Designing Energy-Efficient Buildings Through House Siting and Solar Access, Windows, and Insulation - Assignment Example

PORTFOLIO By Name Course Instructor Institution City/State Date Portfolio Reflections on the Lecture Materials I found all the lecture materials to be useful since they enabled me to understand the value of having energy efficient homes and the benefits of smart homes. In the first chapter, I learned the benefits associated with energy smart design such as cost savings. I was able to understand that energy efficient homes are socially beneficial because they are associated with reduced greenhouse gas emissions. This results in protection of the environment and conservation of the non-renewable natural resources. When the society builds energy smart homes, they are inclined to become comfortable and achieve energy efficiency. This topic sparked my interest in using digital technologies to improve home efficiency. I believe home owners can install a system that utilises Smartphone’s geographic positioning system (GPS) function to automatically put their homes in away mode whenever they leave their properties. A number of companies, as mentioned by LaMonica (2014) gather and analyse data for energy usage, regardless of whether it is smart thermostats or two-way power meters with the aim of changing the heating and cooling settings. I am certain that if home owners automate their homes, they will be able to optimise these settings. In the second chapter, we focused on design for energy efficiency. I learned that designing an efficient home is initiated with the decisions made during the early phases of the design process. It came to my attention that the ability of the building orientation to gain the winter sun depends on the internal spaces’ relationship, the major outdoor features layout, the placement of windows, and planting for wind-screening and sun-shading. I have realised that smart homes provide improved energy-efficiency since lights can automatically shut off when the house is not occupied and the indoor temperature could be reduced during the day by setting the thermostat so that the home becomes more comfortable for the occupants. Home automation together with contemporary, energy-efficient appliances can help home owners to save energy and reduce strain on the natural resources. This chapter has deepened my understanding with regard to how designed energy-efficient homes can help reduce wastage of energy. In the third chapter, I learned that building design for energy efficiency and comfort is largely influenced by climatic concerns. I noted that analysing the sun’s effect on the site, the place where the building will be placed and design features can help the designer make the most out of the passive solar design features and be able to improve the building’s comfort and energy efficiency. Without a doubt, it is important to assess the sun passage across the building site. The society, in my view, can achieve this by using tools that are locally produced and visiting the site to determine the site-specific conditions like the effect of a large tree. With the view to chapter four, I realised that solar access for new housing relies heavily on the building’s location. I learned that energy efficient homes could be offered more economically and easily if the lot permits the house to be positioned in a way that allows for adequate solar access. I noted that the building orientation and siting are important in realising improved solar access and consequently enhanced energy efficiency. This can be achieved by designing the house based on the site-specific conditions in order to allow for maximisation of free solar energy. In the fifth chapter, I observed that the design of windows is important since they determine the amount of natural light allowed into the house. Therefore, when people use protected and well-planned windows, they are likely to become more comfortable. The need for cooling in summer and heating in winter is also reduced enormously. In our homes, the windows offer us ventilation, warmth, light, and also energy efficiency. People can improve their windows’ energy efficiency by adding weather-stripping, storm windows, caulking, and using window coverings or treatments. Weather-stripping and caulking can help reduce leakage of air around the windows while the storm windows improve comfort and also decrease air leakage. With the view to chapter six, I was able to understand the significance of thermal mass in terms of improving the home dwellers’ conformability. I noted that thermal mass is beneficial, especially in climates that have lower summer temperatures. Besides that, thermal mass could increase winter heating requirements in areas where solar access is very poor. Thermal mass absorbs heat entering the building in summer which consequently leads to reduction of internal air temperature during the day; thus, leading to improved comfort. The heat is released slowly, during the night, in order to allow for the passing of cool breezes. The common materials for thermal mass include filled concrete block normally used for walls or floors. I believe that when thermal mass is used properly, it can facilitate the maintenance of comfortable temperatures in our homes year-round. I think the ideal materials for thermal mass should be dense and heavy (to absorb and store more heat), a good heat conductor, and should have a dark surface to help absorb as well as radiate heat. In chapter seven, I learned that insulation is beneficial since it improves home’s energy efficiency. When our homes are insulated, the buildings are able to keep heat in winter and radiate it out during summer with the aim of saving energy and improving comfort. When people insulate their homes, they can save almost 50% of the energy required for heating and cooling. People living in insulated homes are more comfortable and help reduce green gas emissions. Furthermore, condensation on ceilings and walls are virtually eliminated. Insulation would help me maintain the desired temperature in my room and protect it from excess heat in summer and cold in winter. Chapter eight enabled me to understand why controlling air movement helps home dwellers to save energy. When people control ventilation and reduce uncontrolled air leakage, they will be able to reduce the need for extra heating as well as cooling. This would lead to improved comfort and approximately 20 percent energy savings. I was mesmerised to learn that houses should breathe using designed holes. All buildings must ventilate, but infiltration should be reduced. Nearly all people have electronics in their homes, and as evidenced by chapter nine, energy efficiency can be achieved by installing energy efficient appliances, lighting, and services. People should make sure their home appliances and lighting allow for energy savings. In the final chapter, we talked about landscaping, which is a simple and economical way of improving the building’s energy efficiency, improving the property’s value and appearance, and offering screening for privacy. I learned that a landscape that is energy efficient and well-designed could help reduce the building’s lighting, heating and lighting costs. Positioning the shrubs and trees carefully can help home owners to save a substantial percentage of the energy they use in their houses. Designing