I'm currently designing a home in Calistoga which is to employ green design strategies...
I've always considered the Holy Trinity of Sustainable Building to be:
1. Grey Water
2. Solar Panels
3. Radiant heating
However when it comes to radiant heating, is it really the most efficient approach or are we being brainwashed as designers by the hype? Consider the following: In the east coast, radiant heating is a no-brainer as you typically would leave a system running for long periods of time during the cool weather seasons.
But in California, our temperature fluctuations are so drastic; it's oftentimes cold at night and hot during the day. So if we install a radiant heating system won't the homeowner be constantly turning the system off and on to the point where the system becomes inefficient from a green building perspective?
What do you think?
I've always considered the Holy Trinity of Sustainable Building to be:
1. Grey Water
2. Solar Panels
3. Radiant heating
However when it comes to radiant heating, is it really the most efficient approach or are we being brainwashed as designers by the hype? Consider the following: In the east coast, radiant heating is a no-brainer as you typically would leave a system running for long periods of time during the cool weather seasons.
But in California, our temperature fluctuations are so drastic; it's oftentimes cold at night and hot during the day. So if we install a radiant heating system won't the homeowner be constantly turning the system off and on to the point where the system becomes inefficient from a green building perspective?
What do you think?
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SF Bay Area
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