Modern Homestead
Modern-day practices and technologies can do a lot to improve a home’s energy-efficiency and reduce its footprint on the environment, but in today’s increasingly “connected” society, we often overlook simple techniques, such as those found in nature or those our ancestors used, in favour of new machines and devices. While preparing for the construction of our new house, we did our best to incorporate the best of both new and old – from an ultra-efficient geothermal heating and
cooling system to passive solar design, from a super insulated exterior shell to strategicallylocated vegetation – we utilized as many eco-friendly practices as possible under one roof (within our budget, of course!)
Passive solar design: A concept used extensively by the Greeks and Romans and in the
Middle East since early B.C. Today’s passive solar buildings aim to
maintain interior thermal comfort throughout the sun's daily and annual
cycles whilst reducing the requirement for active heating and cooling
systems. Specific attention must be directed to the site and location of
the dwelling, the prevailing climate, design and construction, solar
orientation, placement of shading elements, and incorporation of thermal
mass. While these considerations may be directed to any building,
achieving an ideal solution requires careful integration of these
principles.
We designed our home to have a large bank of windows facing due
South, and placed the attached 2-car garage to the North to block the
fierce winter winds. There is only one window facing North, to allow for
good summer cross-ventilation while eliminating cold air entry in winter.
Eastern-facing windows let in the morning light, while West-facing
windows give us views of the sunset. By planting conifers on the North,
we help block any direct wind from hitting the house, and deciduous
trees to the South ensure that in winter, when the leaves have fallen,
maximum sunlight penetrates the windows, while in summer, the leaves
block most of the sunlight.
Thermal mass: An important element of passive solar design is thermal mass. The
concept is simple: the use of elements high in mass and good at
conducting heat transfer is used exsessively within an insulated area.
The thermal mass is warmed passively by the sun or additionally by
internal heating systems during the day. Heat stored in the mass is then
released back into the interior during the night. The opposite is true in
summer, when the cool ambient air at night is slowly released into the
home during the day.
Our thermal mass comes from a large centrepiece fireplace located near our bank of South-facing windows. In winter, the sun warms the stone surrounding the fireplace. The stone retains the heat until evening when the indoor temperature begins to fall, at which time it is released into the air. To avoid overheating in summer, the deciduous trees planted outside the South windows block any direct sunlight from hitting the stone fireplace.
Geothermal System: The temperature beneath the soil is a vastly untapped resource and best
of all, it’s free, and it’s renewable. Our state-of-the-art geothermal
system taps into this precious resource to gain heat from the ground in
winter, and coolness from the ground in summer via a closed-loop
system. Within the furnace unit is a small electric blower fan used to
distribute the heated or cooled air via conventional ductwork throughout
the house. No fossil fuels are burned – in fact, no emissions are
produced at all. The cost of installing the system is originally much
higher than other types, such as oil or gas, but the payback is usually 7-
10 years with the system lasting around 25yrs. Our system is coupled
with an HRV unit (Heat Recovery Ventilator), which takes the heat from
exhaust air from the bathroom fans and preheats incoming fresh air. Our
system was installed by the Stove Store, in Spencerville, Ontario, whom
we would highly recommend to anyone wishing to install a geothermal
system.
Fireplace: Our fireplace acts as the focal point for our living room and dining room, as well as providing thermal mass for improved heating and cooling. This high-efficiency wood-burning unit has the highest efficiency ratings available, and doubles-up as a backup source of heat in the event of power outages.
Exterior insulation: We went well beyond R-2000 standards when insulating our walls. We
even installed 2” rigid XPS Styrofoam on the exterior of our foundation for extra efficiency, and added comfort in the basement.
Flooring: We wanted to stay away from carpeting, since it can be so hazardous to
your health, not to mention a very labour-intensive process to
manufacture. We decided to go with mostly bamboo flooring, a
renewable resource and as durable as any hardwood product. It takes
bamboo an average 8yrs to reach harvestable size, whereas oak or
maple can take upwards of 40yrs.
Windows: The entire house is supplied with low-E, Argon-filled windows and
provide the highest R-value of any window on the market. In keeping
with our passive solar design, all windows are strategically placed to
allow for maximum sunlight in winter (for heat gain), minimum sunlight in
summer to avoid overheating, as well as adequate cross-ventilation to
aid in keeping our air clean and fresh.
Lights & appliances: Of course, all Energy-Star appliances, and all compact fluorescent bulbs.
Changing out standard incandescent bulbs for new CFL’s is by far the
easiest step anyone can take to reduce their energy consumption, and
with the cost of CFL bulbs coming down considerably, there’s no reason
why every bulb in the house can’t be replaced.