energy-efficient buildings through House Siting and Solar Access, Windows, and Insulation House Siting and Solar Access This is my own recommendation on how home owners can design energy-efficient buildings through house sitting and solar access. Having an optimal access to solar could enhance the house dwellers’ thermal comfort, reduce greenhouse emission, and decrease energy requirements. It is imperative to design the location of your building so as to realise an improved level of passable winter sun. The windows that face north are less likely to gain good solar access because of various obstructions such as trees or other buildings that could block free solar heating. The newly constructed building should take advantage of the site’s solar energy, but this can be achieved through good orientation. This can be achieved easier during the design phase instead of upgrading the building after its construction. Adequate solar orientation can be achieved through smart subdivisions while access to unobstructed sunshine can be realised by ensuring that the distance between buildings is bigger. More importantly, the surface area to volume ratio (S/V) could help determine the building ability to gain or loss heat. A large S/V ratio connotes maximum heat gain and loss. To reduce unnecessary gains and losses through the building’s fabric, a compact shape should be designed with no articulation. Although, this configuration is considered unsuitable because it limits daylight access, it helps reduce heat transfer. When you design your house, you should construct multifunctional rooms, which are spaces that could be utilised for many functions and that could adapt easily to the changing lifestyle. For your house to be environmentally friendly and energy efficient, you should consider many factors when looking for a site to place the house. One of the most important factors is the current and future needs and the lifestyle. You should ask yourself a number of questions; is the site suitable for your lifestyle? Is it close to public amenities? Is it the type of home you need? You should make sure that you study the site as well as the local climate to determine the humidity range, diurnal and seasonal temperature ranges, the direction of the wind, the site orientation, and so forth. When placing a building in hot climates, it should be oriented in a way that allow for maximisation of cool breezes. The harsh sun should be excluded by reducing the size of the windows as well as offering effective shading devices such as large overhangs. As evidenced in the figure below, the building should be oriented in a way that allows for solar access. Figure One: Building Orientation (adopted from Gromicko and Gromicko (2016) study) Windows When designing an energy-efficient house, the owners must use windows that allows for solar access. The low energy building needs a glazing window that offers both light and heat. This will help reduce fuel bills and improve comfort. As mentioned by Thorpe (2010), the energy efficient window design is important because it facilitates the maximisation of solar gain in the building during the winter and its control during summer. Shading, size and position of the windows can be utilised to optimise solar gain, while the glazing’s coating and composition can be used to optimise the building’s greenhouse effect. More importantly, the windows admit light and heat, but this relies on the angle of incidence. The solar energy admitted by the windows is quantified through the G-values, which are specified on the energy label attached to the new windows. The figure below shows the windows energy labels with the ‘A’ rated being considered as the most energy efficient windows. Figure 2: Windows’ Energy Label The frames for windows should be energy efficient and must be sustainably-sourced from treated soft wood or hardwood. You should avoid using the PVC since it is inflexible, cracks easily, and cannot be recycled. As mentioned by Thorpe (2010), metal frames should not be used because they radiate the heat out of the building. The inner and outer frames should be insulated to prevent thermal bridging. Insulation Insulation is without a doubt is important for all houses since it helps control the flow of heat into and out of the homes. In the summer, insulation help in keeping our homes cool and during winters it helps retain heat inside our homes. Your home would likely become energy efficient and more comfortable if you choose the suitable type of energy-efficient home insulation and make sure it is installed properly in the floors, ceilings, walls, as well as foundations of the house. Pairing insulation with passive-solar measures and airtight home design would enable you to greatly reduce the supplementary heating or cooling and you can also be freed from the utility-supplied power. As pointed out by Chiras (2003), a number of factors should be considered when selecting the type of insulation for the house; raw materials of the insulations; long-term performance; health impacts to the dwellers. When retrofitting the house for insulation, it is imperative to determine how much insulation has already been installed. This can be achieved by measuring the insulation's thickness and multiplying it by the R-value for the existing insulation. After the R-value of the already installed insulation has been determined, the extra amount of insulation needed should be determined. Undoubtedly, increasing the insulation level can make the building more sustainable, energy efficient, and functional. According to Khaliq and Mansoor (2014), increasing insulation can enable the home owner to increase the area of the window so as to reduce building operating costs, meet the day lighting objectives, and improve occupant comfort and productivity. Clearly, insulation creates a barrier for energy loss. References Chiras, D., 2003. All About Energy-Efficient Home Insulation. [Online] Available at: HYPERLINK "http://www.motherearthnews.com/green-homes/energy-efficient-home-insulation-zmaz02djzgoe?" http://www.motherearthnews.com/green-homes/energy-efficient-home-insulation-zmaz02djzgoe? [Accessed 30 May 2017]. Gromicko, N. & Gromicko, B., 2016. Building Orientation for Optimum Energy. [Online] Available at: HYPERLINK "https://www.nachi.org/building-orientation-optimum-energy.htm" https://www.nachi.org/building-orientation-optimum-energy.htm [Accessed 30 May 2017]. Khaliq, W. & Mansoor, U.B., 2014. Energy Efficient Design and Sustainable Buildings. In International Conference on Energy Systems and Policies (ICESP). Islamabad, Pakistan , 2014. LaMonica, M., 2014. Will smart home technology systems make consumers more energy efficient?. [Online] Available at: HYPERLINK "https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/smart-home-technology-energy-nest-automation" https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/smart-home-technology-energy-nest-automation [Accessed 30 May 2017]. Thorpe, D., 2010. Sustainable Home Refurbishment: The Earthscan Expert Guide to Retrofitting Homes for Efficiency. New York: Routledge. Thorpe, D., 2013. Which energy efficient windows are best for an eco-home? [Online] Available at: HYPERLINK "http://www.superhomes.org.uk/resources/energy-efficient-windows/" http://www.superhomes.org.uk/resources/energy-efficient-windows/ [Accessed 30 May 2017]. Read More

