Energy Smart Homes - House Design - Energy Efficient Design Principles

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If you're about to build or renovate your home, you may wish to consider making it as energy efficient as possible.

There are several advantages to living in an energy efficient home - saving money on energy costs the most obvious. Other benefits include the satisfaction of knowing you will be reducing your impact on the environment through the decreased use of fossil fuels, the increased comfort of effective natural lighting and ventilation and the improved resale value of your home due to lower power bills.

The easiest way to ensure your home's energy efficiency is to design it to suit the local climate. By taking advantage of free natural warmth from sunlight and cooling from breezes you'll reduce your need to use costly energy for heating and cooling. Careful building design can easily achieve internal temperatures 5°C warmer in winter and 10°C degrees cooler in summer than in typical, poorly designed homes in the south west.

Any style of home can be designed for energy efficiency, so why not ask your builder or designer to include the features outlined - not only will you save on future energy costs, you'll also help to make your mark for the environment.

The main features of energy efficient housing relate to:

Image about solar hot water system

• Building orientation
• Internal room layout
• Window placement, sizing and shading
• Use of insulation
• Ventilation
• Draught proofing
• Use of heat absorbing building materials
• Landscaping
• Use of energy efficient appliances.

Most features such as improved layout, appropriate window placement and sensible garden design, will make little difference to initial building cost. Other features such as fully insulating your home may add to costs, but the savings in energy bills will quickly pay them back. After that you'll be saving money in the face of rising energy costs year after year after year.

What about project homes?
It's easier to incorporate energy efficiency features if your home is being designed especially to suit you and your land. However, there are excellent opportunities with project homes too. Many standard designs are available which allow good energy efficiency, provided they are built facing the right direction. A few minor modifications such as moving or reducing the size of windows or relocating the carport, along with good insulation, may be all that's needed to cut your energy bills and increase comfort levels considerably.