If you are interested in building your own home, especially in an extreme climate like Arizona, you should consider making it more energy-efficient. Any style of house can be built so that it uses minimal energy for heating and cooling, and you'll be praising your foresight when the cheap bills for heating and air conditioning in your Phoenix home start to come in. A key to making your home energy-efficient is to have a tightly sealed "thermal envelope" with plenty of insulation, well designed windows, and smart heating.
The "thermal envelope" refers to everything in the house that shields the inside space from the elements, such as the walls and roof, insulation, doors, windows, weather stripping, etc. Talk to your contractor about new energy-efficient methods for building the frame of the home. Some alternatives, like insulating concrete forms, for example, also make the house more able to withstand hurricanes and tornados. As part of this construction, you'll want the home to be well insulated, including in the foundation and floors. The R-value should be within 20-30 in the walls and 50-70 in the ceiling.
Most homes lose more than 25 percent of their heat through the windows. Consequently, energy-efficient homes should have fewer windows on the north, east, and west sides, and the window area should not be more than 8-9 percent of the floor area unless it's on the south side and is designed to warm the house through solar energy.
In a place like Phoenix, cooling the house is a main priority in the summer, and a roof overhang for a south-facing window is essential to avoid overheating. Metal frames should not be used; awning and casement styles seal more tightly. No matter the type, all windows in the home should meet Energy Star regional guidelines. And of course, the air/vapor diffusion retarder on the wall should be sealed around each window frame to keep water vapor out of the wall cavities.
Even in places like Phoenix, a furnace is installed in the home. However, houses that are built according to energy-efficiency standards will require only small heating systems. Typical options include solar heating or radiant in-floor heating from a small boiler, furnace, gas-fired water heater, or electric pump. Other choices extend to pellet, masonry, or wood stoves, but the installation and operation of such systems requires more expertise. Any heating system in an energy-efficient home should typically run at less than 50,000 Btu/hour even in extremely cold weather.
You'll soon discover the benefits of living in a house that conserves and wisely uses its energy, especially when your monthly bill rates begin to drop.
Author Resource:-
COOL BLEW PLUMBING (http://www.coolblew.com/) is a heating and A/C has been in the business since 2002 and Phoenix cooling. Art Gib is a freelance writer.
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