Bioclimatic design ensures sustainable house operations

Combating climate change requires minimizing the carbon footprint of construction, buildings, and their operation. Asumma’s home heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) strategies aim to provide thermal comfort and a healthy indoor environment, while also reducing the environmental impact typically associated with HVAC systems. 

Your plot’s unique microclimate determines its HVAC strategy

Designing your Asumma home’s heating and ventilation system starts from your unique plot, its special environmental conditions, and even its microclimate. Based on site analysis and land survey data, we study the topography of your plot to assess typical wind directions, as well as the impact of shadows, such as those cast by trees or adjacent buildings, on your home. We also study the path of the sun, its radiation, and its seasonal angles in relation to your plot and home. In doing so, we utilize the natural conditions of your plot to help ensure that your Asumma home consumes less energy for heating and ventilation — saving both energy and also cost.

Sustainable heat recovery

Ventilation methods are divided into mechanical and natural types of ventilation. At Asumma, we use both. We harness natural heating resources, such as sunlight, to design a ventilation system that circulates heat in your home. To introduce further energy savings, we can additionally install a ground source heat pump (GSHP) in combination with hydronic underfloor heating as the primary heating system in your Asumma home. (In the summer, these same systems will help to cool your house.)

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Typically, air conditioning is designed around mechanical exhaust air — resulting in the loss of up to 35% of indoor heat by exhaust air. Alternatively, at Asumma Homes, we aim to utilize a carefully designed ventilation system with calculated mechanical air exchange, including cross-flow heat recovery. As a result, heat in the exhaust air warms up the fresh supply air, minimizing the energy loss and the amount of energy needed for your heating, ventilation, and air conditioning overall.

Wood that heats, air conditions, and breathes 

Our CLT precision-manufactured homes’ structures are airtight, and thus energy-efficient, while also naturally storing and releasing moisture across the seasons, in order to regulate indoor air humidity. This is, by definition, a breathable home. (A home with air leaks, conversely, contributes to condensation and mold.) Our home air conditioning controls the airflow in and out of the building through designated inlets and outlets, while using heat recovery strategies to minimize energy loss from the ventilation. Asumma homes are also well ventilated, with air exchange rates carefully calculated and designed for the healthiest indoor air quality. 

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Further, Asumma homes primarily use sustainable materials like wood fiber insulation in the building envelope, versus plastics, such as polyurethane insulation. We intentionally select sustainable materials with natural abilities to absorb, withhold, and release moisture. Our building structures help regulate indoor humidity, reduce surface condensation, and prevent mold or moisture-related damage in the building.

Our mission is your living comfort

When heating and air conditioning work like they should, you don’t even notice their existence. It’s neither too cold nor too hot — just consistently comfortable. Your feet don’t need socks in winter; you don’t sweat in your bedsheets in summer. Your home’s climate is simply engineered to serve your needs. That these same solutions are also sustainable means that your commitment to a healthy planet need not be compromised by your home’s thermal comfort solutions.

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Are you interested in building a new house on your plot?  Learn about Asumma's carbon-neutral, timber design homes here.