[mcot2]

I wish more municipalities would mandate tighter homes with good ventilation. Recently when searching for a new home it was so dishearting to see brand new developments where the homes had standard insulation, bad orientation for things like solar and passive heating and giant fossil fuel based heating systems instead of heat pumps. I decided to instead go the oppostie direction and buy a 1960’s split level that I am modernizing.

It’s been quite a challenge to retrofit, we really need to be building to a higher standard for new stock. While renewable energy is all the rage this rarely gets a mention.

[jsiaajdsdaa]

In America the latest building craze seems to be a veneer of beauty over bad functional design, and a strong mentality of "fuck you pay me" from the seller.

[theshrike79]

Also: It's illegal to build multi-storey housing in large parts of America. You know, the kind where you have stores on the ground floor and apartments above. Illegal and actively NIMBYed against.

A grocery store for a neighbourhood, within walking/biking distance? Illegal, against zoning laws.

[uoaei]

Yep, the flippers and the cash-hungry are riding this high as long as they can. It's bred quite a bit of entitlement but with the bonus that their poor attitudes are rewarded with large sums. This will happen (and has been happening) as long as housing is an investment vehicle with profit potential.

[gambiting]

What do you mean "latest"? Hasn't it (almost) always been like this?

[mdp2021]

> with good ventilation

Mandate windows?!

> heat pumps

That means (if I understand you correctly), fans. That is noise pollution - some will not have it, and some will not bear it. And (after experience), heat pumps can be inadequate for heating: they can raise a temperature, not warm the environment.

[elric]

You're wrong on both counts.

Windows don't make for very good ventilation. They are prone to letting in either too much or too little air, which means you're either wasting a lot of heat, or are not getting enough fresh air. Mechanical ventilation with energy recovery is far superior. Windows, of course, are great for letting in natural light and for creating a sense of spaciousness etc.

Heat pumps don't always need big fans, only air source heat pumps do, and even those can be made to be pretty quiet. Not much louder than a gas furnace.

They definitely can warm an entire house (in fact, they do so on a regular basis in many houses in many parts of the world), even in the coldest of climates. Heating a Passivhaus requires only a tiny unit (except for hot water, but let's ignore that for a minute).

[adev_]

> That means (if I understand you correctly), fans.

It does not always means fans.

Geothermal or aquathermal heat pumps are fan-less, very silent and performs amazingly in cold climate. I have one home.

[perceptronas]

Windows>

Heat exchangers can be up to 90% effective at saving heat, while window ventilation will be 0%.

Noise pollution>

In my cold climate, whoever goes with heat pumps - they usually go with "air-water" systems. Meaning only outside you have fans and inside you have your typical floor heating.

[jaclaz]

A well insulated house needs some sort of mechanical ventilationm otherwise you will have problems with humidity and - in worst cases - mould.

The ventilating units are usually placed in the basement and are not noisy (but need some maintenance and cleaning).

There are heat pumps that simply heat water and are suitable for underfloor heating, no fans.

Underfloor heating is usually "slower" (compared to air heating) but works just fine, actually better.

[patrickk]

Modern air or ground source heat pumps tend to be quiet, even silent, at least according to some deep dives down the Youtube rabbit hole on passive houses. Check out the "Moonstone house" on Youtube for example.

https://youtu.be/sSE8PurhfQs

[mcot2]

A heat pump can be air source or geothermal and you can use them to create hot water for a hydronic system or forced air (ducted or non-ducted). So not all of those will create the same noise levels. As they can be virtually any size and now work well at very low temps, I don’t see how they can be inadequate for heating. I’d have to hear of an example.

Up in the Northeast U.S. they are still putting oil fired boilers in new homes since gas isn’t super common outside of larger cities. I’d like to see more new homes have solar, heat pumps and possibly even stationary batteries in the future. These are going to be essential if we want to get off fossil fuels.

[dx034]

If you ventilate purely via windows, you'll need to always pay attention to avoid any mould. With a ventilation system hooked up to a heat exchanger, there's basically zero chance you'll ever experience mold.