Contents
- №1.Designing an energy-efficient house
- №2.Architectural solutions for energy-efficient homes
- №3.Thermal insulation for energy saving houses
- Thermal insulation of walls
- Thermal insulation of roof
- Thermal insulation of window openings
- Thermal insulation of the floor and foundation
- Solar systems
- Heat pumps
- Condensation boilers
- Biogas as fuel
- Wind generator
- Solar battery
- Saving electricity
An energy-saving house is not an idealized representation of the house of the future, but the reality of today, which is becoming increasingly popular. Energy-efficient, energy-efficient, passive house or eco-house is today called a dwelling that requires a minimum of expenses for maintaining comfortable living conditions in it. This is achieved through appropriate solutions in the field of heating, lighting, insulation and construction. What technologies for energy-efficient homes exist at the moment, and how many resources can they save?
№1.Designing an energy-saving home
A dwelling would be as economical as possible if it was designed with all of the energy-saving technologies in mind. It will be more difficult to convert an already built house than an , more expensive, and it will be difficult to achieve the expected results. The project is developed by experienced specialists taking into account the requirements of the customer, but it must be remembered that the used set of solutions should be, above all, cost-effective. An important point of is the consideration of the climatic features of the region.
As a rule, they make energy-saving houses in which they live permanently, so the first task is to save heat, maximize the use of natural lighting, etc. The project should take into account individual requirements, but it is better if the passive house is as compact as possible, i.e.cheaper in content.
The same requirements can be met by the and various variants. Joint decision-making of the best architects, designers and engineers allowed us to create the universal energy-saving frame house at the development stage of the room construction plan( read more here).The unique design cooperates in itself all cost-effective offers:
- , thanks to the SIP-panel technology, the structure has high strength;
- a decent level of thermal and noise insulation, as well as the absence of cold bridges;
- construction does not require the usual expensive heating system;
- using frame panels house is built very quickly and is characterized by a long service life;
- rooms are compact, comfortable and convenient during their subsequent operation.
As an alternative, you can use aerated concrete blocks for the construction of load-bearing walls, warming the structure from all sides and resulting in a large "thermos".Often used wood as the most environmentally friendly material.
№2.Architectural solutions for energy-efficient home
In order to save resources, you need to pay attention to the layout and appearance of the house. The dwelling will be as energy-saving as possible, if such nuances are taken into account:
- the correct location of the .The house can be located in the meridional or latitudinal direction and receive different solar irradiation. Northern house is better to build meridionally , to block the influx of sunlight by 30%.Southern houses, on the contrary, it is better to build in the latitudinal direction in order to reduce the cost of air conditioning;
- is the compactness of the , which in this case means the ratio of the internal and external area of a house. It should be minimal, and this is achieved at the expense of avoiding protruding rooms and architectural decorations such as bay windows. It turns out that the most economical house is a parallelepiped;
- thermal buffers , which separate the living quarters from contact with the environment. Garages, verandas, loggias, basements and non-residential attics will be an excellent barrier to penetration into the rooms of cold air from the outside;
- proper natural lighting .Thanks to simple architectural techniques, it is possible to illuminate the house with the help of sun rays during 80% of the total working time. The rooms where the family spends the most time ( living room, dining room, children’s room) are better placed on the south side of , for storage, bathrooms, garage and other ancillary rooms with enough diffused light, so they can have windows to the north side. The windows to the east in the bedroom will provide energy in the morning, and in the evening the rays will not interfere with rest. In the summer in such a bedroom it will be possible to do without artificial light. As for the window size , the answer to the question depends on the priorities of each: save on lighting or heating. An excellent technique is the installation of an solar pipe .It has a diameter of 25-35 cm and a completely mirrored inner surface: taking the sun's rays on the roof of the house, it retains their intensity at the entrance to the room, where they are scattered through a diffuser. The light is so bright that after installation, users often reach for the switch when they leave the room;
- roofing .Many architects recommend making the roofs as simple as possible for an energy-efficient home. Often they stop on the dual-slope variant, and the flatter it is, the more economical the house will be. On the flat roof the snow will linger, and this is additional warming in the winter.
№3.Thermal insulation for an energy-saving house
Even a house built with all the architectural tricks requires proper insulation in order to be completely airtight and not release heat to the environment.
Thermal Insulation of the Walls
About 40% of the heat from the house leaves through the walls, so they pay special attention to the weatherization. The most common and simple method of insulation is the organization of a multilayer system. The outer walls of the house are sheathed with insulation, which is often played with mineral wool or polystyrene foam, a reinforcing mesh is mounted on top, and then the base and base plaster layers.
