What is the Secret to Eco-Friendly Homes?

Global warming and rising sea levels are happening because we emit huge amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. One of the causes for the greenhouse gas emissions is our energy consumption. A significant part of our energy consumption is for climatization: heating our homes, and sometimes cooling them in summer. Thus, saving heating energy has a big effect. One way to reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions and to cut costs is to build our homes more energy friendly. This activity seeks to answer the question “What’s the secret to eco-friendly homes?”.

Buildings must provide shelter, comfort and safety. However, they represent a large consumption of energy and natural resources. Learning about how to thermally insulate buildings and learning about the different types of insulating materials is very important to save energy, to maintain a comfortable temperature inside, and to save natural resources.

This project investigates the insulating capacity of different materials of easy access and low cost. It aims to discuss how we can improve energy efficiency and promote sustainable architecture.

This project is interdisciplinary, integrating concepts from

• mathematics (analysing data),
• communication skills (communicating about environmental issues),
• social studies (understanding the impact of architecture in energy consumption),
• geography (recognising the various regions of the planet and their characteristics),
• physics (physical properties of materials).

This worksheet aims to demonstrate how well different materials work as insulators. The ultimate aim is to empower children to make informed choices about insulating materials that can significantly reduce energy consumption and contribute to a more sustainable future.

You can download it as docx and pdf file.

Buildings use about a third of the energy consumed worldwide. Of this, one third a large part is used to maintain the thermal comfort of buildings. ¹

Good insulating materials help maintain our houses warm in winter and cool in summer: they stop the heat from escaping (in winter) or getting inside the house (in summer).

Energy tends to be transferred from warmer to colder places, so in winter the energy tends to be transferred from the inside of our homes to the outside where the temperature is lower. In the summer the energy tends to pass from the outside to the inside.

We can use nature as an inspiration and find an animal that adapts well to extreme temperatures. The camel is a good example of an animal that adapts well to high temperatures during the day and very low temperatures at night. If we look at the fine woolly coat of the camel, it is full of air. Air is an excellent insulator and materials that contain air in their structure are good insulators. Materials such as hay, wool, cotton, layers of paper or cardboard have air inside and are therefore good insulators. We can think of everyday situations that demonstrate this fact:

• We wear wool sweaters to keep us warm in winter.
• We use cardboard boxes to keep a pizza warm.
• Double-glazed windows, with air between them, are good at insulating houses.
• In the past, newspaper was used to keep take-away food warm.
• Mattresses in the past were made with straw.
• Many houses have double walls and an air layer between them.
• The bricks used to build houses have holes with air inside.

In addition to comparing different insulating materials, it’s important to consider their thickness, as this can impact their effectiveness. To explore this further, you could conduct an experiment where the thickness of each material is the variable, helping to understand how insulation effectiveness changes with different layers. To investigate the impact of material thickness on insulation, you can use a can filled with either hot or cold water, and time how long it takes for the water to reach room temperature. For instance, wrap the can in different layers of bubble wrap — such as one, two, or three layers — and record the time taken for the water temperature to change. By comparing the results, you can observe how the thickness of the insulating layer (bubble wrap) affects the rate of temperature change, providing insights into the effectiveness of different insulation thicknesses.

Encourage higher-ability students to explore additional research questions related to insulation, energy efficiency, or sustainable architecture. For example, encourage these students to make a scientific poster and present it to the class. Or let them research different types of architecture in countries with very different climates. Allow higher-ability students to design variations of the insulation experiment. They can explore the impact of factors like thickness, different materials, colour or external conditions on insulation.

By exploring this experimental activity about insulating materials for houses, children can also be inspired to consider future careers in environmental protection. This could be a good opportunity to spark interest in professions that seek to understand and find solutions to climate change, such as: civil engineer, energy efficiency technician and architect.

Civil engineer

Civil engineers design effective insulation systems for buildings, ensuring energy efficiency and thermal comfort.

Civil engineering technician video
Civil engineering video

What is a civil engineer?
A civil engineer is a builder and problem solver. They design and oversee the construction of various structures, such as roads, bridges, buildings, and dams, to make our communities more efficient and better connected. Civil engineers use their knowledge of maths, science, and technology to create plans that meet the needs of society. They also consider factors like safety, cost, and environmental impact.

What does a day in the life of a civil engineer look like?
Civil engineers either work in an office, at a computer, with specific programmes that allow them to draw up plans of what they are going to build. They can also work outside on a site of a newly-built bridge, building or dam.

What responsibilities do they have?
Civil engineers are responsible for designing and managing construction projects. Civil engineers also supervise construction crews, inspect completed structures, and adjust as needed to ensure that everything meets safety standards and regulations.

Energy efficiency technician

Energy efficiency technicians evaluate and recommend solutions to improve the energy efficiency of buildings, including proper insulation.

Energy auditor video
Energy management technician video

What is an energy efficiency technician?
Energy efficiency technicians are like detectives investigating ways to save energy and protect the environment. They work to make homes, buildings, and appliances more energy efficient, which means they use less energy and reduce their impact on the planet.

What does a day in the life of an energy efficiency technician look like?
Energy efficiency technicians essentially work outside, with their own tools to test a home's energy efficiency. They look for places where the house may be losing more energy, look for solutions and suggest improvements.

What responsibilities do they have?
They have the responsibility to conduct energy audits to assess the energy performance of buildings and recommend solutions for improvement. Energy efficiency technicians play a vital role in helping communities reduce their carbon footprint and combat climate change by promoting sustainable energy practices.

Architect

An architect integrates sustainable building practices and insulation techniques into architectural designs.

Architect video

What is an architect?
An architect is a designer and builder who creates plans for buildings and structures. They use their creativity and knowledge of engineering and construction to design spaces that are functional, beautiful and sustainable.

What does a day in the life of an architect look like?
Architects usually work in an atelier where they meet with their work team to make decisions. They can build small models of future projects. Their work is very creative and seeks to construct buildings and structures where human beings can live. An architect also works outside the atelier, they visit the construction sites to oversee the building process and make sure everything is going according to plan.

What responsibilities do they have?
They have the responsibility to create designs that are energy-efficient and environmentally friendly.