Energy Efficiency & Footprint

The ecological footprint, developed by Mathis Wackernagel and William Rees in the early 1990s, is a tool for measuring the demand that human activities place on natural ecosystems. It calculates the amount of biologically productive land and sea area required to produce the resources a person consumes and to absorb the waste they generate. This is expressed in global hectares.

On the other side of the equation is biocapacity, the ability of ecosystems to regenerate what people demand. When a population's ecological footprint exceeds the available biocapacity, it is said to be running an ecological deficit, drawing down natural capital that cannot be sustained indefinitely.

At the global level, humanity currently uses resources equivalent to roughly 1.7 Earths, meaning we are consuming natural capital 70 percent faster than it can regenerate. Earth Overshoot Day, the date each year when humanity has used more from nature than the planet can renew, falls earlier each year. In 2023, it was August 2nd. After that date, we are effectively borrowing from future generations.

Ecological footprints vary enormously between countries and individuals. The average footprint in Europe is significantly higher than the global average, driven by high consumption patterns, energy-intensive lifestyles, and meat-heavy diets. However, within any country, individual footprints vary based on choices about housing, transport, diet, and consumption.

Carbon footprint is a subset of the ecological footprint that focuses specifically on greenhouse gas emissions. It is measured in tonnes of CO2 equivalent and typically broken down into categories such as home energy, transport, food, and goods and services. Online carbon calculators can help you estimate your personal footprint and identify the areas where changes would have the greatest impact.

Understanding where energy is consumed in your home is the first step toward reducing it. In the average European household, space heating and cooling account for roughly 64 percent of energy use, making it by far the largest category. Water heating accounts for about 15 percent, appliances and electronics about 14 percent, cooking about 5 percent, and lighting about 2 percent.

Heating and cooling efficiency starts with the building envelope. Insulation in walls, roofs, and floors prevents heat from escaping in winter and entering in summer. Double or triple-glazed windows, draught-proofing around doors and windows, and insulated hot water pipes all reduce heat loss. For many European homes, especially older buildings, improving insulation is the single most effective energy-saving investment.

Heat pumps are rapidly becoming the technology of choice for efficient heating. An air-source heat pump extracts warmth from outdoor air even at low temperatures and delivers it indoors, using roughly one unit of electricity to generate three to four units of heat. Ground-source heat pumps are even more efficient. When powered by renewable electricity, heat pumps can reduce heating-related emissions to near zero.

The EU energy label system, updated in 2021 to a simpler A-to-G scale, helps consumers compare the energy efficiency of appliances. Choosing an A-rated refrigerator, washing machine, or dishwasher over a lower-rated model can save hundreds of euros in electricity costs over the appliance's lifetime.

Smart thermostats learn your schedule and preferences, adjusting temperatures automatically to avoid heating empty rooms. Programmable timers on water heaters, LED lighting throughout the home, and power strips that eliminate standby consumption from electronics all contribute to significant cumulative savings.

Renewable energy options for households include rooftop solar panels, which generate electricity during daylight hours and can feed excess power back to the grid, and green electricity tariffs offered by energy suppliers that source power from wind, solar, and hydroelectric generators.