Gödöllő Climate Club
April 2010
In the Club we heard an interesting presentation and report about the building and ’operation’ of a passive house. The presenter was József Feiler, who shared his experience of the construction of his own house in Isaszeg.
We learnt that a passive house is a building ’in which you can maintain a pleasant inside temperature without the need for active heating and cooling’. According to the passive house standard (1995) a passive house has to have the following parametres:
- Heating energy demand ≤ 15 kWh/m2/year
- Primary energy demand for the complete energy service ≤ 120 kWh/m2/ year
- Air compactness: at the test of building cover under pressure(50 Pa) ≤ 0.6 h-1
- Comfort: room temperature ≥ 20 ºC in winter
- U-value of windows ≤ 0.8 W/m2/K
- Efficiency of heat recovery airing system ≥ 80% with low levels of consumption
- Heat bridge free construction ≤ 0.01 W/mK
- Southern orientation and shaded
- Its residents use household machines of low energy consumption levels
As the graph below shows the energy necessary for heating is much lower than that of other houses (the black column stands for passive houses):
Club Carbon Footprint
Related to the April Club a total of 125.91 kg CO2 was emitted with the following proportions:
The carbon footprints of the clubs are calculated with the Energy Club event-footprint calculator
Climate Club, 14th April
PROGRAMME
Introduction: welcome…
--Attendance sheet--
I. The carbon footprints of the Clubs, oak tree equivalent
Total so far: 644 kg CO2, most of it: food and drinks (327 kg), travelling (250 kg)
Oak tree: 10 oak trees (9.5…)
A 50- year-old fully grown and healthy tree (with about 100m3 foliage volume) binds 68 kg CO2 annually
Planned tree planting…
II. Results of Club evaluating questionnaires
If you have have not filled it yet, do it now
---questionnaire--
III. Passive house – practical example, József Feiler’s presentation
Questions, talking
IV. Club publication: Climate-friendly families
Introduction, instructions… --forms--
V. Earth Day – Volunteering?
(Climate Club stand and exercises at the family exercise competition)
VI. Closing
Next meeting:
What to do until the next meeting:
Reading and registering data
writing case studies for the publication!!!
Climate Club Activity Stall and Stand in the Gödöllő Green Family Afternoon
With the coordination of GATE Green Club Association (Szent István University, Gödöllő) a number of green organizations in Gödöllő organized a green family afternoon and competition on Earth Day (22 April) in the Gödöllő Alsópark (Lower Park).
The programme was opened by György Gémesi, mayor of Gödöllő and Jeffrey D. Levin, Chargé d'Affaires of the Embassy of the United States of America. The competition was entered by 10 teams of 4-5 participants.
The competition also included climate-change related activities with the title ’climate-friendly household’. The participating teams had to do tasks in connection with the energy and environment-friendly lifestyle at home. The ’hosts’ of the activity stall were Erika, Kati and Kristóf. We would like to thank them for their work!
Apart from the activity stall Orsi and Edina operated a climate stand where visitors could get information about the Climate Club and energy saving lifestyle at home. In addition to this, we also gave energy educational posters as presents to schools.
Our Club members checked it out and/or recommend…
All our members can send in materials to our Newsletter and recommend anything related to climate-friendly life: news, films, books, etc. We do our best to communicate these ideas in the best possible way. Now we have collected these interesting things from the e-mails we received:
*** ANIMAL ISSUES ***
Marianna has drawn our attention to the Animal Protection Act, which defines the principles of how to keep and deal with animals. Here you can read some of these principles:
- Goldfish must not be kept in round bowls.. The inappropriate environment leads to depression and the animals may even die eventually.
- Birds must not be kept in round cages. In pet shops all birds must have a minimum area of 35 cm2. Hamsters and guinea pigs must not be kept in an overcrowded place either. When pets are sold or given as a gift detailed instructions must be provided concerning the animals’ needs.
- Cats and dogs must have a chip when sold or given as a gift.
