Description of Environmentally Friendly Facilities
Recycling facilities
Clearly marked and organized sorting of waste by glass, plastic, paper etc. Instructions should be provided for tenants for re-cycling e.g. which waste bag/bin coloured to use for different waste and where to deposit them/collection times.
Solar heating
This is normally through solar panels on the roof or in the garden providing hot water for swimming pools and/or domestic water.
Low electricity consumption
The electrical consumption of household appliances complies with EU energy rating A-C. For example appliances such as a washing machine, dishwasher, refrigerators & freezers.
Rainwater harvesting
This can vary from storing rain water in water butts (e.g. barrel) by the drain pipes (used mainly for plants and washing cars) to storage tanks (used for domestic water such as toilets or watering systems for the garden). In the description of eco friendly facilities it should be specified which type of water harvesting is installed and how the water is used.
Eco friendly house products
In order to tick this box you need to provide your tenants with eco friendly house cleaning products such as washing up liquid and products used to clean the floors, bathrooms and kitchens. Please ensure your cleaning personnel are aware that you want them to use only environmentally friendly cleaning products. Any additional products such as eco friendly hand soap and recycled toilet paper would be included under this heading.
Non-toxic gardening
No chemicals or non organic fertilisers are used on the land for flower beds, vegetable gardens, for pest control or any other area of your garden.
Insulation
Double glazing for windows, loft and wall cavity insulation.
Low energy light bulbs
Where possible the owner/agent has fitted low energy light bulbs.
Thermostatically controlled central heating
Normally this includes a programmer on the boiler, radiator thermostat and maybe a room thermostat. Many new boilers will come with thermostat controls already fitted.
Also may include a thermostat on your hot water.
Condensing boilers
A highly efficient condensing boiler can convert 90% of its fuel into heat compared to 78% for conventional boilers. It works on the principle of recovering as much of the wasted heat as possible, which is normally rejected into the atmosphere from the flue of a conventional (non-condensing) boiler. This is accomplished by using a larger heat exchanger which maximises heat transfer from the burner as well as recovering useful heat which would normally be lost with the flue gases. As a result the temperature of the gases exiting the flue of a condensing boiler is typically 50-60°C compared with 120-180°C in a current non-condensing boiler. A condensing boiler will always have a better operating efficiency than a conventional non-condensing one due to its larger and more efficient heat exchanger.