Creating An Energy Efficient Home
Improving the value of your home goes deeper than decorating ideas. Many homeowners believe that installing new floors, faucets, and repainting will increase the value of their homes. However, they overlook the big picture.
As governments are forced to improve emissions and environmental waste, municipalities are forcing new home builders to build environmentally friendly homes. In fact, in England, many municipalities will soon force all homeowners to replace their old, fuel wasting, polluting Appliances and heating systems with new environmentally friendly systems.
In many cases, an environmentally friendly home is also healthier. Many people find that their breathing improves and the incidences of flu are reduced after creating an environmentally friendly home.
The first to an eco friendly and healthier home is to replace duct work, heating, and cooling systems with new, energy efficient, and low emission, equipment. This may include using a corn burning furnace instead of a wood fireplace, replacing electric with solar water heaters, or water heaters that heat water as its needed, and updating the furnace to a new energy efficient model.
Energy efficient models should be used in tandem with electronic timers that turn them on when needed, and more importantly, turn them off to eliminate waste.
This is only half of the battle. The next step is to caulk every crack, install vapor barriers, and install new energy efficient doors and windows. This should be done at least a year before the sale of a home so that you can show potential homeowners the low heating bills.
As homeowners become more health conscious they pay more attention to lighting and ventilation. Many homeowners are looking for Feng Shui elements in their homes. They also want to find natural venting. In old homes, venting and windows were placed where they were in balance with the room, or convenient.
Today’s windows are placed to maximize natural light, and take advantage of solar heating. This applies to vents too. There is no reason why a room’s vents must be confined to windows. Good venting removes contaminants from a room, and can reduce the need for air conditioners. They also reduce the hazard of mold and mildew build-up.
Of course, saving receipts that prove reused and recycled products were used in the home’s construction is an invaluable way to add ‘green’ value to a home. While a person may not buy a home because recycled products were used in the constructions, it does validate the ‘environmentally friendly’ and energy efficient aspects of the home.
Energy efficient lighting is an often overlooked part of creating an energy efficient home. It is important to use properly installed, and properly laid out lighting.
If you are building a new home, then start from the ground up. Find a local architecture who is familiar with energy efficient designs. Many people don’t realize that the placement of rooms and halls can dramatically increase, or reduce, the heating and cooling needs of a home.
Every State has a department dedicated to helping homeowners improve the energy efficient and green value of their home. Taking advantage of their advice will improve the value of your home today, and in the future.
Patricia Taylor
http://www.articlesbase.com/home-improvement-articles/creating-an-energy-efficient-home-139672.html
How do you build an energy efficient house without spending a lot of money?
My fiance and I are building a home very soon. However we don’t have a lot of money to work with (we’re literally building it ourselves). We want to make our future home as energy efficient as possible so we can save money in the long run, and we’ve begun the process by picking out all energy star approved appliances. What else can we do? How can we create our own energy, etc?
Please provide as much information and links you can. Thank you so much!
a good place to start with assistance is your power company. Many of them offer assistance/ideas/programs to build energy efficient homes. We built a "good cents home" through our power company for example we have a "heat recovery" on our air conditioner that recovers heat from air conditioner to heat our hot water heater for free. There are several other easy things to do including more/better insulation in the walls and ceiling.
You might also like to "green your home" check out my website at http://www.wowgreen.net/21463
Good luck!
References :
There are some fantastic things you can do if you are building from scratch.
sensible size. the less you have to heat or cool the less it will cost. You want to be comfortable don’t build too small.
Orientation have the house position in such a way to take advantage of prevailing wind and position of the sun.
Passive Solar Design. It takes advantage of the sun in the winter to warm the house and still provides shade in the summer. A properly designed over hang and high windows on the south side block the sun in the summer when it is at its highest and allow in in the winter when it is lower. Having the sun hit tile floor or a brick or stone wall will provide a thermal gain for free in the winter and a cool thermal mass for the summer
Reduce glazing on south and west side of home to reduce solar gain in summer.
Tight construction. Use good wrap on the outside. seal all penetrations to reduce infiltration. seal drywall with caulking to the floor seal base board top and bottom with caulking
Advanced framing. Use 2×6 24 on center instead of 2 x 4 16 on center uses less wood and more area for insulation. The 2 x 6 allows for more insulation.
Super insulate Use as much insulation as possible.
Tight ducting system. Have it tested for leaks. make sure the energy you pay for goes where you want it too.