A more expensive and progressive technology - ventilated facade .The walls of the house are sheathed with plates of mineral wool, and cladding panels made of stone, metal or other materials are mounted on a special frame. Between the layer of insulation and the frame remains a small gap, which plays the role of "heat cushion", does not allow wet insulation and maintains optimal conditions in the home.
In addition, in order to reduce heat loss through the walls, insulating compounds are used at the junction of the roof, taking into account future shrinkage and changes in the properties of some materials with increasing temperature.
The principle of operation of the ventilated facade
Thermal insulation of the roof
The roof takes about 20% of the heat. For the insulation of the roof using the same materials as for the walls. mineral wool and polystyrene foam are widespread today. Architects advise to make roofing insulation not thinner than 200 mm, regardless of the type of material. It is important to calculate the load on the foundation, bearing structures and the roof, so that the integrity of the structure is not broken.
Thermal insulation of window openings
Windows account for 20% of heat loss at home. Although modern glass units are better than old wooden windows, they protect the house from drafts and isolate the room from external exposure, they are not perfect.
More advanced options for energy-efficient homes are:
- selective glass , which work on the principle of the earth's atmosphere. They let in shortwave radiation, but do not release heat rays, creating a "greenhouse effect."Selective glasses are And-and K-type. On I-glass coating is applied in vacuum already on the finished material. On K-glass coating is applied in the manufacturing process using a chemical reaction. I-glasses are considered more efficient, as they retain 90% of heat, while K-glasses are 70%;
- selective glass with inert gas minimizes heat loss through windows. The thermal conductivity of the inert gas used is lower than that of air, therefore the house almost does not lose heat through them.
Thermal insulation of the floor and foundation
Through the foundation and floor of the first floor, 10% of heat is lost. The floor is warmed with the same materials as the walls, but other options can be used: self-leveling heat-insulating mixtures, foam concrete and aerated concrete, granulated concrete with a record thermal conductivity of 0.1 W /( m ° C).You can not insulate the floor, and the ceiling of the basement, if such is provided by the project.
The foundation is better to insulate outside, which will help protect it not only from freezing, but also from other negative factors, includinggroundwater effects, temperature extremes, etc. In order to insulate the foundation, is sprayed with polyurethane, expanded clay and polystyrene.
№4.Heat recovery
Heat leaves the house not only through the walls and roof, but also through the ventilation system. To reduce the cost of heating use exhaust ventilation with heat recovery.
The heat exchanger is a heat exchanger that is integrated into the ventilation system. The principle of its work is as follows. The heated air through the ventilation ducts leaves the room, transfers its heat to the heat exchanger, coming into contact with it. Cold fresh air from the street, passing through the heat exchanger, heats up and enters the house already at room temperature. As a result, households receive clean fresh air, but do not lose heat.
A similar ventilation system can be used together with a natural one: the air will be forced into the room and out due to natural draft. There is another trick. The air intake cabinet can be separated from the house by 10 meters, and the duct is laid underground at the depth of frost penetration of the .In this case, even before the recuperator, the air will be cooled in the summer and heated in the winter due to the soil temperature.
№5.Smart home
To make life more comfortable and at the same time save resources, you can equip your home with smart systems and appliances , thanks to which today you can:
- set the temperature in each room;
- automatically lower the temperature in the room if there is nobody in it;
- turn on and off the light depending on the person’s presence in the room;
- adjust the light level;
- automatically turn on and off ventilation depending on the air condition;
- automatically open and close windows for entry into the house of cold or warm air;
- automatically open and close the blinds to create the required level of lighting in the room.
# 6.Heating and hot water supply
Solar systems
The most economical and environmentally friendly way to heat a room and heat water is to use the energy of the sun. Perhaps this is due to solar collectors installed on the roof of the house. Such devices are easily connected to the heating and hot water supply system at home, and the principle of their work is as follows .The system consists of the collector itself, the heat exchange circuit, the storage tank and the control station. A coolant( liquid) circulates in the collector, which is heated by the sun’s energy and transfers heat to the water in the storage tank through a heat exchanger. The latter, due to good thermal insulation, can retain hot water for a long time. In this system, a backup heater can be installed, which warms up the water to the required temperature in case of cloudy weather or insufficient sunshine duration.
Collectors can be flat and vacuum .Flat ones are a box closed by glass, inside it there is a layer with tubes through which coolant circulates. Such collectors are more durable, but today they are being replaced by vacuum ones. The latter consist of a plurality of tubes, inside of which there are still a tube or several with a coolant. Between the outer and inner tubes - vacuum, which serves as a heat insulator. Vacuum collectors are more effective, even in winter and in cloudy weather, maintainable. The service life of collectors is about 30 years or more.
