List of low-energy building techniques

Low-energy buildings, which include zero-energy buildings, passive houses and green buildings, may use any of a large number of techniques to lower energy use.

The following are some of the techniques used to achieve low-energy buildings, which excludes energy generation (microgeneration).

Improvements to building envelope

• Active daylighting
• Barra system
• Brise soleil
• Cool roof and green roof
• Daylighting
• Double envelope house
• Earth sheltering
• Energy plus house
• Fluorescent lighting, compact fluorescent lamp, and LED lighting
• Green building and wood
• History of passive solar building design
• Low-energy house
• Passive daylighting
• Passive house
• Passive solar
• Passive solar building design
• Quadruple glazing
• Solar energy
• Superinsulation
• Sustainable architecture
• Sustainability
• Trombe wall
• Windcatcher
• Zero energy building
• Zero heating building

Improvements to heating, cooling, ventilation and water heating

• Absorption refrigerator
• Annualized geothermal solar
• Earth cooling tubes
• Geothermal heat pump
• Heat recovery ventilation
• Hot water heat recycling
• Passive cooling
• Renewable heat
• Seasonal thermal energy storage (STES)
• Solar air conditioning
• Solar hot water

Energy rating systems

• EnerGuide (Canada)
• Home energy rating (US)
• House Energy Rating (Australia)
• LEED - Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
• National Home Energy Rating (UK)