How to build homes with virtually no heating (2020)

Do you mind explaining why you feel this way? There are definitely benefits to reinforced concrete such as durability and resistance to certain natural elements, but as far as I can tell modern fire-treated wood construction tends to be nearly as safe in fires or superior in earthquakes, has better insulation, and is more ecological during the construction process. Overall, I would prefer reinforced concrete, but it’s more for the “qualitative advantages” as it feels more reassuring to the touch.

Speaking of electrification, one complaint I have of most construction in at least continental Europe is the consistent dearth of electrical outlets in residential settings. Living in Switzerland for years and visiting other countries, it seemed like an extension cord across the bedroom or living room was nearly always needed due to awkward and very limited outlet placement. The fire code in a state like California seems to have much stricter mandates to prevent this sort of thing.

After buying a house built in 1890 I've been made more aware how poor they can be. After replacing the old secondary glazed windows and replacing the old inefficient gas boiler, I'm moving onto replacing the front and back door, and insulating the suspended floor, walls and room in roof. The walls are solid whinstone about 600mm thick which I'd have expected to be a good insulator but in reality they're a thermal bridge.

For generation, I've reserved a spot in Rippleenergy's next co-op turbine [0]. I've been looking into PV/solar thermal/solar battery combinations as well as heat batteries. Sunamp's looks interesting [1] and phase change materials in general. Living in a high latitude (Scotland) the benefit in Winter is more marginal but I'd be happy with simply covering the cost and having peace of mind where the energy came from. PVT panels look interesting if not well-known/scarce.

There's so many parts to the answer it seems like energy advisors could be more of a thing in the same way financial advisors are plentiful.

[0] https://rippleenergy.com/

[1] https://sunamp.com/thermino-thermal-storage-for-domestic-hot...

Windows don't make for very good ventilation. They are prone to letting in either too much or too little air, which means you're either wasting a lot of heat, or are not getting enough fresh air. Mechanical ventilation with energy recovery is far superior. Windows, of course, are great for letting in natural light and for creating a sense of spaciousness etc.

Heat pumps don't always need big fans, only air source heat pumps do, and even those can be made to be pretty quiet. Not much louder than a gas furnace.

They definitely can warm an entire house (in fact, they do so on a regular basis in many houses in many parts of the world), even in the coldest of climates. Heating a Passivhaus requires only a tiny unit (except for hot water, but let's ignore that for a minute).

point one:

you need insulation _everywhere_, along with some thermal mass to make sure there is some inertia to keep temperature even. This means that putting a jacket around the outside of a brick/cement structure is generally better than putting it inside. You need to insulate under the floor.

External wall insulation is not overly expensive. Its about 50% more expensive than a standard silicon render (in the UK)

Point Two:

Windows and doors are normally the weak spot. Standard double glazing has a U value of about 2. Depending on the coating and the position, they can also let in up to 2kw/m2 of heat through solar gain.

You need ideally coated triple glazing, which if paired with the correct frames has a U value of about 0.8-1.1 The coating is to reflect solar gain. You will need sun shading so that in winter the sun comes streaming in, but in summer its shaded out by the small shades.

In the UK its possible to get triple glazing at about the same price as double. For us, the big companies quoted >15k for shitty double glazing, local company was ~10k, eventual installation price was 8k for triple. This included custom arched door/window, and a french door.

I lived in California and I was appalled at the monstrous energy waste: houses are generally made pretty much from cardboard. You need to cool them in summertime and heat them in wintertime, and the energy expenditure is enormous.

I now live in Poland and have recently built small homes that are similar in structure to the ones in CA: wooden frame, drywall inside. But the ones here have walls that are 25cm thick because of insulation (mineral wool) and use advanced modern membranes as well. Together, these things do wonders, and maintaining warmth in wintertime using a heat pump (AC) is easy and doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

In other words, you can get 80% of the benefits with 20% of the effort — just design thicker walls with insulation and use modern materials.