Eco Vida

Why its More Comfortable Living in an Energy Efficient Home

ecovida — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:05:02 +0000

John Wolfendale talks for 3 minutes on why its more comfortable living in an energy efficient home.

Open up the blog post to access the video.

Space Heating and Cooling With Heat Pumps

ecovida — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 10:19:33 +0000

With space heating and cooling accounting for 70% of domestic energy requirements heat pumps have fast become the darling of the energy efficient housing industry. Take space heating and cooling out of the equation and you’re way on the way to a zero carbon home.

Heat pumps use the time proven refrigeration cycle that we all have in our refrigerators and freezers to transfer heat from a source such as the ground the air or water through a heat distribution circuit to an internal space. They can work in both… read the rest of this post »

Andalucia Property Market Analysis

ecovida — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 15:33:40 +0000

Barbara Wood has written an erudite article analyzing the current state of the residential property market in Andalucía. It is on Mark Stucklins excellent website Spanish Property Insight. There is a link to the full article at the bottom of this page.

Barbara really clarifies the issues about which we property professionals in Spain all gossip and she makes some interesting insights for anyone thinking of entering the market.

She covers a lot of ground in her article so I hope she will forgive me for cherry picking. Here are… read the rest of this post »

Domestic Hot Water From Solar Energy in Spain

ecovida — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 22:49:05 +0000

No one who has sat in the midday sun in July in Andalucía would doubt is power. There’s certainly no shortage of energy. All we have to do is harness it. With an average of over 300 days of sunshine a year in southern Spain perhaps it’s not surprising that domestic hot water from solar energy has been mandatory on new builds since Oct 2006.

Systems are straightforward to install, reliable, durable and readily available. The collectors will work during overcast days even when there is no direct sunlight but… read the rest of this post »

Michelle Kaufmann displays an elegant off site construction energy efficient house

ecovida — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 15:58:56 +0000

What can I say? Its beautiful. Just look at the pictures.

“This is a lovely example of designing a space to feel larger than it is through the use of open spaces, high ceilings, high clerestory windows, sculpted natural light and lots of glass doors to outdoor spaces. The home produces its own energy through PV panels, and is designed with super efficient systems to reduce the amount of energy and water required. Through the use of things like radiant flooring, spray in high performance insulation, dual-pane glazing, high… read the rest of this post »

Passive Solar Design: Harness the Energy of the Spanish Sun for Heating and Cooling Your Home

ecovida — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 11:16:17 +0000

An appreciation of how best to manipulate natural energy resources is fundamental to successful energy efficient design.

Daylight, sunlight, and solar heating should be embraced early in the design stage of a project in what is now called passive solar design.

It is important to understand that all the factors that underlie the successful application of passive solar building design are intrinsically linked. Orientation, window design and shading strategies, thermal mass and building envelope are all influenced by and supportive of each other. A badly orientated building for example affects… read the rest of this post »

Design Your Home in Spain for Airtightness

ecovida — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 10:40:10 +0000

Expensive heated air or cooled air is constantly escaping from our homes in Spain giving rise to discomfort, high energy bills, and speeding up climate change.

Regardless of how much or what type of insulation you put into your home if you fail to ensure that the fabric is airtight your comfort and energy efficient expectations will never be fully realized. As well as allowing costly warm (or cooled ) air to escape, air leakage degrades the effectiveness of insulation by as much as two thirds, and also allows damaging… read the rest of this post »

Energy Efficient Homes in Spain – Less Is More

ecovida — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 09:44:16 +0000

The misconception that energy efficient buildings will cost more to build is almost impossible to shift.

Most people in this area seem to miss the point. For the most part energy efficiency in the home isn’t about technical solutions such as wind turbines, photovoltaic, heat pumps and the like. There’s a danger that these gadgets become a kind of fashionable style rather than a cost efficient, environmentally sound, comfort orientated, choice of materials and design. In fact an energy efficient home needs to be economic to run, simple to… read the rest of this post »

Design a Home in Spain for Good Health

ecovida — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 15:36:34 +0000

Designing and building for good health doesn’t seem to be a priority for architects and builders in Spain. Why is that when healthy living permeates our lives in so many other ways: healthy diet, taking exercise, organic food, 5 a day, alternate therapies and so on?

We know a lot about unhealthy homes. We know about external pollutants such as exhaust fumes or drifting agricultural spray, dust, and pollen. We know about the dangers from air intake ducting where the very equipment specifically designed to keep the air clean and… read the rest of this post »

Renovate Your Home in Spain with Care

ecovida — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 15:53:41 +0000

It’s important to recognize the age and construction of the building you are renovating. There are significant differences between how some older buildings and modern buildings will respond to insulation and airtightness.

Older buildings in Spain with thick solid walls may have been built with permeable fabric (stone, earth and brick) that both absorbs and desorbs moisture – a breathing building. This is in contrast with many modern buildings that are constructed with impermeable materials designed to exclude moisture. The introduction of impermeable materials and barriers such as cement plasters… read the rest of this post »