retrofit interventions, while the demand for roof, floor and wall insulation in new dwellings is estimated using projections of future construction activity in Wales. The results can be used to characterise the dwelling stock, build scenarios of insulation uptake and assess the impacts of different products which would lower greenhouse gas emissions from the domestic sector and stimulate the supply chain for low carbon products.

Modelling of Energy Demand in a Modern Domestic Dwelling

Abstract The domestic building sector accounts for 13% of the total UK greenhouse gas emissions. In order to curtail the emissions, implementation of higher insulation materials in building envelopes and integrated low carbon technologies within buildings becomes an alternative solution. Space heating energy demand in different types of domestic dwellings was modelled. Based on the occupancy pattern, the appliance and lighting schedule were obtained for calculating electrical demand. Two new build homes in Corby representing current and future dwellings were investigated to compare the difference of energy demand.