When considering building a new home one should look at how to reduce the need for heat and cooling loads first. One of the easiest ways is to consider a better thermal envelope or if you like blanket around the whole of the house.

In general the insulation cost of a new build is under [...]]]> By David Popoff.

When considering building a new home one should look at how to reduce the need for heat and cooling loads first. One of the easiest ways is to consider a better thermal envelope or if you like blanket around the whole of the house.

In general the insulation cost of a new build is under or around 1% of the total cost of construction. It would not take much more to improve your insulation barrier and thus reduce your heating and cooling loads a considerable amount. Once you reduce your heating and cooling loads this would also require smaller mechanical, HVAC system, and thus lower you construction costs a little as well.

The second major culprit in heat and cooling loss is due to air leakage or also known as air infiltration. Sealing all holes is very important. Some of the biggest culprits of this are the rim joist, sill plates and top plates in new construction along with doors, windows and holes cut for various pipes, wires and mechanicals.

The PassivHaus, Passive House, requirements are an advanced; some say extreme build design but they achieve great results. Depending on what Passive House website you go to you will find different insulation values but in general they suggest:

• Walls R-60
• Roof R-80
• Floor Slab R 60

I was recently at a Passive House seminar and they used the Rideau Residence in Ottawa, Ontario as an example. This is the first certified Passive House in Canada (and as well is a LEED Platinum Home) which cost about 10% more to build per square foot than a similar home but uses 90 per cent less energy than the typical Canadian home.

The total construction cost for this 3300 square foot duplex ran approximately $250 per square foot compared to the average custom home in Ottawa will cost about $225 a square foot.

At the seminar they said that total utility cost for the year are about $400 and compared to a typical similar Canadian home would save $30,000 over 10 years. The super thick insulation added to this home cost an estimated $20,000. Insulation is just one of the many components that go into building a sustainable green home but is a great example of how today’s building science is evolving.

Remember to first look at how you can reduce your usage of natural resources, this is the key to sustainable living, and then adds to that reuse, recycle and renewable sources to make a complete circle of responsibility to achieve a green healthy lifestyle.

William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty in Darien

When comparing heating fuel there are different calculations that must be taken into account so as to be comparing apples to apples. BuildingGreen.com has taken the hard work out of this and provided and application calculator to compare fuel costs for your home. The [...]]]> by David Popoff

When comparing heating fuel there are different calculations that must be taken into account so as to be comparing apples to apples. BuildingGreen.com has taken the hard work out of this and provided and application calculator to compare fuel costs for your home. The calculator takes into account such items as:

Heating value per unit of fuel. ~ A gallon of oil will produce 0.15 million BTUs verses a gallon of propane at 0.091 million BTUs, that is 40% less BTUs’ of heat.

Efficiency of Combustion. ~ How efficient is your boiler/furnace?

Efficiency of Distribution. ~ How efficient is your distribution, forced hot air, hot water pipes?

The Heating Fuel Cost Calculator takes all this into account, click here to check it out.

davidpopoffct@hotmail.com    William Raveis Real Estate Darien