Points to remember for saving energy

By Somluck Srimalee
The Nation
Published on November 13, 2008

If you want your new home to be a "green" residence and an energysaving home, it must be designed with concern for which compass direction it faces and its raw materials chosen for both their environ¬mental friendliness and their abil¬ity to insulate against environmen¬tal conditions, building experts say.

Double wall will help reduce heat and noise from outside to inside

LPN Development managing director Opas Sripayak said before building any residence - be it a con¬dominium or a detached house - an architect must visit the site and investigate which way the building should face before beginning his drawings.

"North to south is the best way, with the home entry - of front of the residence - facing north, because that will create a wind flow from the north to the south. This position will also minimise heat from the morning sun," he said.

Meanwhile, homeowners should select construction raw materials to replace natural mate¬rials, such as polyvinylchloride, or laminated wood replacing regular wood.

Structural design should also aim to reduce the heat from outside reaching the interior, in order to reduce electricity bills from airconditioners. Double walls and doubleglazed windows provide an insulating barrier of sta¬tionary air that not only resists heat, but also lowers intrusive exterior noise.

"Our condominium project, Lumpini Place Rama IX, is designed on a north to south axis and uses double glazing and double walls to help our cus¬tomers reduce their electricity bills 1020 per cent," Opas said.

Supalai chief executive Prateep Tangmatitham said architects must pay attention to prevailing winds and the position of sunrise and sunset. They must also select raw materials to match the overall design.

Supalai's residential projects reflect a concern for choosing raw materials that save interior energy.

The company's projects are usu¬ally set in green areas, in keeping with the lifestyles of its customers.

The manager of Siam Fibre Cement's marketing division, Thongchai Sopon, said his compa¬ny had developed environmentally friendly raw materials, such as Elephant brand flexible Smart Wood and Smart Board. These products do not use asbestos in the manufacturing process.

The company is also developing ceiling and wall solutions, to be launched next year.

"Our wall system will substan¬tially reduce the amount of heat admitted to a house by a normal cement wall, while our ceiling sys¬tem will make the house cooler by 6 or 7 degrees Celsius," he said.

Similarly, Siam Fiberglass is introducing two new products, an innovative thermal insulation called Stay Cool Green 3 and an acoustic insulation called Cylence.

Installing the insulation will help prevent heat entering a house, to keep it cool.

"This technology will help to reduce electricity usage by about 47 per cent and the temperature will fall considerably," said marketing manager Salin Kuntanarumitkul.

Meanwhile, the acoustic insula¬tion is capable of absorbing up to 67 per cent of sound, so as to iso¬late hometheatre or karaoke rooms.

When people are concerned about the environment and climate change, they can now be offered a range of raw materials developed over the past 10 years to replace nat¬ural materials, LPN's Opas said.

"Over the past five years, we've offered the same raw materials on our projects," he said.

"But these days our customers ask more questions, and they think residences built from materials designed to replace natural mate¬rials will be cheaper. Homebuyers' behaviour is changing, and it proves they have a strong concern for the environment."

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Points to remember for saving energy

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