Shade tree. Most areas a deciduous tree that has leaves for shade in the summer and drops them and allows sun in the winter. If you plan on solar be careful of the planting
Solar thermal or hot water is cheaper and has a quicker pay back than PV
PV in an energy smart home has a smaller system that takes a bigger chunk of the bill based on usage
look at energy star for homes for many of these ideas. The idea is to add some cost to construction up front and reduce your bill in the long run. Many of the tips I gave do not add more material just more planning and more labor
References :
Make the best use of the position of the building as well as the placement of windows. The biggest energy use in our homes comes from climate control. Upgraded insulation will save you money in the long run. Dont’ skimp on windows either, triple pain or low E if you can work it into your budget will agian save you in the long run. The way you operate your home can make any building use less energy, choose drapes instead of blinds, task lighting will allow you to have fewer bulbs without needing to light the whole room. The placement of things like the thermostat can help run the a/c or heater more efficiently. While designing the kitchen keep the fridge away from exterior walls, windows and the stove, make sure it can get good ventilation and you can pull it out easily to clean the coils.
the Planet green channel has several amazing shows about green or energy efficient homes, they also have a website
References :
http://planetgreen.discovery.com/
Change your insolation with old jeans which are cheap at thrift stores. Turn off all appliances/electronics when not in use. If you use biodegradable dish soap you can use "grey water" from sink to water outdoor plants/trees. It’s extra work though. It’s really important to seal cracks in floor, ceiling, windows and gaps under doors to not let out heat/cold air.
There are smaller, consumer friendly solar panels at Real Goods and Amazon. Just decide if you want it connected to the general power supply or a specific appliance. http://www.realgoods.com/?campaign=adwords
References :
In most climates, the more eave and/or exterior porch space, the more mediation of the winter cold and summer heat. In a traditional style house, 18" is good, 24" is better.
Skylights (they come in different styles) with interior shades that can easily be opened and shut. Windows (I can’t remember the name of them) horizontally along what what we would call the eave space. Passive (needs no energy) air flow through the house (vertically and horizontally) aided as needed with fans. Roof vents for the release of summer heat. If permitted by your code, roof and crawl space vents that can be easily sealed off in whole and/or in part when hot dry air or cold dry air is flowing. Window sills allowing for thick window coverings, adequate drapery hardware, and box valances. In some areas, exterior shutters and/or storm windows work well too. Shaded and protected entrances and windows. You might also consider exterior wall protection in the hard scaping and vegetation landscaping.
As close as you can get to grey water usage plumbing in your area; using used water for yard and/or toilets. Rain barrels and collection systems; some are using burried septic tanks. Native and natural vegetation with as little grass as possible. Food growing area and fruit/nut trees. Tree and vegetation planting that shades in the summer and forces winds over the house in the winter.
You might also want to check out care2.com and the This Old House site for information and/or links about green construction.
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Appreciate that you want to build an energy efficient house. You can consider using alternate sources of energy like solar power. As you are aware, fresh water levels have declined in many parts of the world. Hence using solar power will help to save energy and water. You can also use water saving products like low-flow shower heads, dual flush toilets, and smart sprinkler controllers which can help in saving many gallons of water a day. This will help in building an eco-friendly and smart home too! Tips on how to save water can be found at http://www.bewaterwise.com/tips01.html
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Wow, you guys have a great opportunity. First have you looked at alternative building techniques such as straw bale or Cob?
One of the biggest environmental impacts your new home can have is due to the huge amounts of concrete that most modern buildings use. Concrete takes a huge amount of fossil fuel to make and all the energy savings you build into your home will take many many years to pay off in carbon savings if you first lay down a concrete slab.
If you are truly set on building your own have a look at building with cob – cob is a clay, sand and straw mixture that is worked into place wet but sets as hard as concrete. There are cob buildings in the UK that are many hundreds or years old and as good today as the day they were made.
Cob has high thermal mass so the whole structure of your building helps regulate air temperatures by absorbing and releasing heat. The thickness of the walls also provides good insulation both against summer heat and winter cold.
If you really want to push the boat out and heat your home totally with solar (even in the deepest depths of winter when the sun doesn’t shine for a week!) you could look into designing Annualised Geosolar Heating into the design. Essentially this traps heat from the height of summer in the soil under your home. This warms the entire floor of your house from beneath during the entire winter. The idea is that you are collecting solar heat when it is plentiful and cheap to collect in summer, and then releasing it when it is most useful.
Provided you know in advance of building you can design the whole set-up into your house so that it runs totally passively, warm air simply convects naturally through pipes beneath the floor, shedding heat.
Solar hot water is another good option as heating water uses lots of energy.
And don’t forget to think about installing wood fired heating – wood is relatively cheap and a renewable resource. Make sure you have an efficient wood stove (preferably on with high thermal mass like a rocket stove). Combined with a well insulated and designed house it would easily supply your supplemental heating needs.
