Energy-Saving Constructions

F.A.Q.

What are high energy-saving constructions?

Private houses consume around 50% of total energy (excluding vehicular traffic); Out of all energetic needs, the most important component is the heating of buildings during the winter months.

In order to reduce these energetic needs it is necessary to minimize the influx of external climates into internal environments and at the same time optimize heating techniques.

Naturalliving high energy-saving constructions have a very low energetic necessity, that is, inferior to 70 kWh per square meter yearly.

By lowering these values even more from 70 to 20 annual KWh, the standards of passive house have been reached

How do you reach the standards of high energy-saving constructions?

The place in which it is built: sunny places, with a low presence of wind and fog are preferable;

An accurate planning phase: with the involvement of all the professional figures involved, from the excavation to the internal furnishings;
The shape of the building: compact and simple, avoiding useless compositional complexities;
An adequate thermal/acoustic isolation: using the ideal isolation materials with an adequate thickness;
The elimination of “thermal bridges”: particular care must be placed on the window frames, to the cases for roller blinds, to attics, to terraces and balconies;
Impermeability to wind and air;
The passive exploitation of the sun: achieved through correct planning which allows for the use of solar energy in the winter months, when the sun is lowest on the horizon compared to the summer period;
The ventilation of spaces: through a correct and adequate ventilation system.

How does a building with a wooden structure react to fire?

Fire protection is a general requisite in construction, independent of the construction materials used.

Wood has certain advantages in the case of fire:

It combusts in a regular and foreseeable manner;
During combustion, the outside layer, once carbonized, protects the internal part of the wooden mass;
Sudden partitioning (structural collapse) which can occur in structures made of steel or concrete, does not occur with wood.

Is building wooden houses harmful for the environment?

Absolutely not.
Compared to other materials, wood is a material in continuous growth; if the woods are used in a sustainable and respectful way, the reserves of wood will never run out.

Wood is enduring: the greater a wooden house endures, the greater its positive contribution will be to the containment of the greenhouse effect.

Wood is easily recyclable

How much is a high energy-saving house worth?

By building in an ecologic and responsible way today, in the next fifteen years the value of real estate will increase by 15%. This is an appraisal equal to that assured by light and water a century ago.

New construction techniques are, in fact, influencing real estate quotations.