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At econic we strongly believe that a green or sustainable building does not have to be a "hippie" shack. To prove our point, we have below a few buildings that are modern, sophisticated, luxurious AND "green"! To start with, take a look at these buildings - constructed out of rammed earth!
Homehill Winery - Tasmania; Australia
Carlton & United Breweries - Yatala (Brisbane); Australia
The above images are courtesy of Ramed Earth.To date, neither South Africa nor Australia have established their rating tools for single residential buildings (homes). However, the US Green Building Council's LEED rating system does. The following houses are either already LEED Platinum (LEED's highest rating award) rated or awaiting final certification. US based blog Jetson Green has these a more...
Georgia RainShine House
To achieve its "Plainium" status, The RainShine House included the following:
· +/-1900 litre water reclamation tanks;· Butterfly roof designed to collect rainwater;
· Locally-sourced, 100% recycled steel framing roof;
· Water-based insulation materials;
· Reclaimed heart-pine flooring;
· Energy recovery ventilator (for tight homes);
· Low solar heat gain coefficient windows;
· Abundant interior natural light;
· LED lighting system;
· Geothermal heat pump;
· 3.1 kW rooftop, photovoltaic system; and
· Deciduous plantings to provide efficiency benefits.
Margarido House
· LED lighting
· Energy Star cool roof
· In floor hydronic (water based) heating system
· Solar electric power
· Solar thermal hot water
· Smart house automation
· Energy efficient appliances
· Water reclamation tanks
· Permeable paving
· Recycled concrete and glass counters
· Locally sourced and sustainable products
· Interior air quality management system
· Low water/drought tolerant landscaping
· Zero VOC paints
Celadon Eco Townhomes
· approximately 30-40% more energy efficient than standard homes
· stormwater retention
· indigenous, drought-tolerant landscaping
· expected to save about 1,5mil litres of water annually.
· high-efficiency HVAC system,
· tankless water heater,
· skylights and solar tubes,
· light-reflective roof,
· sub-metering,
· energy-efficient appliances,
· low-VOC paints and materials, etc.
There are plenty more examples internationally, and although it may be some time before the Green Building Council of South Africa has a Green Star rating tool for homes, econic hopes that we will be building homes like these sooner rather than later.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) called ground-source heat pumps the most energy-efficient, environmentally clean, and cost-effective space conditioning systems available. Heat pumps offer significant emission reductions potential, particularly where they are used for both heating and cooling and where the electricity is produced from renewable resources.
image courtesy of greenbuilder.com
A geothermal heat pump system (also known as a GeoExchange system) is a central heating and/or air conditioning system that actively pumps heat to or from the shallow ground, using the earth as either a source of heat in the winter, or as a coolant in the summer. In typical systems, duct fans distribute the warm o/r cool air to various rooms within the building in the same manner as a conventional central heating or air-con system would).
The heart of the heat pump is a loop of refrigerant pumped through the “ground loop”, or more specifically, “vapour-compression refrigeration tubes” that moves heat either into or out of the ground. Working much like a refrigerator the system uses the heat pump to force the transfer of heat: capturing heat from a cool area and transferring it to a warm area, or they can enhance the natural flow of heat: from a warm area to a cool one. Heat energy always flows from areas of higher temperature to areas of lower temperature.
Geothermal heat pump systems are so efficient because underground temperatures are relatively stable through the year . The shallow ground temperature is warmer than the air above during the winter and cooler than the air in the summer. A ground-source heat pump extracts that ground heat in the winter (heating) and exhausts heat back into the ground in the summer (cooling).
In terms of residential use, home-owners who use GeoExchange systems rating them highly because of their ability to deliver comfortably warm air, even on the coldest winter days, and because of their very very low operating costs. In addition, once installed, they require little maintenance or attention. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, GeoExchange systems save home-owners 30-70 percent in heating costs, and 20-50 percent in cooling costs, compared to conventional systems.
In cooler climates, such as Europe & North America Geothermal systems are used predominantly for heating. Here in South Africa, heating can be useful when the correct conditions exist; however, the most use is the ability to reduce air- conditioning loads during the day when the air is warm and the ground is cool.
There are numerous options as to the types and size of systems, dependant on the size of the building, availability of land and cost. To compare these various options have a look at geoexchange.org
