Why build green in spain, why build eco friendly houses in spain

There is no reason not to!! Get a quote, Our eco builds are the same price as normal draughty slow block and beam builds, Build green for the same cost as traditional and make a difference.

Build Green with one of our 3 eco build systems.

The world has gone eco friendly mad and the bandwagon is nearly full of companies advertising "eco friendly" this or "go-green" that. Then you start to realise when you look at these companies, where are they going green, they may use recycled paper, recycled bags...BIG DEAL! Doesn't impress anyone anymore, we expect that as standard.

Building companies advertise green builds by adding a bit more insulation than is required...or adding thicker than required lagging - everyone is doing anything to be branded "eco friendly" its a buzz word.

Our build systems are actually as eco friendly and green as you want to make them. The standard villa construction beats anything else being built in Spain for the same money: We can make the house as eco friendly as you wish by adding solar power, geothermal heating, grey water systems, eco lighting, ventilation systems, and even waterless toilets!

Were not jumping on the bandwagon...were driving it!!!

A few reasons to build Green with our ICF system

Concrete Homes Save Energy- Report from an American survey and study.

Building a concrete home with insulating concrete forms (ICF's) saves energy and money. The greater insulation, tighter construction, and temperature-smoothing mass of the walls conserve heating and cooling energy much better than conventional wood-frame walls. This reduces monthly fuel bills. It also allows use of smaller heating and cooling equipment, saving money in construction.

How much will I save?

Houses built with ICF exterior walls require an estimated 44% less energy to heat and 32% less energy to cool than comparable frame houses. A typical 2000 square foot home in the centre of the U.S. will save approximately $200 in heating costs each year and $65 in air conditioning each year.
The bigger the house the bigger the savings. In colder areas of the U.S. and Canada, heating savings will be more and cooling savings less. In hotter areas, heating savings will be less and cooling savings more.

Estimated Annual Heating Savings

Estimated Annual Cooling Savings

The smaller heating and cooling equipment needed for such an energy-efficient house can cut construction costs by an estimated $500 to $2000. The biggest equipment savings come with the houses that have the most energy savings.

How do we know all this?

The energy savings estimates come from a study of single-family houses spread across the U.S. and Canada. Researchers gathered data on 58 houses in all. Half had exterior walls constructed with concrete using ICF's made of expanded polystyrene (EPS) or extruded polystyrene (XPS) foam. The other half were neighbouring houses with walls constructed of wood frame. All houses were relatively new (less than 6 years old) and built with modern methods.
The researchers compared the energy bill of each concrete house to its frame counterpart, carefully correcting for important differences to get an “apples-to-apples” comparison.
Estimates of equipment savings are actual numbers reported by contractors that build ICF houses.

Where do the savings come from?

Insulating values for ICF walls using polystyrene foam are R-17 to R-26, compared to wood frame’s R-9 to R-15. So ICF walls are expected to cut the conduction losses through foundation and above-grade walls by about half. And ICF walls are tighter. In tests, ICF houses averaged about 1/2 as much infiltration (air leakage) as frame.

Sources of Energy loss

Energy Loss Reduction

ICF walls do more than cut down on the biggest types of energy loss. The concrete gives them the heat-absorbing property, “thermal mass”. This is the ability to smooth out large swings in temperature. It keeps the walls of the house a little warmer when the outdoor temperature hits its coldest extreme, and keeps the house a little cooler when the outdoor temperature is hottest. The walls themselves “add back” heat or cooling to the house when it needs them most. This contributes about 6% of the needed energy to the house for free.
Reduced equipment costs result from the energy savings. Since the energy needed is less, the furnaces and compressors that heat and cool can be smaller. And the more the energy savings, the greater the possible reduction in equipment size—and the equipment cost.

What's the bottom line?

In planning a new house you can estimate that building the walls of concrete using ICF's will save you hundreds of dollars per year in energy costs. As shown in the graphs, the savings are greater the bigger the house. Heating savings are highest in cold climates, and cooling savings highest in warm climates.
You may also save hundreds or thousands of dollars in construction costs for heating and cooling equipment. Talk with an ICF homebuilder for estimates.

ICF Building system

There is no reason not to!! Get a quote, Our eco builds are the same price as normal draughty slow block and beam builds, Build green for the same cost as traditional and make a difference.

Benefits of ICF