Tag Archives: boston area contractors

Energy Saving Concepts & Ideas for Cooling the Home in Summer

Maintaining a cooler indoor environment in the summer can be a challenge for New England green home designers. Fortunately, there are several techniques that can cool your home without the need for increasing energy use or turning up the cooling system. Here are a few of those methods for your consideration:
 
  • Keep sunlight out of your home: Sunlight coming through your home’s windows can cause excess heat in your indoor spaces and put additional stress on your cooling system. Use drapes, shades, or other window coverings to block excess sunlight streaming through your windows. Install awnings or other shading systems to prevent sunlight from getting to your windows. Consider adding solar-blocking window films or other treatments.
  • Improve ventilation and air circulation: Install ceiling fans to improve air circulation and boost cooling. Make sure the fans are set to direct air currents downward into the room. The breezes will cool you and the air flow will also help re-circulate cool air that has settled near the floor. Consider installing a whole-house ventilation system to further improve air circulation.
  • Don’t use heat-generating appliances during the day: Avoid using cooking stoves, ovens, clothes washers and dryers, and other heat-producing appliances during the day. This heat will raise indoor temperatures and decrease indoor comfort. Use these devices in the evenings or at night when outdoor temperatures have dropped.
  • Close off unused rooms. By closing the doors to the rooms you don’t use during the day, it will keep cool air from permeating the spaces. This allows you a little more customization of what areas of the house you’d like to keep cooler.
Sage Builders LLC is a general contractor in Newton, MA, offering professional design-build, construction, and renovation services for Boston-area homeowners. Contact us today for more information that New England green home designers can use to maintain a cooler indoor environment.

Smart Glass Keeps Homes Cooler & Comfortable During the Summer

When a homeowner wants to keep sunlight out of the house, the traditional solution has been to pull the drapes or close the blinds. An amazing new eco-friendly home technology has the potential to eliminate the need for drapes and blinds while providing the ability to keep out almost all sunlight and associated heat. Here is a brief introduction to smart glass and how it can be used in residential settings:  
 

What is Smart Glass?

Smart glass is a new technology that offers users the ability to make window glass darker or lighter as desired. It uses a specially designed insert or coating that grows darker when low-level electrical power is applied to it. When electrical power is turned off, the glass brightens and lets sunlight in. Depending on the amount of electricity applied, smart glass can also blur, become completely opaque, or darken slowly.

Smart Glass Applications

Depending on the type of smart glass in use, it can block heat, sunlight, or both. This means that smart glass can prevent heat gain inside your home, which will reduce cooling costs and reduce wear on your cooling system. In the winter, you can have as much heat gain as you want to boost indoor heating. The amount of electricity needed to power smart glass is minimal, usually much less than that required to power a single light bulb. Smart glass has been more common in commercial applications, largely because of its cost, but it is gradually making its way into residential use. Sage Builders LLC is a general contractor in Newton, MA, providing top-quality residential design, construction, and renovation services for customers in and around Boston. Contact us today for more information on smart glass and other eco-friendly home technology that can reduce your energy use and monthly costs.