ECO HOMES
Sol invictus assists builders & designers in constructing eco-homes in order to meet your family's lifestyle and energy needs. We will work with you & your builder to build a modern, energy efficient home within your budget based on passive home principles. we can push it further and make your new home "net-zero", where solar energy will power your home!
Imagine, living in a modern home where your energy costs are zero!
We provide energy consultation services to yourself and your other building professionals in order to design a home with the long-term energy costs in mind.
Our firm can assist you in designing and building an energy efficient Passive House. This design method is based off the German Passive Haus, a rigorous, voluntary standard for energy efficiency in a building, reducing its ecological footprint. It results in ultra-low energy buildings that require little energy for space heating or cooling.
Going even further, we can assist in the construction of your home as a Net-Zero home, a building with zero net energy consumption. This means that the total amount of energy used by the building on an annual basis is roughly equal to the amount of solar energy created on the site.
As consulting partner of your Passive House or Net Zero home, we will help to ensure that your home will be original, constructed with quality, and takes advantage of the most sustainable materials & practices offered.
CLICK BELOW TO CHECK OUT OUR BLOG AND FIND OUT WHAT IT MEANS TO LIVE IN A PASSIVE AND NET ZERO HOUSE!
What is a Passive House?
What is a Passive House?
Passive house is a building construction standard that is designed to be very energy efficient (in some cases, up to 90% more efficient then conventionally built homes!), comfortable, affordable and ecological. The components of a passive house that make it "passively" heated through solar radiant heat and other sources of energy (such as body heat or even a hair dryer) include:
Orientation toward the sun - South facing exposure - allows for passive solar radiant heat to be absorbed and slowly emitted during cool winter months
Excellent insulation of exterior walls, roof & floor slab (keeps heat in in the winter, keeps it out during the summer)
Air tight building envelope, reducing drafts and energy loss
Minimal thermal bridges (areas in the building where heat transfers occur) through design & material use
Appropriate windows (size, orientation, & type) to reduce heat loss and increase solar absorption where needed
Ventilation system that supplies warm fresh air (minimizing heat loss) and exchanging stale, moist air to the outside such as through a heat recovery ventilator (HRV). This also reduces radon levels in the home and increases indoor air quality.
Cost analysis of a residential case study
High Performance House
What is a Net Zero Energy Home?
Simply, the net zero home produces more energy than it consumes. By incorporating renewable energy (such as solar photovoltaic) as a source of electricity, your home can become self-sustainable, cost effective and energy secure. There are many benefits to adding solar energy to your home:
Save money by generating your own electricity on-site & free yourself from wasting money on monthly utility bills by becoming your own utility
Earn credits by selling your electricity back to the grid
Environmentally friendly (produces no greenhouse gas emissions)
Low maintenance
Increased self sufficiency and independence
Security in knowing that you still have reliable power during black-outs or brown-outs
Did you know that Calgary is the sunniest major city in all of Canada? There is great solar potential for Alberta and the cost of solar photovoltaic arrays has come down substantially recently. Integrating solar PV into your home is not only easy to do, but cost effective as well. For information related to Alberta's solar industry and the economics of solar, click the link below: