Designs That Work
Cold Climate
Introduction
The Habitat Congress Building America Case Study Houses are designed to
be climate-specific, affordable, energy-efficient housing prototypes. As a
Building America house, the design also works towards the following
objectives:
- Produce homes that use 30 to 50 percent less energy.
- Reduce construction time and waste by as much as 50 percent.
- Improve builder productivity.
- Provide new product opportunities to manufacturers and suppliers.
- Implement innovative energy- and material-saving technologies.
To reach these objectives, the basic Cold Climate house plan presented
in this package uses a systems engineering approach. This means that a
significant amount of analysis and refinement has gone into the design.
The Building America design team has considered the interaction between
the building site, envelope, mechanical systems, and other factors,
recognizing that one feature of the house can greatly affect others. The
team has then evaluated its design, business, and construction practices
to identify cost savings, which have then be reinvested to improve energy
performance and product quality.
There are two influences on this process that should be explained
before you examine the Cold Climate house plan: an understanding of the
regional climate, and building science knowledge and experience.
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