Chapter 5

Material & Equipment Choices

The material and equipment choices you make during construction have a huge impact on the environmental footprint and energy efficiency of your new home.

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Heating & Cooling

Heat pump technology used to be limited to southern regions of the country. Over the past 5-10 years, heat pumps have been improved and designed to operate in cold climates. Learn More

Hot Water Heating

Although they cost a bit more than standard electric or propane water heaters, heat pump water heaters easily pay for themselves in annual energy cost savings. Learn More

Cooking

Radiant electric cooktops are more efficient than the traditional electric coil version and perform about as well as a gas cooktop. The most efficient electric cooking technology is induction. Learn More

Insulation

Insulation provides resistance to heat flow allowing a home to better maintain desired indoor temperatures. An insulation material’s effectiveness is determined and measured by its thermal resistance. Learn more

Solar

Solar PV technology captures the sun’s energy and turns it into usable electricity. For the technology to work the photovoltaic solar cell absorbs solar radiation. Learn More

Ventilation

Most conventional homes have no mechanical ventilation besides the bathroom fan and kitchen fans, which are only run intermittently. Without regular outdoor air ventilation, the concentration of pollutants inside the home can easily rise above EPA air quality standards, particularly when using natural gas appliances. Heat recovery ventilation or energy recovery ventilation provides fresh filtered air by passing outgoing and incoming air through a heat exchanger which brings the fresh incoming air closer to the temperature of the outgoing air. This efficient and controlled means of providing fresh air to a home allows you to control increase the amount of fresh air coming into a home or shut it off entirely if there is smoke or a bad air quality day. You can’t do either of those things with uncontrolled air infiltration.

Learn the differences between Heat Recovery Ventilators (HRVs) vs Energy Recovery Ventilators: HRVs vs ERVs

Levels of Home Performance Certification

For an updated look at certifications and incentives for high-performance homes please visit the link below. It is arranged by building certification type, increasing performance, comfort, and efficiency from left to right

EEBC and EnergySmart’s Marshall Fire Home Performance Comparison

Other Materials

Make sure any smart home technology can be replaced without requiring a renovation
When choosing appliances look for ENERGYSTAR certification to ensure you are getting an energy efficient option! You can utilize the ENERGYSTAR product finder when browsing appliances, https://www.energystar.gov/productfinder/
Consider installing energy efficient window coverings, like insulated cellular shades, with your windows to allow for maximum thermal performance. Learn more here:
https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/energy-efficient-window-coverings

Rebuilding Better Workshop #2: Materials and Equipment for a Resilient Rebuild

Benefits of Energy Efficient New Construction

Building Electrification Basics

Questions about electric appliances?

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