sustainable
Sustainable energy use[edit]
Main articles: Low-energy house and Zero-energy building
K2 sustainable apartments in Windsor, Victoria, Australia by Hansen Yuncken (2006) features passive solar design, recycled and sustainable materials, photovoltaic cells, wastewater treatment, rainwater collection and solar hot water.
The passivhaus standard combines a variety of techniques and technologies to achieve ultra-low energy use.
Following its destruction by a tornado in 2007, the town of Greensburg, Kansas (USA) elected to rebuild to highly stringent LEED Platinum environmental standards. Shown is the town's new art center, which integrates its own solar panels and wind generators for energy self-sufficiency.
Energy efficiency over the entire life cycle of a building is the single most important goal of sustainable architecture. Architects use many different techniques to reduce the energy needs of buildings and increase their ability to capture or generate their own energy.
Heating, ventilation and cooling system efficiency[edit]
The most important and cost-effective element of an efficient heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) system is a well-insulated building. A more efficient building requires less heat generating or dissipating power, but may require more ventilation capacity to expel polluted indoor air.
Significant amounts of energy are flushed out of buildings in the water, air and compost streams. Off the shelf, on-site energy recycling technologies can effectively recapture energy from waste hot water and stale air and transfer that energy into incoming fresh cold water or fresh air. Recapture of energy for uses other than gardening from compost leaving buildings requires centralized anaerobic digesters.
HVAC systems are powered by motors. Copper, versus other metal conductors, helps to improve the electrical energy efficiencies of motors, thereby enhancing the sustainability of electrical building components. (For
Main articles: Low-energy house and Zero-energy building
K2 sustainable apartments in Windsor, Victoria, Australia by Hansen Yuncken (2006) features passive solar design, recycled and sustainable materials, photovoltaic cells, wastewater treatment, rainwater collection and solar hot water.
The passivhaus standard combines a variety of techniques and technologies to achieve ultra-low energy use.
Following its destruction by a tornado in 2007, the town of Greensburg, Kansas (USA) elected to rebuild to highly stringent LEED Platinum environmental standards. Shown is the town's new art center, which integrates its own solar panels and wind generators for energy self-sufficiency.
Energy efficiency over the entire life cycle of a building is the single most important goal of sustainable architecture. Architects use many different techniques to reduce the energy needs of buildings and increase their ability to capture or generate their own energy.
Heating, ventilation and cooling system efficiency[edit]
The most important and cost-effective element of an efficient heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) system is a well-insulated building. A more efficient building requires less heat generating or dissipating power, but may require more ventilation capacity to expel polluted indoor air.
Significant amounts of energy are flushed out of buildings in the water, air and compost streams. Off the shelf, on-site energy recycling technologies can effectively recapture energy from waste hot water and stale air and transfer that energy into incoming fresh cold water or fresh air. Recapture of energy for uses other than gardening from compost leaving buildings requires centralized anaerobic digesters.
HVAC systems are powered by motors. Copper, versus other metal conductors, helps to improve the electrical energy efficiencies of motors, thereby enhancing the sustainability of electrical building components. (For