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Contents
- What you need in a home to continue living happily
- It has been shown that a warm home is extremely important for health.
- Comparison of costs over 30 years after delivery
- Explanation of the comparison table of age and UA value
- What is important in designing
- We don't say, "We will fulfill all your requests!"
- There are some things that are more important than appearances
- The design will allow for a garden on the south side of the living room.
- Make the most of the sunshine
- Add a playful touch
- Avoid building materials that deteriorate over time
- I try to use generic products as much as possible.
- We spare no effort in fine-tuning the final image
- We offer comprehensive proposals
What you need in a home to continue living happily
The top three items that 11000 people who have built a home are dissatisfied with are as follows.
1st place: Hot 28.0%
2nd place: Cold 27.3%
3rd place: Condensation 15.0%
I think that what satisfies each person, such as design and layout, varies greatly from person to person, so we will discuss this and try to satisfy each client. However, there are almost all common areas of dissatisfaction.
The most common reason for the third place and below is "high utility bills." However, if you optimize your insulation, airtightness, winter solar gain, summer solar shading, and air conditioning plans, your utility bills should actually be lower than before you moved.
Concerns about earthquake resistance are also high on the list. There is a 30% chance of a Nankai Trough earthquake occurring within the next 70 years, and unless a house has a seismic resistance rating of 1.5 (XNUMX times the seismic resistance required by the Building Standards Act), it will be difficult to continue living in it without repairs. This is a common view among structural experts.
( reference:https://mainichi.jp/articles/20160519/ddg/001/040/002000c
*In this article, "1.5 times the current standard" refers to earthquake resistance grade XNUMX.
Most major housing manufacturers are compliant with earthquake resistance grade 3, but there are very few companies other than the major ones that meet earthquake resistance grade 3.
It is unfortunate, but please be careful because it is thought that the percentage of non-major housing companies that have achieved seismic resistance grade 3 is well below 10%. You should be especially careful of misleading talk such as "It's a XX construction method, so it's okay even if it doesn't have seismic resistance grade XNUMX."
By the way, the diagram below clearly shows how the way buildings break varies depending on the seismic resistance grade.
If your home is damaged (more than half-destroyed) in a major earthquake, in the worst case scenario, you will be faced with the financial risk of having to take out a new loan, or have to pay new rent while still paying your loan, with the remaining balance still due.
On the other hand, if you build a house with high insulation and earthquake resistance grade 3, even if the electricity and gas are cut off in the middle of winter, the room temperature will only drop to a tolerable level. Considering the stressful life in the gymnasium that will likely continue for more than a month, I believe that having a sturdy and comfortable home as a shelter is irreplaceable.
It has been shown that a warm home is extremely important for health.
Recently, the fact that 19,000 people die from heat shock every year has become a common topic among the general public. When this topic is mentioned, most people will think, "It would be better to live in a warm house when you get older."
However, when I gave a lecture together with the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Yamaguchi Prefectural University, he said, "Plaque in blood vessels starts to accumulate little by little from the age of 40. Therefore, it is very important to live in a warm home from a young age. However, not many doctors know this fact."
In addition to these important issues that can mean the difference between life and death, a survey of 2 people conducted by the Iwamae Laboratory at Kinki University has revealed that the better the insulation, the greater the improvement in minor everyday discomforts.
Grade 4 in this table is the standard that is said to be met by about half of new buildings as of 2019. Grade 5 represents the level of insulation performance met by our company and major companies such as Ichijo Komuten and Sweden House. I think it is well below 5% of all new buildings.
Additionally, the following research findings have been obtained from the same Iwamae Laboratory:
This is about the above 9 symptomsA well-insulated home, which is simply something to live in, has a greater effect on the rate of improvement than items that require effort, such as drinking, exercise, and smoking.As a result, according to a study by Keio University, living in a warm home is estimated to reduce medical expenses by 9700 yen per family per year (assuming a 3% insurance burden rate).
Whenever I look at any housing company's website, I see the words "high insulation," "high airtightness," and "energy saving." These were unthinkable when I first started working in high insulation 15 years ago.
We understand that the more you look at the catalogs and websites of each company, the more confused you will become, but we have provided a way to objectively compare them on the following page, so please take a look at this as well.
However, these items are merely means and are by no means the goal."With lower utility bills than before we moved, we can keep the whole house cool in the summer and warm in the winter, and live healthily and comfortably."To achieve this, in addition to "high insulation" and "high airtightness," "solar radiation acquisition in winter," "solar radiation shielding in summer," and "appropriate heating and cooling planning" are essential. Unless these are designed well overall, it will be difficult to achieve the goal.
Comparison of costs over 30 years after delivery
This table compares the heating and cooling costs, mortgage payments, and initial costs of solar power generation, as well as the benefits of power generation, over a 2500-year total, if a 30 million yen house is built by three different methods - Matsuo Design Office, a top housing manufacturer, or a general construction company - and the indoor environment is maintained warm all year round in winter and cool in summer.
In reality, I don't think there will be such a big difference. Because if you build a house in the two rows on the right, it is unlikely that you will install air conditioners in every room. At that point, you are not even thinking about keeping the whole house warm or cool.
Even if they did, the cost of heating and cooling would be too high to maintain, so in the end, people generally end up having to endure the heat and cold.
However, living in the cold increases medical expenses, reduces comfort, and increases the risk of various diseases. It is extremely difficult to convert it into a cost and compare it, but it has a priceless value.
Considering this, I believe it is no exaggeration to say that there will be a difference of over 1000 million yen, as shown in the bottom row of the table. The more limited your budget, the more important it is to consider total costs like this. It is not widely known that for most homes, the total maintenance costs exceed construction costs around the 40th year after construction.
