In the first article (Building techniques that lower the energy usage in homes and buildings (Part 1)) I focused on building techniques that involved the physical structure of your home or building.

In this article we are going to look at improvements to heating, cooling, ventilation and water heating systems to reduce the energy use.

• Absorption refrigerator - The absorption refrigerator uses a heat source other than electricity, such solar energy or kerosene-fueled flame, to provide the energy needed to drive the cooling system. These refrigerators are popular where electricity is unreliable, costly, or unavailable, where noise from a compressor would be problematic, or where surplus heat is available.
• Annualized geothermal solar - is a structure-heating technique that combines the Summer-time capture of solar heat, the deposit and storage of that heat in insulation-buffered soil under the building, and then the release of the warmth after a pre-designed period of time through the floor.
• Earth cooling and warming tubes - also known as ground-coupled heat exchangers, use the earth's near constant underground temperature to warm or cool air for residential, agricultural or industrial uses.
• Geothermal heat pump - is a heating and/or an air conditioning system that uses the Earth's ability to store heat in the ground and water. These systems operate based on the stability of underground temperatures: the ground a few feet below surface has a very stable temperature throughout the year, depending upon location's annual climate. A geothermal heat pump uses that available heat in the winter and puts heat back into the ground in the summer.
• Heat recovery ventilation - also known as a heat exchanger, air exchanger or air-to-air exchanger, is a ventilation system that employs a counter-flow heat exchanger between the inbound and outbound air flow. Heat recovery ventilators (HRVs) recover the heat energy that would normally escape, and transfer the heat to fresh air as it enters the building.
• Hot water heat recycling - also known as drain water heat recovery, greywater heat recovery, or sometimes shower water heat recovery, is the use of heat exchanger technology to recover and reuse hot water heat from various activities such as dishwashing, clothes washing and especially showers. Standard units can save up to 60% of the heat energy that is otherwise lost down the drain when using the shower.
• Renewable heat - refers to the renewable generation of heat, rather than electrical power.
• Seasonal thermal storage - also known as a seasonal heat store or inter-seasonal thermal store, is a store designed to retain heat deposited during the hot summer months for use during colder winter weather. The heat is captured using solar collectors.
• Solar air conditioning - refers to any air conditioning (cooling) system that uses solar power.
• Solar hot water - is water heated by the use of solar energy.

  These are just some thechniques available and some of these techniques are abviously easier and cheaper to impliment than others, some may be more viable than others. The issue is really to look at your energy usage, especially if you are planning build a new home or remodeling your current building, and look for ways to impliment low-energy sources and techniques.

  Ebooks like Home Made Power Plant shows you how to install energy replacement devices at a relatively low cost and without any major remodeling while online bookstores like Amazon have a number of books on Green building, remodeling and energy savings available, while our Green video/DVD section features a number of relevant DVDs