What are GHG emissions?

GreenHouse Gas (GHG) emissions are gases that cause heating of the earth's atmosphere. The problematic GHGs are released by humans burning fossil fuels.

In buildings we directly cause the emission of GHGs in the furnaces and boilers we use to burn fossil fuels. By using electricity we indirectly cause the emission of GHGs that are created in the burning of fossil fuels in the creation of electricity.

This chart show amount of GHGs released (in tons) caused by the burning of typical home heating fuels used for space and Domestic Hot Water (DHW) heating used to deliver a Giga Watt Hour (GWh) of energy. in addition the GHG emissions caused by the use of electricity (Ontario) are also shown. This graph shows the relative impact of these fuels.

Note the GHG emissions caused by electricity usages varies significantly by jurisdiction. Ontario's is relatively low.

How Much GHGs do Houses Release?

100 Year CO2 Emissions for an Ottawa Hou

This chart shows how much GHGs are created by using various fuels over the life of a typical house located in Ottawa Ontario (100 years).

GHG production from houses varies by region and by the house design. This chart is typical of many Canadian and northern US locations.

For reference a car creates about 4.6 tons of GHG a year or 460 tons of GHG over 100 years (Source EPA).

See our fees webpage for the planning costs to reduce or eliminate your GHG emissions and save money at the same time!