Heat Pumps heat pumps use low-grade environmental heat from an for home heating, includingair, bowels and even secondary heat, for example from a central heating pipeline. Such devices consist of an evaporator, a condenser, an expansion valve and a compressor. All of them are connected by a closed pipeline and operate on the basis of the Carnot principle. Simply put, the heat pump is similar in operation to the refrigerator, only functions the other way around. If in the 80s of the last century heat pumps were rare and even luxury, today in Sweden, for example, 70% of houses are heated in a similar way.
Condensing boilers
Conventional gas boilers operate on a fairly simple principle and consume a lot of fuel. In traditional gas boilers, after firing the gas and heating the heat exchanger, flue gases escape into the chimney, although they carry a fairly high potential. Condensation boilers use the second heat exchanger to extract heat from the condensed air vapor, due to which the installation efficiency can exceed even 100%, which fits into the concept of an energy-efficient home.
Biogas as fuel
If a lot of organic agricultural waste accumulates, you can build an bioreactor to obtain biogas. Thanks to anaerobic bacteria, biomass is processed in it, resulting in the formation of biogas consisting of 60% methane, 35% carbon dioxide and 5% of other impurities. After the cleaning process, it can be used for heating and hot water at home. Recycled waste is converted into excellent fertilizer that can be used in the fields.
No. 7.Sources of electricity
An energy-efficient house should use electricity as economically as possible and, preferably, receive it from renewable sources. To date, this implemented a lot of technology.
Wind turbine
Wind energy can be converted into electricity not only by large wind turbines, but also by using compact “home” wind turbines. In windy terrain, such installations are capable of fully providing electricity to a small house, in regions with low wind speeds, it is better to use them with solar panels.
The force of the wind drives the blades of the windmill, which cause the rotor of the generator to rotate. The generator produces an alternating unstable current, which is rectified in the controller. There are charging batteries, which, in turn, are connected to the inverter, where the conversion of DC to AC, used by the consumer.
Windmills can be with a horizontal and vertical axis of rotation. At one-time costs, they solve the problem of non-volatility for a long time.
Solar
The use of sunlight for the production of electricity is not so common, but in the near future the situation risks changing dramatically. The principle of operation of the solar battery is very simple: a pn junction is used to convert sunlight into electricity. The directional movement of electrons, provoked by solar energy, is electricity.
Designs and materials used are constantly being improved, and the amount of electricity depends on the light. While the most popular are various modifications of the silicon solar cells , but an alternative to them are new polymer film batteries, which are still in the development stage.
Saving electricity
The resulting electricity must be able to spend wisely. The following solutions will be useful for this:
- using LED lamps , which are twice as efficient as luminescent lamps and almost 10 times as efficient as ordinary Ilyich light bulbs;
- using energy-saving equipment class A, A +, A ++, etc. Let initially it be a little more expensive than the same devices with higher power consumption, in the future the savings will be significant;
- use of the presence sensors , so that the light in the rooms does not burn in vain, and other smart systems, which were mentioned above;
- If you had to use electricity for heating , then it is better to replace conventional radiators with more advanced systems. These are thermal panels , which consume two times less electricity than traditional systems, which is achieved through the use of heat-accumulating coating. Similar savings are provided by monolithic quartz modules , the principle of which is based on the ability of quartz sand to accumulate and retain heat. Another option - film radiant electric heaters .They are mounted on the ceiling, and infrared radiation heats the floor and objects in the room, thereby achieving an optimal indoor climate and saving electricity.
№8.Water supply and sewage systems
Ideally, an energy-efficient house should have get water from an well located under the dwelling. But when the water lies at great depths or its quality does not meet the requirements, it is necessary to refuse such a decision.
It is better to dispose of domestic sewage through an recuperator and remove heat from them. For wastewater treatment, you can use the septic tank , where the conversion will be accomplished by anaerobic bacteria. The resulting compost is a good fertilizer.
To save water, it would be nice to reduce the amount of drainage water. In addition, you can implement the system when the water used in the bathroom and the sink is used to flush the toilet.
# 9.From what to build an energy-saving house
Of course, it is better to use the most natural and natural raw materials, the production of which does not require numerous processing steps. This is wood and stone .It is better to give preference to materials that are produced in the region, because in this way transport costs are reduced. In Europe, passive houses were built from inorganic waste products. This is concrete, glass and metal.
If you pay attention once to the study of energy-saving technologies, consider the eco-house project and invest funds in it, in subsequent years the cost of maintaining it will be minimal or even tend to zero.
