Energy Efficient Homes

Can you imagine a house that is able to warm itself without the need of a furnace or any separated heat contraption?  Paying less for your monthly electricity than you pay for a pizza?

The creators of German Passive Houses Project go beyond imagining it. They actually made it a reality and proved it is indeed  possible to have a home that is so energy efficient that you need no separate heating system to keep the house warm and there is no loss of comfort.

The Passive House is the world’s leading standard in energy efficient construction: Energy saved on heating is 80% compared to conventional standards of new buildings. The energy requirement for heating is lower than 10 to 20 kWh/(m²a) (depending on climate), adding up to a low cost of 10 to 25 € ($15 to $36 USD) per month.

For you to have an idea on how energy efficient those houses are, keep in mind that the average home in ths U.S. spends 40 kWh a day. Almost twice of what a passive house spends in a month!

According to the website, such efficiency is achieved through a combination of the following:

• Proper insulation methods
• Design without thermal bridges
• Air tightness
• Ventilation with heat recovery
• Proper comfort windows
• Innovative Heating Technology

This technology can be easily applied in new construction as well as existing buildings.

The next step? The Self-Sufficient Solar House, conceived by the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy in Freiburg, Germany.