Cooling your home with a heat pump or air conditioner is the most familiar way of maintaining home comfort in the summer. However, there are other methods of cooling your home that require less energy and cost less in the long run. Here are some of the passive cooling technology features you can use to reduce cooling costs this year.

• Install shading: Shading, such as awnings over windows, can reduce the amount of sunlight that enters you home and, as a result, decrease the amount of cooling you need.
• Put in reflective barriers: Install a reflective barrier under the roof to reflect heat away from your home.
• Use a reflective coating: Coat your roof with a reflective material or paint that will also reflect heat and prevent it from warming up your attic and other areas of your home.
• Install a cooling tower: In some environments, a cooling tower can provide passive cooling without the energy consumption of fans, blowers, compressors, and other equipment. Cooling pads at the top of the tower have water circulated over them. Hot air moving through the pads is cooled by this process. Gravity then moves cool air produced by these towers downward and into your home.
• Install earth tubes: Earth tubes work on a process similar to geothermal cooling. They extend a distance under the surface of the earth where the temperature stays about the same all year long. Air circulated into these tubes is cooled in this consistent environment, reducing the amount of energy required to cool the air to desired temperatures.

Sage Builders LLC, a general contractor in Newton, MA, is an expert source of residential design, construction, and renovation services. Contact us today for more information on passive cooling technology and how it can help keep your home comfortable for less.