Positive Energy Homes: Creating Passive Houses for Better Living

Description

Positive energy homes enable people to live healthy and comfortable lives with energy left over to share. Creating a house you love that produces surplus energy is surprisingly easy with a thorough understanding of how buildings work and careful attention to detail in construction. Positive Energy Homes provides home owners, architects, and builders with an understanding of the principles and technical details of building these houses. The Passive House standard, with its well-proven track record, forms the basis for creating positive energy homes. This book explores the Passive House "fabric first" approach as well as the science and practicalities of effective ventilation strategies, smart options for heating and cooling, daylight harvesting, and efficient lighting and appliances. Positive Energy Homes offers a guide and inspiration for how positive energy living can be achieved through homes that power themselves and empower their occupants. Features: • Provides a guide to the elements of a building that influence energy consumption and empowers readers to make informed decisions in economically retrofitting or building a positive energy home • Delivers an inspirational and achievable vision of the future of sustainable buildings with a holistic understanding of the elements that influence comfort, health and enjoyment in buildings • Introduces the biology and physics behind great buildings with theory and easy-to-understand examples. Cover Contents Foreword Introduction Chapter 1 Creating healthy homes 1.1 Air control 1.2 The comforts of home 1.3 The art of noise protection 1.4 Ventilation and noise 1.5 Light and beauty Summary References and further reading Chapter 2 The thermal envelope 2.1 Airtightness layer 2.2 Insulation layer 2.3 Wind- and weathertightness layer 2.4 Let the sunshine in! 2.5 Thermal bypass 2.6 Thermal mass Summary References and further reading Chapter 3 Fresh air home delivery 3.1 Active ventilation with heat recovery 3.2 What is important for designing a heat recovery ventilation system? 3.3 Filters 3.4 Ground heat exchanger 3.5 Ducting 3.6 May the force be with you! 3.7 Using the ventilation system for heating and cooling 3.8 Fireplaces and balanced ventilation 3.9 Ventilation control and user interface 3.10 Supply-only or extract-only mode 3.11 Seasonal use 3.12 Performance requirements 3.13 Other mechanical ventilation options 3.14 Power outages Summary Chapter 4 Hot water 4.1 Creating hot water 4.2 Hot water systems Summary References and further reading Chapter 5 Heating and cooling 5.1 Creating a comfortable home 5.2 Keeping the home cool and dry Summary References and further reading Chapter 6 Light, views and connection with the environment 6.1 How we perceive light 6.2 Light intensity and glare 6.3 The colour of light 6.4 Using light 6.5 Lighting the home with daylight 6.6 Light sources 6.7 Lighting with electric lights Summary References and further reading Chapter 7 Appliances 7.1 Appliance ratings 7.2 Clothes washing machines 7.3 Dishwashers 7.4 Televisions and accessories 7.5 Computers, tablets and network devices 7.6 Vacuum cleaners 7.7 Refrigerators and freezers 7.8 Cooking 7.9 Hot water fittings 7.10 Home energy monitoring Summary References and further reading Chapter 8 Toolbox 8.1 Design tools 8.2 Quality assurance tools Summary References and further reading Chapter 9 Energy generation and storage 9.1 Onsite renewable generation 9.2 Solar photovoltaic systems 9.3 Inverters 9.4 Solar hot water 9.5 Wind 9.6 Storing heat 9.7 Storing electricity 9.8 Passive house plus Summary References and further reading Chapter 10 Certification 10.1 Passive house professionals 10.2 Components 10.3 New houses 10.4 Case studies 10.5 Retrofits Chapter 11 Positive energy living 11.1 Living with positive energy 11.2 Positive energy communities 11.3 A tale of two homes Summary References and further reading Index