Use Bricks, Save Energy

If you are thinking about building your house or renovating it, consider the savings you can ensure by making some design changes in your house. Be sure to make the right decision regarding building material that can ease your life in future. Lightweight construction material can contribute greatly to your monthly electricity bill.

How? Extreme weather conditions require indoor adjustment of temperature that result in installation of multiple cooling units and electric heaters. Ultimately your monthly bills go up. In various parts of the world, houses are built with bricks instead of wood that not only save forests from depletion but also minimize the energy requirements of the house. Governments of some countries have even passed a regulation that requires people to build houses using clay bricks.

If you plan your house design and building material rationally, you’ll end up in saving many dollars monthly to spend that elsewhere.

Design your house according to the established standards of a passive house, which will moderate the temperature by repelling intense heat and wintriness externally. The wall facing the north must be made of glass that would ensure maximum input of sunlight during winters and will keep house illuminated even in cloudy days. During hot weather you can block direct sunlight by using extended shades or eaves.

In passive houses, wind is allowed to enter and exit through ventilators that are usually positioned at upper part of each wall. The air crosses freely and eliminates the need of an Air conditioner. In summers the openings must be reasonable so as not to incorporate heated air. An significant concern in passive houses is insulation that acts as a barrier between internal and external temperatures of house.

When the wind is too icy, insulated ceilings and walls maintain rooms’ temperature and keep it from falling. Similarly during summers, blazing sunlight can’t produce intense heat in house.

Thermal mass bricks do not conduct heat as freely as light construction materials do. Clay bricks obstruct the heat from penetrating into the house because of the thermal mass. Building your house with thermal mass bricks will reduce the energy requirements.

Resistance of walls is measured through R-value, which is very high in passive houses. The indoor environment will always be moderate because of the bricks that act like shield against intense weather conditions. All rooms have standardized temperature unlike the uneven temperatures in ordinary houses. Discuss these issues with your contractor and architect, ensure that your house is properly ventilated and is made up of bricks that contain high amount of thermal mass. Bricks rebound heat to the eternal environment and absorb the remaining, keeping the house safe from becoming too hot or too cold.

Denser material maintains and stabilizes home temperature in all weathers. Passive design of houses makes them more energy efficient by optimally utilizing sunlight and saving cooling and heating expenses. You can even erect solar panels on the external surface of house, which will suffice your electricity necessities. Planting deciduous trees beside house will help in temperature control.