How to Position a New House on a Lot for Maximum Energy Efficiency

When people think of ways to reduce the energy consumption of their new home, few realize that the way a house is situated on a lot is far more important for energy efficiency than any other single strategy. Positioning a house correctly on a lot saves a great deal of energy and can be coupled with other strategies, such as adding solar panels and green roofs or energy-efficient heating and cooling systems.

If a given plot of land allows for it, the best thing to do is to elongate (i.e. stretch) a house or other structure along the east-to-west axis of the building site. This allows you maximum exposure on the north and south faces of the house, while minimizing surface area on the east and west faces. This is a critical strategy in maximizing energy efficiency for three primary reasons:

1) Elongation from east to west gives the most opportunity for north light. North light is consistent and reliable for providing substantial indirect daylight and thus will help reduce the amount of energy a building uses. At the same time, north light is free of glare and solar heat. As such, shutters and shades can be left open at all times.

2) This strategy also provides maximum southern solar exposure. In the winter, when the sun is low in the sky, this has the advantage of heating a house naturally – particularly if concrete, stone tile or other heat-retaining materials are used inside the house. In the summer, when the sun is high in the sky, blinds can either be closed if necessary or simply left open if you there is a sufficient roof overhang to the south.

3) East and west light are unreliable and change throughout the day. The sun doesn’t stay long enough in either the eastern or western sky to provide much heat, and the intensity of light will vary greatly from one time of day to another. Thus, east and west windows are ideal for non-essential or lesser-used rooms, or for rooms used at specific times of day or night (e.g. bathrooms and bedrooms).

For these three reasons, this strategy alone will do more to reduce a house’s energy consumption with minimal manual effort than virtually any other system or tactic. In the long run, east-west elongation saves time as well as energy by reducing the need for owners to manually control their environments. More and more architects seek out plots ahead of time that will allow for east-west structures to save their clients money and to help save the environment.