7.2.1 Residential Buildings
In the residential sector, GHG mitigation technologies can be divided into
three groupings: building envelope strategies, building equipment strategies
and renewable energy strategies. Building envelope strategies address the size,
shape, orientation, and thermal integrity of the residential unit. Examples
of mitigation technologies include increased wall and roof insulation, advanced
window technologies, roof coatings, and reduced or controlled infiltration.
Building equipment strategies improve the space heating and cooling, lighting,
cooking, refrigerators, water heating, clothes washing and drying, air conditioning
and other household appliances used in homes. Examples include such advanced
technologies as condensing furnaces, compact fluorescent lamps and advanced
refrigerator compressors. The renewable energy strategies include passive solar
building designs and active solar water and space heating systems, ground-source
heat pumps, daylighting strategies, and photovoltaic systems. In the residential
subsector, the choice of technologies will vary greatly due to climate, between
single-family residences and multi-family apartment buildings, and between urban
and rural (traditional) communities.
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