Features of designing energy-efficient houses

Designing energy-efficient houses: key features

When building residential houses or production facilities, it is important to consider energy-saving technologies and solutions. Today, more and more building materials and technical solutions are available to help reduce heat losses and improve the energy efficiency of a building.

However, heat saving and efficient use of other types of energy should be considered at the design stage. The main decisions that affect future heating, ventilation, cooling and operating costs are made in the project.

In this article, we will look at the main features of designing energy-efficient houses.

First, let us define the concept of an “energy-efficient house”.

An energy-efficient house is a house in which heat and other types of energy are used as rationally as possible.

This is not only about insulation, but also about the correct orientation of the house, optimal glazing area, high-quality building envelope, efficient heating system, ventilation with heat recovery and other high-efficiency engineering systems. It is the combination of these solutions that forms the energy efficiency of a house, not only the use of expensive building materials.

Key aspects to consider when designing an energy-efficient house:

• moderate and rationally placed glazing area, since significant heat losses can occur through windows;
• orientation of the main windows to the south for better use of solar heat;
• high-quality insulation of external walls, roof, floors and foundation structures;
• use of properly selected air curtains, if required for a specific type of building;
• properly selected equipment for heating and ventilation systems;
• high-quality materials and components for heating and ventilation systems.

It should also be taken into account that the ventilation system is usually calculated for the summer period, while the heating system is calculated for the winter period. These are the seasons when the corresponding systems operate under the highest load.

In addition, it is advisable to use the most accurate initial data: the number of people who will stay in the premises, the building operation mode and the installed equipment. The more accurate the initial data, the higher the probability of a correct calculation.

It is also worth providing individual heat energy metering units for consumers if the building is an apartment house.

After the project has been developed by the design organization, it should be checked for compliance with the requirements of passive house design standards.

If the first calculation does not meet all the requirements, changes should be made to the project, followed by a repeated calculation and another verification of the result. This process should be continued until the project meets the required energy efficiency indicators.

You can see an example of such work in the article: “How to reduce heat losses in a house by 8.6 times”

Contact us, and we will help you design and build a proper energy-efficient or passive house.

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Read more about passive houses here

Read about house energy consumption calculation here