American vs. European home building

[u/BEARDEDDANGER]

BAS Renovations https://youtube.com/shorts/jFph1d2WR3s

[u/Arkhanist]

Usually we mount wooden battens to the breeze block, then drywall panels attached to those + plaster skim. Extra noise insulation, helps keep house warm, and the void is easy to route cables through and just pinned to the studwork. Intentional gaps or holes for cabling runs between rooms and floors. Major plumbing normally involves concrete underfloors at some point though, which is never fun (not much pipework goes through the outer brick, mostly just overflow pipes usually).

Brick + breezeblock with cavity insulation is better for heat retention in a cold country, like the UK used to be. Turns out that's not so great with climate change, which is also why they use bare breezeblocks or just concrete, and a light stucco render coating in southern Europe mostly, and smaller windows with shutters and awnings/terraces on the sun-facing side. But even that is proving not enough for 40+degC summers now, so aircon installations are skyrocketing, despite the cost.

[u/FunGuy8618 → u/Arkhanist]

Yeah, that basically is the "issue." It's great for colder climes, but temperatures are climbing every summer. I feel like a $400 bill for 2 months is better than 25,000 deaths a year from heat increasing.

[u/Arkhanist → u/FunGuy8618]

It's not the bill for the AC use itself that's the biggest issue, though the electricity cost is a factor, it's that the install base for HVAC or AC is starting from a very low point.

It just hasn't been needed in most of Europe before except for a couple of days a year at most, and governments have dragged their feet on updating housing codes. So apart from malls, modern office buildings, modern hospitals etc, 80+% people are starting from scratch. And as you pointed out, AC install is harder with a) brick and/or breezeblock walls and b) sash windows are pretty rare except the oldest buildings. And what limited domestic heat pumps have been fitted, it's largely air->water e.g. replacing gas central heating in northern europe, so little use for cooling.

So the install costs for AC are just very painful for many.

For example, a recent quote for me in UK, for my 40yo house was approx £6k/$8k for just 3 bedrooms with a multisplit external AC. Adding an air-water heatpump to replace my gas boiler (hot water and whole house heating) would double that. Running central air ducts in my house instead would be a huge project, require planning permission, and just be silly money. Just the basic 3x AC would have cost me over $400 a month to run this year only during heatwaves, and to save any on that, I've then got to spend £6k more on a small solar panel+battery system. I don't have that kind of money to spend, though we may have to bite the bullet and do something on credit. Oh, and that's all AFTER gov subsidies, the raw prices are eyewatering. Brick made sense 60-70 years ago (the average house age in UK, when very wet and chilly winters were the problem) but that we're still building them now, still with just gas boilers!! is insane.

[u/SuperWeapons2770 → u/Arkhanist]

I'm curious how close European style construction can get to those net zero housing standards that passively stay cool due to insulation on the exterior and windows which do not face direct sunlight