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Most households in the Netherlands use natural gas and electricity to fulfil their energy needs. This energy is almost entirely derived from fossil fuels. On average, a household uses 1600 m3 of natural gas and 3500 kWh of electricity per year, which costs about 1750 euro. Energy prices have soared by about 85 percent between 2000 and 2010. This increase is expected to continue. Also, the use of fossil fuels is detrimental to global climate and local air quality. There are thus good reasons to make homes more energy efficient, both for the environment and for cost control.
Goal and audience
This document is made for (future) home owners and construction professionals that are interested in very energy efficient construction and renovation. The first half of the publication expressly targets the home owner, the second half focuses more on the needs of the construction professional. The first part is more exploratory in nature and shows a number of strategies for energy neutral living. These strategies are further developed and modelled in the more technical second part.
With this publication we portray what it means to be ‘energy neutral’. Energy neutral means that one produces as much energy in the immediate surroundings of the home as one uses within that same perimeter. This is a significant step further than just ‘energy efficient’.
Quality of living
An energy neutral home offers many opportunities to radically improve living conditions in the home. Both today and in the long term. Certainly, it is more difficult to build an energy neutral home than it is to build a standard home, mostly because only very few people are experienced in this new field. That is the reason for this publication. We hope it contributes to more insight and interest in energy neutral building and renovation.
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