So, what is the alternative?
While searching for an example of ‘next generation home’, I looked over the pond to see how Europeans build homes. What I saw impressed me greatly. It looks like they are well on their way of building smartly, with energy efficiency in mind using sophisticated materials and technologies. To find out how they do it, go to www.creategreenhome.com/Build_Green_Home.htm.

Thermal performance and energy use values of their homes are impressive. The trick is in the tight, and smartly insulated building envelopes. What is driving all this in Germany are the regulations at the federal level for the thermal efficiency and energy use values for all new houses. Following htese guidelines and regulations, houses are built today in Germany that consume as little as 500 Euros (~$650) of energy per year for heating and cooling!
Even so, they just recently (in 2007) increased the building thermal efficiency requirements by another 30%! That is a huge new challenge to the building industry, but it will inevitably lead to impressive technological solutions from which we can all reap the benefits.
As an comparable methodology her einthe US I would perhaps mention the Modern Prefab homes. They are gaining in popularity and offer a lot in terms of improving the quality and thermal efficiency of building envelopes by using technologies like SIPs or AACs. Their designs take advantage of architectural features that enhance natural cooling, for example by strategically placing windows and incorporating some new technologies for heating and lighting. They are on the right track and worth exploring.

First of all, the house has a well insulated building envelope, where external walls (45cm thick) and the roof have multiple layers of insulation (placed on the cold/outer side of the wall). The windows also are multipane with energy emmisivity characteristics to reduce energy loss trough the glass and frames.

The most interesting feature of their energy efficient home is the Solar Hot Water system. It consists of two small collector panels, (total area of 2.8 m2, or ~9 ft2), set of connecting pipes, hot water tank (300 lit, ~80 gal) along with solar pumping station and expansion tanks. The system is filled with a refrigerant (antifreeze, antiboil) that exchanges the energy with the water in the tank through a built in coil heat-exchanger.
Solar panels are built in to the roof structure, set flush with the tiles providing minimal interference with any other structure on the roof while receiving good accessibility for service. The SHW system is manufactured by Sonnenkraft, a company from neighboring Austria. Total installed cost in 2005 was €5000 (about $6000 at 2005 exchange rate). The system supplies ample hot water for ALL hot water needs during months of May to October when the family switches off their gas burner completely.

,

The system consists of two sets of solar collectors (5.6m2 area each), three hot water tanks (635 liters total capacity), a set of pumps and controllers and even includes an enclosed fireplace in the system. Solar collectors heat the antifreeze fluid that circulates trough a pipe system in the panels, which is then routed to a heat exchanger that transfers the heat to the water in the tanks. One of the tanks is purely to supply hot water for the heating needs, another is for storing a drinkable hot water, while the third, the smallest tank is to accept any excess heat on the days when the sun is hot and the hot water needs are low.

System has been functioning flawlessly so far and Heinrich family is already seeing considerable reduction in their natural gas bills.

Full details about the system and images can be found on http://www.creategreenhome.com/Green_Project_SHW_Germany.htm

I say that one of the ways to actually make a mark on the environment is to adopt more energy efficient practices, technologies and solutions. For example, in the building industry, our current and currently developing housing stock is still way substandard and slow in adopting available energy efficient technologies and practices (insulation, windows, heating/cooling, passive solar building practices…). Since buildings are a biggest contributor to greenhouse gases, let’s start making them more efficient now.

This is an open forum for home owners, green professionals and building community to learn, exchange experiences and swap best practices about building and living in a green home.

I’d like you to speak about this topic with passion, I know I will, since it deserves our full attention in order to improve current housing building practices in here in the US. Our housing landscape is overwhelmed with substandard quality for today’s energy, comfort and health needs of the consumers.

I looked over the Atlantic and saw how our counterparts in Europe are marching ahead of us in making beautiful, healthy and energy efficient homes. Therefore, I know it’s possible. What do we need to do to make it happen here as well?