“Only 4 Percent of U.S. Adults Know That Buildings are Leading Source of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions” according to a recent survey. The press release is here, but not the full report. I’m a little hesitant about posting this – a press release isn’t verified data – but the topic is so relevant to the armchair environmentalist that I’m going ahead.

SAN RAFAEL, Calif., Nov. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — According to the American Institute of Architects (AIA), buildings are the leading source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, but in a new poll conducted by Harris Interactive and commissioned by Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK), only 4 percent of U.S. Adults were aware of this fact. Autodesk, a leader of design innovation software and technologies, is one of more than 1,000 companies coming together in Boston at the 2008 Greenbuild International Conference and Expo to raise awareness about this important issue and present solutions to help the building industry decrease carbon emissions.

Here’s an extract from my book Eco Living, published in 2000, on just this subject:

The Energy-Efficient Home

Our buildings are the most wasteful energy users in industrial countries. Turning down the heat and insulating the attic may seem mundane, but these steps are important and there are many others that you can take.
Architects are increasingly conscious of energy efficient design. There are a number of model building projects around the country where energy use is as little as a quarter of that in similar but conventionally built houses, thanks to advance insulation and materials and careful orientation. We can also choose energy efficient appliances and products.

Better home insulation led to awareness of the dangers of combustion by products, which include formaldehyde, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide and a host of other vapours and gases, because in a well insulated house they invariably build up more than in a traditional draughty British home. Contrary to expectation, studies have found that colds and