Energy Efficient Homes in Whistler
How efficient is your home?
Any home, no matter when it was built, can be energy-efficient.
Modern construction standards demand greater energy efficiency in new homes, but older homes can be upgraded to improve their energy performance. And the people living in these homes can be energy-efficient in their habits, too.
There are a number of strategies and approaches for creating an energy efficient home and encouraging sustainable energy consumption. We have broken these down below into passive home approaches, active home approaches and daily energy usage:
Passive Home Approaches
Passive approaches utilize what nature freely provides to maintain a buildings’ degree of comfort without the need for purchased energy. These approaches are strategically integrated into a building’s design to work with the natural elements on site (including sun and wind patterns) to provide free and sustainable heating and cooling of spaces through the various seasons.
Passive Solar
Passive Solar design refers to the use of the sun’s energy for the heating and cooling of living spaces. In this approach, the building itself, or some element of it, takes advantage of natural properties of materials and air created by exposure to the sun. Examples include operable windows placed for optimal heat gain in winter, shading devices and solar chimneys for the summer, and thermal mass for both seasons. Solar chimneys create or reinforce the effect of hot air rising to induce air movement for cooling purposes. The resulting suction pulls cooler air into the building from lower, shaded spaces.
Exterior Materials
Selecting durable and natural exterior cladding materials and treatments to withstand weathering and to extend the building’s lifespan. Upon the end of their required use such materials will ideally be returned to the biosphere with positive, rather than adverse, effect.
Thermal Mass
Thermal Mass is a property of a material’s ability to absorb, store, and release heat. Thermally-massive building materials such as concrete have a high capacity to absorb and to store excess heat, often from the sun, which is released into the occupied space when the ambient temperature falls below that of the Thermal Mass. Most materials which will absorb excess heat, will also absorb excess humidity. Thermal Mass materials passively act as temperature and humidity flywheels, reducing indoor temperature and humidity fluctuations without the consumption of energy.
Interior Materials
Interior Materials are selected for low emissions (low- to no-Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and non off-gassing), resulting in healthier indoor air. The recycled content and end-of-life recyclability of Interior Materials is also considered to reduce current and future waste to landfills, and reduce extraction of virgin natural resources.
Natural Cross-Ventilation
Natural Cross-Ventilation occurs when air enters a building through openings such as windows and doors on one side, and exits on the opposite side. It is driven horizontally by positive pressure on the windward side and negative pressure on the leeward side of the building, as well as vertically through the building via stack effect. Natural Cross-Ventilation reduces energy-consumption from air conditioning and ventilation units during summer months. Buildings are ideally designed to encourage Natural Cross-Ventilation through their relationship with prevailing breeze patterns.
Deep Overhangs
Proper window shading will allow optimal solar heat gain in the winter, while limiting unwanted solar heat gain during the summer. A correctly sized roof overhang will completely shade a window at solar noon on July 21st, when the sun is at it's highest.
Active Home Approaches
Active strategies utilize purchased energy, through electricity or natural gas, to maintain a buildings comfortable environment levels. Such strategies include efficient HVAC systems, efficient lighting, heat recovery systems, and radiant heating. Active energy production systems are also included in these strategies and include PV systems (solar electric), solar thermal, wind and geothermal energy production.
Solar Electrical Production
Solar Electrical Power is generated by photovoltaic (PV) modules that harvest energy from the sun and convert it into electrical energy. For use in buildings, solar modules can be integrated into the design as cladding components or as sun-shades, mounted on the roof, or mounted on land adjacent to the building. Tracking devices can follow the path of the sun for optimal exposure.
solar Thermal Production
Solar Thermal Energy is heat energy generated by a roof-mounted solar collection device that absorbs heat from the sun. Flat-plate collectors are the most common type, where fluid is circulated through tubing to transfer heat from the collection surface to an insulated water tank. This strategy can be used to pre-heat water from the municipal main, or well, to decrease the amount of energy needed by an on-demand water heater.
Geothermal Heat
Outdoor temperatures fluctuate with the changing seasons but underground temperatures (four to six feet below ground) don’t change as dramatically, thanks to the insulating properties of the earth. A geothermal system, which typically consists of an indoor handling unit and a buried system of pipes, called an earth loop, and/or a pump to re-injection well, capitalizes on these constant temperatures to provide “free” energy.
Wind Power
Wind Power is generated using turbines or windmills to harvest wind energy to convert it into electrical energy. Wind power production can be a cost-effective approach depending on the building site and availability of this natural resource.
Daily Consumption Strategies
In addition to the passive and active approaches mentioned above and the use of energy efficient appliances,
here are a few strategies for optimizing your daily energy usage:
Adjusting Daily Behaviours
Energy conservation can be as simple as turning off lights or appliances when you do not need them. You can also use energy-intensive appliances less by performing household tasks manually, such as hang-drying your clothes instead of putting them in the dryer, or washing dishes by hand.
smart power strips
It’s estimated that 75% of the energy used to power household electronics is consumed when they are switched off. Smart power strips, also known as advanced power strips, eliminate the problem of phantom loads by shutting off the power to electronics when they are not in use.
Efficient Lighting
Halogen incandescent bulbs, compact fluorescent lights (CFLs), and light-emitting diode bulbs (LEDs) use anywhere from 25-80% less electricity and last three to 25 times longer than traditional incandescent light bulbs.
smart thermostat
A programmable or smart thermostat can be set to automatically turn off or reduce heating and cooling during the times when you are asleep or away. This eliminates wasteful energy use from heating and cooling without needing to upgrade your HVAC system.
Questions About Energy Efficiency?
Speak to our home expert to find out how you can save money and reduce your carbon footprint.
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