Energy Efficient HVAC System (ES)

Buildings account for about 40% of all energy use in the United States. Constructing an energy efficient home provides variety of benefits to both a home’s occupants and to the environment. Once the building envelope has been designed, evaluating heating and cooling systems, ventilation, and domestic water heating using the house-as-a-system approach are critical to achieving a high-performance home. An energy efficient home not only provides savings on utility bills to residents but also improves their comfort and health. Comfort is a function of air temperature, relative humidity and radiant heating and cooling, all of which are impacted by the energy systems used in a home. In addition, using less energy reduces the need to extract natural resources, reduces air pollution and eases the strain on our water resources. EarthCraft encourages the use of energy efficient HVAC systems to reduce this impact.