How to build an energy efficient house?

There are several reasons for building your own home on energy efficient technologies. The main reason is that you will incur lower costs when operating your home. But it is also important that when selling such options will be more attractive to buyers, and the price for it can be put much higher.

In connection with the latest developments in the world energy market, the following conclusion can be drawn. The price for the main energy source, namely oil, is very unstable and will constantly grow. If you look into the past and analyze the cost of oil, these statements will be confirmed. Therefore, it is necessary to somehow get out, for example, to plan the construction of energy-efficient houses and purchase energy-efficient equipment.

Not only material benefit is an advantage of this kind of houses. After all, by reducing energy consumption, we clean our atmosphere of harmful impurities and substances that arise when fuel is burned. Most believe that this is an insignificant contribution to the purification of our planet, and the population continues to acquire allergic diseases, as well as diseases of the epidermis and stomach. However, this is not so, only together people can cope with this misfortune.

What do we spend energy on in our homes?

If we take an ordinary private house, then we can distinguish several "devourers" of energy:

• Various electrical appliances;
• shine;
• heat;
• Water heating.

About 72% of all energy is spent on heating our homes. All because earlier in our country did not think about saving and building houses, not paying special attention to thermal insulation. In Europe, the situation is not so deplorable, but their figure also leaves much to be desired - 57%.

Understand the concept of energy standards

Energy-efficient construction became popular in the nineties. The first to be interested in this were Germany, France, Sweden and Switzerland. European experts began to link energy losses with poor thermal insulation of houses, irregular forms of buildings, as well as poor location of buildings relative to the sides of the world. The costs of correcting these shortcomings are insignificant, so why not save money? That's when the division of residential buildings into types began:

• Energy efficient house. This is considered a building that consumes no more than seventy percent of the current from the energy consumed by an ordinary house. In addition, in such facilities, plants operating from renewable energy sources (windmills, solar panels) and thermal insulation about fifteen centimeters are used.
• Construction with low consumption. Here the ratio to the consumption of a standard house is not more than forty-five percent, and the isolation is of the order of twenty centimeters.
• Passive construction is considered to be a construction with a very low consumption - 30% compared to standard houses. Engineers achieve such results due to excellent insulation, the correct use of heat - natural and one that is spent ineptly vented systems. Typically, these houses are equipped with thermal insulation in the thickness of thirty centimeters, an independent source of electricity and heat.
• Buildings that do not consume energy. Yes, it is planned to use such, moreover, they will also give electricity to the grid. However, for the time being this is just an experiment. Thermal insulation in such houses is forty centimeters.

Calculation of required heat

If we take into account that the most energy is spent on heat, the energy standard of the house is chosen based on the coefficient E. It denotes the seasonal heat demand - it reflects the amount needed for heating a square meter. Let's analyze what this coefficient depends on:

• Quality of thermal insulation.
• Type of ventilation.
• The orientation of the building to the sides of the world.
• Amount of household heat.

It is also worth noting the coefficient of normalized seasonal heat consumption E0. It also determines the necessary amount of heat for heating a cubic meter, but provided that the structure is erected in compliance with all rules and regulations. E0 is calculated as the ratio of the area of the outer walls to the heated volume.

How profitable is an energy efficient house?

Technology is improving, and if you look to the future, you can say: the construction of such houses is economical. Now the investment allocated for the construction of a passive structure is 20 percent more than the cost of building a standard building. After a few years, the difference will decrease by 10 percent. And this can be confirmed by the experience of foreign builders. An energy efficient residential house is a good option for investment. Let us confirm this by considering the following example. As an example, take an ordinary country house with an area of 150 squares, in which one family lives. As a heat installation in this house we will choose a gas boiler. Then the cost of housing will be as follows:

• Heating - 144 kW / m ² ;
• Water heating - 30 kW / m ² ;
• Household needs (electrical appliances, cooking, light) - 26 kW / m ² .

In this case it turns out that for a year such a house will consume 30 000 kW. If instead of a standard house to take an energy-efficient wooden house, the picture will be as follows:

• Heating - 44 kW / m ² ;
• Water heating - 30 kW / m ² ;
• Household needs (electrical appliances, cooking, light) - 26 kW / m ^2.

