Designing and selecting construction materials in order to take advantage of natural energy sources is an intelligent and effective measure to cut the monthly electric bill for your home.

Lighting by the sunlight, cooling by the wind

Window, similar to the front door, has the function to attract light and fresh air into the house and help circulating the air to make the house airy.

According to architect Pham Minh Hieu of Song Da Thang Long Joint Stock Company, the design of window for any architectural space needs to focus on the air convection. The sizes of window can be various, depending on the structure of the house and hobbies of the owner.

However, each living space in the house has its own functions. Thus, the arrangement of windows should be balanced and rational for each space. Especially, the living room should have a big window system because it is the living space of the whole family and needs much light and air.

Taking advantage of sunlight will help you cut a large cost for lighting

However, if the sunlight through the window into the house is too strong, it will carry the hot air and UV radiation which are harmful to health. You can use curtains to create a balance of light for the house, for example, thick and dark curtains can help reduce sun glare, while thin and opaque curtains will be suitable for moderate sunlight ... In addition to the main and auxiliary windows of the house, you can also design window-panes for balconies, stairs or corners in the house to get the sunlight.

In these positions, you can use glass bricks or glass walls which are not only luxurious and modern but can aslo insulate the house. Besides taking advantage of the wind from windows, well-arranged ventilator pipes can help providing cool air in summer and warm air in winter.

Using smart windows

To take advantage of natural light and air, on-off glass window is considered the best option. However, common types of glass are usually very poorly insulating.

According to architect Tran Quoc Bao MA, University of Civil Engineering’s Faculty of Architecture and Planning, in the summer, glass can take the heat into the house, making the temperature increase, in winter, it transfers the heat outside the house, making the house cold. Therefore, when installing glass windows, you should choose to use two-layer glass.

Between the two layers, manufacturers will insert vacuum or inert gas to significantly increase insulation and soundproof. In addition, there are now some types of glass which are coated with reflective paint to resist heat loss or a transparent plastic membrane to fill the gaps. With these new measures, the glass can satisfy both requirements which are energy efficiency and insulation.

Also according to architect Quoc Bao, glass brick is also a measure to utilize the natural light to save energy and it is being used more and more. However, glass brick has a disadvantage: it  can only untilize the shared light.

According to some documents, glass brick has a vacuum with the pressure of 0.3 atmospheres and higher capability of insulating than common brick. Additionally, glass brick also ensures the solidity, so the replacement of common bricks with glass bricks at some certain positions still ensures the security without using barriers.