Architectural Designs

What are some characteristics you can include in your house in order to improve its energy rating?

I'm doing a maths assignment and we have to draw a floor plan of our dream house & then investigate and write up a report and etc about it. I have to include some things in my house to improve its energy rating. It is a luxury beachfront house. What improvements can i include in the house in order to save on lighting, water, heating, cooling... etc. It also says, How windows, curtains, eves, house orientation etc. are important.. & Discuss the Insulation, solar paneling, ventilation, landscaping.. etc. This is all to help/improve on Energy rating. ..I really have no idea what things I could do... So i appreciate the help! :) [List as much as you can] :) Thanks for the ideas!

Public Comments

1. Perhaps you should read up on green building . . . but I will help you with your homework. I had a house built with many green aspects. I used: SIPS panels (structured insulated panels) Extra insulation in the attic Low "U" and Low E rated windows Ceiling fans Laminated countertops Thermostatically controlled faucet in Master Bathroom Shower Concrete tile roof Foam around window openings Fiberglass doors Insulated garage doors without windows Programable thermostat You could also consider a tankless water heater, a heat pump instead of a furnace/air conditioning system.
2. well to improve the energy rating we all should be well aware about the knowledge of the energy and how to use to well manner.First of all we all should start by individual work as controlling energy in our house like using solar lights instead of electrical supply.we should teach our juniors about the energy and its importance.
3. To improve and save electricity you can put ventilators at strategic points to infiltrate natural light during day time,that way no room will be left in the dark.Put coolers instead of ac with ducting to make it able to reach a large area in the house.Hang curtain creepers from the terrace to keep the walls cool.Make high ceiling roofs which will keep heat at bay.Give shades from all sides so that the house does not fall under direct sunlight.Solar panels on the roof top will work as water heaters during winters.Outside landscaping should have a water feature to make the air cool and soothing with pebbled path and you can add rockery also in some place.A green house effect can be given by putting up creepers on the bamboo structures and keep small plants beneath it.
4. Here is a link to my dissertation which I did on sustainable (green, eco) building: http://the-environment.org.uk/info_pages/sustainable_housing.html
5. What climate do you have and, what is the material on the exterior of your structure(s)? - The City of Chicago has done some interesting things with what they call "green walls". A green wall is a wall covered, or faced, in greenery. - Think ivy covered walls. - They have re-written their building codes to encourage and/or require green walls and have some energy saving stats for both winter and summer. While Chicago's stragegy is to have the greenery actually growing on the wall its self, there have been some provisions, due to wall detrioration and maintenance concerns, for effectively tresllising/fencing systems to be built along side walls with enough space for people/scaffolding to be placed. Depending upon the exterior wall building material and moisture issues, a green trellis to the far side of a walkway may be a better answer. In the landscaping world we readily use the terms landscaping and hard scaping materials. Landscaping material is vegetation based where as hardscaping is non-vegetative material that is just as structural as any building; hard scaping simply doesn't move once placed like a path, permanent fence, rock wall. Many people alos use the term "firm scaping" which includes things that are non-vegetative and yet can also be moved; some firm scape items move more easily than others like a flower pot versus a several hundred pound item. Turn to mid-west and typical "farm house" landscpaing books to see how trees lessen the brunt of a gale and direct winds through placement, height, and type; also how hedges are used for generating micro-climates around the house and not just for collecing snow drifts, keeping animals out, keeping babies in, and decoration. Turn to Sunset Magazine (West) issues over the past 40-60 years to see different types of firm and hard scapes used to deflect sun and heat from yard spaces, the sides of structures, window and door spaces, and more. There are also similar examples being used in some of the new, fancy, and eco-friendly hotels in Mexico, Central America, and Brazil in which a combination of ground covering material, arbors, lengths of green covered fences, and more are being used to mitigate exterior conditions on the structures. In the Northeast (USA) firm and hard scaped walls/sections of fencing are used to mitigate winter winds and snow for dramatic winter energy savings. Skylights, moon lights (round skylights with reflectors along the downshoot), windows along eaves, and windows in general are critical. Always, there should be a way to easily cover/dress them so that you're not dying in August just to save a little in December. Contary to popular belief, I think it is also important that you can open a number of the windows for cross drafts and more comfortable living without air conditioning. When possible, it is nice to be able to draw cool air from areas in the house that are below grade too; passive is always nicer than powered. The stero-typical house has advantages whenever the eave overhangs are at least 18"' even better at 24". A number of newer buildings are using extra roof pieces, slabs with windows that are sheltered by other slabs, and other wise uneven roof profiles to provide light, shade, and a warm air shoot; sometimes these windows open and/or have somw sort of window dressing. Sheltered house openings like doors and windows can be key. You might also look at designs from Bermuda and the "Bermuda shutter" system. Remember to consider "your" beach house and just what types of temps and conditions it is likely to encounter. All too often, "we" have solutions that may or may not actually apply to the area they are being installed in. Or, the general building practice and code in an area may apply to most of the year but, not at its worst. For example, in our area we tend to be wet much of the year and as such a lot of venting is called for. But, both at the height of the summer heat and during the depths of a cold snap, we are not wet and a lot of these vents let the exterior elements in; simply covering some of those foundation vents during both extremes does A LOT for comfortableness under reduced energy consumption conditions. Likewise, a friend had a 1980's style, energy efficeint house. On those few, cold, clear days with a lot of winter sun the place turned into a hot house without turning the heat on; thank goodness his windows opened although there was no nice way to cover the sky lights. When the berm garden was popular in the 1990's, a friend built one that started about 15 feet away from a skylight basement window that was about 20 feet wide; this provided unexpected heating and cooling advantages while still allowing light in with the expected privacy enhancements.