Many students using our footprint calculator said that they could not pledge to reduce their home footprints because they were not making the decisions for the household. Here is your chance to design your own sustainable virtual household!
If you had your own home, what would you do to make it more energy efficient? Where would you get your electricity from? Where would your house be? Would you live near to your school or work or local transit options? Where would you get your food from?
MY Family Footprint >
Energy Efficient Dream House
My "energy efficient dream house" would be as close to net zero energy efficiency as possible. All the energy the house needs is produced on site via renewable energy resources. Building the energy efficient dream house, I believe is best done starting from scratch. That way one can design a house with efficient systems that work together and start with the framework of the house. (This is not ideal for most so many aspects of a more energy efficient home can be installed.) The frame of the house should be built with better insulation. All doors to outside (especially garage doors)should be designed to seal shut so air can not come in or out. The house would need a high-efficiency heating and cooling system. The Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency (AFUE) rating is set by the U.S. Department of Energy. The minimum standard is 78 percent for furnaces. This means 78 percent of the energy the furnace consumes is turned into warm air. A high efficiency heating and cooling system would have around 90-95 percent efficiency. This is good for the environment and saves money. An option that is not for everybody is also to have mostly or all dual-pane windows containing a layer of argon gas, that do not open. The argon gas provides better insulation. Instead the house can be aired by a ventilator. This house will also have solar panels, low-flush toilets and a control wall monitor. This wall monitor can have a variety of options such as: to turn off/on all the lights, turn off/on sprinklers, turn off/on air and heat system, and view the house’s energy consumption. For people without the budget for solar panel installation. There are solar panel companies that will install solar panels for free and you pay them monthly like you would your utility company.
No matter what a house is built like there are steps we should all take to make them more environmentally friendly. Turning off lights not in use, recycling cans and bottles, unplugging computers and TVs not in use, turning off the water when brushing teeth, and watering gardens in the early mornings and/or at night, are just a few everyday steps that most can do to make a difference.
http://www.nstar.com/residential/energy … ngtips.asp
http://www.techhive.com/article/2045771 … -home.html
http://construction.about.com/od/Doors- … indows.htm
Everyday steps do make all the difference at times, and it seems everything you listed for your "energy efficient dream house" would indeed contribute to maintaining the environment at a healthy level and helping your house obtain the net zero energy efficiency. You might consider viewing the "Smart Home: Green + Wired" model home exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, which boasts installments such as an energy monitoring system and various reused lighting fixtures.