With the view to chapter four, I realised that solar access for new housing relies heavily on the building’s location. I learned that energy efficient homes could be offered more economically and easily if the lot permits the house to be positioned in a way that allows for adequate solar access. I noted that the building orientation and siting are important in realising improved solar access and consequently enhanced energy efficiency. This can be achieved by designing the house based on the site-specific conditions in order to allow for maximisation of free solar energy.

In the fifth chapter, I observed that the design of windows is important since they determine the amount of natural light allowed into the house. Therefore, when people use protected and well-planned windows, they are likely to become more comfortable. The need for cooling in summer and heating in winter is also reduced enormously. In our homes, the windows offer us ventilation, warmth, light, and also energy efficiency. People can improve their windows’ energy efficiency by adding weather-stripping, storm windows, caulking, and using window coverings or treatments.

Weather-stripping and caulking can help reduce leakage of air around the windows while the storm windows improve comfort and also decrease air leakage. With the view to chapter six, I was able to understand the significance of thermal mass in terms of improving the home dwellers’ conformability. I noted that thermal mass is beneficial, especially in climates that have lower summer temperatures. Besides that, thermal mass could increase winter heating requirements in areas where solar access is very poor.

Thermal mass absorbs heat entering the building in summer which consequently leads to reduction of internal air temperature during the day; thus, leading to improved comfort. The heat is released slowly, during the night, in order to allow for the passing of cool breezes. The common materials for thermal mass include filled concrete block normally used for walls or floors. I believe that when thermal mass is used properly, it can facilitate the maintenance of comfortable temperatures in our homes year-round.

I think the ideal materials for thermal mass should be dense and heavy (to absorb and store more heat), a good heat conductor, and should have a dark surface to help absorb as well as radiate heat. In chapter seven, I learned that insulation is beneficial since it improves home’s energy efficiency. When our homes are insulated, the buildings are able to keep heat in winter and radiate it out during summer with the aim of saving energy and improving comfort. When people insulate their homes, they can save almost 50% of the energy required for heating and cooling.

People living in insulated homes are more comfortable and help reduce green gas emissions. Furthermore, condensation on ceilings and walls are virtually eliminated. Insulation would help me maintain the desired temperature in my room and protect it from excess heat in summer and cold in winter. Chapter eight enabled me to understand why controlling air movement helps home dwellers to save energy. When people control ventilation and reduce uncontrolled air leakage, they will be able to reduce the need for extra heating as well as cooling.

This would lead to improved comfort and approximately 20 percent energy savings. I was mesmerised to learn that houses should breathe using designed holes. All buildings must ventilate, but infiltration should be reduced. Nearly all people have electronics in their homes, and as evidenced by chapter nine, energy efficiency can be achieved by installing energy efficient appliances, lighting, and services. People should make sure their home appliances and lighting allow for energy savings. In the final chapter, we talked about landscaping, which is a simple and economical way of improving the building’s energy efficiency, improving the property’s value and appearance, and offering screening for privacy.

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