References :
http://www.woodstovewizard.com/rocketstoves.html
http://www.buildsomethingbeautiful.com/ – building with cob
Lots of good suggestions on houses here. But if you’re building from scratch it’s even better to take a step back and make sure you get a site with as good a carrying capacity as possible.
Getting a good site is the single most important decision before designing an energy efficient house.
Traditionally, site selection considered a large range of factors, such as
* Cost, size and value of site
* Adjacent properties
* Location in relation to workplaces; schools; recreation; shops; family; services.
* Views, trees, and topography
* And perhaps to a small extent, solar access.
Because good access to sunlight is such a hugely important part of passive solar design, solar access has a MUCH higher importance. That’s not to say that the other factors are no longer important – they are, just as they’ve always been. But very good solar access is also essential.
The good news for anyone wanting to build an efficient house is that (currently) sites with the required solar access are valued at no more than a site with terrible solar access. This is because many (most)developers; real-estate agents; and builders have very little idea exactly what makes good solar access. This will no doubt change over time, as it should.
The bad news is that because of this, sites with good solar access are created almost entirely randomly, and as such less than 50% of a typical estate’s sites have this very important attribute.
So what actually makes very good solar access for a site?
A brand new building estate on a sunny day will see new roads in all directions, and sites of all orientations, shapes and sizes – All with full sun covering them. How is one better than another? How does one have the capacity for a REALLY efficient (carbon zero) house, while a nearby site would only ever be able to achieve a house of average efficiency (at a stretch)?
In a nutshell, we need to see beyond what the sites look like empty, and understand how they will perform once they (and their neighbours) have completed houses built on them. Sites with bad solar access will force their occupying houses to waste sunlight on things like garages, entries, laundries, bedrooms, etc – and sites with good solar access will do the reverse. They will encourage basic passive solar design by allowing the living areas to face north into the sunlight.
To achieve this your goal, site selection and design is paramount. Try to get a site that has any garage on the shaded side of the house, so look for a site that will have sun in the back yard or side yard. I like sites that are short and wide on the East side of a North-South street, because the garage can be on the West and shaded side, and the living areas can open up towards the sun.
This will give you a HUGE and totally free kick-start to your efficient and hopefully carbon zero self-reliant house.
Sorry there’s no room to elaborate on the other things here. Please check out the links below for more. But I will say this. Keep a good balance for best overall results. Don’t try to lead the World on anything in particular, as it’ll quickly cost you a fortune, and you really can have a house that helps pay ITSELF off while you’re living in it – as well as being much better to live in and far better for the environment as well. You’ll love it!
References :
I’m a sustainable house builder. Check out a carbon zero house I’ve just finished building
http://www.yourhome.gov.au is excellent for many many things you’re looking for.
if you want economy, you will pay for it. Everything posted here adds more costs to your home, not lower costs. Look, you’ll spent $3000/year on energy on a normal house. If it cost $50,000 to save $500/year, you figure that out.
The best thing is passive type solar and good insulation. Blue jeans are not insulation form many reasons, one of which is they settle and create non insulated areas and 2, they are not fire retardant.
Keep it simple, face south (in the northern hemisphere), use double pane Glass facing south with good blinds. Good fiber glass insulation with a foam wrap.
References :
There’s a TV newstation here that’s doing an expose about how wealthy people are renting homes to poor families and then applying on their behalf for energy efficient home assistance programs whereby various organizations change all the bulbs to CFL’s, and insulate the homes at taxpayer’s expense. The programs are for low income families hence the renting of the home to poor families.
References :
1. Install passive ventilation.
2. Choose low-VOC products.
3. Avoid products with urea formaldehyde.
4. Prioritize green choices in flooring.
5. Buy used furniture and salvaged materials.
References :
http://www.eco-wisdom.com/articles/home/green-building-materials-and-your-health.html
You can buy used building materials/appliances etc at a Habitat for Humanity store – saves you $$ and you’re recycling.
As far as building – Cord wood building is a pretty easy way to go – check out books by Rob Roy – he has classes too (but that’s more money). Here’s his site
http://www.greenhomebuilding.com/cordwood.htm
References :
Actually, if you consult with home builders they will tell you that energy-efficient homes (green homes) are merely 2% to 4% more expensive than standard houses, so it won’t make a big difference on your budget. The return of investment also takes only 3-5 years. If you’re planning to build a green home, you’ll be happy about the fact that you will pay less taxes too.
I wrote an article about green homes in Texas that you may want to check out:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2189067/learn_about_green_home_building_programs.html?cat=54