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Please click on the links above to find out more about the different approaches to Energy Efficient buildings and homes. Up to 75% savings on heating and cooling costs?* That’s up to 75% savings over heating and cooling costs in the average new home. “Thanks to your fantastic products my power bill is less than half of what I used to pay!” (For a similar sized building built to better than building code products) A brief introduction to Energy Efficient Building Options. Zero Energy Homes are homes that have zero nett energy usage. Zero Energy is one option when designing for energy efficiency. Another option is a Low Energy Home. Low Energy Homes limit energy usage in order to reduce running costs but does not attempt to have zero nett energy usage. This means, energy usage is conserved but there’s no need, as in the Zero Energy Home, to have a zero balance or to provide more energy back to the grid than is used. A Zero Energy Home need not be off-grid, but can be off-grid. Passivhaus is a home that maintains a comfortable indoor temperature without the use of active heating or cooling systems. The concept was originally presented by Dr Wolfgang Feist of the PassivHaus Institute in Germany. A Passivhaus is usually a Low-Energy Home or a Zero Energy Home, but not all Zero-E or Low-E homes are Passive Homes. 11W/M2 Homes are homes that are designed around Passivhaus principles, but these homes are closer to conventional homes in that they still require some active heating and cooling. 11W/M2 homes is a good, cost-effective home building alternative which allows customers homes to have good green credentials, low energy usage and a low carbon footprint, but without very expensive technology. How do we do it? All Timeless Homes Zero Energy, Low Energy, 11W/M2 and Passivhaus designs use certain key technologies in their construction to ensure lowest possible energy usage for heating and cooling. These technologies do increase the initial cost of your home, if only the building envelope is taken into account. If, however, you consider the installation cost of heating and cooling equipment (fireplaces, heat pumps) and opening windows to all rooms then the savings made, in these areas, often mean that a Zero-E, Low-E, 11W/M2 or Passivhaus structure may cost very little more to build, all up, than a conventional home. Most of the technology required to build to these levels of efficiency are available in New Zealand. It’s important to allow the house to function well without adding equipment that’s difficult to use or maintain. Most of the technology is ‘passive’, i.e. no special attention is required by the home owner. The ‘active’ systems are easy to use and require minimal maintenance. What about style and layout? It is possible to design any style home to Zero-E, Low-E or Passivhaus standard. Certainly, Zero-E and Low-E need not require a markedly different design style than the designer and the client is contemplating. Passivhaus and 11W/M2 homes usually require a bit more foresight. Houses that achieve Passivhaus standard or the 11W/M2 standard are generally smaller, more compact designs, where the outside wall area is kept to the minimum in relation to the floor area. So, a ‘square’ double storey design will generally be more effective than an elongated single storey layout.
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