Can you build high-performance, green buildings at very little additional cost?
The answer is yes! Innovation, integration and prefabrication are the key.
Innovation:
In the building industry we’ve all heard words like Lean, Net Zero and Passive. But what does that really mean when it comes to integrating these into our homes efficiently and cost effectively?
Lean houses are exactly that, lean! While preserving value and quality, lean homes are stripped of unnecessary waste, energy usage and unsustainable products.
A Net Zero home is a building that consumes slightly more energy than it produces. The zero energy goal is to reduce energy consumption as well as carbon emissions. Most zero energy buildings use the electrical grid for energy storage but some are independent of grid. Energy is usually harvested on-site through a combination of energy producing technologies like solar and wind, while reducing the overall use of energy with highly efficient HVAC and lighting technologies. The zero energy goal is becoming more practical as the costs of alternative energy technologies decrease and the costs of traditional fossil fuels increase.
A Passive Home, or Passivhaus in German, is a home built to such exacting standards of energy conservation that it requires little to no conventional heating or cooling system. The term Passivhaus refers to a rigorous voluntary low energy standard for all types of buildings.
Integration:
Implementing these Green concepts into your home is as simple as adding low cost, high performance products to the package or making small adjustments to the design of the home. Such as large overhangs to combat the summer sun, but still allowing the winter sun to enter the home. Using an innovative high R-value Pacific SmartWallTM system (up to R-37), that reduces your energy consumption / costs. And believe it or not the wood in your home adds another Green aspect, as wood is a sustainable / renewable source.
There is a wide range of approaches available due to the many options for producing and conserving energy.
Prefabrication:
Prefab construction is increasingly becoming known for its Green advantages. A prefab home has its major components pre-fabricated in a climate controlled environment protecting the structure of your home from the elements and preserving its stability. Faster on-site construction also means less exposure to weather and quicker move-in date. In addition, there is almost no waste in a prefab home; on-site waste is minimal as the components were per-fabricated in the factory using optimized computer assisted technologies, which means little waste during manufacturing. That waste material is then recycled or re-used elsewhere.
You save time and money using prefab construction as well as implementing Green initiatives in your home without any extra effort.
When it all boils down, all these Green concepts (Lean, Net Zero, Passive) are moving together to achieve the same goal; home building techniques and technologies that are working towards a more sustainable future.
Pacific Homes is excited to be working with EcoSmart Developments on a Net Zero duplex for Saskatoon, SK this spring and looking forward to more future projects using Green initiatives.
We can help you incorporate these concepts into your home easily and with little additional cost.