Air conditioning by nature with double glazing - Westech by Certainteed.

Natural air conditioning with Certainteed.

Whether you are building or renovating, you can be cool and comfortable all summer without air conditioning. Simply get in the habit of thinking 'Insulation, Ventilation, Orientation' and you will be in control of natural forces that work for you all year long. Properly built, your house will shrug off frosts as well as heatwaves, while consuming little or no energy for heating and cooling. Once you've lived this way, you'll wonder why anyone would persist with outmoded, wasteful building methods.

Let's go through the "energy trifecta" of insulation, ventilation and orientation:

Insulation
applies to every external surface - ceilings, walls, roof, floor and just as important, your windows. Did you know that ordinary windows offer practically zero resistance to heat and cold? Throughout the world, effective double glazed windows are an essential part of the building process. They match solid brick for insulating value, so views can be enjoyed all day, through shaded windows that hold back the heat. In winter they hold warmth in so well that only a small heater is needed to bring the whole house up to a comfortable temperature. Winter sun will warm the house, compliments of mother nature.

Ventilation
may seem obvious. But that's how you keep the house fresh in summer, capturing evening breezes to keep the house cool against the next day's heat. Southern states and inland areas are lucky that they usually get cool nights, even during heatwaves. With effective double glazed windows, you simply open up for fresh cool air at bedtime and seal the house again when you wake up. If the heatwave is a real stinker, you will only a ceiling fan or perhaps a small air-conditioner to cool the whole house.

Orientation
is the third essential. It simply means facing your house to catch the winter sun for warmth and shading your windows so that summer sun is excluded. You can combine eaves, verandahs, awnings and trees for solar control that will literally save you a small fortune in energy bills. But you must have 'Insulation, Ventilation, Orientation' all working together or you're wasting your time.

A truly energy-efficient house is always cheaper to own and often cheaper to build as well. Savings on heating systems, cooling systems and drapery can amount to tens of thousands of dollars prior to even moving in. From then on, the owners will save many thousands more in reduced energy bills.

If you'd like to discover the principles of energy efficient housing, book into a Certainteed seminar, which covers all the above points in practical detail. The three hour seminars are run regularly by CertainTeed in Melbourne, Launceston, Hobart, Adelaide and Canberra. As presenter Ross Wilson often asks, "Why pay the utilities to burn energy and money when it's so easy to build an energy efficient house that works to pay for itself?" Phone 1800 062 100 for free tickets.