Saturday, June 7, 2025
  • Contact Us
  • About BBS
  • Privacy & Policy
ENG
DZO
BBSCL Logo
  • Home
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Education
  • More
    • Announcement
    • Audience Survey Report
    • Programme
    • Radio Dzo-Channel Schedule
    • Radio Mix-Channel Schedule
Radio Live
No Result
View All Result
BBSCL logo
  • Home
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Education
  • More
    • Announcement
    • Audience Survey Report
    • Programme
    • Radio Dzo-Channel Schedule
    • Radio Mix-Channel Schedule
No Result
View All Result
BBSCL logo
Radio LIVE

Better home insulation, a key to lowering carbon emissions

April 24, 2022
in Sci/Tech
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0
0
SHARES
19
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

 

Insulating homes or building an energy-efficient house is a fairly new concept in Bhutan. Although home energy-efficiency studies were conducted and guidelines for green buildings were developed, the implementation is yet to gain momentum. In Bumthang, which is a district that requires the highest amount of energy to heat a home as per studies, a Czech architect recently trained residents on home insulation.

During the training, trainer Matěj Vacek built a model of an insulated wooden home. He said insulating a home is fairly simple. If one finds correct insulation materials such as glass wool, polystyrene and mineral wool among others in the market, you’re ready to go.

One can also opt for natural materials such as wood fibreboard, hemp and straw which have to be processed in factories. The trainer used sponges, only for demonstration purposes. Two layers of insulations have to be fitted on the wooden frames.

“Once we have the insulations fitted, we of course want to cover it with claddings. It can be any kind of cladding but it shouldn’t be touching the insulations. Therefore, we need to create something called the ventilated gap which is usually between four to five centimetres thick. As the sun shines on the claddings, it heats the inside of the buildings. In summer, they help in cooling down the house by blocking direct sun rays. And the ventilated gap prevents any damage caused by moisture,” said Matěj Vacek, Instructor, Technical Training Institute, Chhumey, Bumthang.

With all the insulation and claddings fitted, the structure will be around twenty times warmer inside compared to an uninsulated house. This means with an insulation, you require lesser firewood or lower heater temperature to heat your home.

The building and appliance sector in Bhutan contributes to over 40 per cent of the total energy consumption, ahead of the transport and the industry sectors as per the National Energy Efficiency and Conservation Policy. The policy which was launched in 2019 aims at reducing energy consumption in buildings, household appliances, industries and transportation.

With an insulated home, one can save energy and reduce your carbon footprint. It also means the country can export more electricity.

“As Bhutan is trying to stay carbon negative, if you’re having an uninsulated home, you’re not as environmentally friendly anymore. Insulation is an extra investment you have to make in the beginning but approximately in 15 to 20 years, you will get back your investment and then the rest of the lifespan of the house, you’re saving this money,” added the instructor.

Participants, who are the working employees of various wood-based businesses in Bumthang said concerted government interventions could help promote the construction of energy-efficient buildings in the country.

The Technical Training Institute in Chhumey and U Dee Wood Manufacturing and Furniture Unit conducted the four-day training. The Helvetas Swiss Interco-operation funded the training.

“In Bhutan, we don’t have insulation materials readily available in the market. If the materials become available, it is something doable,” said Tashi Dawa, a participant.

“I think advocacy campaigns would attract people to have their homes insulated. All other required resources are available in Bhutan except the insulation materials,” said Pema Choden, another participant.

Insulating homes is one of the key interventions targeted at reducing building energy consumption. With domestic energy requirements set to rise in the next few years, construction practices such as insulating buildings will help ease the pressure on the country’s energy sources.

Kipchu, Bumthang       

Previous Post

Longorchu irrigation water scheme to benefit 42 households in Minjey Gewog, Lhuentse

Next Post

Bailey bridge offers relief for people of three gewogs in Pema Gatshel

Next Post

Bailey bridge offers relief for people of three gewogs in Pema Gatshel

People of Samdrup Jongkhar Thromde fret over dilapidated roads

DeSuung National Service Water Project handed over to the people in Gyalpoizhing

Please login to join discussion

RECOMMENDED NEWS

Farmers of Borangmo want electric fencing to ward off wild animals- Pema Gatshel 

Farmers of Borangmo want electric fencing to ward off wild animals- Pema Gatshel 

3 years ago
1
Camp to bridge disparity between urban and rural children underway in Lhuentse

Camp to bridge disparity between urban and rural children underway in Lhuentse

2 years ago
21

Maternity allowance to be rolled out within a year

4 years ago
1

Forest fire guts more than 30 structures

11 years ago
1

BROWSE BY CATEGORIES

  • Accidents (14)
  • Agriculture (426)
  • Announcement (174)
  • Audience Survey Report (1)
  • Business (744)
  • Crime/Legal (367)
  • Culture (47)
  • Development (51)
  • Disaster (57)
  • Economy (277)
  • Education (412)
  • Entertainment (13)
  • Environment (60)
  • Feature (65)
  • Featured (6)
  • Festival (78)
  • GMC (14)
  • Headlines (6)
  • Health (622)
  • Legal (52)
  • Literature (9)
  • Livestock (75)
  • Media (25)
  • Other Stories (5,574)
  • Politics (419)
  • RCSC (1)
  • Recent stories (5)
  • Religion (45)
  • Sci/Tech (709)
  • Social (515)
  • Sports (449)
  • Technology (190)
  • Tourism (19)
  • Uncategorized (13,866)
  • Video (136)
  • Video Story (249)
  • Wildlife (42)

BROWSE BY TOPICS

Tender Announcement Vacancy Announcement

POPULAR NEWS

  • BPC’s investigation rules out transformer short circuit as Damchhu forest fire cause

    Viral video of Bhutanese man assaulted by locals and police in Jaigaon sparks safety concerns

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Gelephu Mindfulness City opens recruitment drive for Bhutanese professionals

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Newspaper accuses DPT candidate of political ploy

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • A centenarian’s recipe to longevity

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • 40 companies risk closure over failure to submit financial reports

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
BBSCL

Bhutan Broadcasting Service (BBS) is Bhutan’s primary national broadcaster, delivering diverse news and entertainment in multiple languages, fostering cultural understanding and public knowledge.

Follow us on social media:

Recent News

  • RMA to roll out seven new measures for loan repayment support
  • National Housing Strategy to be ready by September
  • Bhutan begins NFT sales, to preserve heritage
  • City bus viability raised in parliament, MoIT minister cites past privatisation failures
  • Paro MP questions airport expansion impact on affected landowners

News Category

  • Accidents
  • Agriculture
  • Announcement
  • Audience Survey Report
  • Business
  • Crime/Legal
  • Culture
  • Development
  • Disaster
  • Economy
  • Education
  • Entertainment
  • Environment
  • Feature
  • Featured
  • Festival
  • GMC
  • Headlines
  • Health
  • Legal
  • Literature
  • Livestock
  • Media
  • Other Stories
  • Politics
  • RCSC
  • Recent stories
  • Religion
  • Sci/Tech
  • Social
  • Sports
  • Technology
  • Tourism
  • Uncategorized
  • Video
  • Video Story
  • Wildlife
  • Contact Us
  • About BBS
  • Privacy & Policy

© 2024 BBSCL. All rights reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Education
  • More
    • Announcement
    • Audience Survey Report
    • Programme
    • Radio Dzo-Channel Schedule
    • Radio Mix-Channel Schedule

© 2024 BBSCL. All rights reserved.