Leaky homes need more energy to keep warm or cool. Sealing the gaps in a house, or increasing airtightness, is a common tip to reduce energy consumption, as well as make the house more comfortable to live in. However, people need a certain amount of fresh air in their homes to maintain air quality.

This project investigates hybrid solutions using enhanced ventilation in order to achieve indoor comfort conditions, reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions, and finally test it in a selected school building located in Sydney, which co-funded this project. In order to achieve this objective, the following activities were carried out:

This guide aims to help the occupants of a home reduce the amount of energy they use and, in doing so, help curb carbon emissions and save on utility bills.

Heat recovery ventilators (HRVs) save energy by recovering heat that would otherwise be exhausted as part of energy code-mandated mechanical ventilation systems. Residential HRVs can be life cycle cost effective depending on equipment/installation costs and the severity of the climate. This brief evaluates HRV cost effectiveness in the context of building energy codes to identify...

Cool roof technology is known to reduce the cooling energy consumption of conditioned buildings during hot periods, and widespread implementation of such roofs in a neighbourhood or precinct can mitigate the urban heat island effect. Established building energy modelling techniques are able in principle to predict the benefits of cool roofs due to reduced heat...