29 nov Installation after insulation
As an engineer in sustainable energy technology, many people think that I mainly install large systems. However, my approach is different: I focus first on properly insulating the home to create a more sustainable, energy-efficient, and comfortable living environment.
Before advising on an installation, I always look at the building envelope first: what is the current state of the insulation in the roof, floors, windows, doors, and air sealing? The amount of glazing in the home and its orientation to the sun also play a role here.
An average home consumes energy as follows:
- 76% for heating
- 12% for hot water
- 1.5% for lighting
- appliances
Homes that are traditionally built today are typically not equipped with natural (insulation) materials, which can create an unhealthy living environment, and in some cases, even a toxic indoor climate. By using natural insulation materials, the home breathes better, and the insulation responds more efficiently to extreme heat or cold.
An additional advantage is the collaboration with local farmers to supply these insulation materials.
Examples of bio-based materials include cellulose, flax, hemp-jute, straw, coconut-cork, and wood fiber. For more information, check websites such as: www.eco-bouwers.nl
Cellulose
Wood Fiber
Hemp-Jute
Natural insulation materials can also be used in renovations. For both renovations and new-build homes, I recommend applying as many principles of passive house design as possible. Several elements are important in this, such as insulation, the home’s orientation to the sun, airtightness, and ventilation. Avoiding thermal bridges, cold walls, and cold windows ensures that the home feels much more comfortable. As a result, there are fewer temperature differences between various parts of the house compared to a traditional home. In passive houses, window frames and doors are better insulated, and triple glazing is typically used. Balanced ventilation and optimal interaction with solar energy reduce heating demand. A well-insulated home is also much easier to keep cool in the summer, eliminating the need for air conditioning.
The placement of rooms relative to the sun is also important. Place bedrooms on the cooler sides of the house and use the sun to heat the spaces you use during the day.
Once the home is properly insulated, we can look at how small the installation can be.
This leads to savings on:
- The installation itself
- Installation costs
- The use of chemical materials in the systems
- The energy bill
Many systems such as heat pumps, solar panels, PVT, and batteries have a lifespan of 15 to 25 years. These materials are often difficult to recycle. Of course, there are developments to improve this and refurbish products, but many of the materials come from other parts of the world, often produced by underpaid labor, not to mention the extraction of these materials and their impact on nature. And what do we do with these devices after all those years?… Do we dump them outside the borders?
By first optimizing the building envelope with natural materials from local suppliers, not only does the comfort improve, and energy losses and costs decrease, but the materials also last 50 to 100 years and are recyclable at the end of their life cycle.
The downside of renovating the building envelope is that it can be a major intervention, especially if there is no cavity wall, the cavity is too small, or the house is built on sand.
Also, ductwork for balanced ventilation is a significant intervention.
However… don’t take a heat pump replacement lightly as an alternative. Most heat pumps operate on a low-temperature system, unlike a gas boiler and hybrid heat pump, meaning also here insulation is needed to warm the space. The hybrid heat pump can still deliver high temperatures, so less insulation is needed, but it still requires a gas connection and adds to electricity demand.
Some fully electric heat pumps can also deliver higher temperatures with electric backup, but this greatly impacts electricity consumption, grid voltage fluctuations, and grid congestion.
To combat greenwashing: start with bio-based insulation for the building envelope and aim for LESS consumption. This results in less grid congestion, a less expensive and smaller installation, no need for batteries, fewer PV panels, and a lower energy bill.
What about smaller homes?
The beauty of small homes is that the energy consumption required for heating is already much lower than for larger homes built in the same period. However, a collective system is often needed, which can lead to problems with rigid homeowners’ associations (VVE) and the large investment required for a complete installation. But, proper insulation can always be done!
I also try to equip a test home in an apartment block with a temporary installation. This allows the situation to be tested and optimized before applying the solution on a larger scale.
The number of solar panels on high-rise buildings is often also a challenge if the roof area is too small to fit PV panels for each home. Of course, it can also be considered what the wall surface can contribute in terms of solar energy. But again, the better the envelope is insulated, the less electricity is needed and consumed, and the fewer solar panels are required.
For balanced ventilation, a complete set of air ducts is often needed. By, for example, using a hallway in the house for a unit and running ducts to adjacent rooms, the duct system can be kept shorter, saving space and materials. An efficient shaft design is essential.
If the home is already small and insulated internal walls are needed (because there is not enough space in the cavity to insulate or because a permit is not granted for external insulation), this can provoke negative reactions. However, my company can adjust the interior design to create enough living and storage space.
In short, even though I am an engineer in sustainable energy technology, I always start with the building envelope and prefer to use natural materials. 😊
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