Jackson Digney, Managing Director at Enduro Builders, separates energy efficiency (measured by air changes per hour and thermal performance) from sustainability (the embodied impact of materials like hemp masonry, straw bale, and timber). He warns that many advanced products claim efficiency or sustainability but may be costly or underperform, and advises working with experienced teams to balance all three with affordability.
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So you've heard the hype and you want to build an energy-efficient sustainable home. Did you know the difference between those 2 terms? Hi, my name's Jackson Digney and I'm the Managing Director and builder at Enduro Builders. There is a lot of misinformation around building energy-efficient homes. One of the first areas is the use of the words energy-efficient Sustainable, and eco. While the 3 terms work together, they have different meanings. Here, we've tried to break them down for you. Energy efficient. This refers to the building performance. There are a range of ways to achieve the performance levels required to have an energy efficient home. This can include getting good orientation with the design, Using the right materials in the right areas of the home. Making good choices with heating and cooling needs. And using double glazing in the windows. However, the term mostly refers to performance, and this is measured by 2 key things: the rate at which air changes over in the building, which is measured in air changes per hour, or ACH; the thermal performance of the building envelope, Essentially how well the insulation of your home actually works in the walls, the windows, the doors, and the roof spaces. If your builder isn't using an external auditor to test your new home for air changes per hour and thermal performance, they may not be as committed to energy efficiency as they make out. What about the term sustainable? While building an energy-efficient home is sustainable because you will have a lower need for electricity, And fuel for heating, cooling, and lighting, it is possible to build a very unsustainable home that is energy efficient. This would happen where you used a lot of materials like concrete, steel, and chemical foams such as EPS, XPS, and PIR. Being truly sustainable means using a range of materials such as hemp masonry, straw bale, low chemical paints, rammed earth, bamboo, Ashcrete, and Timbercrete, in addition to timber framing and minimizing the use of concrete and steel. There are plenty of misconceptions about energy-efficient building. One of the biggest is the large range of advanced and expensive products on the market claiming highly energy-efficient outcomes. Some deliver and some don't. There are also a range of sustainable products out there. That while sustainable, are very expensive to build with. So how do you balance all this and try to make the most cost-efficient use of both common and advanced materials, all while making sure that you don't end up with an out-of-control budget? The trick is by working with an experienced team of architects and builders whose focus is solely on finding the balance between energy efficiency, sustainability, and affordability. To help you make sure that you don't get locked into a building contract for your energy-efficient home, Download our guide of 7 things to ask your builder before you sign a building contract. Click the link below to download it today.
