I need help with a school project about designing an energy efficient house?

ok.so for science class, we've each been individually designing an energy efficient house. Our project has to include a drawing or a model of the house, including an explanation with seven or more design features talking about the positive and negative features about them. we MUST include a description of what the energy efficient appliances do, and include the positive features and negative features about them.


I need help with the following design features, any information would be helpful!





Double Pane windows, Solar Panels, Energy efficient lightbulbs, Water (harvesting, bathroom, kitchen, gardening)


Energy Efficient Appliances, Vegetable garden, Wind power, and rain water harvesting





we also have to choose a location as to where our house would be located and why, I chose singapore for the climate. any other info or help would be much appreaciated. THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS

I need help with a school project about designing an energy efficient house?
first of all, root around the following website: http://www.motherearthnews.com/


you should be able to address your design issues, or at least find referrals to other sources. but...singapore is unnecessary. you can go green anywhere. specifically, look into solar passive homes, they can be built ANYWHERE and still save you tons of $$ on heating and cooling costs. california, vermont, idaho, hawaii, florida, where ever you want. perhaps they're looking for physical characteristics, such as placing your home on a south facing lot if you live in the north but if your in the south or other hot climate you want to be on a north side property. another good source is the Energy Star program: http://www.energystar.gov/ that should help with appliances and stuff. understand i won't do your homework for you, but if have any other questions, i'd be glad to help just email me. good luck.
Reply:You should contact the self-sufficient building in Carkeek Park of North Seattle, Washington. They may have a website if you google it.





Double Pane windows help by keeping the heat or cold in and so you use less energy, they cost you money and require plastics and things to be made so that harms the environment by pollution the supplier makes. Light bults are the same thing as far as bad because of production but they are much better than normal light bulbs, last longer, are bright (sometimes their light can be too bright though, which I guess could be a bad thing). Solar panels are their own subject which I don't know much about except you don't need too many to power a building and it doesn't always have to be sunny. Water harvesting is actually illegal but places do it anyway. Something about "if everyone did it then we wouldn't have runoff water...cause problems, etc.". It's good though because who needs treated water in a toilet, you don't drink out of it. Vegetable gardens are not only a good way to spend your time but require you to not spend as much money (if you're good about watering) and they are THOUSANDS of times better than a lawn, nothing's worse than that for water usage. I don't know that much about wind power, sorry.





Pretty much anywhere with temperate weather is good, sufficient rainfall and average weather so heat and a/c doesn't have to be used much.