Building an Energy Efficient Home

Following these 7 steps (in order) when planning your new home will help save energy and reduce your monthly energy costs.

Are you planning to build a new home? Wondering about the best way to build efficiently? Big things like heating systems might seem like they should be your first step - but there are a lot of things you can (and should) consider doing first.

The seven (7) steps below are efficiencyPEI's guide to creating an energy efficient new home. They are laid out based on the impact they have and the associated cost. The earlier steps are tips that are low cost, high return on investment and high impact.

If you're planning a new home and have questions, contact efficiencyPEI to arrange a New Home Consultation.

Step 1: Build Smaller

Reducing the square footage of your home is the easiest and cheapest way to reduce energy consumption. Smaller house, less to heat! It's as simple as that. It will also cost less to build, so you'll have a smaller mortgage payment.

Step 2: Passive Solar

Orienting your windows to the south and east while reducing the number of windows on the west and north is a no-cost way to get free heating. This maximizes morning and midday heat gain in the winter, and limits unwanted overheating from the west in the summer evenings. 

You can expand the simple rule of thumb into a full passive solar design by calculating the optimal area of windows and their orientation, but this should be handled by an experienced designer. Although windows let heat in, they are also not as good at retaining heat as insulated walls - so more windows is not always a good idea.

Step 3: Air Tightness

One of the most prominent areas of heat loss is through air leaks in the building envelope. The air leaks in an average building total to a 2ft x 2ft square hole! Luckily, it's also one of the easiest (and cheapest) improvements to make. 

Ensuring that vapour barriers (clear plastic on the inside of your walls) and air barriers (white/grey fabric on the outside of your walls) are installed correctly during construction will pay big energy savings down the road. One way to ensure your walls are air tight is by getting a blower door test. This will identify any leaky areas and allow you to repair them before you finish the construction! You can also maintain your home through time with regular maintenance and caulking.

Step 4: Insulation

Heat moves through home in a few ways: through solid materials via conduction, through air via convection and through radiation (heat from the sun, for example). All of these methods transfer heat from hot to cold or, in our homes, from inside to out. 

To minimize heat loss through the walls, you have to insulate them! The higher the R-value of your insulation materials, the less heat will be lost. To minimize heat via convection, you have to air seal (see step 3).

On PEI, the recommended R-values are: 

  • Under unheated basement slabs: r10
  • Under heated basement slabs: r20
  • Basement walls and headers: r20
  • Above grade walls: r24
  • Attic spaces: r50
  • Flat and cathedral ceilings: r28

Learn more about insulation and rebate programs

Step 5: Windows and Doors

To be sure you're using the most energy efficiency and air tight products on the market, keep your eyes peeled for the ENERGY STAR label.

There are three ENERGY STAR certification zones within Canada: 1 (warmest climates) to zone 3 (coldest climates). The higher the number, the more energy efficient the window is. You might also see a u-value (which tells you the rate of heat transfer - lower u value, slower heat transfer), and an Energy Rating (ER). Energy Rating measures the balance between heat transfer (u-value), solar gain and air leakage. Higher ER = better performing window.

Find more information about rebates for ENERGY STAR windows and doors s and Doors ere

Step 6: Lights, Appliances and Electronics

Lights, appliances and electronics can consume a lot of electricity! Investing in the most efficient products will help you reduce energy consumption on a day to day basis. ENERGY STAR certification is an easy way to ID energy efficiency on the products you're purchasing. You can also strategically plan where you place switched outlets for an easy way to power electronics off when you're not using them. 

As far as lighting goes, LED's cost a bit more up front but they are more energy efficient and last for up to 25,000 hours. So you end up saving money (and energy) in the long run. 

Find more information about energy efficient equipment

Step 7: Heating Systems

Once you're sure you have a well insulated and air-tight building envelope, the heating system you choose has less impact on your energy consumption because your building is simply more efficient! You'll need less heat to maintain a comfortable temperature, and in most cases you will require a smaller system than if you hadn't followed steps 1-6. 

ENERGY STAR certified heating systems can be used with various heating fuels. Check out our interactive live price data on what it costs to run different heating systems on PEI. We also have live data on total cost of ownership for various heating systems, after factoring in the cost on a monthly mortgage and heating bills.

Find more information about energy efficient equipment

When you consider each of these steps while planning your new home, you can substantially lower your energy costs and minimize the increase in your mortgage cost. In some cases, the monthly energy savings can exceed the increase in mortgage cost. This means you save money each month and reduce your impact on the environment! It's a win-win. 

Contact Us

Thinking of building? Get in touch with efficiencyPEI to set up a new home consultation. 


Published date: 
January 6, 2017

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31 Gordon Drive,
PO Box 2000
Charlottetown, PE C1A 7N8

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