Explanation of the comparison table of age and UA value
The most common question, not only from the general public but also from professional construction companies, is "How far should I increase the insulation performance?" The reason most construction companies don't know this is because they have never (cannot) calculate how much heating and cooling costs will be reduced by increasing insulation. If you can calculate this, you can think like, "The construction cost will increase by 40 yen, but you can save 4 yen a year in heating and cooling costs, so you can recoup the cost in 10 years." This table was created with this in mind.
If you build according to the national standards (25 standards), the initial construction costs will be the lowest. However, the total heating and cooling costs after you move in will increase dramatically.
If you use the next level higher G0.57 standard (UA value of XNUMX or less), construction costs will be slightly higher, but heating and cooling costs will add up much more slowly.
Finally, when we reach the highest rank G0.46 standard (UA value XNUMX or less), construction costs are the highest, but heating and cooling costs will increase most slowly.
The total cost can be calculated by adding the construction cost plus the total heating and cooling costs incurred after moving in. I have drawn a thick line to show where the total cost is the lowest for that number of years.
This shows that houses built according to national standards are the most advantageous for periods up to about 10 years. From 10 to 30 years, the G30 standard is the cheapest, and for XNUMX years or more, the GXNUMX standard is the cheapest.
This calculation is based on the assumption that electricity prices will remain constant in the future. However, as indicated by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, electricity prices are expected to rise at an average annual rate of 3%. If this happens, the payback period will likely be even shorter than this calculation.
For this reason, the answer to the question "How well insulated should the home be?" is "The longer you are planning to live in the home, the more economical it is to insulate it."
In reality, most people build their new homes in their mid-30s. Also, considering that we are now living in an age where people can expect to live to be 100 years old, you will understand that the GXNUMX level is optimal for most people.
To reduce total costs, air conditioners are the only and most powerful heating and cooling appliances.
There are many types of heating appliances. On the other hand, there is only one cooling appliance: air conditioners. In today's Japan, no matter how cool a house is built, air conditioning is essential. If you install an air conditioner for cooling, it will automatically come with air conditioner heating as well. It also comes with a dehumidifying function. Since it has three functions in one, it is the most cost-effective to start with this one.
Putting it this way might make you think, "The equipment is cheap, but aren't the heating and cooling costs high?" But it's the exact opposite. When it comes to cooling, if you use one air conditioner to cool the whole house effectively, you can emit about eight times the amount of heat that you consume, making it extremely energy-efficient.
As for heating, if used very well, it will be about four times more fuel efficient, if used normally well, it will be about three times more fuel efficient, and if used normally, it will be about twice as fuel efficient. Our company uses it three to four times more, so the effect is as shown in the table. (*The "COP" in the figure indicates the multiplier.)
At Matsuo Design Office, we use the term air conditioner to maximize its capabilities and effectiveness, while minimizing utility costs and creating a comfortable living space."Attic cooling and underfloor air conditioning heating"This is the method we use. Please see the detailed explanation on the page.
What is important in designing
Earthquake resistance, insulation, airtightness, and cost performance are the minimum requirements for all the houses we undertake. On top of that, the following items are the rules we follow when planning and designing according to the client's requests.
We don't say, "We will fulfill all your requests!"
We listen to your requests in as much detail as possible. We then make an effort to fulfill as many of your requests as possible. However, if fulfilling all of them would upset the balance, we may choose to discard some requests to emphasize the overall balance. Furthermore, if a request would cause a fatal flaw, we will explain the situation to you and try to get you to give up on it. As a professional, I feel that this is very important in order to ensure your satisfaction after the project is completed.
There are some things that are more important than appearances
We place importance on blocking out the summer sun and taking in the winter sun, and we design while taking into consideration the impact of neighboring buildings. We also design in the order of carefully considering the plans that emerge from the requests and finishing them off with a beautiful exterior. Therefore, we do not start the design from an exterior image. The more unusual the site conditions, the more unique the exterior that can be created, but in the case of general site conditions, a simple exterior shape is often the result.
The design will allow for a garden on the south side of the living room.
We try to make the south side of the living room as much as possible accessible to the garden, which allows for a good view and good sunlight in the winter.
Make the most of the sunshine
We try to plan things so that you don't have to turn on the lights during the day.
Add a playful touch
We aim to create at least one space where you can feel happy.
Avoid building materials that deteriorate over time
We try to avoid using any decorative materials (fake building materials such as wood prints) as much as possible. By doing so, we aim to create a home that is not at its most beautiful when newly built, but one that will improve with age.
I try to use generic products as much as possible.
If you build your facilities around special equipment, there is a high possibility that you will not be able to restore them if they break down 10 years later.
We spare no effort in fine-tuning the final image
To avoid any regrets after construction is complete, we draw up about 1 drawings for each building. In addition, we have qualified staff with over 70 years of experience provide detailed explanations, so that our customers will be satisfied with the finished product.
We offer comprehensive proposals
We coordinate everything from indirect lighting to each and every lighting fixture.
Finally, if you think that a house is just about performance and value for money, I recommend you go to Ichijo Komuten.
We will never lose to Ichijo Komuten in terms of warmth and coolness, the cost required to achieve it, and earthquake resistance grade. However, for example, we cannot possibly offer expensive full-surface tile installation at the same price as Ichijo Komuten.
If you are looking for the quality and charm that comes from attention to design, such as meticulous design, textures that become more refined with age, and a connection with the garden, then we encourage you to visit us.
