Energy-efficient houses

An energy-efficient house is any type of house that uses less energy than what might be regarded as standard. Today, there are five main categories of energy-efficient buildings:

• low energy building
• passive building (ultra-low energy house)
• net-zero energy building (or zero-energy house)
• autonomous building (building with no bills)
• energy-plus building

There is no global definition for an energy-efficient house and the national standards vary considerably. However, it is generally considered that the energy consumption of a low-energy house is about half that of a typical house. Passive houses, which are almost energy-self-sufficient buildings, use solar collectors and geothermal energy to provide heating and warm water, and photovoltaic elements to produce electricity. They can maintain a comfortable indoor climate without active heating and cooling systems. In central Europe, their energy demand may not exceed 120 kWh/m² per year for heat, hot water and electricity.

All energy-efficient houses, except those defined as autonomous or energy-plus, employ boosters to cover peak situations. There are many different names for energy-efficient homes, such as eco house, zero-carbon house, 3-liter house, etc. They all have common features. In some cases, in order to qualify for subsidies or grants, there are values which may not be exceeded, such as the total primary energy consumption.

Page-ID: 3314