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Energy Efficiency for your home through efficient layout design
At Energy Rating Perth, we urge our clients to include the aspect of energy efficiency early in their building design rather than adding it as an afterthought to gain a 6 star energy rating. Our energy assessors think a simple aspect like layout design (or zoning as termed in the building design process) needs to be carried out efficiently. Zoning or space usage is the division of spaces according to their appropriate uses and their overall combination creates a layout design. Layout design must be carried out keeping building orientation in mind and just when and how the rooms of a home will be used. Since it is ideal to orient your building north, the spaces must be arranged in a way to maximise passive solar heating and/or cooling. Zoning is essentially understanding the usage of space; the activities that occur in an area and the time of the day the space is being utilised for and organising them based on these factors. Using zoning for thermal performance means that if a building is oriented north, the spaces that are occupied for a longer
Ventilation can greatly improve thermal performance and reduce the need of mechanical cooling
Encouraging ventilation is an important aspect of passive cooling in a home. At Energy Rating Perth, our clients are always complaining of high electrical bills due to their cooling load. An energy assessment done by our energy assessors has usually resulted in the conclusion that the building is experiencing inadequate ventilation. Ventilation whether mechanical or natural is an essential factor in maintaining indoor thermal comfort and therefore reducing the energy usage on air conditioning. In hot and/or humid climates, the air movement helps reduce excessive moisture from the air causing a cooling effect. For efficient natural ventilation, the wind patterns/speeds, size/height of entry and exit points need to be studied and implemented. Inadequate ventilation can result in a stuffy environment with stale air, a lack or excess of moisture and even health concerns for the inhabitants. This can result in a drastic building defect which will result in high energy costs to regulate a comfortable internal environment. The best method would be to incorporate ventilation design appropriate to the local climate at the time of design by: Encouraging cross ventilation by controlling entry and
Restricting your water usage
Today our energy assessors talk about the importance of restricting your water usage. In the recent years, the government and water corporations have pushed to educate the communities on the smart use of their water habits. Drought has come over part of Australia and we need the implementation of water restrictions to ensure a dependable and healthy water source for the future. State and Territory governments have set water restriction levels and the metropolitan or regional water authorities are responsible in implementing these stages. Some methods to these plans include water systems that are inefficient may be banned, set times to water your vegetation, handheld hoses will need trigger nozzles installed and not using tap water to wash your driveways or paths. Depending on the amount of rainfall within your area will determine the restrictions and guidelines applied. Generally, you will find the restrictions are seasonal due to the low rainfall within summer, higher restrictions must take place to ensure a strong water flow for the future. There are penalties in place if you don’t implement these restrictions, so applying these to your daily
What are common Passive Building Design Measures?
Our 6 star, part J and DTS energy assessors at Energy Rating Perth have a range of advice to offer to both building designers as well as the home buyers who want to ensure their building gives them savings in the long run. If you are designing or building a home, it is best to include passive design measures into your building design at the initial building design stage. Some passive design measures are as follows: Designing for the climate: It is important to understand the micro-climate of the region the building is placed in. A building might be placed in a hot and dry climate, some are located close to the ocean might want to take advantage of the sea breeze while those in the city might avoid letting the hot air, noise and pollution infiltrate into the building. Building Orientation and Shading: A north oriented building takes full advantage of the sun for solar heat gain during the winter and daylighting. In the summer, keeping the angle of sun into consideration, appropriate shading can help keep the harsh summer sun out. Glazing
What is Passive Building Design?
At Energy Rating Perth, we believe in including energy efficient building design methods into the building design in its early stages. Passive building design refers to designing a building that is not only in accordance but takes advantage of the climate it is placed in. Using passive design and passive solar design tactics can greatly improve the thermal performance of the home which either eradicates or at least reduces the need for mechanical heating and cooling. It is most economic to include passive design into your home when initially designing it. From understanding the climate, where you will place your building on site to the internal layout, all factors contribute heavily on how good the home’s thermal performance would be. You can find more detail on passive building design measures on our Energy Rating Perth website. However, a passive house requires ‘active’ users of space. Eventually, it is up to the users of the home with a basic understanding of how passive design works to know when to open/close windows, to not use heating/cooling unnecessarily and when to allow sunlight and when to keep
How to remedy and prevent a building from overheating in the summers
Our clients at Energy Rating Perth that either live in an older building or have been subject to poor construction practices may find their building underperforming in the summers and overheating. This is evident from the indoor discomfort and the sky rocketing high electrical bills running those energy hungry air conditioners. The following steps can be taken to ensure your home is cool in the summers and your bills remain in a reasonable range: Ensure building orientation to the north Either reduce thermal mass by using lightweight well insulated materials such as timber framing with adequate insulation or increase thermal mass by using double cavity brick walls, block masonry, reverse brick veneer, concrete floor etc. and ensure good access to the thermal mass by rendering the walls/floor rather than using plasterboard or carpet. Use of elevated floors to allow air circulation underneath the floor space Use of high ceilings and elevated windows to eradicate rising heat due to the stack effect Ensure moderate level of reflective insulation particularly in the roof space and the ceiling, as that receives the most sun during the hottest
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At Energy Rating Perth, we aim to provide clients with every probable solution to help improve the thermal performance of their homes. A large number of clients at Energy Rating Perth might not recognise the importance of landscaping and the ability of your home to achieve thermal comfort. Trees can provide shading on the walls and windows, which can greatly improve the interior thermal comfort. However, just like the concept of eaves, we may not require shading on all sides all around the year. For this reason, deciduous trees can be planted towards the northern side so in the winters, they can allow full sunlight penetration while evergreen trees are preferable for the eastern and western facades. This can help in keeping your home cool in the hot summers by providing shade and avoid unnecessary solar heat gain. In colder climates, trees can also limit the harsh cold air from penetrating into the building by acting as a barrier. In hot/humid or even moderate climates, this may be a limiting factor therefore, when choosing trees, they should be ones that allow air movement through the foliage.
Other than trees, there are smaller shrubs that are strategically placed can also cool the breeze before it enters into the building through evapotranspiration. Other landscape features water bodies also help in creating a cooling effect due to evaporation. The process can be speeded up by using a water spray in a fountain particularly into a summer breeze path. This is not recommended for climates with high humidity throughout the air as it may actually increase the humidity thus affecting the overall thermal comfort of the home.
Our energy assessors take into account a range of information when they are completing a 6 star energy rating assessment and may at times give recommendations that seem trivial but can add greatly to the energy efficiency of your home. Strategic selection as well as plantation of vegetation should be considered as a solution and site featured trees should be preserved rather than removed.
Call our team at Energy Rating Perth for more information today!
OFFICE LINE
1.800.555.6789
EMERGENCY
1.800.555.0000
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OFFICE LINE
1.800.555.6789
EMERGENCY
1.800.555.0000
WORKING HOURS