Heating costs for a
typical home account for 2/3 of the cost of maintaining it. When looking for
solutions that will reduce the expenses for this purpose, many investors decide
to build an energy-efficient building. Saving energy is fostered, among others energy-efficient
house architecture.
Architecture of an
energy-efficient house
Beach tioning of building a house is the
first stage where the focus should be on solutions aimed at reducing costs for
maintenance of the building. Demand for a house for heat can be reduced already
at the stage of project preparation. An important role in limiting heat loss
and obtaining energy from solar radiation is fulfilled, among other things, by
the proper shape of the building. What should the energy-efficient house
architecture characterize?
Energy-saving house -
building's shape
By giving the shape of
the house the right shape and in a thoughtful way placing the glazing in the
external walls, you can reduce the building's demand for energy for heating. From
the point of view of energy efficiency, buildings with a compact body are the
most advantageous. Their A / V ratio, i. e. the area of all external partitions, i. e. walls,
roofs, floors on the ground to the building volume, should be low. The walls of
an energy-saving house and its roof should have as few refractions as possible.
Ideally, the architecture of an energy-efficient house should be characterized
by simplicity. It is good that it should be built on a rectangular plan, and
its roof should be gabled or pitched. Simplicity of house architecture should
also consist in avoiding dormer windows, bay windows, attics, cornices, and thus
elements contributing to the increase of the surface of the external partitions.
It is also better to abandon the terraces above the rooms, and if they are to
appear, make sure that they are properly insulated and that their construction
took place using modern systems, reducing the risk of thermal bridges, and thus
places of heat escape from the building.
The elevation with the
largest area in which the largest glazing is located is located on the southern
side. This will allow for greater passive solar gain, which in the cold months
will warm the interior of the house. This solution can significantly contribute
to reducing heating costs.
Energy-efficient house
design
An important issue is
also the appropriate arrangement of rooms in the home saving energy. It is most
advantageous that interiors that maintain a relatively high temperature are
located from the south, while those that do not require heating from the north
(garages, pantries). Warm rooms should also be separated from cold rooms with
rooms of moderate temperature like bedrooms or corridors. Against the large
glazing, internal barriers are located that are able to accumulate solar heat
during the day and give it away at night.
