Could Insulation Save the Day?

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In a country where there is an enormous excess of carbon emissions, some believe that the use of insulation could help save people in China from horrible air conditions that they are currently experiencing.

In light of the attempt to fulfill their end of an anti-air pollution deal that China signed with the United States last week, China shut down factories, placed restrictions on traffic, city residents were given 6 days off of work, and even small coal heaters used to the warm the beds of poor villagers were banned for a week. However great the efforts were, they still pale in comparison to the damage the country has enacted to global carbon levels over the years.

There is one speck of hope that could seamlessly assist the Chinese people with their heating and CO2 issues: installing insulation in homes and businesses.

According to a study by the National Resources Defense Council, in the 2000s almost half of the world’s new buildings were erected in China alone, while only five percent of them passed energy efficiency standards. To make matters even worse, commercial and residential buildings represent 28 percent of China’s total energy consumption, leading to a gross reliance on fossil fuels to maintain air conditions inside the buildings.

The majority of the buildings in China’s city centers resemble concrete boxes. The buildings are by no means weatherproofed and there’s no space for insulation. No matter how hard residents of the spaces try to trap the hot air inside and keep the cold out, they simply can’t due to the construction of the buildings. To add to the challenge, the concrete walls absorb the cold and don’t begin to warm up again until the spring months.

Perhaps if the country made a conscious effort to build with more energy-saving materials and offered greater government subsidies for energy-conscious building practices, it might help curb the need to rely on carbon-based heating and electricity to heat and cool buildings.

Insulation could be the solution to China’s air pollution nightmares, but luckily you don’t have to share in it.

Call the experts of Goley Inc. and schedule your appointment today at (618) 286-3355 in Illinois or (314) 621-1422 in Missouri to keep your home nice and warm this winter. You’ll also reduce your carbon footprint and your heating bill too!