Energy-saving house consumes 15 000 kW per year. In total, you can save about 50% of the operation of the house. Very encouraging information.

Area of windows

Now, on newly erected buildings, it is often possible to meet large glass facades. However, the construction of the windows does not allow achieving thermal protection, close to the thermal protection of the capital walls. On the other hand, from the standpoint of room illumination, large windows reduce the power consumption for artificial lighting. We have to seek the golden mean. When designing the most optimal ratio is 6: 1, where 6 is the floor area, and 1 is the window. For example, take an energy-efficient house and a room of 36 square meters. The optimum glazing area then will be about 6 square meters.

Designing of energy-efficient houses. Project Catalogs

Statistics say that in the west about 80% of private dwellings are being built on ready-made projects. Is it possible to build an energy efficient house on the basis of these options? Projects in large numbers are in special catalogs, and which of the many options to choose?

A very important task is to reduce energy consumption to a minimum. As noted above, the lion's share of it is spent on heating the premises in the winter. However, it is worthwhile to understand that by increasing the layer of thermal insulation, the house is not made energy efficient. Here the approach should be comprehensive. It is very important to remove all bridges of cold air, as well as to provide mechanical ventilation.

Pay attention to walls and roof

Before the acquisition of the project, it must be carefully studied for compliance with continuous thermal insulation. An energy efficient house is a building for which the issue of tightness is very important. Due to this characteristic, cold air will not enter the room. Sealed should be everything from doors to roofs. The walls of such houses are plastered with a double layer, and the roof is made with thermal insulation and vapor barrier. Places of joints and fastenings are closed with a special adhesive tape.

Calculation of energy efficiency

As noted above, energy-efficient construction is considered to consume no more than seventy percent of electrical energy from the amount that an ordinary house consumes. Consider the coefficient E and its value:

• For an ordinary house, the coefficient. E is less than or equal to 110 kW / m ² .
• For an energy-efficient home, E is less than or equal to 70 kW / m ² .
• For the passive house, the coefficient. E is less than or equal to 15 kW / m ² .

In the west, a more modern method for calculating the energy efficiency of buildings according to the coefficient Ef is considered. It indicates the amount of energy needed for heating, ventilation, water heating, lighting and air conditioning. Consider the classification of buildings, depending on Ep:

• For passive buildings, the coefficient. Ep is less than or equal to 0.25.
• For economical buildings it is less than or equal to 0.5.
• For energy-saving buildings, the coefficient. Ep is less than or equal to 0.75.
• For ordinary buildings, it is less than or equal to 1.
• For passive buildings, the coefficient. Ep is less than or equal to 0.25.
• For the most energy-intensive buildings, Er is more than 1.5.

The issue of ventilation and heating

We have already said that an energy-efficient house should be equipped with mechanical ventilation, with the function of obtaining heat. Therefore, when choosing a project, you need to make sure that the house has such ventilation. This is important, since conventional ventilation will not function in an airtight house. It is also worth noting that gravity ventilation works well at temperatures just above zero, so in summer it is almost useless.

In sealed energy-efficient homes, mechanical ventilation will best show itself, which will allow you to receive heat from the air being removed. Such ventilation will make it possible to do without a familiar water heating system in the house, which will lead to savings on radiators, pipes and heating installations. Therefore, be careful when choosing an energy-efficient house: projects should provide for this type of ventilation.

Some subtleties of construction

We will analyze the subtleties of erecting such structures. If you plan to build an energy efficient house with your own hands, you need to know the exact number of people who will live there. After all, people create domestic heat - when washing, cooking, using electrical appliances. It turns out that too large houses will not be considered energy efficient, provided that they will be inhabited by several people. Also, we must carefully consider the effective current consumption, choosing energy-efficient devices and equipment. It will be useful to equip a local area according to the sides of the world and the climatic conditions in your region.

Conclusion

The design and construction of energy-efficient houses in the future will be almost the only direction in the construction industry. So you need to think about it right now.