Buildings are not always designed in a way that is energy efficient but property owners who want to sell or rent their property will soon find that they need an energy performance certificate for their building.
The shortest distance in the climate change discussion is the one between disbelief and despair. Certainly the signs are not good:
If the North Pole freezes over this summer it could be for the last time. Optimists are predicting the Arctic will be free of ice within five to 10 years. Visionaries think that by 2500 the only really inhabitable place on Earth will be the polar regions.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana published a report presented to EU leaders last spring warning that Europe must prepare for increased competition over dwindling resources, waves of climate change refugees and energy wars. Winters in Europe are expected to be a thing of the past within a lifetime.
Africa will be the most vulnerable region. Changes in rainfall patterns could mean as much as a 50 per cent decline within the next decade for some crops. Cyprus has begun importing water from Greece after a drought which is expected to last until November.
Flooding, on the other hand, has led to a price hike of corn in the US where bad weather ruined much of the crop. But the ground zero of climate change and global warming is Bangladesh, the most crowded nation on earth and first to suffer the effects of climate change.
The fertile delta land is eroding as this country's 230 rivers swell with by melting glacier water from the Himalayas. The two or three cyclones normally expected in a year have increased to 12. Each year they are more violent with waves washing over the land, making it salty and unproductive. Bangladesh is drowning in slow motion. Where can 150 million people go? India is already building a border fence to keep them out. The country's other neighbour, Burma, is not expected to offer much refuge.
The island of Manhattan alone produces more emissions than Bangladesh. Predictions by the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) show that it is on course to lose 17 per cent of its land and 30 per cent of its food production by 2050. For the US, this would be equivalent to California and New York state being submerged with the entire mid-West turning salty and barren. IPPC reports have invariably turned out to be conservative underestimates.
The climate scientist who first made the world aware of global warming 20 years ago is now calling for chief executives of large fossil fuel companies to be put on trial for high crimes against humanity and nature.
James Hansen who heads Nasa's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York has accused the companies of actively spreading doubt about global warming in the same way that tobacco companies blurred the links between smoking and cancer.
The UN framework convention on climate change aims to reduce greenhouse gases to a level that will prevent 'dangerous human interference' with the climate. Hansen says safe levels have already been passed. Climate change is a present reality and a major risk for future generations and yet emissions continue to rise. Urgent action is both necessary and possible.
Steps are available across a range of policies which can make a difference. The technologies and policy mechanisms required are known and within reach at a manageable cost. Delay is both risky and expensive.
An antidote to despair can be found in the knowledge that it is possible. Broken down into its component parts, in a paper from the London School of Economics and Political Science, plausible responses to the challenge are identified in the form of market mechanisms, technological advances and behavioural changes.
Global emissions must be cut in half by mid-century. This means that emissions per capita must average two tonnes down from the current rate of seven tonnes per capita. The basic arithmetic and timelines are clear and it is important to make a start.
For those of us still living in the comfort zone, keeping cool is high on the agenda during these scorching summer months.
A large amount of energy produced at power stations is consumed in buildings. The building sector, which accounts for 40 percent of all Europe's energy requirements, offers great potential for savings.
An EU directive on energy performance of buildings follows other directives covering construction products, boilers and better energy efficiency to limit carbon dioxide emissions.
By June 2009, the sale or rental of a building in Malta (with some exemptions) will require that the buyer or tenant is provided with a certificate drawn up by an independent assessor showing how wasteful or efficient the property is at using energy.
It is the least we can do for our homes, and for Bangladesh.