How to Build an Energy-Efficient Custom Home
Over the last few years, a growing number of homeowners are working with home builders to design and build custom homes that are energy-efficient.
By building an energy-efficient custom home, homeowners can save money by minimizing the costs of cooling and heating their homes, while also decreasing their personal energy consumption and carbon emissions.
In this blog post, we talk about 4 simple things Edmontonians can do to build an energy-efficient custom home!
Consider the Building’s Orientation
Photo by Tracy Adams on Unsplash
One of the best ways to minimize your custom home’s energy consumption is to strategically plan your home's orientation during the design process.
If you are able to choose what direction your home sits on the lot, you can utilize natural sunlight to reduce the amount of lighting and heating/cooling you’ll need during certain months of the year.
Since Edmonton is located in the Northern Hemisphere with scorching summers and arctic winters, we always recommend building south-facing homes to capture sunlight during the winter months and block sunlight during the summer months.
When designing an energy-efficient home, we suggest placing your main living areas–such as your kitchen, living room, or dining room–near the south side of the home to take advantage of the sun during winter months with decreased daylight hours.
Use High-Quality Insulation
Photos by Charles Deluvio on Unsplash
Insulation works to keep your home warm in the winter and cool in the summer by taking some load off of your home’s heating and cooling systems.
By using high-quality insulation when building a custom home, you can drastically decrease usage of your heating and cooling systems during the hottest and coldest months of the year.
When choosing which insulation to use for a new home, we recommend working with your home builder to better understand what areas of the home you should insulate, as well as the recommended R-values for each of those areas based on your climate, type of heating and cooling system, and more.
Install Energy-Efficient Windows & Doors
Photo by Adeolu Eletu on Unsplash
Your home’s exterior windows and doors can contribute significantly to heat loss and increased utility bills. This is why it is so important to install windows and doors that are energy-efficient when building a custom home in Edmonton.
In Canada, the most energy-efficient doors, windows, and skylights are ENERGY STAR certified. When working with your home builder or designer, try to find ENERGY STAR certified models to install in your home.
To save energy, you’ll want to ensure that your windows and doors are installed properly with a strong seal around the frames.
We also recommend increasing the number of windows on the south side of your home to let in more natural light. For most families, this results in lower electricity costs because of the reduced use of interior lighting.
Purchase Energy-Efficient Lighting
Photo by Michael Browning on Unsplash
Installing energy-efficient lighting in your new home can significantly lower energy bills and can also decrease replacement costs due to the long lifespan of high-efficiency bulbs.
When choosing energy-efficient light bulbs in your home, look for bulbs with the lowest wattage. LED bulbs are generally the most energy-efficient, whereas incandescent bulbs are the least efficient.