Insulation may seem a bit basic to be the “key” to anything new, but saving energy through what the architects referred to as “passive” elements—those are the elements which, like insulation, work without using any energy—has not been a priority in building most houses in the last several decades.
To maximize the efficiency of the envelope, the building’s main spaces should be oriented to the south, where the sun provides the most natural light and heat and, if there are solar panels, energy. All the architects who spoke emphasized the use of triple-glazed windows as part of the envelope.
The roof is a somewhat different story, because there are times of year in which holding heat in the house is not the only goal; there is also ventilation to think about. In a net-zero home, the roof insulation is meant to keep heat out as much as it is to keep heat in, but Bialecki doesn’t think it’s enough, and believes that all net-zero houses should be outfitted with radiant barriers insulation, which are more or less anything that prevents heat transfer, in this case from the roof down to the rest of the house. (A radiant barrier developed by NASA goes on the surface of spaceships to protect them from extreme temperatures.)
“A roof system in the summer, in the Hudson Valley, can easily get to 160 degrees and any insulation—I don’t care what you put up there—is going to fail eventually,” Bialecki said. “It’s heat transfer; it will go from there into your building. With a venting system, with a radiant barrier system, at least you’re just circulating the 90-degree air. It’s not 160. It’s a huge difference,” said William Zoeller, an architect and senior vice president at Steven Winter Associates.
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