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Energy Efficient Homes

Ultra-efficient homes combine energy efficient construction, appliances, and renewable energy systems like solar water heating and solar electricity to minimize energy usage. Designers consider local climate and site conditions to incorporate passive solar and efficient landscaping. The goal is to reduce energy use cost-effectively and meet remaining needs with on-site renewables. Other strategies include cool roofs that reflect sunlight, passive solar design that uses climate conditions for heating and cooling, a well-insulated thermal envelope, insulating concrete forms that are fast to build, and efficient windows and air sealing with caulking and weatherstripping.

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Jeffrey Manansala
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102 views6 pages

Energy Efficient Homes

Ultra-efficient homes combine energy efficient construction, appliances, and renewable energy systems like solar water heating and solar electricity to minimize energy usage. Designers consider local climate and site conditions to incorporate passive solar and efficient landscaping. The goal is to reduce energy use cost-effectively and meet remaining needs with on-site renewables. Other strategies include cool roofs that reflect sunlight, passive solar design that uses climate conditions for heating and cooling, a well-insulated thermal envelope, insulating concrete forms that are fast to build, and efficient windows and air sealing with caulking and weatherstripping.

Uploaded by

Jeffrey Manansala
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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ENERGY-EFFICIENT HOME DESIGN

ULTRA-EFFICIENT HOMES
• Ultra-efficient homes combine
state-of-the-art energy-efficient
construction, appliances, and lighting
with commercially available
renewable energy systems, such as
solar water heating and solar
electricity.
• By taking advantage of local climate
and site conditions, designers can
often also incorporate passive solar
heating and cooling and energy-
efficient landscaping strategies.
• The intent is to reduce home energy
use as cost-effectively as possible,
and then meet the reduced load with
on-site renewable energy systems.
COOL ROOFS
• Cool roofs use highly reflective materials to
reflect more light and absorb less heat from
sunlight, which keeps homes cooler during
hot weather.

PASSIVE SOLAR HOME DESIGN


• Passive solar home design takes advantage
of climatic and site conditions to provide
heating in the winter and cooling in the
summer.
THERMAL ENVELOPE
• A thermal envelope is everything
about
the house that serves to shield the
living
space from the outdoors.
• It includes the wall and roof
assemblies, insulation,air/vapor
retarders, windows, and
weatherstripping and caulking.
INSULATING CONCRETE FORMS (ICF)
• Houses constructed in this manner
consist of two layers of extruded
foam board (one inside the house
and one outside the house) that
act as the form for a steel-
reinforced concrete center. It’s
the fastest technique and least
likely to have construction
mistakes.
• Such buildings are also very strong
and easily exceed code
requirements for areas prone to
tornadoes or hurricanes.
WINDOWS
• The typical home loses more than 25
percent of its heat through windows.
• Even modern windows insulate less than
a wall.
• Therefore, an energy-efficient house in a
heating-dominated climate should, in
general, have few windows on its
northern,eastern, and western sides.
• Total window area should also not
exceed 8 to 9 percent
of the floor area for those rooms, unless
the designer is experienced
in passive solar techniques.
• SOLAR TEMPERING. increasing window
area on the southern
side of the house to about 12 percent
of the floor area is
recommended.

• The best windows are awning and casement styles


because these styles often close tighter than sliding
types
WEATHERSTRIPPING AND CAULKING
• Good air sealing alone may reduce utility costs
by as much as 50 percent when compared to
other houses of the same type and age.
• You can accomplish most air sealing by using
two materials:
• Caulkingcan be used to seal areas of potential
air
leakage into or out of a house.
• And weatherstripping can be used to seal
gaps

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