The Envelope
Air leakage (also called infiltration) accounts for as much as 75% of total heat loss in a typical house. In the winter, warm air pushes out through leaky higher walls and ceilings and cold exterior air is drawn in through lower cracks with considerable force. A Blue Ridge Energy house combats this effect using a vapor barrier of polyethylene sheeting to wrap the inside of all exterior walls and ceilings, making it a tightly-sealed envelope. Careful attention to detail insures that the total envelope reduces air changes in Blue Ridge Energy buildings to less than .5 per hour. Every joint is carefully sealed with glue or tape, including joints with windows and doors and even plumbing and electrical fixtures in the outside walls and ceiling. Windows and doors with tight seals are also an important part of the envelope.

Insulate Well
Blue Ridge Energy leaves room for thorough insulation. Exterior walls are framed with 2x6's to allow for insulating to R-22. Ceilings are insulated to R-50 because they see the highest temperature differences in the summer. High-quality windows and doors with the best insulating properties available are key to a tight, well-insulated house. Additionally, all the ductwork in our houses is contained within the envelope and thus avoids all the heat loss that results from ductwork that is placed in attics and crawl spaces.

Fighting Stratification
Hot air rises in a typical house so that the upper floor is much warmer than the lower floor, often to the point of being both uncomfortably cold downstairs and too warm upstairs. Blue Ridge Energy uses an anti-stratification blower (ASB) which simply moves warm air from the top of the house to the lower floor to reduce this effect. This unit is inexpensive to install and run, quiet, and highly effective. It is one of the many well thought-out features that make Blue Ridge Energy houses so easy and comfortable to live in. Generally the temperature differential throughout the entire house will not be more than 3 degrees, compared to 10 or 15 without this air movement.

South-Facing Homes
Blue Ridge Energy homes use the sun's energy for maximum heating in winter. From how the house is placed on the lot to the interior floor plan, the entire design is based on a south-facing orientation. Homes are designed to have large south-facing windows which bring in winter sunlight. Not only do these windows help heat the house, they also flood it with light, making it a brighter and more enjoyable space. Being conservative with non south-facing windows is also important. Even though windows are much tighter now than they used to be, they are not good insulators. North-facing windows do not get direct sunlight, becoming cold holes during winter months. During summer months, the noon sun is too high to heat a house through south windows, but morning and evening sun will cook a house with too many east and west windows. Non south-facing windows reduce the efficiency of the house and should be avoided when possible.

Fresh Air
A heat recovery ventilator (HRV) is used to provide fresh air to Blue Ridge Energy houses while recovering 75% of the heat from the stale air it exhausts. This device works much like a car radiator and is simple and inexpensive to run. The HRV is controlled by timer switches in bathrooms and a pilot light switch in the kitchen. It removes stale air from these locations, exhausting it to the outside. Fresh air is drawn in from the outside heated by the exhausted stale air and circulated throughout the house.

Heat Pumps
Blue Ridge Energy uses heat pumps for heating and cooling. Heat pumps are more energy efficient than other heating systems and do not require separate systems for heating and cooling. They do not rely on gas or oil, which are increasingly more expensive. If possible, geothermal heat pumps are used as opposed to air source heat pumps. Water comes out of the earth at about 55 degrees and the geothermal heat pump takes advantage of this constant moderate temperature to heat and cool. Water is heated using a heat pump. Heat pump water heaters use air from the house instead of electrical resistance to heat the house's hot water. A resistance electric water heater is still necessary for storage and backup water heating, but the heat pump greatly reduces energy consumption for water heating.

Wood Stoves
Fireplaces are typically gaping holes in a house's envelope and generally aren't effective at heating a house, so Blue Ridge Energy Systems recommends using a standard wood stove or a fireplace/stove hybrid built to perform like a wood stove and look like a fireplace. A variety of such stoves are available. Typically these stoves are 75% efficient, meaning that about 75% of the heat they produces goes into the house instead of out the chimney, and even if used only occasionally should contribute to the overall performance of the house.