Frequently asked questions.
Custom Home Consulting provide advice and help homeowners navigate complex decisions, avoid costly mistakes, and manage relationships with architects, contractors, and trades. Our expertise ensures a smoother process and superior results.
A sustainable home is a broader concept focused on reducing a building’s overall environmental impact throughout its lifecycle, from construction to demolition. This can include energy efficiency, but it also considers the materials, resources, and environmental footprint. The goal of a sustainable home is to be environmentally responsible, reduce energy and resource consumption, and minimize waste over time.
Key Features of a Sustainable Home:
- Energy Efficiency: May include Passive House principles but doesn’t require them.
- Eco-Friendly Materials: Uses renewable, recycled, or locally sourced materials (e.g., reclaimed wood, bamboo).
- Water Conservation: Rainwater harvesting, greywater reuse, and low-flow fixtures.
- Renewable Energy: Often incorporates solar panels, wind turbines, or geothermal systems.
- Waste Reduction: Construction and operational practices that minimize waste (e.g., composting, recycling).
- Healthy Indoor Environment: Emphasis on non-toxic materials and good air quality.
A net-zero custom home produces as much energy as it consumes over the course of a year. This is achieved through a combination of extreme energy efficiency and on-site renewable energy production. The end goal is to achieve a balance where the home generates as much energy as it consumes, effectively eliminating its net carbon footprint.
Key Features of a Net-Zero Home:
- Energy Efficiency: Similar to Passive House, with airtight construction, superinsulation, and energy-efficient systems.
- Renewable Energy: Uses solar panels, wind turbines, or geothermal to generate energy.
- Energy Monitoring: Smart systems that track energy usage and generation.
- High-Efficiency Appliances: Appliances that minimize electricity and water use.
- Battery Storage: Sometimes includes systems like Tesla Powerwall to store surplus energy.
Passive House (or Passivhaus) is a rigorous energy-efficient building standard focused on minimizing energy use for heating, cooling, and overall operation. It’s not just a design style but rather a set of principles and standards applied during construction. The ultimate goal is to build a home that uses as little energy as possible, typically up to 90% less energy for heating and cooling than a conventional building.
Core Principles of Passive House:
- Superinsulation: Thick, well-insulated walls, roofs, and floors to reduce heat loss or gain.
- Airtightness: Minimizing air leakage to maintain indoor temperature and efficiency.
- Thermal Bridge-Free Design: Avoiding heat transfer through structural components (like steel beams or concrete slabs).
- High-Performance Windows and Doors: Usually triple-glazed to reduce energy loss.
- Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery (MVHR): Ensures fresh air supply while recovering heat from outgoing air.
- Orientation and Solar Gain: Using the building’s orientation to optimize solar energy and passive heating.
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