Roadmap to Green Home

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Build Green Home - Roadmap

Green Projects

New Passive House Certified in Maine! More...

Solar System gives German family plenty of Free Hot Water! More...

Italian family enjoys benefits of Solar Hot Water More...

Passive House Project in Canada: More...

Habitat Metro Denver Home - affordable energy efficient home achieves 59% energy savings!

2009 Solar Decathlon in Washington, DC, has a Winner! More...

Team Germany (Technische Universität Darmstadt)

Do you often wonder how would you go about remodeling or building a green home for you and your family? I often do. I know there is a lot of information on the web and in print about many aspects of "green", but nowhere could I find a comprehensive 'guide' on how to build an energy efficient, healthy and comfortable home without breaking a bank.

What would the 'next generation home' look like, I wondered. There must be a better way to build houses then what I see being built today. What I see are too many oversized, outdated and energy underperforming houses that are build with last century methodologies and materials. What is the key to achieving an energy efficient home that is all about quality and not only size?

Whether our next generation home looks modern or has an ubiquitous gable roof, is irrelevant. What it needs to be is an energy miser that is durable, easy to maintain and healthy to live in

Key Elements of a Green Home

Passive Solar Design- take advantage of natural energy sources
Renewable Energy Systems - Zero Energy House
Energy efficient heating and cooling - Geothermal Heat Pumps
High quality, durable, recyclable and low maintenance non-toxic materials
Highly insulated and tight building envelope without uncontrolled outside air infiltration
Latest, technologically advanced building techniques that cut down waste, shorten building time and provide high quality end-result

Building Green Home Roadmap

1. Select an Architect

Perhaps a first step on the road to Green Home is to find an architect that is familiar with green design and building practices. If you find an architect that has experience in and shares the values of green building principles and emphasizes energy efficiency and healthy living, then your roadmap can be highly simplified. Hopefully your architect will teach you the tenets of building your "next generation" home.

There is an ever growing number of architects today that are embracing "green" design principles. Here is list of few here in the States that I think are worth mentioning: Independence Energy Homes, Ecological Construction Laboratory, Now House, Clever Homes, Michelle Kaufmann Designs, Rocio Romero.

To find an architect in your area, search the 'Green' Architects Listing on ModernGreenLiving.com.

Tech Talk!

What is U-Value?

Measure of material's heat-conducting properties: Heat conduction rate per unit surface area per unit temperature difference between its two sides.

How do I convert U-Value from SI units to English units?

Divide the SI number by 5.678. For example, If U=1.4 W/m²K in SI units, then 1.4/5.678 = 0.246 Btu/hr-sf-°F in English units.

Conversely to convert from English to SI, multiply by 5.678: 0.246*5.678 = 1.4 W/m²K.

What is R-Value?

R = 1/U-Value

A measure of the capacity of a material, such as insulation, to impede heat flow, with increasing values indicating a greater capacity

European Design/Build Scene

Germany has a number of design/build companies that deliver so-called "key in hand", highly energy efficient, functional and environmentally conscious homes. These companies have a team of resident architects, engineers, and even their own factories where they manufacture house components which they erect on site in a matter of days. Their homes include solar water heating panels as a standard equipment, use latest geothermal heat pumps and have thermal insulation properties that conform to strict European standards. Some that caught my eye are Weberhaus (German Company - UK site), Schwoerer Haus (German Company - English Site), Fischerhaus, Hebelhaus, Platz, Gussekhaus Zero Energy Concept, Regnauer Vital Haus ... Check out their informative websites.

2. Select House Design

An important element of the green home is its design. Design elements such as house orientation, size and placement of the windows, sources of natural light and shading can greatly affect the final thermal performance of your home.

Whether the house of your dreams has a traditional or modern look, the 'next generation' house should have these critical 'green' design elements incorporated into design.

Learn about the these principles of building by visiting the Passive Solar house or Zero Energy House pages.

3. Select Primary Building Material/Method

Wood Framing

Traditional material and method of building homes in the US is wood framing. It is by far the predominant method, but is it the best one we can choose to achieve today's requirements for increased thermal performance and durability for our next generation homes? Let's explore some benefits, problems and alternatives. More...

Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC)

AAC or Autoclaved Aerated Concrete is an innovative, lightweight concrete material that has been originally developed in Scandinavia (around 1914). Since then it has been extensively used throughout Europe in residential and commercial building for the last 50 years. It is considered a Green Building component because it is an environmentally friendly material, made from abundant all natural materials and helps create energy efficient and for the inhabitants healthy homes. More ...

Structurally Insulated Panels (SIPs)

Super-tight, super-insulated and stress bearing wall and roof panels called SIPs are showing to be the next choice for economical and fast method of building energy efficient homes. SIPs are made of a rigid foam core that is sandwiched between two layers of board (OSB or cement) to form a monolithic load bearing panel. The panels are made in factories (dry and controlled conditions) and precut according to the plans for your particular home. Once brought to the site, they could be quickly and easily assembled in a matter of days. More ...

Brick Blocks

Building technique that is frequent in Europe consists of building outer and inner walls with brick blocks. Such a technique is worth exploring since it evolved in Europe to become one of the compelling choices for building thermally efficient homes. Bricks are considered "green" material since they are made with all natural ingredients, have good insulating properties, long life and are easy to recycle. More...

4. Select Insulation

In today's efforts to preserve energy, insulation plays a crucial role. Old houses are notoriously poorly insulated. New houses are not much better. Even fully insulated, (usually with fiberglass bats) most houses today are poor performers in terms of energy efficiency - drafty, with too many thermal bridges and other deficiencies in materials or building methodology that allow precious energy to leak out. What can we do to make our new houses be energy stars and improve old houses to keep the energy within the living space, where it belongs? More...

5. Select Energy Efficient Windows

Windows are one of the major building elements that influence how energy efficient your home will be. Technology that goes into building the windows, such as choice of the frame material and glass is key to the overall performance of the windows. Whether your windows are made of aluminum, vinyl, wood, fiberglass or wood clad with vinyl and have a single, double or even triple panes of glass, can potentially make a huge difference in your energy bills. More...