- Dogs must have a minimum area of 10 m2. They must not be kept on a chain all the time and the chain cannot be shorter than 4 meters.
- According to Paragraph 3 of Act 1995 animal abuse means the unnecessary torture of animals while pain is inflicted or any kind of treatment, activity with a given purpose as well as the limitation of the animal’s needs that eventually lead to lasting fear and damage to the animal’s health, moreover, the breeding and propagation of animals suffering from hereditary diseases unless the aim is scientific.
Detailed information, pet owner search, animal protecting emergency number, consultancy:
Telephone: +36-30/429-2923
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
If you witness animal abuse at your place of residence or environment, you have to report at the Local Municipal Office Notary
*** IF OUR ENVIRONMENTALLY-FRIENDLY BULB BURNS OUT TOO QUICKLY... ***
Unfortunalety, sometimes our energy-saving bulb must be replaced earlier than indicated on the box. Csaba Laurán explained to us that if we have a Philips bulb, we can call their free number (00 800 74454775). You have to tell the telephone customer service the type of the bulb, the date of purchase as well as the address where they can post the new bulbs. They ask customers to keep the faulty bulbs as they are generally collected.
If you have information of other producers who change their faulty environmental-friendly bulbs, please contact us on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
*** ENVIRONMENT-FRIENDLY (?) PLASTIC BAGS ***
The question often arises if the environmentally-friendly plastic shopping bag that you get in the shops are really environmentally-friendly or not. We have tried to examine this issue.
According to tudatosvasarlo.hu (conscious consumer) online magazine::
An average plastic bag decomposes in 300-400 years – which is just an estimate since we started using this kind of packaging material in the late 1950s. Some people believe the solution to the problem lies in biodegradable plastic bags, however, the situation is not so simple.
Degradable plastic bags have two types. One type is produced from corn-starch or for example lactic acid and its name is polylactid, a material that really decomposes when composted. On the market, however, most of these bags are from ’oxo-biodegradable’ plastics.
The latter ones are also called environmentally-friendly, even though their decomposition is not a natural process. They need to be given a certain additive that triggers decomposition and this material is added during the production process already. Its disadvantage is that without light and oxigen they do not decompose, that is, they cannot be put to waste dumps or garden composts. When you can read ’biodegradable’ on the plastic bag, in 90 per cent of the cases they belong to this second group.
Those which are certified as biodegradable products have the trademark and the DIN EN 13432 standard written on them.
Packaging materials with DIN EN 13432 certification are accepted as raw materials of commercial composting systems. Apart from the DIN EN 13432 certification there is a Belgian classification organization with the AIB Vinçotte ’for home composting’ certification. As soon as a product has been accepted as compostable, this can be indicated on it and can carry the appropriate trademark (see picture). A product that is ’compostable at home’ can also be composted in an industrial composting syst
em. The other way around, however, it does not necessarily work.
Further Information:
Biodegradable plastics: http://tudatosvasarlo.hu/cikkek/813
Environmental product trademark: http://www.kornyezetbarat-termek.hu/
Materials that can be composted: Biowaste Magazine (published by: Profikomp Kft.) http://www.profikomp.hu/index2.php?tid=100
*** VEGETARIAN AND VEGAN RESTAURANT MENU IN GÖDÖLLŐ ***
A new initiative has been started in Gödöllő concerning healthy, environment-friendly lifestyle and diet with the cooperation of the research team (essrg) of the Gödöllő Szent István University Environment and Regional Management Institute Environmental Economics Department and Solier Restaurant.
From September they would like to organize thought-provoking Science Cafés and they are waiting for presenters and ideas. A short questionnaire has also been put together to examine demand. You can fill it by visiting http://solier-green.blogspot.com/.
The questionnaire has already been filled by more than 220 people and having seen the interest the organizers are arranging vegetarian and vegan dinners before September so you might want to follow the news on the blog above or register for the newsletter!
he setting up of the Gödöllő Climate Club was supported by the 7th Framework Programme of the European Commission in the framework of the “Changing Behaviour” programme.
