When you are designing your own home, one of the issues that will be close to the top of your list is energy efficiency. An energy-efficient home design will certainly help you to save money year after year on both energy bills and maintenance costs, but on a practical level, it will make your home a more pleasant place to live with a more comfortable, healthy and safe indoor environment for your family.

Creating a building that offers a truly energy-efficient home design has many components. Each part of the building program must be considered, in terms of both the overall design of the property and the types of materials used. It can help to have a dedicated consultant working with your team to explain how each decision you make can impact upon the energy efficiency of the home, here are a few ideas to help get you started thinking through your building plans.

Consider your room plan

Planning an energy-efficient home design is a highly site specific activity. When considering the floorplan of your home, you will want to take advantage of all the natural sunlight you can. Think about when you will be using each room and when the sunlight will be most noticeable in each room. If a room will benefit from most sunlight in the afternoon and evening, then you probably want that area for your main living space. Somewhere that is brightest in the morning might be best suited to a kitchen or breakfast bar. Think about how you will use each part of your home, and plan your design accordingly.

Consider your materials

What materials will you be incorporating into your home? When thinking about your materials, you will need to pay special attention to their thermal mass. The higher the thermal mass of the materials you choose, the better they will be at stabilising the temperature within the property and mitigating the need for either cooling or heating services.

Don't forget the moisture barrier

Mould, mildew, and even rot can soon enter a home if a moisture barrier is lacking. Allowing moisture into a home can seriously reduce your quality of life. Whatever design you choose, find a way to keep your home airtight and moisture-free.

By working with a qualified team of experts at every stage of the design and building process, you will be able to develop an energy-efficient home design that is perfect for your home location and your lifestyle.