Making use of the construction elements to heat and cool your house.

Once the most fundamental decisions have been taken in your house design process—position on site, building envelope shape, and internal zoning—the major construction elements which make up the physical structure of your house can be tuned to produce an optimal performance. These elements (usually called superstructure) are:

• Floors: the most significant building element for thermal inertia if made from heavy material.  Can also be responsible for 10-20% of total heat loss if not insulated.
• Walls - External: uninsulated walls allow 15-25%of heat loss and 10-20% of heat gain.  After ceilings, the next most important element for control of internal climate.
• Walls - Internal: be the most influential building element for adding thermal inertia to a house.
• Windows: responsible for 20- 25% of heat loss and 15-20% of heat gain.  Windows are a critical element for passive indoor climate control.
• Ceilings: the easiest location to insulate in the horizontal plane.  Uninsulated ceilings allow 25-35% of heat transfer into and out of a house.
• Roofs: the upper most surface of the building envelope.  Very important for rejecting excess heat in hot weather.

All these elements have thermal characteristics which can be manipulated in order to control the internal climate of your house. The following posters show how each of these elements can be used to your advantage in a cool temperate climate like the southern tablelands.