We have a great responsibility to save our planet, which includes also the way how we live, how we construct our house. A growing offer of eco-friendly materials and the usage of renewable energy sources can help to reach this goal soon.
What kind of eco-friendly houses do exist nowadays?
Generally, energy efficient houses are classified according to their energy consumption:
• Low Energy House: This house includes modern insulation standards and low-temperature heating according actual regulations.
• Passive House: The definition is limited by a maximum consumption of 15 KW or 1,5 litres of fuel oil (Click here to learn more about how to procure it) per square metre and year for heating energy.
• Zero Energy House: This is a self-sufficient house, which is autonomous and normally doesn’t depend external energy.
• Solar Sun House: Either self-sufficient or even energy-plus house, which obtains his complete energy’s need from solar energy.
• Energy Plus House: This kind of house produces more energy as it consumes.
Which eco-friendly materials are available?
There exists a large range of natural construction materials, which means nowadays you can avoid a negative impact to the environment, first when you build the house and later when you want to make renovations, or may be replace the house by a new one. The best way to guarantee this is to make your home entirely of solid or timber-framed wood. Insulation should be based on natural raw materials as cotton, cork or cellulose. Make sure to avoid synthetic materials as PVC, PE, polystyrene or glass wool, whenever it is possible.
As an extra measure, you could seek out professionals who can assess the house and suggest ways to install eco-friendly systems for ventilation, heating and cooling, etc. When such systems make use of energy-efficient equipment, they can go a long way in reducing the carbon footprint of the home. You could check websites like homeserviceheroesfl.com/installation/ that may be able to help you in this regard.
Which energy systems should be integrated?
Beside of construction materials, daily energy consumption means an important aspect in the planning of your house. You can reduce it significant using Gas Condensing Technology to take advantage even of the heat that the escaping gases contain. It is a perfect way to save consumption, if you only want to renovate your heating system.
But the aim is to run the building completely free of fossil energy, that means without the usage of fuel oil or natural gas. Modern technology and high insulation standards make this possible.
Beginning with the sun as energy source, we can choose between:
Solar Energy may be used for heating and also for current. How?
Solar Systems have solar panels, which are flooded by a special liquid. It is able to capture the heat of the solar radiation and bring it to a hot water heater or a heating buffer tank.
Photovoltaic Systems have thin photovoltaic panels that convert solar energy in electricity. Of course, it is much more easy to store current in batteries or also fed it into the public power grid without any time limit.
Geothermal Heating may be the solution if you are not allowed to install solar panels on the roof for construction restrictions reasons, or if you live in a very rainy and cold area. It takes advantage of the heat of the underground terrain. You only need horizontal or vertical tubes in the terrain.
Air Source Heat Pumps: Also it is possible to extract the heat energy which contains the ambient air. An air source pump is perfect for little houses, and also combined with Solar Systems. It requires very few installation and place. By using an air source heat pump hot water heater, you can save large amounts on your energy bill and ultimately help save the environment – all while keeping your house and water warm still.
Pellet Heating: Your house is made of wood, why you shouldn’t heat it with wood, too? Modern pellet central heating may work fine if you have enough space to store the pellets.
Fuel Cell is the newest technology in the market and still not very known, also due to the high price. With the help of a chemical process natural gas is used to produce electricity. During the process also is created heat. It can run your house completely with all energy required and doesn’t need maintenance.
Reaching both: Save the environment and save even money
A well known prejudice still exists: Surely a green house costs more than a traditional one. But simple it’s not true. Eco-friendly construction is available for reasonable prices. Also you have to include monthly energy costs that can change the calculation completely.
In the future, costs of fossil energies will increase significant. That compensate higher investments in new high-tech heating and energy systems, but only if you install them in a highly energy efficient building. Wood-based construction and a strong insulation keeps the cold outside and the heat inside.
Finally, you can care the environment and your wallet.
