Technologies

Health House - American Lung Association

GeoThermal Heating and Cooling: The use of a ground source heat pump enables the home owner to transfer solar energy stored in the ground under the yard into the home to do the heating. The process is reversed in the summer to provide quiet, efficient cooling. Since no fossil fuels are burned in the home, it is safe and provides for better indoor air quality. Typical savings over conventional high efficiency gas or propane systems is 30-50%.

Energy Heel Trusses: By designing the roof trusses to be taller over the exterior walls, more insulation space is available where it is most critical to stop heat loss in the winter and heat gain in the summer. This directly impacts on utility bill savings.

Insulated Foundations: By using polystyreen insulation on the exterior of the foundation, the frost point is kept on the exterior of the wall. This keeps condensation from forming inside the lower level walls. In this way the lower level stays dryer and reduces molds and mildew. It also saves money on utility bills by reducing heat loss.

Air to Air Heat Exchange: Using a heat exchanger to ventilate a home instead of bath fans saves energy and improves indoor air quality. Todays tighter built homes can become musty and stale. An air to air heat exchanger replaces stale air with fresh air on a continuous basis. It uses the exhaust air from the home to pre condition the incoming air and save up to 80% of the energy in the home, thus saving heating and cooling dollars.

Radon Suppression: All HomeTech homes have a passive radon suppression system as standard equipment. Radon gas is the #2 cause of lung cancer in America. Approximately 16,000 people a year die from radon related lung cancer. Since Eastern South Dakota is known to have pockets of high concentrations of radon, HomeTech installs a vent system and plastic barrier under every home it builds. This system significantly reduces the radon gas that can get into the home. It also keeps the lower level dryer and warmer.

Other energy saving and indoor air quality features available include:

• House Wrap
• Sealed switch boxes and light cans
• Hydrostatic footing barriers
• Energy saving exterior wall framing
• Direct vent fireplaces
• Space guard and electronic air filters
• Whole house humidifiers