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Different countries have different definitions and standards for "low energy" buildings, some of which can be quite technical. In the USA, low-energy homes use at least 15% less energy than standard new homes, although many homes achieve 20%-30% energy savings.

Designing and building a low-energy home combines any number of passive and active energy savings and energy generation techniques, depending on budget and availability of these components. However, anyone can build or convert a home that uses significantly less energy by finding ways to

improve the insulation of your home,
improve the energy efficiency of your windows,
reduce air infiltration into your home,
utilise heat recovery ventilation,
lower heating and cooling energy used by you home,
use passive solar building design techniques,
install active energy technologies such as solar energy and wind power,
use hot water heat recycling technologies,
use fluorescent lighting, and
efficient appliances.

While it may be difficult and expensive to go "whole hog" and convert your current home into a low-energy home, implementing some of the low-energy strategies will go a long way to reducing your energy bills.

In many regions the most common and accessible active energy source is probably solar energy, generating power from the sun, and this energy source can often be installed at a relatively low cost, even if it is only installed for appliances that use a lot of energy, such as water heaters and air heating and cooling systems.

Home Made Power Plant shows you how you can do this.

Installing better insulation in your home is another aspect of low-energy homes that is fairly easy to install in most homes. Insulating your home reduces the need for air cooling and/or heating with the resultant savings in energy use with something as simple as ceiling insulation.

Converting the lighting of your home to low-energy lighting can be simply a matter of replacing your light bulbs with compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) and if you want to go further, the installation of sun pipes or sun tubes maximizes the use of daylight, especially in areas of your home where you need more light and often have the lights on during the day.

Video/DVD:

I suggest you get GoingGreen: Every Home an Eco-Home: A half-hour program that delivers eco-living basics to your door. Using humor and down-to-earth examples, GOINGGREEN tours the original Eco-Home with a group of middle-school kids, who discover some simple, inexpensive ways to become more earth-friendly at home. Narrated by Tony Shalhoub.

Eco Home & Building Designs provide information and resources about green homes and to help you save energy through energy efficient homes.

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