Does anyone really need a Passive House in Spain?
Possibly not because although the Passive House standard is possibly the world’s leading design standard in energy efficient construction it’s not adapted to the climate in Spain. In Spain we want inside outside spaces so we can enjoy the wonderful climate. The Passive House design principles include airtightness and a mechanical ventilation and heat exchangerContinue reading
It’s hot hot hot! Cool your building with no electricity, no moving parts and no noise
Conventional air conditioning burns a hole in your wallet and if the electricity is generated from fossil fuels it contributes to climate change. So cool your building with no electricity, no moving parts and no noise. Solar Cooling Spain Solar Cooling with Salts It’s a brilliantly conceived system. It just uses the energy from theContinue reading
Air Source Heat Pump: Is this Just Hot Air? How Does it Work?
Intuitively we can understand how a log fire works, electric radiator or an oil fired boiler but heat from the air seems counter intuitive so how does it actually work and is it reliable? Well you already own a heat pump. Your fridge is a heat pump. Heat is extracted from the fridge and expelledContinue reading
How Much Money Can You Save With an Energy Efficient Home in Spain?
If you live in a typical energy inefficient home in Spain constructed say 5 years ago to the minimum standards required by the building regulations then it’s possible that 70% or more of your energy consumption is on space heating (and maybe cooling) and another 20% is on hot water. And the rest could goContinue reading
Underfloor Heating in Spain
There is something magical about that warm glow underfoot. What are the advantages of under floor heat delivery over conventional radiators? Is it suitable to the climate in Spain? Firstly the only under floor heating systems that are of interest to us are those that pass water through coiled pipes. As far as we areContinue reading
Mechanical Ventilation and Heat Recovery (MVHR) In Spain
An intelligent building isn’t one with a computer: it’s a building so designed that the computer has little to do. Passive Ventilation All good design should allow air to pass through a building. This is especially true in Spain where for most of the year you will want the windows open and to be livingContinue reading
Market Research Suggests it Makes Financial Sense to Build an Eco Home
This is very interesting for someone who is thinking of building a home. It doesn’t actually cost anymore to build an energy efficient home than to build a conventional home of the same quality. Building green makes financial sense. Some market research carried out by our own Louise Johnsen in Spain suggests people will payContinue reading
Is Wind Power in Spain Practical on a Domestic Scale?
With rising energy prices and diminishing supplies of fossil fuels using the ambient energy around buildings for power generation is bound to increase. The question is: is wind power practical on a domestic scale in Spain? Spain is the fourth biggest producer of wind power after China, USA and Germany. On Nov 6th 2011, aContinue reading
