Energy-Conscious and Sustainable Design
Decisions about building systems, the exterior envelope, daylighting, and the indoor environment all influence the design and affect the energy use of a building. During design development, refining the enclosure strategies established in schematic design include evaluating window size and location, shading, and glass type with the goal of minimizing heating, cooling, and lighting loads. The heating and cooling systems chosen for a building are an important part of the energy-conscious design process, as these systems also influence the structural systems and service spaces of a building.
ENERGY efficient lighting
Specifying a high quality energy efficient lighting system that utilizes both natural and electric sources as well as lighting controls can provide a comfortable yet visually interesting environment for the building occupants. At Luxiero Homes we believe that lighting equipment selection should be based on a balance between the requirements of the design and an effort to limit the number of fixture types and lamp types in order to have reasonable maintenance inventories. Generally, lamp selection is based on efficacy (lumens per watt), color temperature, color rendering index, life and lumen maintenance, availability, switching, dimming capability, and cost.
The energy efficient lighting solutions provided by Luxiero Homes include high-efficacy lighting emitting diode (LED) sources with the average lifetime of 125,000 hours (approximately 14 years), low maintenance costs, as well as integrated advanced lighting controls.
Building integrated photovoltaic
Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV), opens the door for modern building technology. A BIPV system consists of integrating photovoltaics modules into the building envelope, such as the roof or the façade. By simultaneously serving as building envelope material and power generator, BIPV systems can provide savings in materials and electricity costs, reduce use of fossil fuels and emission of ozone depleting gases, and add architectural interest to the building.
The large range of shapes, colors and optical structures that solar cells provide, gives Luxiero Homes the possibility to create energy effective, innovative and environmentally aware projects. The system can be used for harnessing solar energy through solar cells that are included in a double or triple glazed transparent insulated window, or alternately an opaque single glass in the solar shading.
BIPV systems can either be interfaced with the available utility grid or they may be designed as stand-alone, off-grid systems. The benefits of power production at the point of use include savings to the utility in the losses associated with transmission and distribution (grid support), and savings to the consumer through lower electric bills by matching peak production with periods of peak demand.
