10 Important key features for planning and building an Energy Efficient House
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When you are planning to build a new home, there are many things that you need to consider. For starters, the design of your new home should fit within your budget. Apart from discussing the number of bedrooms and bathrooms to install, you can also consider how to make your home plan energy efficient as it will help you to save your money in a long run by having the following features: 1. Passive Solar Design Passive solar design is achieved by carefully orienting the house to control direct sunlight from entering windows and other openings during hot summer months, while not blocking the passage of cool breezes. You need wide verandahs and window hoods to establish excellent solar design. A passive solar house will cost less to run and is more comfortable to live in. 2. Window Openings The north side of the house needs to have large windows and shallow overhangs. This allows natural light into the house without heat gain from direct solar. On walls which face east side, you need large windows and deep overhangs, the other side’s which shade your windows by mid-morning. In walls that face south and west, you need small windows, which will also be positioned high. 3. Cool Roofs When you install a cool roof in your home, it reflects sunlight and lowers the roofing temperatures. A cool roof is made using reflective materials within the roofing material such as shingles, tiles, paint, and other substances. This energy-saving method is ideal when you’re building a home in hot climates where the air-conditioning costs can rise considerably. 4. Skylights Skylights improve the lighting, heating and ventilation in your home. When you select and install an ideal skylight, it minimizes your heating, cooling and lighting bills. Before you select a skylight for your home, determine what type will work best and where to place it to optimize its contribution to your home’s energy efficiency, day lighting, and ventilation. 5. Exterior doors When choosing exterior doors, you should choose the ones that minimize air leakage, which introduces humid exterior air into your house and makes your air conditioner work harder to wring moisture from the air. 6. Windows For your windows, you need to install glass with low emissivity. This type of glass provides better solar control by transmitting less heat while allowing more light into the room. By reflecting back the radiant heat, this glass keeps your house cooler during the hot summer months. You can also install white window shades, drapes, or blinds to reflect heat away from the house. 7. Kitchen and bathroom fixtures When installing fixtures in your kitchen and bathroom, you should consider their Energy-Star rating. For your kitchen, you can install under-cabinet lighting to provide direct illumination of kitchen work surfaces. You can also consider energy efficient ceiling lights, chandeliers, and floor lamps for the other rooms in the house. In your bathroom, you can have a tank-less water heater to save water heating bills and you can install water-efficient shower heads and toilets from energy efficient house plans. You can also install solar water heaters to take advantage of the hot sun. 8. Exterior colors Your home’s exterior color can significantly contribute to its interior temperatures. If you want your house to remain cool, you should consider a light exterior color if you want to build green house plans. 9. Flooring In hot climates, tiled concrete floors and internal masonry walls assist in moderating temperatures inside the house. You should avoid carpeting because it reduces your home’s ability to release heat. The floor plan should encourage adequate ventilation of all rooms. 10. Building materials You should choose the appropriate building material to reduce the embodied energy within your home. Embodied energy refers to the energy required to extract, manufacture, transport, install, and dispose of building materials. Adobe and stucco-covered concrete are the best materials for walls in hot climates, and you need thick walls to prevent the heat from coming into the house. If you’re ready to build a house, you can get the best home designs and energy efficient home plans from HomePlansIndia.com to help you build a simple, modern house that is both aesthetically pleasing and functional. If you’re a plot owner and you want to build a house, you can get house planning and design consultancy online now in 2015. Whatever your requirements, you can get a good floor plan at a reasonable and affordable price from us. Do send your queries to [email protected] and we will be glad to work along with you. |
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