Introduction
Early on, the best house designs were the ones which were based on the local weather, they were mostly crafted from readily available material and were mostly built to withstand nature and provide warmth and shelter to the inmates without impacting the surroundings as much. However the advances in technology changed all that. Cheap and easily available energy have made our houses more and more inefficient and costly over time. Not to mention, the harmful impact of it all on the environment. The buzzword these days is to build and live in homes which are energy efficient and have minimal impact on the environment. It simply means that the homes are adaptable to the environment and make best use of the available natural resources around them to sustain the inmates over a long period of time. Here we would like to give some pointers on how you could go about designing your own energy efficient home.
Complexity Level: High
Time Required: Few weeks to few months
Estimated Cost: Varies according to cost of material chosen
Resources required:
Housing construction materials
1. Wood
2. Metal sheets
3. Paint, fixtures etc.
Special raw materials
1. Solar panels
2. Steel stilts etc.
Instructions
1. Using Simple Materials
Instead of opting for costlier and resource consuming options such as imported woods, polished marbles or costly metals, you could go in for materials such as corrugated metals, enameled steel and timbers from local sawmills. The point is in using locally available materials which are cheap, easily replaceable and don’t adversely impact the environment too much. These make sturdy homes which are built to last and shelter the occupants.
2. Light earth foundations
Usually when making the foundations for a building, digging too deep and around the housing plot, causes extensive damage to the roots of the nearby trees. You need to be careful so that you don’t damage the surrounding while building your house, especially if you are in a heavily forested area. In such a case, you may use steel stilts to rest your house on instead of excavating the site to build your foundation. These will provide a sturdy foundation and protect the natural fauna nearby.
3. Using natural light
Most energy efficient homes are designed so as to maximize the use of the available sunlight. Such houses usually feature open verandahs and huge skylights. The expansive windows are designed to let as much sun light into the house as possible in order to cut down your electricity requirements. Using solar panels on the roof will help you save up electricity to light and warm your house during the night time. It’s a clean safe source of energy that is also light on your pocket.
4. Intelligent design and sizing
Keeping the home aptly sized to suit your needs can cut your construction costs. It will reduce your energy needs for heating or cooling as per the climate. Even more energy can be saved from using high performance windows and insulation in the walls. In combination with natural ventilation and optimum solar design you can save on your air conditioning. By adding thermal panels you can further reduce your heating energy requirements.
5. Floor plan
Various aspects of energy saving need to be taken in consideration when laying out the floor plan for the house. Some simple ideas like placing the kitchen in the coldest corner of the house to balance out the heating of the house with the warmer zones can help you save on your heating energy needs. Kitchen appliances generate heat that can keep the kitchen warmer than the other rooms in general. Also, rooms that need light during the day time need to placed facing the east so that they can get most of the sun light in the day time. The bedroom and living rooms that need the warmed during the night can be placed on the western side of the house so as to take in heat from the setting sun.
Frequently asked Questions
1) Does designing an energy efficient house cost a lot?
Building a house does mean a significant amount of investment generally. However, building an energy efficient home will cost marginally more depending on the kind of special type of materials you may choose for insulation and roofing of the house. Apart from that, there should not be any extra costs. In the long run, you will be able to recover your marginal cost by way of the energy bill savings.
2) Do we need to design separate types of energy efficient houses for different weather conditions?
In most climatic regions, a particular type of house should suffice for all the seasons that the region faces. Designing of separate houses for different weathers is not mandatory and is usually not required.
Quick tips
1) While building your house try avoiding materials that are exotic or rare in your locality. This will help you save on repair and maintenance costs in the future.
2) Make sure you consult a qualified architect and designer for making the floor plans and designing the house structure so that it can stand the test of time and provides shelter and savings on energy as intended.
Things to watch out for
1) While building your energy efficient house, make sure that you do not damage or disturb people, trees, natural wildlife around you
2) Always make sure that your energy efficient house design is legally approved by the local authorities, housing boards etc.