Do you live in a warm region and have plans for building a new house? You must be very careful how you orient your house because this will affect how energy efficient the house will be in that climate. If you are building your house in a warm climate, you must design the house in a way that will reduce heat gain. The following tips will help you come up with the perfect custom design for a house that will be highly energy efficient in the warmer climate.
Orient Your House Correctly
The orientation of your house can greatly affect the amount of solar heat gain that the house will have. Therefore, consider orienting your house such that the shorter sides are on the east-west axis. This will minimise the total solar heat gain because more sunlight often enters a house through the windows on the east-west axis than the north-south axis. This means you should plan for more of your windows to face south or north than either east or west. In addition, design your house so that the living and the dining spaces, including the decks and patios, face the cooler facades. Therefore, as much as possible, design your house to minimise east and west wall or glass surface.
Plan for Tightened or Ductwork and a Tightened Envelope
Building tight also helps enhance the energy efficiency of your house. Your house's envelope and ductwork should be tight enough. Therefore, when designing your new house, include plans to seal any penetrations through the walls.
Use High-Mass Construction Materials
Consider the thermal mass when planning the design of your new house. Materials such as thick plaster, concrete, tile, and brick have a high thermal mass, and that means they absorb relatively large amounts of heat during the day and release it slowly at night. Consider building your home with these materials if you live in a very hot climate that has high differential temperatures between day and night. The heat absorbed during the day will be released slowly during the night when the outdoor temperatures are extremely low. If the outdoor temperatures are just cool, and the heat being released by the concrete or brick materials is relatively high, you can open your windows to help even out the temperatures. Effective consideration of thermal mass means that if you install an AC unit, it won't have to work as hard to achieve your desired indoor temperature levels.
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