With the steady trend of electricity costs rising, many homeowners have started to explore what they can do to cut down on their energy consumption, but what if consumption patterns aren’t the only thing affecting your electricity bill? In this blog, we’ll discuss how the construction of your house affects the household’s energy consumption and how building an energy-efficient home can significantly reduce your expenses and improve the quality of life in WA.
What is an energy-efficient home?
Simply speaking, an energy-efficient home uses what’s called a “passive design” that’s capable of maintaining a comfortable temperature within the house while using minimal energy through deliberate choices in its construction, such as insulation, airtightness, ventilation systems, and window and door placement.
It’s ideal to keep energy efficiency in mind when building your home, as it not only helps to reduce your energy expenses but is also quite sustainable and eco-friendly in the long run. Moreover, building towards an energy-efficient home can meet the thermal requirements of the National Construction Code of Australia.
Understanding passive design
Taking into consideration the local climate, passive design aims to reduce or outright remove the need for additional heating or cooling, as stated by the YourHome website of the Australian government.
Amongst the many facets of passive design, the first line in starting an energy-efficient home begins with your building materials.
Building energy-efficient homes: factors to consider when choosing your materials
1. Insulation performance
Your house’s insulation serves to inhibit the movement of heat, be it from coming into your home during warm summers or leaving your home during cold winters. When choosing a residential building’s insulation material to improve energy efficiency, it’s recommended to invest in high-quality insulation that’s also made with eco-friendly materials like glass wool. Doing so would not only improve a house’s thermal performance but also help reduce waste and carbon footprint altogether.
Finally, to ensure a home is properly insulated, it’s necessary to cover all areas without leaving gaps. To accurately know how much insulation you need for your home, check out Westgyp’s guide on insulation.
Recommended material for insulation: Ecowool insulation by Select Insulation.
Ecowool insulation batts are a next-generation glasswool insulation solution engineered for superior thermal and acoustic performance. Ecowool is made from recycled glass materials and features SensiTouch® Technology — a low-irritant binder with natural anti-formaldehyde properties and no harmful chemicals, making it safer for installers and healthier for indoor environments.
2. Thermal mass
While thermal mass, as a term, is often used as the ability of a material to absorb, store and release heat, it has caught on as a quick way to refer to a block of material with high thermal mass and low thermal lag. For areas in WA with both summers and winters, it’s important to consider using material with higher thermal mass, like concrete, brick, stone, and more. You can incorporate such materials in your flooring or walls to improve a home’s thermal mass. This will help absorb excess heat during a hot day and release that heat during a cold night to keep the temperature of your home comfortable.
Recommended material for thermal mass: Hardie Panel Compressed Sheets
For a home with a high thermal mass, you can incorporate reliable flooring material like James Hardie Panel Compressed Sheets. Made from compressed fibre cement, these flooring panels are lightweight, moisture-resistant, and have a high thermal mass compared to traditional flooring substrates like plywood.
Other factors affecting a home’s energy efficiency
1. Orientation
The orientation of the house itself can already impact how much energy your Perth home will consume. Due to Australia’s geographic location, the sun usually shines from the north, so any rooms on the north side of the house will receive the most heat during the day. Building your rooms on the northern side will help during winter, as they will be passively heated by the sun.
Taking that into consideration, your west and east-facing sides should have minimal exposure to the north to avoid overheating, especially in the summer. It’s important to note that you should still assess where the sun shines at the specific location of your home to adjust accordingly.
Besides the heating from the sun, good orientation will greatly benefit your home by being able to receive the cooling winds of local breezes. These winds vary per location, so it’s best to research your area on the direction of its local wind patterns.
2. Glazing
Doors, windows, and skylights, collectively known as glazing in construction, play a key role in managing the temperature of your home and work in tandem with the other passive design features to regulate temperature. Choosing where you place your glazing is vital as it serves as the entry way and exit of both heat and wind.
3. Ventilation and airtightness
In relation to glazing, your house’s ventilation is crucial in improving air quality inside your home. Ventilation in your home can be either natural, such as your open glazing, or mechanical, such as fans.
On the other hand, airtightness is how a house limits the unintentional introduction of outdoor air and the escape of indoor air to the outside.
Currently, there are regulations under the National Construction Code regarding acceptable construction for building sealing. Please refer to the NCC website for further reading on their regulations.
4. Shading
While the sun is important in providing passive heating, sometimes you’ll need to control how much heat and sunlight your house receives. Shading helps in this matter, as you can have fixed or adjustable shading for any of your glazing. Shading options can include eaves, fences, external louvres, pergolas, blinds, curtains, and even trees.
5. Condensation
While not directly related to managing your home’s temperature, it’s important to discuss condensation when talking about the temperature of your home. Condensation happens when humid air comes into contact with a cold surface, which is most commonly observed when drinking a cold glass of water: beads of water begin to form on the exterior of your glass.
If left unchecked, accumulated condensation in your home can easily develop into mould and negatively impact you and your family’s health. Carefully consider the materials you use so that they’re resistant to mould, and utilise strategic placements of your glazing to prevent unwanted humid air from the outside from entering your home and condensing inside.
Where to source your materials for an energy-efficient home
Now that you have a better understanding of passive design and energy-efficient homes, it’s a good idea to put that knowledge into practice and start building towards your own energy-efficient home.
Here at Westgyp Building Supplies, we carry an assortment of cost-effective and energy-efficient building supplies from respected and reliable brands that will help you on your journey towards a more sustainable household. Being in the industry for over 30 years, we also provide advice on your projects leaning on decades of experience.
Visit us at 39 Ledgar Rd, Balcatta, WA to get started on your passive design home today.